Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ultrastrong nanotwinned pure nickel with extremely fine twin thickness

Continuous strengthening and ultrahigh strength are realized in Ni with extremely fine twin thickness. The strength of nanocrystalline and nanotwinned metals stops increasing or even starts decreasing when their grain size or twin thickness is below a critical size—a phenomenon known as Hall-Petch breakdown—which hinders the attainment of ultrahigh strength. Here, we report continuous strengthening in nanotwinned pure Ni with twin thicknesses ranging from 81.0 to 2.9 nm. An unprecedented strength of 4.0 GPa was achieved at extremely fine twin thickness of 2.9 nm, which is about 12 times stronger than that of conventional coarse-grained nickel. This ultrahigh strength arises from the excellent stability of twin boundaries and their strong impedance to dislocation motion. In particular, we find that secondary nanotwins are activated to sustain plastic deformation, which also contribute to the high strength. These results not only advance the understanding of the strengthening mechanisms in nanotwinned metals but also offer an alternative pathway to develop engineering materials with ultrahigh strength.
Valuing the Process of Corporate Restructuring

We study the process of corporate restructuring for a sample of 298 firms during the 1989-98 period that announce that they are considering restructuring alternatives. We find that restructuring is a lengthy process, with the majority of the restructuring period occurring prior to any definitive proposals for corporate change. Only 70 percent of the firms that initially propose restructuring later make a definitive proposal to sell either all or part of the firm, with other firms taking themselves out of play or declaring bankruptcy. Hence, the market reaction to the initial restructuring announcement underestimates the full wealth effects of completed restructurings. The estimate of the full value of restructuring across the sample firms averages 7.5 percent, with the greatest gains of 30 percent accruing to firms that are acquired. The average gain for the full restructuring period for firms divesting a unit is 5 percent, which is roughly double that estimated for the initial announcement in prior studies of corporate divestitures.
Dual Time-Point 18F-FDG PET/CT in Spinal Sarcoidosis: A Single Institution Case Series.

STUDY DESIGN A case series of dual time-point F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (F-FDG PET/CT) for the diagnosis of spinal cord sarcoidosis. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to illustrate three cases of spinal sarcoidosis with occult presentation and subsequent identification with the use of dual time-point F-FDG PET/CT. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Sarcoidosis of the spinal cord is very rare and when it occurs without systemic manifestations of disease can be a challenging diagnostic dilemma frequently resulting in the need for spinal cord biopsy in order to establish a diagnosis. METHODS Case series presentation and report. RESULTS This manuscript presents a case series experience of dual time-point F-FDG PET/CT for the diagnosis of spinal cord sarcoidosis. We review the cases of three patients who presented with myelopathy and underwent F-FDG DTPI as part of the evaluation for enhancing spinal cord lesions of unknown etiology for 2 years at a university-based cancer hospital. F-FDG DTPI was vital in making the diagnosis of sarcoidosis, and in two of the cases, the patients were able to avoid biopsy, thereby avoiding potential morbidity from an invasive procedure. CONCLUSION F-FDG PET/CT imaging is a noninvasive imaging technique that can be crucial in the diagnosis of sarcoidosis of the spinal cord and help avoid unnecessary procedures. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 4.
Mixed-Matrix Membrane Hollow Fibers of Cu3(BTC)2 MOF and Polyimide for Gas Separation and Adsorption

Metal−organic framework (MOF) crystals of Cu3(BTC)2 with a high surface area (1396 m2·g−1) were synthesized and mixed with polyimide (PI) to prepare mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) for gas separations. The PI−Cu3(BTC)2 blend was successfully spun into MMM hollow fiber by the dry/wet-spinning method. SEM images of the fiber cross sections revealed significant plastic deformation of the polymer matrix owing to the strong affinity between Cu3(BTC)2 and PI. The H2 permeance and the selectivity of H2 with respect to other gases such as N2, CO2, O2, and CH4 both increased markedly with increased Cu3(BTC)2 loading. At a loading of 6 wt % Cu3(BTC)2, the permeance of H2 increased by 45%, and the ideal selectivity increased by a factor of 2−3 compared to the corresponding values for pure PI.
Time spent with HIV-RNA ≤ 200 copies/ml in a cohort of people with HIV during the U=U era

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text Objective: Zero risk of linked HIV transmission in serodiscordant couples when the HIV-infected partner had viral load less than 200 copies/ml (‘U status’) was found in observational studies. We aimed at estimating the proportion of time in which ‘U status’ was maintained and identifying factors associated with the risk of losing it. Design: Observational cohort study. Methods: We included participants in the ICONA cohort who had reached an established ‘U status’ (viral load ≤200 copies/ml for >6 months) as of December 2010. The outcome was the number of person-days of follow-up (PDFU) above a viral load greater than 200 copies/ml, relative to the total number of PDFU observed. A logistic regression model was used to identify factors independently associated with the risk of losing ‘U status’. Results: Eight thousand, two hundred and forty-one persons living with HIV were included in the analysis who contributed 2 670 888 PDFU. Of these, 1648 (20%) were women, 768 (9%) were people who inject drugs (PWID), and 2066 (25%) were foreign-born. The median of viral load measurements was 9 (IQR: 4–15). Overall, only 3.1% of PDFU were observed when viral load was above 200 copies/ml. The proportion of PDFU with viral load more than 200 copies/ml was higher than average in women (5.3%), unemployed (5.4%), PWID (4.7%), and in people with more than three previous virologic failures (6.3%). These variables were significant predictors of losing ‘U status’ in the multivariable logistic regression. Conclusion: Our results reinforce the validity of the U=U message in real-world setting. However, we identified subsets of our study population at higher risk of losing the ‘U status’ for whom additional efforts are needed.
Alzheimer’s Disease Diagnosis using a Variational Autoencoder

Alzheimer’s Disease is one of the most common pathologies in aging humans, responsible for progressive brain atrophies which manifest themselves in cognitive and memory problems. Although a form of deﬁnitive diagnosis is yet to be found, it is possible to identify disease related lesions through inspection of brain scans, a task that can possibly be automated in order to aid specialists. In this work, a Deep Learning strategy will be adopted in order to build a framework that, given a scan belonging to a patient with an unknown disease status, produces an adequate diagnosis automatically. Current approaches are all based on the concept of supervised learning through the usage of labeled datasets. This work on the other hand tries to interpret the automated diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease as a novelty detection problem with three classes (healthy, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s dementia), relying on a Variational Autoencoder (VAE), an unsupervised and generative network, mod-iﬁed with convolutional layers responsible for automatic image feature extraction and encoding in the form of a chosen probability density function. The proposed approach shows advantages, eliminating the need for labelled images and allowing one to inspect aﬀected brain areas (which may be clinically relevant), while showing a possibility to detect anomalies through the output-input reconstruction error. However, it suﬀers from a highly uninformative latent space and an overdependence on hyperparameter values, which jeopardize its viability, especially when compared to a supervised deep classiﬁer (with the same structure as the unsupervised network’s encoder).
Delay-Dependent Distributed Kalman Fusion Estimation With Dimensionality Reduction in Cyber-Physical Systems

This article studies the distributed dimensionality reduction fusion estimation problem with communication delays for a class of cyber-physical systems (CPSs). The raw measurements are preprocessed in each sink node to obtain the local optimal estimate (LOE) of a CPS, and the compressed LOE under dimensionality reduction encounters with communication delays during the transmission. Under this case, a mathematical model with compensation strategy is proposed to characterize the dimensionality reduction and communication delays. This model also has the property of reducing the information loss caused by the dimensionality reduction and delays. Based on this model, a recursive distributed Kalman fusion estimator (DKFE) is derived by optimal weighted fusion criterion in the linear minimum variance sense. A stability condition for the DKFE, which can be easily verified by the exiting software, is derived. In addition, this condition can guarantee that the estimation error covariance matrix of the DKFE converges to the unique steady-state matrix for any initial values and, thus, the steady-state DKFE (SDKFE) is given. Note that the computational complexity of the SDKFE is much lower than that of the DKFE. Moreover, a probability selection criterion for determining the dimensionality reduction strategy is also presented to guarantee the stability of the DKFE. Two illustrative examples are given to show the advantage and effectiveness of the proposed methods.
Causal Consistency for Reversible Multiparty Protocols

In programming models with a reversible semantics, computational steps can be undone. This paper addresses the integration of reversible semantics into process languages for communication-centric systems equipped with behavioral types. In prior work, we introduced a monitors-as-memories approach to seamlessly integrate reversible semantics into a process model in which concurrency is governed by session types (a class of behavioral types), covering binary (two-party) protocols with synchronous communication. The applicability and expressiveness of the binary setting, however, is limited. Here we extend our approach, and use it to define reversible semantics for an expressive process model that accounts for multiparty (n-party) protocols, asynchronous communication, decoupled rollbacks, and abstraction passing. As main result, we prove that our reversible semantics for multiparty protocols is causally-consistent. A key technical ingredient in our developments is an alternative reversible semantics with atomic rollbacks, which is conceptually simple and is shown to characterize decoupled rollbacks.
Syntax Guided Neural Program Repair

Automated Program Repair(APR) helps to improve the efficiency of the software development and maintenance. Although a lot of APR approaches have been proposed recently, they have their own limitations. Pattern-based approaches need the hand-written patterns which need a lot of hard work of programmers. DL-based approaches can generate the complex statements when adopting NMT models. In this paper, we propose a framework to integrate these two kinds of APR approaches. Then, we introduce a novel neural model named Recoder designed for this framework to generate the patches based on the given buggy method. We conducted several experiments to evaluate Recoder on several datasets, Defects4j v1.2, and Defects4j v2.0. Our results show that Recoder achieved 23.1% improvements over the previous state-of-the-art approaches and repaired 52 bugs on Defects4j v1.2. Furthermore, Recoder achieved 200% performance on Defects4j v2.0 compared with the top two pattern-based APR tools.
Gene Expression Level, Immunolocalization, and Function of Fatty Acid-Binding Protein from Schistosoma japonicum

ABSTRACT The Schistosoma japonicum fatty acid-binding protein (FABP) is used in the cell membrane to absorb and transport fatty acids, which cannot be resynthesized by the organism and combined with hydrophobic ligands. Among the 5 stages of the worm life cycle examined, FABP messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression was highest in male adult worms, followed by the liver-stage schistosome, and was the lowest in the lung-stage schistosome. The fabp gene-coding region was cloned and expressed to obtain recombinant S. japonicum FABP (rSjFABP) with a molecular weight of approximately 18 kDa. Mice were then immunized against rSjFABP to prepare anti-FABP serum. Using immunohistochemical techniques, FABP protein was found to localize to the eggshell, parenchyma, and digestive tract. Double-stranded RNA-mediated knockdown of FABP mRNA by RNA interference decreased the number of transcripts by >70%. Moreover, the egg production rate decreased, whereas the abnormal egg ratio was significantly increased in the FABP-silenced group compared with the negative control group (P < 0.05). These results demonstrate that FABP localizes in adults and in various stages. FABP contributes to the egg-laying capacity of adults, which may be related to the reproductive function of S. japonicum.
Large-depth-of-field imaging system using a square aperture overlapped micro-lens array

Abstract. The application of a light-field camera based on an overlapped square aperture micro-lens array (MLA) is reported. The location and direction of the incident light rays are recorded and reconstructed with a large depth of field by this imaging system. The optimized square MLA for light-field imaging, which increases the fill factor and utilization efficiency of the image sensor, is proposed. The array is fabricated by ultra-precision machining and micro-injection molding, which is economical and ensures that the array remains in high accuracy and consistency. Finally, a light-field imaging system is built with lens groups, an MLA, and an adjustable square stop. A comparative study of the field in-depth and super-resolution image is conducted. The experimental results show that the system significantly increases the range of the depth of the field. The reconstructed image is also enhanced with higher resolution and clarity.
Design of metamaterial- and graphene-based tunable broadband electromagnetic absorber at the terahertz region

Abstract. A metamaterial- and graphene-based broadband terahertz (THz) electromagnetic wave absorber that is composed of a stack of patterned gold film layer, patterned graphene layer, polyimide layer, and silicon layers was studied in detail. Our study is based on numerical simulations and electromagnetic absorption level higher than 90% over 2.09 THz band was demonstrated. The absorption frequency band significantly depends on the thickness of the polyimide layer and red shifts in parallel with its thickness. The major role of the added patterned graphene layer is to introduce frequency tunability property to the almost perfect absorption. As the Fermi level of graphene changed from 0 to 0.6 eV, the center frequency of the absorption band blueshifts from 6.19 to 8.15 THz. We also investigated incoming beam angle of incidence dependence and polarization sensitivity of the absorption. Metamaterial-based tunable absorbers prospected to be utilized in high-performance THz devices as a performance boosting critical element.
Molecular Systematics of the Native Seagrass, Ruppia cf. Maritima (Ruppiaceae, Alismatales), on Hawai‘i Island1

Abstract: Ruppia cf. maritima is one of the few native Hawaiian brackish water flowering plants, but its identity has never been examined using genetic analysis. The ability of this seagrass to tolerate a wide range of salinities and temperatures is reflected in its morphological variability among locations worldwide. Three populations on the island of Hawai‘i were sampled, and molecular analyses of the nuclear gene ITS and two chloroplast genes trnH-psbA and rbcL were used to examine the identity of Hawaiian Ruppia. Concatenated analyses showed that the populations contained little intra- or interpopulation variability, and indicated greatest genetic similarity to specimens from Japan, India, Vietnam, and Africa. Slight variations in tree topologies were present among the individual nuclear and two plastid markers; however, all Hawaiian specimens nested within other sequences reported as R. maritima. Molecular phylogenetic analyses demonstrate that there are multiple clades of samples from around the world labeled as R. maritima, and that the Hawaiian samples are allied with one of these clades. The geographic isolation and geologic age of each Hawaiian island, as well as the disjunct distribution of Ruppia populations among islands and within each island suggest a multiplex biogeography and evolutionary history of Hawaiian Ruppia.
Theoretical investigation of 120 Gb/s all-optical AND and OR logic gates using reflective semiconductor optical amplifiers

Abstract. The performance of all-optical (AO) logic AND and OR gates, which are realized for the first time using reflective semiconductor optical amplifiers (RSOAs) as nonlinear elements, is theoretically investigated at 120 Gb / s. The switching modules that incorporate the RSOAs and exploit their potential for AO signal processing are the Mach–Zehnder interferometer and the delayed interferometer for the AND and OR operations, respectively. A performance comparison between an RSOA and a conventional semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is made by examining and assessing the quality factor against the operational critical parameters, including the effect of the amplified spontaneous emission. The obtained results confirm that these Boolean functions based on RSOAs can be executed at the target data rate with better performance than if conventional SOAs were used instead.
The Chasm We Must Cross in Japan for Re-promotion of the HPV Vaccine

In Japan, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rate has decreased from around 70% to less than 1% due to repeated media reports of diverse symptoms after HPV vaccination, and to suspension of the governmental recommendation. The challenges for re-promotion of the vaccine will be discussed from a marketing perspective. The adopter categories by which a new product penetrates the market can be divided into five groups, including Innovators, Early adopters, Early majority, Late majority, and Laggards. The 16.0% line, which is the sum of the percentages of the innovators and the early adopters, is thought to be an important determinate of whether a new product will penetrate the market. By various initiatives, vaccination coverage has recently risen to about 10%; however, there is still a large chasm difficult to cross before reaching the majority of individuals. To cross that chasm, peer education will be essential. First, community health workers will need to be educated so that they have a firm understanding of HPV vaccine and can confidently recommend vaccination to the targeted population. That population will be expected to pass on that recommendation to their acquaintances, resulting in widening dissemination of HPV vaccine among the majority.
Glucocorticoids protect HEI-OC1 cells from tunicamycin-induced cell damage via inhibiting endoplasmic reticulum stress

Abstract Background To analyze mechanisms of action of glucocorticoid treatment for endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) in sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), we aimed to evaluate the expression and activation status of the protein kinase RNA-like ER kinase (PERK)–C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) pathway, which is the major pathway in the ERS. Methods In the present study, we established an in vitro ERS model using tunicamycin-treated hair-cell-like HEI-OC1 cells. The effect of dexamethasone on proliferation inhibition, apoptosis, and ATF4–CHOP pathway in HEI-OC1 cells was examined by CCK-8 assay, flow cytometry, western blotting, and reverse transcription PCR, respectively. Results In HEI-OC1 cells, dexamethasone was shown to significantly reduce the tunicamycin-induced expression of ATF4 and CHOP in the context of sustained viability and proliferation, a therapeutic effect that was reversible by co-treatment with a glucocorticoid antagonist. Conclusion Dexamethasone can protect hair-cell-like HEI-OC1 cells from ERS damage, which may be one of the mechanisms of action for GCs in SNHL treatment.
Esophagectomy for Esophageal Cancer Performed During the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Delay in time to esophagectomy for esophageal cancer has been shown to have worse peri-operative and long-term outcomes. We hypothesized that COVID-19 would cause a delay to surgery, with worse perioperative outcomes, compared to standard operations. All esophagectomies for esophageal cancer at a single institution from March-June 2020, COVID-19 group, and from 2019 were reviewed and peri-operative details were compared between groups. Ninety-six esophagectomies were performed in 2019 vs 37 during March-June 2020 (COVID-19 group). No differences between groups were found for preoperative comorbidities. Wait-time to surgery from final neoadjuvant treatment was similar, median 50 days in 2019 vs 53 days during COVID-19 p=0.601. There was no increased upstaging, from clinical stage to pathologic stage, 9.4% in 2019 vs 7.5% in COVID-19 p=0.841. Fewer overall complications occurred during COVID-19 vs 2019, 43.2% vs 64.6% p=0.031, but complications were similar by specific grades. Readmission rates were not statistically different during COVID-19 than 2019, 16.2% vs 10.4% p=0.38. No peri-operative mortalities or COVID-19 infections were seen in the COVID-19 group. Esophagectomy for esophageal cancer was not associated with worse outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic with minimal risk of infection when careful COVID-19 guidelines are followed. Prioritization is recommended to ensure no delays to surgery.
Mangosteen Hinders Gamma Radiation-Mediated Oxidative Stress and Liver Injury by Down-Regulating TNF-α/NF-κB and Pro-Fibrotic Factor TGF-β1 Inducing Inflammatory Signaling

Background: Liver injury due to ionizing radiation exposure either accidental or after radiotherapy treatment, may lead to many alterations in proteins expression related to inflammation or apoptosis. Our study investigated the curative effect of Mangosteen (MGS) extract (fruit rind) against ionizing radiation (IR) induced liver damage. Methods: Hepatotoxicity was induced in Wister rats by exposure to an acute single dose (6 Gy) of IR while MGS was given orally to rats (500 mg/kg bwt) and administered daily for 30 days after irradiation. Results: MGS treatment has significantly attenuated redox imbalance state and toxicity induced by protracted exposure to gamma-rays in liver tissues, which was substantiated by the significant amelioration of liver function tests, MDA contents, antioxidant enzymes (SOD and CAT) activities and NO level. MGS inhibited also the inflammatory markers (TNF-alpha, IL-6 and CRP) and downregulated transcriptional factor NF-Kappa-B/TGF-β1. These alterations were concomitant with an improvement of the Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) which is a protein expressed in the nuclei of cells during cell cycle and is important for both DNA synthesis and DNA repair. These results were confirmed by amelioration in histological and ultrastructural examinations. Conclusion: We concluded that MGS could ameliorate via minimizing significantly the amount of oxidative damage, inflammations disturbances and pro-apoptotic alternations induced by IR. MGS may be a promising supplement with protective effects from irradiation-induced injury such as TNF-α/NF-κB/TGF-β1 management.