Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
First Principles Study on the Interaction Mechanisms of Water Molecules on TiO2 Nanotubes

The adsorption properties of water molecules on TiO2 nanotubes (TiO2NT) and the interaction mechanisms between water molecules are studied by first principles calculations. The adsorption preferences of water molecules in molecular or dissociated states on clean and H-terminated TiO2NT are evaluated. Adsorption of OH clusters on (0, 6) and (9, 0) TiO2 nanotubes are first studied. The smallest adsorption energies are −1.163 eV and −1.383 eV, respectively, by examining five different adsorption sites on each type of tube. Eight and six adsorption sites were considered for OH adsorbtion on the H terminated (0, 6) and (9, 0) nanotubes. Water molecules are reformed with the smallest adsorption energy of −4.796 eV on the former and of −5.013 eV on the latter nanotube, respectively. For the adsorption of a single water molecule on TiO2NT, the molecular state shows the strongest adsorption preference with an adsorption energy of −0.660 eV. The adsorption of multiple (two and three) water molecules on TiO2NT is also studied. The calculated results show that the interactions between water molecules greatly affect their adsorption properties. Competition occurs between the molecular and dissociated states. The electronic structures are calculated to clarify the interaction mechanisms between water molecules and TiO2NT. The bonding interactions between H from water and oxygen from TiO2NT may be the reason for the dissociation of water on TiO2NT.
New mesh-type phantoms and their dosimetric applications, including emergencies

Committee 2 of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has constructed mesh-type adult reference computational phantoms by converting the voxel-type ICRP Publication 110 adult reference computational phantoms to a high-quality mesh format, and adding those tissues that were below the image resolution of the voxel phantoms and therefore not included in the Publication 110 phantoms. The new mesh phantoms include all the necessary source and target tissues for effective dose calculations, including the 8–40-µm-thick target layers of the alimentary and respiratory tract organs, thereby obviating the need for supplemental organ-specific stylised models (e.g. respiratory airways, alimentary tract organ walls and stem cell layers, lens of the eye, and skin basal layer). To see the impact of the new mesh-type reference phantoms, dose coefficients for some selected external and internal exposures were calculated and compared with the current reference values in ICRP Publications 116 and 133, which were calculated by employing the Publication 110 phantoms and the supplemental stylised models. The new mesh phantoms were also used to calculate dose coefficients for industrial radiography sources near the body, which can be used to estimate the organ doses of the worker who is accidentally exposed by an industrial radiography source; in these calculations, the mesh phantoms were deformed to reflect the size of the worker, and also to evaluate the effect of posture on dose coefficients.
A Feasibility Test for Linear Interference Alignment in MIMO Channels With Constant Coefficients

In this paper, we consider the feasibility of linear interference alignment (IA) for multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) channels with constant coefficients for any number of users, antennas, and streams per user, and propose a polynomial-time test for this problem. Combining algebraic geometry techniques with differential topology ones, we first prove a result that generalizes those previously published on this topic. In particular, we consider the input set (complex projective space of MIMO interference channels), the output set (precoder and decoder Grassmannians), and the solution set (channels, decoders, and precoders satisfying the IA polynomial equations), not only as algebraic sets, but also as smooth compact manifolds. Using this mathematical framework, we prove that the linear alignment problem is feasible when the algebraic dimension of the solution variety is larger than or equal to the dimension of the input space and the linear mapping between the tangent spaces of both smooth manifolds given by the first projection is generically surjective. If that mapping is not surjective, then the solution variety projects into the input space in a singular way and the projection is a zero-measure set. This result naturally yields a simple feasibility test, which amounts to checking the rank of a matrix. We also provide an exact arithmetic version of the test, which proves that testing the feasibility of IA for generic MIMO channels belongs to the bounded-error probabilistic polynomial complexity class.
A distributed attack detection method for multi-agent systems governed by consensus-based control

The paper considers the problem of detecting cyber-attacks occurring in communication networks for distributed control schemes. A distributed methodology is proposed to detect the presence of malicious attacks aimed at compromising the stability of large-scale interconnected systems and multi-agent systems governed by consensus-based controllers. Only knowledge of the local model is required. The detectability properties of the proposed method are analyzed. A class of undetectable attacks is identified. Preliminary simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Whole water column distribution and carbon isotopic composition of bulk particulate organic carbon, cholesterol and brassicasterol from the Cape Basin to the northern Weddell Gyre in the Southern Ocean

The combination of concentrations and δ 13 C signatures of Particulate Organic Carbon (POC) and sterols provides a powerful approach to study ecological and environmental changes both in the modern and ancient ocean, but its application has so far been restricted to the surface area. We applied this tool to study the biogeochemical changes in the modern ocean water column during the BONUS-GoodHope survey (Feb-Mar 2008) from Cape Basin to the northern part of the Weddell Gyre. Cholesterol and brassicasterol were chosen as ideal biomarkers of the heterotrophic and autotrophic carbon pools, respectively, because of their ubiquitous and relatively refractory nature. We document depth distributions of concentrations (relative to bulk POC) and δ 13 C signatures of cholesterol and brassicasterol from the Cape Basin to the northern Weddell Gyre combined with CO 2 aq. surface concentration variation. While relationships between surface water CO 2 aq. and δ 13 C of bulk POC and biomarkers have been previously established for surface waters, our data show that these remain valid in deeper waters, suggesting that δ 13 C signatures of certain biomarkers could be developed as proxies for surface water CO 2 aq. Our data suggest a key role of zooplankton fecal aggregates in carbon export for this part of the Southern Ocean. We observed a general increase in sterol δ 13 C signatures with depth, which is likely related to a combination of particle size effects, selective feeding on larger cells by zooplankton, and growth rate related effects Additionally, in the southern part of the transect south of the Polar Front (PF), the release of sea-ice algae is hypothesized to influence the isotopic signature of sterols in the open ocean. Overall, combined use of δ 13 C and concentrations measurements of both bulk organic C and specific sterol markers throughout the water column shows the promising potential of analyzing δ 13 C signatures of individual marine sterols to explore the recent history of plankton and the fate of organic matter in the SO.
of Exposure among Smokers Not Intending to Quit Reduced Nicotine Cigarettes: Smoking Behavior and Biomarkers

Background: The U.S. FDA has the authority to limit the nicotine content of cigarettes; however, there are concerns that reduced nicotine cigarettes will be smokedmore intensely and, therefore, will increase exposure to toxic chemicals in smoke. This study examined changes in consumer behavior and exposure in response to cigarettes with substantially reduced nicotine content. Methods: Seventy-two adult smokers completed an unblinded trial of reduced nicotine cigarettes. Participants completed a 7-day baseline period during which they smoked their usual cigarette brand, followed by consecutive 7-day periods smoking cigarettes with progressively lower nicotine levels (0.6, 0.3, and 0.05 mg emission Quest cigarettes). Nicotine dependence and withdrawal, smoking behavior, and biomarkers of exposure were assessed for each 7-day period. Results: Significant reductions in nicotine intake were observed between usual brand smoking ( 1.2 mg nicotine) and the 0.3 and 0.05mgnicotine emission cigarettes, but not the 0.6mg cigarette. The findings provide little evidence of compensatory smoking of Quest cigarettes, with no increases in exhaled breath carbon monoxide levels, smoking intensity, or levels of 1-hydroxypyrene across study periods. No significant differences were observed for smoking urges or measures of nicotine dependence. Conclusions: The study adds to the evidence that cigarettes withmarkedly reduced nicotine content are not associated with increased smoking intensity or exposure to smoke toxicants. Impact: The findings add to the evidence base on reduced nicotine content cigarettes and have the potential to inform FDA policy on nicotine levels. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 23(10); 2032–40. 2014 AACR.
Robust and Fragile Aspects of Cortical Blood Flow in Relation to the Underlying Angioarchitecture

We review the organizational principles of the cortical vasculature and the underlying patterns of blood flow under normal conditions and in response to occlusion of single vessels. The cortex is sourced by a two‐dimensional network of pial arterioles that feeds a three‐dimensional network of subsurface microvessels in close proximity to neurons and glia. Blood flow within the surface and subsurface networks is largely insensitive to occlusion of a single vessel within either network. However, the penetrating arterioles that connect the pial network to the subsurface network are bottlenecks to flow; occlusion of even a single penetrating arteriole results in the death of a 500 μm diameter cylinder of cortical tissue despite the potential for collateral flow through microvessels. This pattern of flow is consistent with that calculated from a full reconstruction of the angioarchitecture. Conceptually, collateral flow is insufficient to compensate for the occlusion of a penetrating arteriole because penetrating venules act as shunts of blood that flows through collaterals. Future directions that stem from the analysis of the angioarchitecture concern cellular‐level issues, in particular the regulation of blood flow within the subsurface microvascular network, and system‐level issues, in particular the role of penetrating arteriole occlusions in human cognitive impairment.
Quantitative Structural Analysis of Complex Materials by Scanning Nanobeam Diffraction

Conventional TEM is routinely used to study structural properties of materials with nanometer resolution by using diffraction contrast imaging techniques. In addition electron diffraction can be used to acquire focused local information on the orientation or crystal structure. Alternatively, ADF-STEM uses a converged scanning beam and an annular detector and can also be used to image defects using diffraction contrast [1]. In both techniques the possible images that can be formed are limited by the physical shapes and sizes of the apertures or detectors.
Israeli Civilians under Heavy Bombardment: Prediction of the Severity of Post-Traumatic Symptoms

Abstract Context: The military conflict that occurred between Lebanon and Israel in July and August of 2006 was characterized by the heavy bombardment of specific geographic regions in Israel, resulting in considerable civilian casualties and property damage. Objective: Israeli civilians directly and indirectly exposed to bombardment were compared on exposure to the recent bombardment, trauma history, perceived life threat and peritraumatic dissociation during the recent bombardment, and current post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity. Design, Setting, and Participants: Following the conflict, data were collected by telephone from 317 Israeli residents randomly selected from two towns that were subject to differing levels of exposure to the bombardment. Intervention(s): None Main Outcome Measure(s): Exposure to trauma during the Second Lebanon War, prior trauma exposure, PTSD symptom severity, perceived life threat, and peri-traumatic dissociation. Results: The residents directly affected by the bombardment (Kiryat Shmona; KS) endorsed more trauma exposure, (p <0.01); more prior trauma, (p <0.01); more life threat, (p <0.01); and greater PTSD symptomatology (12 % of KY participants and 38% of KS participants had probable PTSD), compared to residents in the comparison town (Kfar Yona; KY). Both groups reported a similar degree of peri-event dissociation (KS: M = 7.2 ±3.7; KY: M = 7.3 ±3.0). Perceived life threat mediated the relationship between exposure to bombardment and PTSD symptomatology. Time spent in bomb shelters was not associated with PTSD symptom severity. Prior shelling-related trauma negatively predicted PTSD. Conclusions: The terror of bombardment is a risk factor for PTSD among civil-ians. Although there is considerable resilience in chronically threatened commu-nities, it is prudent to develop and implement public health approaches to prevent those most distressed during and after attacks from developing PTSD. Because, to a small degree, prior trauma exposure buffers the response to bombardment, interventions should consider leveraging citizens' past successful coping.
The impact of digital health technologies on tuberculosis treatment: a systematic review

Digital technologies are increasingly harnessed to support treatment of persons with tuberculosis (TB). Since in-person directly observed treatment (DOT) can be resource intensive and challenging to implement, these technologies may have the potential to improve adherence and clinical outcomes. We reviewed the effect of these technologies on TB treatment adherence and patient outcomes. We searched several bibliographical databases for studies reporting the effect of digital interventions, including short message service (SMS), video-observed therapy (VOT) and medication monitors (MMs), to support treatment for active TB. Only studies with a control group and which reported effect estimates were included. Four trials showed no statistically significant effect on treatment completion when SMS was added to standard care. Two observational studies of VOT reported comparable treatment completion rates when compared with in-person DOT. MMs increased the probability of cure (RR 2.3, 95% CI 1.6–3.4) in one observational study, and one trial reported a statistically significant reduction in missed treatment doses relative to standard care (adjusted means ratio 0.58, 95% CI 0.42–0.79). Evidence of the effect of digital technologies to improve TB care remains limited. More studies of better quality are needed to determine how such technologies can enhance programme performance. Digital technologies are being used to support TB treatment adherence, but evidence for their impact needs to improve http://ow.ly/1riC30h6hu3
Seam carving with forward gradient difference maps

We propose a new energy function for seam carving based on forward gradient differences to preserve regular structures in images. The energy function measures the curvature inconsistency between the pixels that become adjacent after seam removal, and involves the difference of gradient orientation and magnitude of the pixels. Our objective is to minimize the differences induced by the removed seam, and the optimization is performed by dynamic programming based on multiple cumulative energy maps, each of which corresponds to the seam pattern associated with a pixel. The proposed technique preserves straight lines and regular shapes better than the original and improved seam carving, and can be easily combined with other types of energy functions within the seam carving framework. We evaluated the performance of our algorithm by comparing with the original and improved seam carving algorithms using public data.
Fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery with concurrent temozolomide chemotherapy for locally recurrent glioblastoma multiforme: a prospective cohort study

Local recurrence represents a significant challenge in the management of patients with glioblastoma multiforme. Salvage treatment options are limited by lack of clinical efficacy. Recent studies have demonstrated a significant response rate and acceptable toxicity with the use of fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery in this patient population. Our primary objective was to determine the efficacy and toxicity of fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery combined with concurrent temozolomide chemotherapy as a salvage treatment for recurrent glioblastoma multiforme. We prospectively collected treatment and outcome data for patients having fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery for locally recurrent glioblastoma multiforme after radical radiotherapy. Eligible patients had a maximum recurrence diameter of 60 mm without causing significant mass effect. The gross tumor volume was defined as the enhancing lesion on an enhanced fine-slice T1 (spin–lattice) magnetic resonance imaging, and a circumferential setup margin of 1 mm was used to define the planning target volume. All patients were treated using robotic radiosurgery with three dose/fractionation schedules ranging from 25 to 35 Gy in five fractions, depending on the maximum tumor diameter. Concurrent temozolomide 75 mg/m2 was prescribed to all patients. Tumor response was judged using the Macdonald criteria, and toxicity was assessed using the CTCAE (Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events). A total of 31 patients were enrolled in this study. The median overall survival was 9 months, and progression-free survival was 7 months. The 6-month progression-free survival was 60% with a 95% confidence interval of 43%–77%. The a priori stratification factor of small tumor diameter was shown to predict overall survival, while time to recurrence was not predictive of progression-free or overall survival. Three patients experienced grade 3 acute toxicity that responded to increased steroid dosing. One patient experienced a grade 4 acute toxicity that did not respond to increased steroids but did respond to anti-angiogenic therapy. Fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery with concurrent temozolomide has shown good short-term clinical and radiologic control with manageable acute toxicity. This regimen appears to provide superior efficacy to either temozolomide or fractionated radiosurgery alone. The results of this study support the continued evaluation of this regimen.
Location coding for mobile image retrieval

For mobile image retrieval, efficient data transmission can be achieved by sending only the query features. Each query feature is composed of a descriptor and a location in the image. The former is used to find candidate matching images using a "bag-of-words" approach while the latter is used in a geometric consistency check to map features in the query image to corresponding features in the database image. We investigate how to compress the location information and how lossy compression affects the geometric consistency check. The location information is converted into a location histogram and a context-based arithmetic coding with location refinement method is then proposed to code the histogram. The effects of lossily compressing the location information are evaluated empirically in terms of the errors in corresponding features and the error of the estimated geometric transformation model. From our experiments, rates at ~5.1 bits per feature can achieve errors comparable to lossless coding. The proposed scheme achieves a 12.5x rate reduction compared to the floating point representation, and 2.8x rate reduction compared to a fixed point representation.
Synthesis and antibacterial activity of new hydrazide-hydrazones derived from Benzocaine 1

A novel series of new eleven benzocaine hydrazide derivatives, N-(4-{[2-(nonsubstituted/ substitutedfuryl/ phenyl/ pyridinyl/ thienyl/ pyrrole)methylidene]hydrazinyl] carbonyl}phenyl) benzamides [3a-k] have been synthesized in this study. The structures of the new compounds were determined by spectral (FT-IR and 1H-NMR) methods and their purity was proven by elemental analysis and thin layer chromatography. These compounds were evaluated for in vitro antibacterial activity by using micro-well dilution method against Escherichia coli ATCC 10536, Escherichia coli ATCC 15442, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 15442, Acinetobacter baumannii , Klebsiella pneumonia ATCC 13883.
Contextual Correlates of Physical Activity among Older Adults: A Neighborhood Environment-Wide Association Study (NE-WAS)

Background: Few older adults achieve recommended physical activity levels. We conducted a “neighborhood environment-wide association study (NE-WAS)” of neighborhood influences on physical activity among older adults, analogous, in a genetic context, to a genome-wide association study. Methods: Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) and sociodemographic data were collected via telephone survey of 3,497 residents of New York City aged 65 to 75 years. Using Geographic Information Systems, we created 337 variables describing each participant's residential neighborhood's built, social, and economic context. We used survey-weighted regression models adjusting for individual-level covariates to test for associations between each neighborhood variable and (i) total PASE score, (ii) gardening activity, (iii) walking, and (iv) housework (as a negative control). We also applied two “Big Data” analytic techniques, LASSO regression, and Random Forests, to algorithmically select neighborhood variables predictive of these four physical activity measures. Results: Of all 337 measures, proportion of residents living in extreme poverty was most strongly associated with total physical activity [−0.85; (95% confidence interval, −1.14 to −0.56) PASE units per 1% increase in proportion of residents living with household incomes less than half the federal poverty line]. Only neighborhood socioeconomic status and disorder measures were associated with total activity and gardening, whereas a broader range of measures was associated with walking. As expected, no neighborhood meaZsures were associated with housework after accounting for multiple comparisons. Conclusions: This systematic approach revealed patterns in the domains of neighborhood measures associated with physical activity. Impact: The NE-WAS approach appears to be a promising exploratory technique. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(4); 495–504. ©2017 AACR. See all the articles in this CEBP Focus section, “Geospatial Approaches to Cancer Control and Population Sciences. ”