Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impulsive positive observers and dynamic output feedback stabilization of positive linear continuous systems

This paper is concerned with the design and the synthesis of the impulsive positive observer (IPO) for positive linear continuous systems. The IPO can estimate the states for positive systems even when the measured output is only available at discrete‐time instants. In this paper, a time‐varying weighted copositive Lyapunov function is constructed, and the upper and lower bounds of impulsive intervals method combined with the convex combination technique are used to establish sufficient conditions for the existence of the IPO. Furthermore, the design of the dynamic output feedback controller based on the IPO is addressed to positively stabilize positive linear systems. Algorithms are given to design the IPO and the controller, respectively. Finally, two numerical examples are provided to show the effectiveness of the theoretical results. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Work engagement and associated factors among healthcare professionals in the post-pandemic era: a cross-sectional study

Background With the shift of strategy in fighting COVID-19, the post-pandemic era is approaching. However, the “hard times” for healthcare systems worldwide are not yet ending. Healthcare professionals suffer negative impacts caused by the epidemic, which may seriously threaten their work motivation, concentration, and patient safety. Objective Investigating the status and factors associated with Chinese healthcare professionals’ work engagement in the post-pandemic era. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate healthcare professionals from 10 hospitals in Hunan Province. Data were collected using demographic characteristics, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2, Patient Heath Qstionaire-2, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, Work-Related Basic Need Satisfaction Scale, National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index, and self-compassion scale. Descriptive and multiple linear regression analyses explored the factors associated with work engagement. Results A total of 1,037 eligible healthcare professionals participated in this study, including 46.4% of physicians, 47.8% of nurses, and 5.8% of others. The total mean score of work engagement was 3.36 ± 1.14. The main predictor variables of work engagement were gender (p = 0.007), years of work experience (p < 0.001), whether currently suffering challenges in the care of patients with COVID-19 (p = 0.003), depression (p < 0.001), work-related basic need satisfaction (p < 0.001), and mindfulness (p < 0.001). Conclusion Healthcare professionals have a medium level of work engagement. Managers need to pay attention to the physical and psychological health of healthcare professionals, provide adequate support, help them overcome challenges, and acknowledge their contribution and value to improve their work engagement, enhance the quality of care and ensure patient safety.
Molecular Biomarkers and Recent Liquid Biopsy Testing Progress: A Review of the Application of Biosensors for the Diagnosis of Gliomas

Gliomas are the most common primary central nervous system tumors, with a high mortality rate. Early and accurate diagnosis of gliomas is critical for successful treatment. Biosensors are significant in the detection of molecular biomarkers because they are simple to use, portable, and capable of real-time analysis. This review discusses several important molecular biomarkers as well as various biosensors designed for glioma diagnosis, such as electrochemical biosensors and optical biosensors. We present our perspectives on the existing challenges and hope that this review can promote the improvement of biosensors.
SMALL-SAMPLE EQUATING WITH LOG-LINEAR SMOOTHING

This study investigated the extent to which log-linear smoothing could improve the accuracy of common-item equating by the chained equipercentile method in small samples of examinees. Examinee response data from a 100-item test were used to create two overlapping forms of 58 items each, with 24 items in common. The criterion equating was a direct equipercentile equating of the two forms in the full population of 93,283 examinees. Anchor equatings were performed in samples of 25, 50, 100, and 200 examinees, with 50 pairs of samples at each size level. Four equatings were performed with each pair of samples: one based on unsmoothed distributions and three based on varying degrees of smoothing. Smoothing reduced, by at least half, the sample size required for a given degree of accuracy. Smoothing that preserved only two moments of the marginal distributions resulted in equatings that failed to capture the curvilinearity in the population equating.
The population of Galactic supernova remnants in the TeV range

SNRs are likely to be significant sources of Galactic cosmic rays up to the knee. They produce gamma rays in the very-high-energy (E>100 GeV) range mainly via two mechanisms: hadronic interactions of accelerated protons with the interstellar medium and leptonic interactions of accelerated electrons with soft photons. Observations with current instruments have lead to the detection of about a dozen SNRs in VHE gamma rays and future instruments will help significantly increase this number. Yet, the details of particle acceleration at SNRs, and of the mechanisms producing VHE gamma-ray at SNRs remain poorly understood: What is the spectrum of accelerated particles? What is the efficiency of particle acceleration? Is the gamma-ray emission dominated by hadronic or leptonic origin? To address these questions, we simulate the population of SNRs in the gamma-ray domain, and confront it to the current population of TeV SNRs. This method allows us to investigate several crucial aspects of particle acceleration at SNRs, such as the level of magnetic field around SNR shocks or scanning the parameter space of the accelerated particles (spectral index, electron to proton ratio and the acceleration efficiency of the shock) with the possibility to constrain some of the parameters.
Novel structures for serial multiplication over the finite field GF(2/sup m/)

Two novel uni-directional systolic structures for serial multiplication over the finite field GF(2/sup m/) are presented. The architecture of the new structures posses features of regularity, modularity, and uni-directional data flow. One of the new structures is a serial-parallel structure, whereas the other structure is a fully serial one. Both structures consist of (m/2) novel cells. Due to the novel cells architectures of the new structures, the initial delay (i.e. the number of cycles required to obtain the first output) and the latency (i.e. the number of cycles required to complete the multiplication process) are decreased by 25% and 17% respectively. Also, the number of latches of the new structures are reduced by more than 20% when compared to existing uni-directional serial-parallel structures.
Marital status and living apart affect sleep quality in male military personnel: a study of the China’s Navy during COVID-19

Background Marital status is a robust sociodemographic predictor of sleep. Having to live apart from spouse may have different implications than those of cohabitants or singles, especially in military personnel. Further research on this group will help provide knowledge in advance and facilitate early targeted interventions. Methods An online questionnaire study was conducted from July to November 2021. A total of 1,832 male military personnel completed the questionnaire. The marital status was measured by a self-reported single choice question. Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and The Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about sleep scale (DBAS-16) were used to measure sleep-related outcomes. Inverse probability weighting (IPW) was applied to reduce the effects of confounding. Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between marital status and sleep and explore the impact of living together or not. Results After inverse probability weighting, the prevalence of poor sleep quality, sleepiness and dysfunctional beliefs were 16.1, 20.1 and 7.1%, respectively. One-way ANOVA results for the means of both groups were statistically significantly different, except for the sleep latency and sleep disturbance dimensions of PSQI. Participants who were married were more likely to have poor sleep quality (OR: 1.408, 95% CI: [1.10, 1.80]), to have daytime sleepiness (OR: 1.560, 95% CI: [1.27, 1.92]) and to develop dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes (OR: 2.497, 95% CI: [1.65, 3.80]) than those who were unmarried. Further analysis showed that the odds of developing poor sleep quality and DBAS in participants who married but living apart were significantly bigger than those unmarried (OR: 1.548 and 3.991, respectively.), while there were no significant differences in the odds of daytime sleepiness (OR: 0.738, p = 0.050). Age was a protective factor for the development of bad sleep outcomes, while family economic was an independent risk factor. Conclusion Marital status appear important for sleep quality, daytime sleepiness and sleep beliefs. The effect of living apart or not should be considered separately as an important predictor of sleep.
CTNNAL1 deficiency suppresses CFTR expression in HDM-induced asthma mouse model through ROCK1-CAL signaling pathway

The downregulation of adhesion molecule catenin alpha-like 1 (CTNNAL1) in airway epithelial cells of asthma patients and house dust mite (HDM)-induced asthma animal models was illustrated in our previous study. It is assumed to contribute to airway inflammation and mucus hypersecretion. In this work, we further explore the underlying mechanism of CTNNAL1 in asthma. CTNNAL1-silenced female mice exhibit a decreased level of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), a cAMP-activated and ATP-gated Cl – channel that correlates with mucus hypersecretion. Our previous study demonstrated that ROCK1 expression decreases but ROCK2 expression increases in the lungs of a CTNNAL1-silenced mouse model. Inhibition of ROCK1 leads to a reduction in CFTR expression in CTNNAL1-overexpressing and CTNNAL1-silenced human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells. It has been reported that ROCK1 is a downstream target of RhoA and that activation of RhoA increases CFTR expression after CTNNAL1 deficiency in vitro and in vivo. The above results indicate that CTNNAL1 regulates CFTR expression through the ROCK1 pathway. In addition, the expression of CFTR-associated ligand (CAL) is increased after CTNNAL1 silencing, and immunoprecipitation results confirm the interaction between ROCK1 and CAL. Inhibition of CAL does not influence ROCK1 expression but increases CFTR expression in CTNNAL1-silenced HBE cells. These data suggest that CTNNAL1 deficiency decreases CFTR expression in the HDM-induced asthma mouse model through the ROCK1-CAL signaling pathway.
Gradient Diversity Empowers Distributed Learning

It has been experimentally observed that distributed implementations of mini-batch stochastic gradient descent (SGD) algorithms exhibit speedup saturation and decaying generalization ability beyond a particular batch-size. In this work, we present an analysis hinting that high similarity between concurrently processed gradients may be a cause of this performance degradation. We introduce the notion of gradient diversity that measures the dissimilarity between concurrent gradient updates, and show its key role in the performance of mini-batch SGD. We prove that on problems with high gradient diversity, mini-batch SGD is amenable to better speedups, while maintaining the generalization performance of serial (one sample) SGD. We further establish lower bounds on convergence where mini-batch SGD slows down beyond a particular batch-size, solely due to the lack of gradient diversity. We provide experimental evidence indicating the key role of gradient diversity in distributed learning, and discuss how heuristics like dropout, Langevin dynamics, and quantization can improve it.
Evaluating the CoMorph‐A parametrization using idealized simulations of the two‐way coupling between convection and large‐scale dynamics

We present a new methodology to test the interactions of convection schemes with their larger scale environment. A single‐column model (SCM) using the new Met Office convection scheme, CoMorph‐A, and the new Met Office–Natural Environment Research Council cloud‐resolving model (CRM) are coupled to damped‐gravity‐wave‐derived large‐scale dynamics. The coupled models are used to investigate convective responses to stimulus forcings under the influence of interactive large‐scale dynamics. Within CoMorph‐A, the default entrainment varies with the prediction of convection size that is dependent on earlier rainfall, and the sensitivity of the SCM results to the entrainment formulation is explored. We demonstrate that the behaviour of the SCM using CoMorph‐A is now very similar to that of the CRM. For temperature or moisture stimulus applied separately, the SCM adjusts to a new equilibrium that is similar to that in the CRM, but its transient convective responses to stimuli acting to suppress convection are markedly too fast. For a combination of stimuli acting to enhance convection, the SCM responses are stronger than in the CRM. Finally, convective rainfall in the SCM is relatively insensitive to a combination of stimuli acting to enhance and suppress convection simultaneously, in agreement with the CRM. However, the SCM recovery from a non‐precipitating state is overly delayed for the default entrainment formulation but is too rapid when the entrainment rate is fixed at a low rate to represent only the deep convective state. We examined the responses to moisture stimuli of different strengths. Both models produce a monotonic increase of precipitation with column relative humidity (CRH) as well as the sharp increase of precipitation as CRH exceeds a threshold, as seen in observations. Though both models correctly capture the observed CRH threshold, differences from the observed precipitation–CRH relationship are noted. For instance, above the threshold the increase of precipitation with CRH is more abrupt in the SCM than in the CRM and observations. A similar behaviour is obtained in the SCM using low entrainment rate.
The inverted singlet–triplet gap: a vanishing myth?

Molecules with an inverted singlet–triplet gap (STG) between the first excited singlet and triplet states, for example, heptazine, have recently been reported and gained substantial attention since they violate the famous Hund’s rule. Utilizing state-of-the-art high-level ab initio methods, the singlet–triplet gap vanishes and approaches zero from below whatever is improved in the theoretical description of the molecules: the basis set or the level of electron correlation. Seemingly, the phenomenon of inverted singlet–triplet gaps tends to vanish the closer we observe.
Current Opinions in Open and Endovascular Treatment of Major Arterial Injuries in Pediatric Patient

Pediatric major arterial vascular injuries may belong to the same principal categories as adults, but have been poorly documented, with an estimated overall incidence of <2% of all vascular traumas. Open surgery has been the mainstay of treatment, but no clear guidelines have been developed to recommend the best practice patterns in terms of strategy or repair as well as postoperative pharmacological regimen. Herein, we report three cases and a narrative review of the available literature regarding the main aspects when dealing with pediatric arterial injuries based on the predominant series available from the most recent published literature.
A multivariate approach to explore the volatolomic and sensory profiles of craft Italian Grape Ale beers produced with novel Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains

This study investigated the influence of three Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains, selected from different matrices - CHE-3 (cherry), P4 (sourdough) and TA4-10 (grape must) - on characteristics of Italian Grape Ale (IGA) beers obtained at microbrewery scale. A multidisciplinary approach, combining results from analysis of chemical, volatile and organoleptic profiles of the beers, was adopted to underline the relationships between yeast starter and the quality of final products. Detection volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by Gas-Chromatography coupled with Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) after extraction carried out by head-space micro-extraction (HS-SPME) revealed that the beer obtained by P4 strain differed from the others for its higher concentrations of esters, alcohols, and terpenes as confirmed by PCA (principal component analysis) and Cluster heatmap. Furthermore, sensorial analysis and consumer test showed that this sample differed from others by more pronounced notes of “fruity smell and floral” and “olfactory finesse,” and it was the most appreciated beer for smell, taste, and overall quality. Conversely, CHE-3 was the sample with the lowest concentrations of the identified volatiles and, together TA4-10, showed the highest scores for smoked, yeast, malt, and hop notes. As far as we know, these are the first results on the application of indigenous S. cerevisiae strains in the production of craft IGA beers analyzed through a complex multivariate approach.
Analysis of a splitting scheme for a class of random nonlinear partial differential equations

In this paper, we consider a Lie splitting scheme for a nonlinear partial differential equation driven by a random time-dependent dispersion coefficient. Our main result is a uniform estimate of the error of the scheme when the time step goes to 0. Moreover, we prove that the scheme satisfies an asymptotic-preserving property. As an application, we study the order of convergence of the scheme when the dispersion coefficient approximates a (multi)fractional process.
Contributions, limitations, and challenges of self-regulated learning in the educational context

Self-regulated learning is an important multidimensional construct in contemporary Educational Psychology, since it encompasses several dimensions essential to strategic learning. It has received increased attention from researchers and educators. In this sense, this article aims to reflect upon the contributions, limitations, and challenges of this theoretical framework in educational contexts in Brazil, Portugal, and the United States. More precisely, it aims to identify its main authors, areas, variables, and most researched domains. It also intends to characterize the main types of research designs, the most used instruments, the impact of the theme on publications and on the organization of events, as well as to examine its current challenges and future paths. We hope to contribute to a better understanding of self-regulated learning in different cultures, as well as to make useful considerations that can guide pedagogical practices and formative actions in Education.
Hyperscanning fNIRS data analysis using multiregression dynamic models: an illustration in a violin duo

Introduction Interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) demands a greater understanding of a brain's influence on others. Therefore, brain synchronization is an even more complex system than intrasubject brain connectivity and must be investigated. There is a need to develop novel methods for statistical inference in this context. Methods In this study, motivated by the analysis of fNIRS hyperscanning data, which measure the activity of multiple brains simultaneously, we propose a two-step network estimation: Tabu search local method and global maximization in the selected subgroup [partial conditional directed acyclic graph (DAG) + multiregression dynamic model]. We illustrate this approach in a dataset of two individuals who are playing the violin together. Results This study contributes new tools to the social neuroscience field, which may provide new perspectives about intersubject interactions. Our proposed approach estimates the best probabilistic network representation, in addition to providing access to the time-varying parameters, which may be helpful in understanding the brain-to-brain association of these two players. Discussion The illustration of the violin duo highlights the time-evolving changes in the brain activation of an individual influencing the other one through a data-driven analysis. We confirmed that one player was leading the other given the ROI causal relation toward the other player.
Are fast radio bursts wandering narrow beams

It is generally assumed that the sources of Fast Radio Bursts radiate roughly isotropically, so that the observed low duty cycle of any individual source indicates a similar low duty cycle of its radio-frequency emission. An alternative hypothesis is that the radiative duty cycle is ${\cal O}(1)$, but that the radiation is emitted in a beam with a solid angle comparable to the observed duty cycle, whose direction wanders or sweeps across the sky. This hypothesis relaxes the extreme power demands of isotropically radiating models of FRB at the price of multiplying the number of sources. The constraints on pulsar models are relaxed; rather than being unprecedentedly fast-spinning and highly-magnetized with short spin-down times, their parameters may be closer to those of typical radio pulsars. The nanoshots of Galactic pulsars pose analogous energetic problems that may be resolved if their emission also is beamed, suggesting a relation between these phenomena, despite their vastly different energy scales.
Frequency-Domain Channel Characteristics of Intelligent Reflecting Surface Assisted Visible Light Communication

Deploying an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) array in visible light communication (VLC) systems forms additional light propagation paths, thereby enhancing the optical wireless channel. This improves the aggregated received signal strength, but on the other hand, it also introduces time delays between received signals via different paths. In this paper, the impact of IRS-induced time delay on the VLC channel characteristics in the frequency-domain is investigated for the first time in the open literature. The considered issue is experimentally validated. In addition, the influence of IRS-induced time delay in practical scenarios considering users with fixed and random positions has also been evaluated. It is demonstrated that an IRS array can consistently improve the performance of narrowband VLC systems. In wideband VLC systems, the performance gain is considerable when the reflected channel via the IRS array is significantly greater than the line-of-sight (LoS) channel. However, when the path losses for both reflected and LoS signals are similar, the communication performance does not show noticeable improvement compared to the case with only the LoS path.
Studies of challenge in lower hybrid current drive capability at high density regime in experimental advanced superconducting tokamak

Aiming at a fusion reactor, two issues must be solved for the lower hybrid current drive (LHCD), namely good lower hybrid wave (LHW)–plasma coupling and effective current drive at high density. For this goal, efforts have been made to improve LHW–plasma coupling and current drive capability at high density in experimental advanced superconducting tokamak (EAST). LHW–plasma coupling is improved by means of local gas puffing and gas puffing from the electron side is taken as a routine way for EAST to operate with LHCD. Studies of high density experiments suggest that low recycling and high lower hybrid (LH) frequency are preferred for LHCD experiments at high density, consistent with previous results in other machines. With the combination of 2.45 GHz and 4.6 GHz LH waves, a repeatable high confinement mode plasma with maximum density up to $4.5\times 10^{19}~\text{m}^{-3}$ was obtained by LHCD in EAST. In addition, in the first stage of LHCD cyclic operation, an alternative candidate for more economical fusion reactors has been demonstrated in EAST and further work will be continued.