Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Flux-Limited Numerical Method for the MHD Equations to Simulate Propulsive Plasma Flows ∗

For numerical simulations to be effective tools in plasma propulsion research, a higher order accurate solver that captures MHD shocks monotonically and works reliably for strong magnetic fields is needed. For this purpose, a characteristics based scheme for the MHD equations, with flux limiters to improve spatial accuracy, has been developed. In this method, the symmetric form of the MHD equations, accounting for waves propagating in all directions, is solved. The required eigensystem of axisymmetric MHD equations, with appropriate normalization, is presented. This scheme was validated against unsteady (Riemann problem) and force-free equilibrium (Taylor state) test cases. The capability of this method to simulate resistive plasma flows is demonstrated using a simple example.
Economic Valuation of the Efficiency of Bankruptcy Systems

The market valuation of corporate insolvency problems is conditioned by the attributes of bankruptcy laws, with different codes traditionally being oriented toward protecting the debtor or the creditor. Nevertheless, it is also necessary to address the objective of each concrete measure established in the legislation to try to resolve financial distress. This study carries out an approximation, taking into account the different types of efficiency in bankruptcy regulations, the antagonistic character that, on occasions, exists between them, and the market valuation of each one of these, by way of an international analysis undertaken within the main European Union countries.
Information Dynamics of the Brain, Cardiovascular and Respiratory Network during Different Levels of Mental Stress

In this study, an analysis of brain, cardiovascular and respiratory dynamics was conducted combining information-theoretic measures with the Network Physiology paradigm during different levels of mental stress. Starting from low invasive recordings of electroencephalographic, electrocardiographic, respiratory, and blood volume pulse signals, the dynamical activity of seven physiological systems was probed with one-second time resolution measuring the time series of the δ, θ, α and β brain wave amplitudes, the cardiac period (RR interval), the respiratory amplitude, and the duration of blood pressure wave propagation (pulse arrival time, PAT). Synchronous 5-min windows of these time series, obtained from 18 subjects during resting wakefulness (REST), mental stress induced by mental arithmetic (MA) and sustained attention induced by serious game (SG), were taken to describe the dynamics of the nodes composing the observed physiological network. Network activity and connectivity were then assessed in the framework of information dynamics computing the new information generated by each node, the information dynamically stored in it, and the information transferred to it from the other network nodes. Moreover, the network topology was investigated using directed measures of conditional information transfer and assessing their statistical significance. We found that all network nodes dynamically produce and store significant amounts of information, with the new information being prevalent in the brain systems and the information storage being prevalent in the peripheral systems. The transition from REST to MA was associated with an increase of the new information produced by the respiratory signal time series (RESP), and that from MA to SG with a decrease of the new information produced by PAT. Each network node received a significant amount of information from the other nodes, with the highest amount transferred to RR and the lowest transferred to δ, θ, α and β. The topology of the physiological network underlying such information transfer was node- and state-dependent, with the peripheral subnetwork showing interactions from RR to PAT and between RESP and RR, PAT consistently across states, the brain subnetwork resulting more connected during MA, and the subnetwork of brain–peripheral interactions involving different brain rhythms in the three states and resulting primarily activated during MA. These results have both physiological relevance as regards the interpretation of central and autonomic effects on cardiovascular and respiratory variability, and practical relevance as regards the identification of features useful for the automatic distinction of different mental states.
Lifetime Earnings and the Vietnam Era Draft Lottery: Evidence from Social Security Administrative Records

Estimates of the effect of veteran status on civilian earnings may be biased by the fact that certain types of men are more likely to serve in the armed forces. In this paper, an estimation strategy is employed that enables measurement of the effects of veteran status while controlling for differences in other personal characteristics related to earnings. The randomly assigned risk of induction generated by the Vietnam era draft lottery is used to construct instrumental variables that are correlated with earnings solely by virtue of their correlation with veteran status. Instrumental variables estimates tabulated from Social Security Administration records indicate that in the early 1980's the earnings of white veterans were approximately 15 percent less than nonveteran earnings. In contrast, there is no evidence that nonwhite veterans suffered any lasting reduction in earnings. In an attempt to explain the loss of earnings to white veterans, experience-earnings profiles are estimated jointly with time-varying veteran status coefficients. The estimates suggest that the effect of Vietnam era military service on white veterans is equivalent to a loss of two years of civilian labor market experience.
Network-Free and In-Context Animations through Printed Codes

Time-based media are used in applications ranging from demonstrating the operation of home appliances to explaining new scientiﬁc discoveries. However, creating eﬀective time-based media is challenging. We introduce a new framework for authoring and consuming time-based media. An author encodes an animation in a printed code and aﬃxes the code to an object. A consumer uses a mobile application to capture an image of the object, and the image is used with the code to generate a video presentation on their lo-cal device. Our system is designed to be low cost and easy to use. By not requiring an internet connection to deliver the animation, the framework enhances the privacy of the communication. By requiring the user to have a direct line-of-sight view of the object, the framework provides personalized animations that only de-code in the intended context. Animation schemes in the system include 2D and 3D geometric transformations, color transformation, and annotation. We demonstrate the new framework with sample applications from a wide range of domains. We evaluate the ease of use and eﬀectiveness of our system with a user study.
Culture and Concealable Stigmatized Identities: Examining Anticipated Stigma in the United States and Turkey

Previous work shows that people with concealable stigmatized identities are at risk for heightened psychological distress (depression and anxiety), and one predictor for increased distress is greater anticipated stigma. Anticipated stigma is the concern that 1 will receive disparagement and poor treatment from others if the stigmatized identity becomes known. Stigma is socially constructed and thus the anticipation and experience of stigma is likely to differ across cultures in which relational ties differ. In the current work, we examined anticipated stigma and psychological distress with Turkish (N = 147) and American (N = 197) individuals with concealable stigmatized identities. The Turkish culture is rated higher in collectivism than the American culture and thus people with concealable stigmatized identities may be more concerned about others’ evaluations of them than people living in the more individualistic American culture. Results show that both Turkish and American participants with higher anticipated stigma experienced more anxiety and depression, replicating earlier work. In addition, Turkish individuals experienced higher mean levels of anticipated stigma and depression than their American counterparts. The effects of culture on depression were partially mediated by anticipated stigma. Thus, the relationship between anticipated stigma and psychological distress is replicable but may also be exacerbated or attenuated by cultural factors.
Therapeutic Effects of Transplanted Exosomes Containing miR-29b to a Rat Model of Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer disease (AD) is a complex neurodegenerative disorder with no definite treatment. The expression of miR-29 family is significantly reduced in AD, suggesting a part for the family members in pathogenesis of the disease. The recent emergence of microRNA (miRNA)–based therapeutic approaches is emphasized on the efficiency of miRNA transfer to target cells. The endogenously made secretory vesicles could provide a biological vehicle for drug delivery. Characteristics such as small sizes, the ability to cross the blood–brain barrier, the specificity in binding to the right target cells, and most importantly the capacity to be engineered as drug carriers have made exosomes desirable vehicles to deliver genetic materials to the central nervous system. Here, we transfected rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and HEK-293T cells (human embryonic kidney 293 cells) with recombinant expression vectors, carrying either mir-29a or mir-29b precursor sequences. A significant overexpression of miR-29 and downregulation of their targets genes, BACE1 (β-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme 1) and BIM [Bcl−2 interacting mediator of cell death (BCL2-like 11)], were confirmed in the transfected cells. Then, we confirmed the packaging of miR-29 in exosomes secreted from the transfected cells. Finally, we investigated a possible therapeutic effect of the engineered exosomes to reduce the pathological effects of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide in a rat model of AD. Aβ–treated model rats showed some deficits in spatial learning and memory. However, in animals injected with miR-29–containing exosomes at CA1 (cornu ammonis area), the aforementioned impairments were prevented. In conclusion, our findings provide a new approach for the packaging of miR-29 in exosomes and that the engineered exosomes might have a therapeutic potential in AD.
Island Activities Detected by VIIRS and Validation with AIS

A possibility to monitor the reclamation activities by remote sensing was discussed. The lights observed in the night time by Day Night Band (DNB) of Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), ocean color observed in the day time by visible bands of VIIRS were the tools to monitor the surface activities, and the Automated Information System (AIS) was used to verify the types and number of vessels associated with the reclamation activities. The lights as the radiance from the surface were monitored by the object based analysis, where the object was defined as a radius of 5 km from the center of the Mischief Reef in the South China Sea (SCS). The time history of surface lights exhibited the increase of the radiance from January to May 2015 and the radiance was kept in the certain level to December 2016 with some variations. The ocean color, chlorophyll-a concentration as a proxy of sediments, showed an increase from February to June 2015 and returned to a low concentration in August 2015. According to the historical data of AIS, the number of dredgers has increased from February to August 2015 and the maximum number of dredgers was recorded in June 2015. The timing of increase of lights from surface, increase of chlorophyll-a concentration, and increase of number of vessels are consistent.
Type III Secretion 1 Effector Gene Diversity Among Vibrio Isolates From Coastal Areas in China

Vibrios, which include more than 120 valid species, are an abundant and diverse group of bacteria in marine and estuarine environments. Some of these bacteria have been recognized as pathogens of both marine animals and humans, and therefore, their virulence mechanisms have attracted increasing attention. The type III secretion system (T3SS) is an important virulence determinant in many gram-negative bacteria, in which this system directly translocates variable effectors into the host cytosol for the manipulation of the cellular responses. In this study, the distribution of the T3SS gene cluster was first examined in 110 Vibrio strains of 26 different species, including 98 strains isolated from coastal areas in China. Several T3SS1 genes, but not T3SS2 genes (T3SS2α and T3SS2β), were universally detected in all the strains of four species, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibrio harveyi, and Vibrio campbellii. The effector coding regions within the T3SS1 gene clusters from the T3SS1-positive strains were further analyzed, revealing that variations in the effectors of Vibrio T3SS1 were observed among the four Vibrio species, even between different strains in V. harveyi, according to their genetic organization. Importantly, Afp17, a potential novel effector that may exert a similar function as the known effector VopS in T3SS1-induced cell death, based on cytotoxicity assay results, was found in the effector coding region of the T3SS1 in some V. harveyi and V. campbellii strains. Finally, it was revealed that differences in T3SS1-mediated cytotoxicity were dependent not only on the variations in the effectors of Vibrio T3SS1 but also on the initial adhesion ability to host cells, which is another prerequisite condition. Altogether, our results contribute to the clarification of the diversity of T3SS1 effectors and a better understanding of the differences in cytotoxicity among Vibrio species.
Development of BacMam Induced Hepatitis E Virus Replication Model in Hepatoma Cells to Study the Polyprotein Processing

The processing of polyprotein(s) to form structural and non-structural components remains an enigma due to the non-existence of an efficient and robust Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) culture system. We used the BacMam approach to construct an HEV replication model in which the HEV genome was cloned in the BacMam vector under the CMV promoter. The recombinant BacMam was used to infect Huh7 cells to transfer the HEV genome. HEV replication was authenticated by the presence of RNAs of both the polarity (+) and (−) and formation of hybrid RNA, a replication intermediate. The presence of genes for Papain-like Cysteine Protease (PCP), methyltransferase (MeT), RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), and ORF2 was confirmed by PCR amplification. Further, the infectious nature of the culture system was established as evidenced by the cross-infection of uninfected cells using the cell lysate from the infected cells. The HEV replication model was validated by detection of the ORF1 (Open Reading Frame1) encoded proteins, identified by Western blotting and Immunofluorescence by using epitope-specific antibodies against each protein. Consequently, discrete bands of 18, 35, 37, and 56 kDa corresponding to PCP, MeT, RdRp, and ORF2, respectively, were seen. Besides demonstrating the presence of non-structural enzymes of HEV along with ORF2, activity of a key enzyme, HEV-methyltransferase has also been observed. A 20% decrease in the replicative forms of RNA could be seen in presence of 100 μM Ribavirin after 48 h of treatment. The inhibition gradually increased from 0 to 24 to 48 h post-treatment. Summarily, infectious HEV culture system has been established, which could demonstrate the presence of HEV replicative RNA forms, the structural and non-structural proteins and the methyltransferase in its active form. The system may also be used to study the mechanism of action of Ribavirin in inhibiting HEV replication and develop a therapy.
Evoking Apparent Moving Sensation in the Hand via Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation

The restoration of sensory feedback in amputees plays a fundamental role in the prosthesis control and in the communication on the afferent channel between hand and brain. The literature shows that transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) can be a promising non-invasive technique to elicit sensory feedback in amputees, especially in the lower limb through the phenomenon of apparent moving sensation (AMS). It consists of delivering a sensation that moves along a specific part of the body. This study proposes to use TENS to elicit tactile sensations and adopt AMS to reproduce moving sensations on the hand, such as those related to an object moving in the hand or slipping upward or downward. To this purpose, the developed experimental protocol consists of two phases: (i) the mapping of the evoked sensations and (ii) the generation of the AMS. In the latter phase, the pulse amplitude variation (PAV), the pulse width variation (PWV), and the interstimulus delay modulation (ISDM) methods were compared. For the comparative analysis, the Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney test with Bonferroni correction (P < 0.016) was carried out on the success rate and on the ranking of methods expressed by the subjects. Results from the mapping protocol show that the delivered sensations were mostly described by the subjects as almost natural and superficial tingling. Results from the AMS protocol show that, for each movement direction, the success rate of ISDM method is higher than that of PWV and PAV and significantly higher than that of PAV for the ulnar-median direction. It recreates an AMS in the hand that effectively allows discriminating the type of sensation and distinguishing the movement direction. Moreover, ISDM was ranked by the subjects as the favorite method for recreating a well-defined and comfortable moving sensation only in the median-ulnar direction. For the ranking results, there was not a statistically significant difference among the methods. The experiments confirmed the good potential of recreating an AMS in the hand through TENS. This encourages to push forward this study on amputees and integrate it in the closed-loop control of a prosthetic system, in order to enable full control of grasp stability and prevent the objects from slippage.
The Psycho-Physiological Profile of Adolescent Elite Sailors: Testing a Three-Way Moderation Model

The present study aimed at extending the work on individual differences, in the relationship between personality traits and the cortisol response, by examining the interaction effects of sex and the role category of Italian adolescent elite dinghy sailors. Seventy athletes completed a self-reported questionnaire including socio-demographic data, information about the role played on board (helmsmen or bowmen) and the Big Five Questionnaire-2. Salivary cortisol samples were collected at 30 min after awakening the day before competitions. Main findings from bivariate correlations showed positive associations among cortisol levels, extraversion and consciousness in both male and female bowmen groups. The moderation and moderated moderation analyses further indicated (1) a three-way interaction effect in the relationship between extraversion and salivary cortisol, (2) a marginal significant three-way interaction effect in the relationship between neuroticism and salivary cortisol, and (3) no other personality dimensions were significantly predictive of the outcome variable. Our results provided evidence not only about sex differences, but also about the role played on board by the sailors in the linkages between personality traits and the biomarker of the trait component of HPA axis functioning.
Evidence and Open Questions for the Use of Video-Feedback Interventions With Parents of Children With Neurodevelopmental Disabilities

The Video-Feedback Intervention (VFI) is a technique aimed at promoting positive parenting that has been found to be supportive of child development and parent–child interaction in different at-risk and clinical populations. The application of VFI with parents of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities (ND; e.g., cerebral palsy, sensory and/or psychomotor delay, and genetic syndromes) is growing. Nonetheless, no systematic review is currently available documenting whether this type of intervention improves children’s developmental outcomes (e.g., behavioral stability and cognitive abilities), parental caregiving skills (e.g., responsive parenting), and parental emotional well-being (e.g., depressive symptomatology). In the present mini-review, 212 VFI records were retrieved from three databases (i.e., PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science), and 10 papers were finally included. Abstracted information included age, diagnosis, methodological aspects (timing, setting, and themes), and child/parent outcomes. Significant improvements from pre- to post-VFI were observed in all studies. Specifically, the VFIs were significantly associated with better children developmental outcomes and parental caregiving skills. Inconsistent findings emerged for the VFI effects on parental emotional well-being. Overall, the current mini-review supports the potential effectiveness of parent-focused VFI interventions for parents of children with ND, despite the presence of open questions that need to be addressed in future clinical trials.
The Impact of Prenatal and Postpartum Partner Violence on Maternal Mental Health: Results from the Community Child Health Network Multisite Study

Abstract Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) negatively impacts maternal and infant health, yet few studies assess violence at multiple time points during the childbearing year. Methods: Using data on 2018 women from the multisite Community Child Health Network (CCHN), this study assesses the relationship between past-year IPV (reported at 1 and 12 months postpartum) and maternal depression and perceived stress measured 1 year postpartum. Past-year IPV was measured using a modified version of the HITS (Hurts, Insults, Threatens, and Screams) assessment; depression was assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; perceived stress was assessed by the Perceived Stress Scale. Multivariable logistic regression models estimated risk for depression and estimated stress scores among women reporting exposure to IPV at one or both time points compared to those unexposed to IPV, adjusting for maternal age and household income. Results: At 1 month postpartum, 36% of participants reported past-year.