Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantification of the Influences of Wind and Cloud on the Nocturnal Urban Heat Island of a Large City

Abstract Analyses taken over all observed weather conditions of daily 0600 EST climate data from a network of monitoring stations in and around the large city of Melbourne, Australia, revealed a 20-yr mean urban heat island (UHI) value of 1.13°C. The UHI varied seasonally between summer (1.29°C), spring (1.25°C), autumn (1.02°C), and winter (0.98°C). Investigations undertaken with daily wind speed and cloud amount data enabled a detailed investigation of the relative importance of factors such as the turbulent and radiative exchanges on Melbourne’s UHI. Analysis of variance and regression techniques were used to explore these processes and to predict the behavior of the UHI in numerical terms for mean seasonal and annual periods between 1972 and 1991. Over the 20-yr period, analyses of the association among Melbourne’s UHI, wind, and cloud revealed that the UHI was inversely proportional to approximately the fourth root of both the wind speed and the cloud amount. This relationship explained more of the U.
Boundary layer for nonlinear evolution equations with damping and diffusion

In this paper, we consider an initial-boundary value problem for some nonlinear evolution equations with damping and diffusion. The global unique solvability is proved based on the energy method. In particular, our main purpose is to investigate the boundary layer effect and the convergence rates as the diffusion parameter $\beta$ goes to zero. We show that the boundary layer thickness is of the order $O\left(\beta^\gamma\right)$ with $0<\gamma<\frac{1}{2}$.
Impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on retail stock trading patterns

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of the first wave of COVID-19 lockdowns on retail stock trading patterns, at a transnational level. Cross-sectional empirical research was utilized with five samples of public companies from the US, Europe, Asia, and blended equity capital markets globally. The impact of the first wave of COVID-19 lockdowns on stock trading patterns was investigated using median tests and the factors that influence retail stock trading were explored with regression analyses. Contrary to the conventional proposition that stock trading activity is reduced during times of crisis, the results of this study indicate that retail stock trading increased during the first wave of COVID-19 lockdowns. In addition, the findings raise awareness of the risks to novice retail investors associated with the increased stock trading due to herd behavior.
Agarose gel electrophoresis pattern of serum creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase isoenzymes in zoo-managed Asian elephants (Elephas maximus)

Serum levels of creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isoenzymes were evaluated in nine zoo-managed Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) using a commercial agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE) kit. CK was separated into two major fractions, CK-BB and CK-MM, along with a small fraction of macroenzyme-CK type 2 (mCK2); CK-MM was the largest fraction. LDH was separated into five fractions (LDH1–5); LDH3 was the largest fraction. Age was negatively and positively correlated with the percentages of CK-BB and CK-MM, respectively, and negatively correlated with CK-BB and mCK2 activities. These results indicate that an AGE kit can be used to evaluate CK and LDH isoenzymes. Routine isoenzyme testing may enable early detection of disease and physiological changes.
A fast image registration algorithm for super-resolution

In this paper, a robust and fast image registration algorithm suitable for super-resolution is proposed, it yields a solution that precisely registers images with subpixel accuracy. The proposed registration process is carried out in three stages. In first stage, the image edges are extracted and then the corner points which are on the image edges are extracted, where the improved Harris corner algorithm is used in order to reduce the calculation amount. In second stage, for the coarse registration, the NCC (Normalized cross correlation) similarity measure is used to get an initial set of corresponding point pairs, and then a statistical method is employed in order to remove mismatched points. In detail, we calculate the shift (Δx,Δy) of each point pairs, count the frequency of each shift, and then select the shift with most frequency as the image shift, which is expressed as(Δx0,Δy0). In third stage, for fine image registration, subpixel image registration is achieved by interpolation. The bicubic interpolation is done in the neighborhood of the inliers (the correspondences with shift (Δx0,Δy0) are called as inliers) and the NCC matching and statistical method is used once again to find the correct corresponding point pairs, from which the shifts between the reference and unregistered image are estimated. The experimental results illustrate the registration speed and accuracy of the proposed method improved significantly.
Eddy Current Array for Defects Detection based on Spatiotemporal Self-attention Network

Unlike single eddy current coil, eddy current array (ECA) which arranges multiple eddy current coils in a certain way, has the property of higher accuracy and efficiency to detect defects. The process of eddy current array collecting data own naturally spatial and temporal characteristics. In this paper, we introduce spatiotemporal self-attention mechanism to ECA Testing, and propose a spatiotemporal self-attention network for defect detection. In our framework, features from different channels are extracted separately and fused together by Downsampling Residual Attention Modules (DRAM) and Residual Attention Modules (RAM) in a pyramid manner, in which temporal attention module (TA) and spatial attention module (SA) are incorporated to capture spatiotemporally the features of defects. And the depth-wise and point-wise convolution are utilized to compute channel weights and spatial weights in TA and SA modules, respectively. Multiple channel data is taken as input from ECA, which finally leads to a classification result. The experimental results show that the proposed method not only outperforms the traditional image processing method significantly, but also is better than the state of the arts - ResNet, DenseNet in terms of F1 and accuracy.
Spatial distribution model for tracking extended objects

A Bayesian filter has been developed for tracking an extended object in clutter based on two simple axioms: (i) the numbers of received target and clutter measurements in a frame are Poisson distributed (so several measurements may originate from the target) and (ii) target extent is modelled by a spatial probability distribution and each target-related measurement is an independent 'random draw' from this spatial distribution (convolved with a sensor model). Diffuse spatial models of target extent are of particular interest. This model is especially suitable for a particle filter implementation, and examples are presented for a Gaussian mixture model and for a uniform stick target convolved with a Gaussian error. A rather restrictive special case that admits a solution in the form of a multiple hypothesis Kalman filter is also discussed and demonstrated.
In Vitro Antitumor and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Allium-Derived Compounds Propyl Propane Thiosulfonate (PTSO) and Propyl Propane Thiosulfinate (PTS)

Increasing rates of cancer incidence and the side-effects of current chemotherapeutic treatments have led to the research on novel anticancer products based on dietary compounds. The use of Allium metabolites and extracts has been proposed to reduce the proliferation of tumor cells by several mechanisms. In this study, we have shown the in vitro anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory effect of two onion-derived metabolites propyl propane thiosulfinate (PTS) and propyl propane thiosulfonate (PTSO) on several human tumor lines (MCF-7, T-84, A-549, HT-29, Panc-1, Jurkat, PC-3, SW-837, and T1-73). We observed that this effect was related to their ability to induce apoptosis regulated by oxidative stress. In addition, both compounds were also able to reduce the levels of some pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-8, IL-6, and IL-17. Therefore, PTS and PTSO may have a promising role in cancer prevention and/or treatment.
Evaluation of AquaCrop for potato yield and biomass simulation under different water amounts in drip and furrow irrigation methods

Potato is one of the most important crops for meeting food needs worldwide. The water requirement of this crop is high, and its yield is sensitive to the amount of irrigation water. Studying different amounts of irrigation water in irrigation methods is not only expensive but also time‐consuming, so it is necessary to use water‐driven crop models such as AquaCrop. This research aims to evaluate the accuracy of AquaCrop for simulating potato yield and biomass in Iran at three irrigation levels (full irrigation [FI] stands for 100%, I80 for 80% and I65 for 65% of the crop water requirement) via two irrigation methods (furrow irrigation and drip irrigation). For furrow irrigation, the normalized root mean square error values in the FI, I80 and I65 treatments varied between 17% and 28% for yield and 12% and 17% for biomass. These results for drip irrigation were 17%–22% (yield) and 9%–18% (biomass). For furrow irrigation, the average root mean square error values for potato biomass and yield were 0.89 and 0.68 t ha−1, respectively. The corresponding results for drip irrigation were 0.79 and 0.64 t ha−1, respectively. Based on all the results, the accuracy of AquaCrop was good for both irrigation methods, even though its accuracy under severe water stress conditions (I65) for the drip irrigation method was better than that for furrow irrigation.
The Impact of Temperature on 24-Hour Movement Behaviors among Chinese Freshmen Students

Background: Human populations worldwide have experienced substantial climate change issues. Gaps in scientific literature remain regarding the relationship between temperature and 24-hour movement behavior among people. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of temperature on 24-hour movement behavior including physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB) and sleep duration among university students living in Beijing, China. Methods: We conducted follow-up health surveys on 44,693 freshmen students enrolled at Tsinghua University from 2012 to 2018. PA and SB were measured by using the short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-s); sleep duration was estimated by using The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (CPSQI). Corresponding temperature data measured by the Beijing Meteorological Service were collected to include average daily temperature from the nearest weather station to Tsinghua university. The data were analyzed using linear individual fixed-effect regressions. Results: An increase in temperature (temperature range 2.29–28.73 °C) by 1 °C was associated with an increase in 0.66 weekly minutes of vigorous physical activity (VPA) (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.49, 0.82), an increase in 0.56 weekly minutes of moderate physical activity (MPA)(95% CI = 0.32, 0.79), an increase in 1.21 weekly minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) (95% CI = 0.90, 1.53), an increase in 0.55 weekly minutes of walking (95% CI = 0.31, 0.78), an increase in 1.76 weekly minutes of total PA (95% CI = 1.35, 2.17), and a reduction in 1.60 weekly minutes of sleeping (95% CI = −2.09, −1.11). There was no significant correlation between temperature and sedentary behavior among participants. Conclusions: Temperature was significantly positively correlated with physical activity levels in the Chinese freshmen students, and significantly negatively correlated with sleep duration. Replication of this study is warranted among various populations within China. The evidence of this novel study focused on understanding the relationship between climate change and 24-hour movement behaviors among people for developing effective adaptation strategies to climate change to improve people’s health behavior. This study has important implications for future study, as knowledge of the impact of temperature on movement behavior may help in the interpretation of their results and translate into improving people’s health behavior.
Vesicular Zinc Modulates Cell Proliferation and Survival in the Developing Hippocampus

In the brain, vesicular zinc, which refers to a subset of zinc that is sequestered into synaptic vesicles by zinc transporter 3 (ZnT3), has extensive effects on neuronal signalling and modulation. Vesicular zinc-focused research has mainly been directed to its role in the hippocampus, particularly in adult neurogenesis. However, whether vesicular zinc is involved in modulating neurogenesis during the early postnatal period has been less studied. As a first step to understanding this, we used ZnT3 knockout (KO) mice, which lack ZnT3 and, thus, vesicular zinc, to evaluate cell proliferation at three different age points spanning postnatal development (P6, P14, and P28). The survival and the neuronal phenotype of these cells was also assessed in adulthood. We found that male ZnT3 KO mice exhibited lower rates of cell proliferation at P14, but a greater number of these cells survived to adulthood. Additionally, significantly more cells labelled on P6 survived to adulthood in male and female ZnT3 KO mice. We also found sex-dependent differences, whereby male mice showed higher levels of cell proliferation at P28, as well as higher levels of cell survival for P14-labelled cells, compared to female mice. However, female mice showed greater percentages of neuronal differentiation for P14-labelled cells. Finally, we found significant effects of age of BrdU injections on cell proliferation, survival, and neuronal differentiation. Collectively, our results suggest that the loss of vesicular zinc affects normal proliferation and survival of cells born at different age points during postnatal development and highlight prominent sex- and age-dependent differences. Our findings provide the foundation for future studies to further probe the role of vesicular zinc in the modulation of developmental neurogenesis.
Magnetically controlled space charge capacitance at La1−xSrxMnO3/SrxLa1−xTiO3 interfaces

This work reports on magnetocapacitance (MC) effects in epitaxial heterostructures of nominally 15 unit cells (u.c.) LaMnO3 (LMO) and 2 u.c. SrTiO3 (STO) with an alternating layer‐repetition rate of 8: (LMO15/STO2)8. Epitaxial multilayer growth at high temperatures (900 °C) activates a selective inter‐diffusion of La3+ and Sr2+ cations across the interfaces, which gives rise to Sr p‐doping of the LMO and La n‐doping of the STO layers. MC effects at the buried La1–xSrxMnO3/SrxLa1–xTiO3 (LSMO/SLTO) interfaces are probed by frequency, temperature and magnetic field dependent AC impedance spectroscopy. The technique is shown to be appropriate to account for the separate analysis of different resistance and capacitance contributions at the buried interfaces. As a result of the La/Sr inter‐diffusion process, Schottky barriers are formed at the LSMO/SLTO interfaces, which give rise to massive MC of up to ≈ −200% in the out‐of‐plane film direction. The capacitance of the manganite‐titanate LSMO/SLTO interfaces may be coupled indirectly to the resistance of the LSMO layers, because the Schottky space‐charge layers and their capacitance can be modulated by varying the concentration of highly mobile charge carriers in the LSMO with a magnetic field.
Basilar artery plaque distribution is associated with pontine infarction and vertebrobasilar artery geometry

Background Basilar artery (BA) atherosclerosis is a common cause of posterior-circulation ischemic stroke. In this study, we investigate the relationship between BA plaque distribution and pontine infarction (PI), further, explore the influence of vertebrobasilar artery (VBA) geometries on BA plaque distribution. Materials and methods 303 patients were performed with MRI in this study, patients were divided into three groups: no cerebral infarction (NCI), anterior circulation cerebral infarction (ACCI), and posterior circulation cerebral infarction (PCCI), the VBA geometry was classified into four configurations: Walking, Tuning Fork, Lambda, and No Confluence. The AP-Mid-BA, Lateral-Mid-BA, and VA-BA angles were measured on three-dimensional time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography. Patients underwent high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate the BA plaque distribution (either anterior, posterior, or lateral wall). Acute and subacute cerebral infarction [including pontine infarction (PI)] were identified by T2 weighted imaging-fluid-attenuated inversion recovery and diffusion-weighted imaging. Results The presence of BA plaque (P < 0.001) were associated with PCCI. Eighty-six patients all with BA plaque were further analyzed, compared with patients without pontine infarction, patients with pontine infarction were more likely to have plaque distributed at the posterior wall (P = 0.009) and have larger VA-BA anger (38.72° ± 26.01° vs. 26.59° ± 17.33°, P = 0.035). BA plaques in patients with pontine infarction were more frequently located at the posterior wall (50.00%) than at the anterior (10.00%) and lateral (37.50%) walls (P = 0.028). In Walking, Lambda and No Confluence geometry, BA plaques were prone to located at the lateral wall than at the anterior and posterior walls (all P ≤ 0.05). In the Tuning Fork group, BA plaques were evenly distributed. Conclusion BA plaque was related to PCCI, BA plaque distribution was associated with PI, and VBA configuration strongly influences BA plaque distribution.
Evaluation of the Diagnostic Performance of mNGS in Detecting Intra-Abdominal Infections of the Emergency Department Patients

Purpose Intra-abdominal infections (IAI) are gradually becoming common in the emergency department, though the incidence is low and the prognosis is fair, as the symptoms are similar to other intra-abdominal diseases, rapid and accurate diagnosis of the causative agents is essential for clinical management. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in detecting IAI in the emergency department. Patients and Methods This was a retrospective, single-centered study including patients admitted to the emergency department from January 1st, 2021 to August 31st, 2022 with diagnosis of IAI. The comparison between mNGS and microbial culture using paracentesis fluid samples was performed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of mNGS for IAI. Meanwhile, paracentesis fluid and peripheral blood mNGS were compared to explore the sample specificity. Further, the microbial community structure of the patients with pyogenic liver abscesses (PLA) was analyzed. Results Thirty-four IAI patients including 23 with pyogenic liver abscesses (PLA), 3 with parapancreatic abscesses, and 8 with other IAI were included in this study. Compared with the conventional microbial culture of paracentesis fluid, mNGS using paracentesis fluid detected more positive cases of IAI (93.75% vs 81.25%), and identified more species of pathogens, especially in obligate anaerobes and viral pathogens. Peripheral blood mNGS presented a relatively high consistency with the paracentesis fluid mNGS (91% mutual positive). The microbial community structure of PLA patients with diabetes is less diverse than that of those without diabetes. Patients with diabetes are at high risk of PLA caused by Klebsiella pneumonia. Conclusion mNGS has advantages in detecting IAI in the emergency department, and peripheral blood mNGS can be a non-invasive choice for early diagnosis.
Dual-wavelength excitation to reduce background fluorescence for fluorescence spectroscopic quantitation of erythrocyte zinc protoporphyrin-IX and protoporphyrin-IX from whole blood and oral mucosa

Erythrocyte zinc protoporphyrin-IX (ZnPP) and protoporphyrin-IX (PPIX) accumulate in a variety of disorders that restrict or disrupt the biosynthesis of heme, including iron deficiency and various porphyrias. We describe a reagent-free spectroscopic method based on dual-wavelength excitation that can measure simultaneously both ZnPP and PPIX fluorescence from unwashed whole blood while virtually eliminating background fluorescence. We further aim to quantify ZnPP and PPIX non-invasively from the intact oral mucosa using dual-wavelength excitation to reduce the strong tissue background fluorescence while retaining the faint porphyrin fluorescence signal originating from erythrocytes. Fluorescence spectroscopic measurements were made on 35 diluted EDTA blood samples using a custom front-face fluorometer. The difference spectrum between fluorescence at 425 nm and 407 nm excitation effectively eliminated background autofluorescence while retaining the characteristic porphyrin peaks. These peaks were evaluated quantitatively and the results compared to a reference HPLC-kit method. A modified instrument using a single 1000 μm fiber for light delivery and detection was used to record fluorescence spectra from oral mucosa. For blood measurements, the ZnPP and PPIX fluorescence intensities from the difference spectra correlated well with the reference method (ZnPP: Spearman’s rho rs = 0.943, p < 0.0001; PPIX: rs = 0.959, p < 0.0001). In difference spectra from oral mucosa, background fluorescence was reduced significantly, while porphyrin signals remained observable. The dual-wavelength excitation method evaluates quantitatively the ZnPP/heme and PPIX/heme ratios from unwashed whole blood, simplifying clinical laboratory measurements. The difference technique reduces the background fluorescence from measurements on oral mucosa, allowing for future non-invasive quantitation of erythrocyte ZnPP and PPIX.
Therapeutic Approach of Whole-Body Vibration Exercise on Wound Healing in Animal Models: A Systematic Review

Human skin wounds pose a gathering threat to the public health, carrying an immense epidemiologic and financial burden. Pharmacological and non-pharmacological (NP) treatments have been proposed to the management of wound healing. Physical exercise is a strong NP intervention considered for patients in wound healing. Particularly, a type of exercise intervention known as whole-body vibration (WBV) exercise has gained increasing interest. WBV exercise is generated due to the transmission of mechanical vibrations, produced by a vibrating platform, to the body. The aim of this review was to summarize studies in experimental animal models using WBV exercise in wound healing. Searches were performed in EMBASE, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science including publications on 21 November 2022 using the string “whole body vibration” AND “wound healing” (animal or mice or mouse or rat or rodent). The SYRCLE tool was used to assess the risk of bias (RoB). From 48 studies, five studies met the inclusion criteria. RoB indicated that none of the studies fulfilled all methodological analyzed criteria, resulting in possible biases. The studies were homogeneous, and results suggest beneficial effects of WBV exercise in wound healing, mainly related to enhancing angiogenesis, granulation tissue formation, reducing the blood glucose level and enhancing blood microcirculation, by increasing myofiber growth and rapid re-epithelialization. In conclusion, the various biological effects of the response to the WBV exercise indicate the relevance of this intervention in wound healing in animals. Moreover, considering the translation approach, it is possible to speculate that the beneficial effects of this non-pharmacological therapy might justify clinical trials for wound healing also in humans, after criterion evaluation.