Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Feature Article: IL-25 contributes to lung fibrosis by directly acting on alveolar epithelial cells and fibroblasts

Interleukin (IL)-25 is shown to potentiate type-2 immunity and contribute to chronic airway inflammation and remodeling in allergic airway diseases. However, the role of IL-25 in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), dominated by nonatopic type-2 immunity, still remains largely unclear. Herein, we detected the expression levels of IL-25 and IL-17BR (IL-25’s receptor) by using lung tissue samples gained from IPF patients and normal subjects. Also, by directly intranasal (IN) instillation of IL-25 to mice, we examined the potential roles and mechanisms of IL-25 in the development of lung fibrosis. Furthermore, we tested whether IL-25 can directly activate human lung fibroblast by in vitro cell culture. Immunohistochemical, Western blot, and real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) showed that the mRNA and protein levels of IL-25 and IL-17BR are significantly higher in IPF patients when compared with normal controls. Intranasal instillation of IL-25 to mice markedly induces the expressions of alveolar IL-5 and IL-13. Furthermore, immunohistochemical analysis showed that the main components of the extracellular matrix including collagen I, collagen III and fibronectin are notably induced by IL-25 instillation in lung parenchyma (especially in alveolar epithelial cells [AECs]). Also, IL-25 potentiates the expression of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in AECs and the recruitment of lung fibroblast. By using Cell Counting Kit-8 and EDU incorporation assay, we found that IL-25 markedly enhances the proliferation of lung fibroblast. Finally, IL-25 potentiates fibroblast to produce several fibrogenic genes including collagen I/III, fibronectin, CTGF, α smooth muscle (α-SMA) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1 as determined by RT-PCR assay. Collectively, we concluded that IL-25 is increased in IPF lungs and contributes to lung fibrosis by directly mediating AECs/fibroblast activation. Impact statement Our work focused on alveolar epithelial cells (AECs)-derived type-2 cytokine (interleukin [IL]-25) in the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). We showed that IL-25 and IL-17BR (IL-25’s receptor) is upregulated in lung tissues (especially in AECs and lung fibroblasts) of IPF patients and contributes to lung fibrosis by directly activating lung fibroblasts and modulating epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) of AECs. We suggest that IL-25 may be one of the master switches hidden in the milieu of abnormal epithelial–mesenchymal crosstalk. Treatment targeting IL-25 may be the potential and novel method for IPF patients.
Self-reported adverse events after 2 doses of COVID-19 vaccine in Korea

OBJECTIVES In Korea, a national coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program was implemented, including 4 vaccines against COVID-19. A text messaging-based survey, in addition to a passive adverse event reporting system, was launched to quickly report unusual symptoms post-vaccination. This study compared the frequency of adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination based on the vaccine type and the type of 2-dose regimen (homologous or heterologous). METHODS Self-reported adverse events were collected through a text-message survey for 7 days after each vaccination. This study included 50,950 vaccine recipients who responded to the survey at least once. Informed consent to receive surveys via text was obtained from the vaccine recipients on the date of first vaccination. RESULTS The recipients of mRNA vaccines reported local and systemic reactions 1.6 times to 2.8 times more frequently after dose 2 than after dose 1 (p<0.001), whereas ChAdOx1-S recipients reported significantly fewer local and systemic reactions after dose 2 than after dose 1 (p<0.001). Local and systemic reactions were approximately 2 times and 4 times more frequent for heterologous vaccination than for BNT162b2/BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1-S/ChAdOx1-S regimens, respectively. Young individuals, female, and those receiving heterologous vaccine regimens including ChAdOx1-S/BNT162b2 vaccines reported more adverse events than older participants, male, and those with homologous vaccine regimens. CONCLUSIONS Although a heterologous regimen, youth, and female sex were associated with a higher risk of adverse reactions after COVID-19 vaccination, no critical issues were noted. Active consideration of heterologous schedules based on the evidence of efficacy and safety appears desirable.
Recognition Of Yoga Poses Using EMG Signals From Lower Limb Muscles

Exercise with yoga postures is very popular nowadays because yoga exercises can help to increase flexibility and muscle strength and improve the respiratory system. However, the correctness of the yoga postures is difficult to check, and thus practitioners may not be able to benefit from the exercises fully. This paper presents a yoga posture recognition system to verify the correctness of the lower muscle movements while practicing yoga. The study included ten subjects, five males and five females. Data were collected during five yoga postures. This paper focuses on the use of Electromyography signals for analyzing the motion of four lower-limb muscles of both legs. Recognition was performed with three machine learning algorithms. The results showed that the Random Forest Decision Tree algorithm has the highest accuracy in recognizing yoga postures in comparison with other algorithms and that the yoga posture recognition model is accurate at 87.43 percent.
The Largest Critical Sets of Latin Squares

Latin squares are combinatorial constructions that have found widespread application in communication systems through frequency hopping designs, error correcting codes and encryption algorithms. In this paper, a new, upper bound on the cardinality of the critical sets of all Latin squares of order n is presented. The bound is based on composite group structure and the summatory prime factorisation function (with multiplicities). The new bound aligns with all known, calculated cardinalities of largest critical sets. The proof addresses a long standing, open problem in discrete mathematics and impacts the assurance of systems based on Latin squares. The new bound also reveals a previously unknown, generative relationship between the smallest critical sets scs(n) and the largest critical sets lcs(n) of Latin squares.
Text Message Responsivity in a 2-Way Short Message Service Pilot Intervention With Adolescent and Young Adult Survivors of Cancer

Background: Text message interventions hold promise for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with chronic health conditions, including childhood cancer survivors; however, engagement is often suboptimal. Limited research has studied mobile health intervention outcomes beyond efficacy. Understanding responsivity to different types of text messages (ie, when a participant texts back) can provide practical, actionable information to optimize engagement in future projects. Objective Within a 2-way text messaging study in AYAs who recently completed treatment for cancer, we sought to evaluate text message responsivity across different types of text messages. Methods AYAs who recently completed treatment for cancer (n=26; mean age=16 years; 62% female, 16/26 participants) received 2-way text messages about survivorship health topics over a 16-week period. Using participants’ text message log data, we coded responsivity to text messages and evaluated trends in responsivity to unprompted text messages and prompted text messages of varying content (eg, medication reminders, appointment reminders, and texts about personal experiences as a cancer survivor). Results Across prompted and unprompted text messages, responsivity rapidly decreased (P ≤.001 and =.01, respectively) and plateaued by the third week of the intervention. However, participants were more responsive to prompted text messages (mean responsivity=46% by week 16) than unprompted messages (mean responsivity=10% by week 16). They also demonstrated stable responsivity to certain prompted content: medication reminders, appointment reminders, goal motivation, goal progress, and patient experience texts. Conclusions Our methodology of evaluating text message responsivity revealed important patterns of engagement in a 2-way text message intervention for AYA cancer survivors.
Protective Efficiency Comparison of Direct and Remote Ischemic Preconditioning on Ischemia Reperfusion Injury of the Liver in Patients Undergoing Partial Hepatectomy

Objective Ischemia reperfusion injury greatly damages liver function and deteriorates the prognosis of patients undergoing partial hepatectomy. This study is to compare the protective efficiency of direct and remote ischemic preconditioning (DIPC and RIPC) on ischemia reperfusion injury of the liver in patients undergoing partial hepatectomy. Methods 90 patients scheduled for partial hepatectomy were enrolled and randomly divided into control (n = 30), DIPC (n = 30), and RIPC (n = 30) groups. Baseline and surgery characteristics were collected, and ischemic preconditioning methods were carried out. Intraoperative hemodynamics, liver function and liver reserve capacity, oxidative stress, and inflammatory responses were measured, and the incidence of postoperative adverse reactions was calculated finally. Results 10 patients were excluded from the study, and finally, the eligible patients in three groups were 27, 28, and 25, separately. No significant differences were observed in baseline and surgery characteristics among the three groups. SBP and DBP were significantly higher after hepatic portal vein occlusion while they were significantly lower after surgery in the DIPC and RIPC groups compared with that in the control group, SBP and DBP were of great fluctuation at different time points in the control group while they showed much more stabilization in the DIPC and RIPC groups. ALT, AST, and TBIL were significantly decreased on days 1, 3, and 5 after surgery, and ICG R15 was significantly decreased while ICG K value and EHBF were significantly increased on day 1 after surgery in the DIPC and RIPC groups compared with that in the control group. Moreover, antioxidant enzyme SOD was increased, and inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-1β were decreased 24 hours after surgery in the DIPC and RIPC groups compared with that in the control group. DIPC and RIPC also decreased hospital stays and the incidence of nausea, vomiting, and hypertension. Conclusion DIPC and RIPC both alleviated ischemia reperfusion injury of the liver and reduced perioperative complications with similar protective efficiency in patients undergoing partial hepatectomy.
Multi-item capacitated lot-sizing with demand uncertainty

We consider a stochastic version of the classical multi-item Capacitated Lot-Sizing Problem (CLSP). Demand uncertainty is explicitly modeled through a scenario tree, resulting in a multi-stage mixed-integer stochastic programming model with recourse. We propose a plant-location-based model formulation and a heuristic solution approach based on a fix-and-relax strategy. We report computational experiments to assess not only the viability of the heuristic, but also the advantage (if any) of the stochastic programming model with respect to the considerably simpler deterministic model based on expected value of demand. To this aim we use a simulation architecture, whereby the production plan obtained from the optimization models is applied in a realistic rolling horizon framework, allowing for out-of-sample scenarios and errors in the model of demand uncertainty. We also experiment with different approaches to generate the scenario tree. The results suggest that there is an interplay between different managerial levers to hedge demand uncertainty, i.e. reactive capacity buffers and safety stocks. When there is enough reactive capacity, the ability of the stochastic model to build safety stocks is of little value. When capacity is tightly constrained and the impact of setup times is large, remarkable advantages are obtained by modeling uncertainty explicitly.
Synthesis and characterization of lead-free 0.5Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3-0.5(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3 ceramic

Polycrystalline sample of lead-free 0.5Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3-0.5(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3 ceramic has been synthesized by solid state reaction method. Single-phase perovskite structure with rhombohedral symmetry was confirmed by x-ray diffraction. Temperature dependent dielectric permittivity studies demonstrated frequency independent behavior, indicating that the studied sample was not a typical relaxor ferroelectric. A polymorphic phase transition between rhombohedral and tetragonal phase was noticed near room temperature followed by a tetragonal to cubic transition with 97 °C as the temperature of maximum permittivity. The macroscopic values of d33 and d31 were ∼350 pC/N and −141 pm/V, whereas the electromechanical coupling factors kp and kt were 44.5% and 41.6%, respectively. Bulk P-E hysteresis loop was obtained with saturation polarization 11 μC/cm2 and coercive field ∼4 kV/cm. Distinct polarization contrast with a complex mosaic-like domain structure was observed in the out-of-plane mode of piezoresponse force m.
An improved sliding mode control–based GMPPT algorithm for photovoltaic system

In this paper, an improved fixed-frequency-based integral sliding mode controller is designed and applied to a stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) system to obtain the desired reference signal for the maximum power point tracking. The proposed technique is designed with the modified sliding surface and sigmoidal function-based control law which improves the transient and steady-state performance of the PV system under uniform and partial shading conditions. Moreover, the cost of the proposed technique is further reduced by predicting the inductor current without employing a current sensor. In addition, the varying tuning factor strategy is used to further reduce the undershoot and overshoot issues during the tracking process. The desired voltage reference signal is provided by the online fractional open-circuit voltage algorithm. Furthermore, the proposed sliding mode control technique is integrated with the 0.8 Voc model-based algorithm to obtain the global maximum power point. To check the effectiveness and fair analysis, the proposed technique is tested in MATLAB/Simulink environment under partial shading conditions, and its results are compared with the recently developed double integral derivative sliding mode control technique. The suggested technique is also tested experimentally on a 245 W PV module, in conjunction with a boost converter. The simulation and experimental findings reveal that the proposed technique outperforms the double integral derivative sliding mode control technique in terms of steady-state and transient performance, tracking speed, and transient efficiency.
Terrestrial searches for new stable particles

Abstract If new types of stable charged particle exist they could be present at a low concentration in terrestrial materials, either surviving from the early universe, or accumulated from cosmic-ray interactions during the Earth's lifetime. In the case of electrically neutral particles, these would be most likely to exist freely in space, but could have clustered gravitationally with stellar matter during the evolution of the universe and could account for the unidentified dark matter already known to comprise 90% of the mass of our galaxy. Some of the main experiments which have been carried out to search for charged particles in terrestrial materials, and planned experiments to search for galactic dark matter particles are described. A brief summary of the present status of particle physics is given, to illustrate the possibilities for the existence of new stable particles. A sensitive search for heavy charged particles, in the form of anomalous hydrogen-like atoms in natural water, has yielded a null r.
On a unified interpretation of the polar Slant E Condition (SEC) and other high E field related phenomena

Recent measurements by the incoherent scatter radar and by several other instruments in the polar cusp region at Sondre Stromfjord, Greenland, have shown features similar to previously published occurrences at lower, auroral-zone latitudes of high electric field related electron heating events ascribed to an E region plasma instability effect. Our results further substantiate previous suggestions on a plasma instability and high electric field intensities in the E region being closely related to the ionogram Slant E Condition (SEC) and its two main signatures: the slant sporadic E (diffuse E region backscatter) and the lacuna (abnormal E region radiowave damping). Our observations suggest E region absorption as a souce of weak riometer deflections, and as a possible basis for the creation of the lacuna-damping. The slant Es diffuse backscatter, most likely created by instability irregularities, has been found identical to diffuse radar aurora at HF and probably at higher frequencies too. It is suggested that the four phenomena, Slant E Condition, diffuse radar aurora, riometer E region absorption and E region electron heating events, are different, but often simultaneous effects related to a plasma instability and to high electric field and conductivity in the polar E region. It is emphasized that the routinely observed ionogram SEC phenomenon may be useful as a diagnostic tool for the study of the various associated phenomena mentioned above.
VARIATIONAL PROOF FOR HARD DISCRETE BREATHERS IN SOME CLASSES OF HAMILTONIAN DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS

We present a new method for proving the existence of Discrete Breathers in translationally invariant Hamiltonian systems describing massive particles interacting by a short range covex potential provided their frequency is above the linear phonon spectrum. The method holds for systems either with optical phonons (with a phonon gap) or with acoustic phonons (without phonon gap but with nonvanishing sound velocities), and does not use the concept of anticontinuous limit as most early methods. Discrete Breathers are obtained as loops in the phase space which maximize a certain average energy function for a fixed pseudoaction appropriately defined. It suffices to exhibit a trial loop with energy larger than the linear phonon energy at the same pseudoaction to prove the existence of a Discrete Breather with a frequency above the linear phonon spectrum. As a straightforward application of the method, Discrete Breathers are proven to exist at any energy (even small) in the quartic (or $\beta$) one-dimensional FPU model, which up to now was lacking a rigorous existence proof. The method can also work for piezoactive DBs in one or more dimensions and in many more complex models.
Special Relativity in Week One: 1) The Principle of Relativity

We like to begin an introductory physics course with a law of physics that applies to everything, has no known exceptions, and whose consequences are already familiar to students. That law is the principle of relativity. By focusing on the principle of relativity itself, and a careful selection of the thought experiments, we can comfortably introduce the basic concepts of special relativity that we will use later in the course.1 This allows us to construct an introductory physics course that includes 20th‐ and 21st‐century physics as we go along, rather than shoving modern physics off the back end.2
AN INTRODUCTION TO LONG‐MEMORY TIME SERIES MODELS AND FRACTIONAL DIFFERENCING

Abstract. The idea of fractional differencing is introduced in terms of the infinite filter that corresponds to the expansion of (1-B)d. When the filter is applied to white noise, a class of time series is generated with distinctive properties, particularly in the very low frequencies and provides potentially useful long-memory forecasting properties. Such models are shown to possibly arise from aggregation of independent components. Generation and estimation of these models are considered and applications on generated and real data presented.
The Roles of Equatorial Trapped Waves and Internal Inertia–Gravity Waves in Driving the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation. Part I: Zonal Mean Wave Forcing

Abstract The roles of equatorial trapped waves (EQWs) and internal inertia–gravity waves in driving the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) are investigated using a high-resolution atmospheric general circulation model with T213L256 resolution (60-km horizontal and 300-m vertical resolution) integrated for three years. The model, which does not use a gravity wave drag parameterization, simulates a QBO. Although the simulated QBO has a shorter period than that of the real atmosphere, its amplitudes and structure in the lower stratosphere are fairly realistic. The zonal wavenumber/frequency spectra of simulated outgoing longwave radiation represent realistic signals of convectively coupled EQWs. Clear signals of EQWs are also seen in the stratospheric wind components. In the eastward wind shear of the QBO, eastward EQWs including Kelvin waves contribute up to ∼25%–50% to the driving of the QBO. The peaks of eastward wave forcing associated with EQWs and internal inertia–gravity waves occur at nearly the same t.
Some arithmetical applications of Newton´s interpolation series

Abstract The main result of Nopper´s paper [8] in this same journal reads as follows. If a transcendental entire function f has small growth order, then there is at most one rational point w such that all f(n)(w), n = 0,1,. , are rational with denominators increasing sufficiently slowly with n. The principal purpose of our work is to considerably relaxe this arithmetic growth condition, to generalize Nopper´s result to meromorphic functions, and to improve on similar statements of Nikishin [6], and Nopper and Wallisser [10]. From all these assertions, some well-known but not obvious irrationality results can be deduced in a systematic and simple way. In each case, the method of Newton´s interpolation series is essentially used, and it is also explained how this one leads to new and transparent proofs of Straus´ [16] and Schneider´s [13] achievements on integer-valued meromorphic functions.
Noise propagation in x-ray phase-contrast imaging and computed tomography

Three phase-retrieval algorithms, based on the transport-of-intensity equation and on the contrast transfer function for propagation-based imaging, and on the linearized geometrical optics approximation for analyser-based imaging, are investigated. The algorithms are compared in terms of their effect on propagation of noise from projection images to the corresponding phase-retrieved images and further to the computed tomography (CT) images/slices of a monomorphous object reconstructed using filtered backprojection algorithm. The comparison is carried out in terms of an integral noise characteristic, the variance, as well as in terms of a simple figure-of-merit, i.e. signal-to-noise ratio per unit dose. A gain factor is introduced that quantitatively characterizes the effect of phase retrieval on the variance of noise in the reconstructed projection images and in the axial slices of the object. Simple analytical expressions are derived for the gain factor and the signal-to-noise ratio, which indicate that the application of phase-retrieval algorithms can increase these parameters by up to two orders of magnitude compared to raw projection images and conventional CT, thus allowing significant improvement in the image quality and/or reduction of the x-ray dose delivered to the patient.