Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Methodology for assessing herd immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Serological monitoring of the study of population immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the context of COVID-19 pandemic is a necessary component in epidemiological surveillance, since population epidemiological wellbeing in a context of COVID-19 is determined by state of population immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The population herd immunity is the limiting factor in spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Information on the state of population immunity is necessary to make a forecast for development of epidemiological situation, as well as to plan measures for specific and non-specific prevention of COVID-19. In this regard, the study of population immunity during the pandemic is necessary to predict development of the epidemic and identify features of epidemic process in any certain region and in the country in general. In May 2020, the Rospotrebnadzor program “Assessment of population immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the population of the Russian Federation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic” was developed taking into account WHO recommendations in the format of a longitudinal cohort study with age stratification: at the first stage, a cohort of volunteers is formed; at the second and subsequent stages, the cohort of volunteers formed at the first stage is subject to examination; the number of stages depends on the epidemiological situation. In addition to age-related randomization while forming a cohort, at the first stage, the principle of population coverage uniformity was observed, the participation of volunteers from one institution was excluded, and the use of donated blood or patient blood from medical organizations was excluded. The survey was carried out among 7 age groups of healthy children and adults, regardless present or absent previous COVID-19 disease. Due to the fact that the population study is carried out in the context of COVID-19 pandemic, the optimal timing for collecting biomaterial at each stage is no more than 5–7 days. Questioning, selection of volunteers, their registration for blood donation, as well as processing of the results at the first stage, as well as the implementation of the second and subsequent stages of the Program are carried out only by using cloud service technology. This Program and the technology for its implementation have been successfully tested in 26 regions of the Russian Federation during the implementation of four stages from June 2020 to March 2021. Thus, at present, Rospotrebnadzor has developed a methodology and created an effectively working system of serological monitoring to assess level of herd immunity in different regions of the Russian Federation to predict the epidemiological situation, develop recommendations, and plan vaccination.
The Immunoregulatory Effect of Mechanical Stress on Three-dimensional Cultured Mesenchymal Stem Cells After Extensive Expansion

Background: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been used to treat immunopathy, and three-dimensional (3D) cultured MSCs show enhanced immunomodulatory property compared with those in two-dimensional (2D) culture. However, both the regulatory mechanisms remain unclear. The aim of the study was to investigate the role of mechanical stress in maintaining the immunomodulatory function of 2D and 3D cultured MSCs.Methods: Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) were plated on tissue culture plastic (TCP) as 2D culture and 3D cultured UC-MSCs were seeded in matrigel. Surface markers, clonogenicity, proliferation and immunoregulatory property of UC-MSCs were evaluated. Meanwhile, we established the mouse models of colitis and type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) to reveal the pharmacotherapeutic effects of 3D cultured MSCs in vivo. The effect of changing mechanical stress by modulating Yes-associated protein (YAP) on immunomodulatory function of 2D and 3D cultured UC-MSCs was evaluated by immunofluorescent analysis, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and western blot.Results: We verified early passage UC-MSCs in 2D and 3D cultures exhibited stemness, immunomodulatory property and therapeutic efficacy against immunopathy. However, these characteristics of 2D cultured UC-MSCs were impaired after extensive expansion, whereas 3D culture extended them for several passages by activating YAP. Moreover, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) could up-regulate YAP to improve the immunomodulatory ability of 2D cultured UC-MSCs after extensive expansion. Conclusions: This work found for the first time that the significance of mechanical stress in maintaining immunoregulatory function of 2D and 3D cultured UC-MSCs, providing a new idea for improving the efficacy of MSCs-based immunotherapy.
Robot Localization and Navigation Using Visible Light Positioning and SLAM Fusion

Visible light positioning (VLP) is a promising technology since it can provide high accuracy indoor localization based on the existing lighting infrastructure. However, existing approaches often require dense LED distributions and persistent line-of-sight (LOS) between transmitter and receiver. What's more, sensors are imperfect, and their measurements are prone to errors. Through multi sensors fusion, we can compensate the deficiencies of stand-alone sensors and provide more reliable pose estimations. In this work, we propose a loosely-coupled multi-sensor fusion method based on VLP and Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM), using light detection and ranging (LiDAR), odometry, and rolling shutter camera. Our multi-sensor localizer can provide accurate and robust robot localization and navigation in LED shortage/outage situations. The experimental results show that our proposed scheme can provide an average accuracy of 2.5 cm with around 42 ms average positioning latency.
SBUV observations of polar mesospheric clouds compared with MLS temperature and water vapor measurements

Earlier studies have shown that Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMC) occur more frequently in the northern hemisphere (NH) than the SH, consistent with colder NH temperatures. Coincident PMC observations with the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet instruments on the NOAA‐16 and NOAA‐18 satellite and temperature and water vapor measurements with the Microwave Limb Sounder on the Aura satellite support this result. These coincident measurements also show that, for similar temperatures and water vapor mixing ratios, PMCs occur more frequently and are brighter in the NH than the SH. Possible reasons for these hemispheric differences are discussed.
Women herders: women’s role and bargaining power in Mongolian herding households

ABSTRACT Women’s role in herding and their empowerment in Mongolian herding households has been little studied, and their participation in decision-making can have important implications for rural households. We draw on a unique sample of 60 Mongolian herding households carried out in 2017 to provide evidence for how herding work and related decision-making is shared between husbands and wives. We extend previous work by using a much more detailed survey, asking about participation in 22 different activities related to herding and 39 decisions, and by analysing factors associated with greater participation in herding decisions by Mongolian women. We show that most herding tasks are not gendered, and, in many tasks, women contribute more time than men. Women made few herding-related decisions alone, and they participate jointly with their spouses in about half the decisions, many fewer than men. Women who contribute more to herding income through milk and cashmere production have more input into many decisions; more educated women have greater participation in some decisions. These findings suggest policy paths toward greater equality and improved outcomes in Mongolian herding households.
Tracking Control of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Power Line Inspection

This work presents some results about power transmission line tracking control and a full autonomous inspection using a quadrotor helicopter. The presented in this paper power line autonomous inspection allows detecting power line defects caused by thunderstorms, corrosion, insulator malfunctions, and same time monitoring of vegetation under the power line corridor. Traditional inspection is performed by helicopters equipped with high-resolution cameras or by direct visual examination carried out by highly skilled staff climbing over de-energized power lines. However, the visual inspection is time-expensive and costly. Moreover, due to regulatory constraints, the helicopters cannot cover narrow mountainous areas. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are an attractive alternative for power line inspection. In this work, a mathematical model for the quadrotor helicopter used in the autonomous inspection is presented. The model is successfully evaluated through simulations and flight experiments. Next, the construction of a quadrotor helicopter system and its application to power line autonomous inspection is introduced. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the efficiency and applicability of that system. The results of this research are in the process of implementation for regular inspection of electrical transmission lines.
The efficacy and safety of Ojeok-san plus Saengmaek-san for gastro-esophageal reflux-induced chronic cough: a protocol for a pilot, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a major cause of chronic cough. GERD-induced chronic cough is difficult to diagnose because some patients do not complain of any gastrointestinal (GI) reflux symptoms. Although chronic cough due to GERD is highly prevalent, no effective treatment is currently available, especially for GERD-related cough without GI symptoms. As the herbal medicines Ojeok-san and Saengmaek-san can effectively treat GERD and cough, we aim to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a combination of these components for relieving chronic cough due to GERD. Methods This is a study protocol of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-center pilot trial. After one-week run-in period, a total of 30 patients with GERD-induced chronic cough will be randomly allocated to an intervention group (n=15) or placebo group (n=15). Participants will receive 5.76 g of Ojeok-san plus Saengmaek-san or a placebo three times per day for 6 weeks. The primary outcome measures, the frequency and severity of cough, will be recorded using a cough diary. The secondary outcome measures will include a cough visual analog scale, the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (Korean version), Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale, Hull Airway Reflux (hypersensitivity) Questionnaire, Pattern Identification for Chronic Cough Questionnaire, Pattern Identification for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, and safety testing. Adverse events will also be reported. Discussion This will be the first clinical trial to explore herbal medicines for the GERD-related chronic cough, including patients without GI reflux symptoms. This study will provide useful evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of Ojeok-san plus Saengmaek-san treatment. In addition, this trial will offer scientific basis for the combination of herbal medicines. This finding will also serve as an important data for conducting a larger-scale clinical trial on GERD-induced chronic cough. Trial registration This trial has been registered with Clinical Research Information Service (CRIS) of South Korea (http://cris.nih.go.kr; registration number: KCT0003115). Registered August 28, 2018.
Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte Ratio as a Predictor of Mortality in ICU Patients: An Analysis of MIMIC-III Database

Background: Identifying high-risk patients in intensive care unit (ICU) is very important because of the high mortality rate. Existing scoring systems are numerous but lack effective inflammatory markers. Our objective was to identify and evaluate a low-cost, easily accessible and effective inflammatory marker that can predict mortality in ICU patients.Methods: We conducted a retrospective study using data from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III database. We first divided the patients into the survival group and the death group based on in-hospital mortality. Receiver operating characteristic analyses were performed to find the best inflammatory marker (i.e. neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, NLR). We then re-divided the patients into three groups based on NLR levels. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were performed to evaluate the association between NLR and mortality. The area under the curve (AUC), Net Reclassification Improvement (NRI) and Integrated Discrimination Improvement (IDI) were used to assess whether the incorporate of NLR can improve the predictive power of existing predictive model. Results: A total of 21,822 patients were included in this study, with an in-hospital mortality rate of 14.43%. Among all inflammatory marker in routine blood test results, NLR had the best predictive ability, with a median (interquartile range) NLR of 5.40 (2.95, 10.46) in the survival group and 8.32 (4.25, 14.75) in the death group. We then re-divided the patients into low (≤1), medium (1-6) and high (≥6) groups based on NLR levels. Compared with the median NLR group, the in-hospital mortality rates were significantly higher in the low (odds ratio [OR] = 2.09; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.64 to 2.66) and high (OR=1.64; 95%CI, 1.50-1.80) NLR groups. The addition of NLR to Simplified Acute Physiology Score II (SAPS II) improved the AUC from 0.789 to 0.798 (P<0.001), with NRI of 16.64% (P<0.001) and IDI of 0.27% (P<0.001). Conclusion: NLR is a good predictor of mortality in ICU patients, both low and high levels of NLR are associated with elevated mortality rate. The inclusion of NLR might improve the predictive power of SAPS II.
Recent Progress on Electroactive Polymers: Synthesis, Properties and Applications

Electroactive polymers (EAPs) are an advanced family of polymers that change their shape through electric stimulation and have been a point of interest since their inception. This unique functionality has helped EAPs to contribute to versatile fields, such as electrical, biomedical, and robotics, to name a few. Ionic EAPs have a significant advantage over electronic EAPs. For example, Ionic EAPs require a lower voltage to activate than electronic EAPs. On the other hand, electronic EAPs could generate a relatively larger actuation force. Therefore, efforts have been focused on improving both kinds to achieve superior properties. In this review, the synthesis routes of different EAP-based actuators and their properties are discussed. Moreover, their mechanical interactions have been investigated from a tribological perspective as all these EAPs undergo surface interactions. Such interactions could reduce their useful life and need significant research attention for enhancing their life. Recent advancements and numerous applications of EAPs in various sectors are also discussed in this review.
Development and characterization of ceftriaxone-loaded P3HB-based microparticles for drug delivery

Abstract In this study, polymer-based microparticles are used to improve the therapeutic properties of ceftriaxone (CEF) and render them safer. Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (P3HB) and poly-3-hydroxybutyrate/polyethylene glycol (P3HB-PEG)-based microparticles were prepared by two methods: a double emulsification technique and spray-drying. The microparticles were characterized in terms of size and zeta potential, morphology, total drug loading and drug release. The microparticles had spherical shapes with diameters of a size range from 0.74 to 1.55 µm (emulsification technique) and from 3.84 to 6.51 µm (spray-drying); CEF encapsulation efficiency was around 63% and 49% for these methods respectively. The CEF release from microparticles obtained by spray-drying reached 100% after 150 h, while for microparticles obtained by emulsification technique the total release of CEF did not exceed 34% after 312 h. The release profiles could be best explained by Zero order kinetics model, Higuchi and Korsmeyer-Peppas models, as the plots showed high linearity. Antibacterial activity of the microparticles was evaluated against gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial strains. In general, CEF encapsulation in polymeric microparticles preserves the therapeutic efficacy of the CEF and provides its prolonged effect.
An Open Soil Structure Library based on X-ray CT data

Abstract. Soil structure in terms of the spatial arrangement of pores and solid is highly relevant for most physical, biochemical processes in soil. While this is known for long a scientific approach to quantify soil structural characteristics was also missing for long. This was due to its buried nature but also due to the three-dimensional complexity. During the last two decades, tools to acquire full 3D images of undisturbed soil became more and more available and a number of powerful software tools were developed to reduce the complexity to a set of meaningful numbers. However, the standardization of soil structure analysis for a better comparability of the results is not well developed and the accessibility of required computing facilities and software is still limited. At this stage we introduce an open access Soil Structure Library (https://structurelib.ufz.de/) which offers well-defined soil structure analyses for X-ray CT data sets uploaded by interested scientists. At the same time, the aim of this library is to serve as an open data source for real pore structures as developed in a wide spectrum of different soil types under different site conditions all over the globe. By combining pore structure metrics with essential soil information requested during upload (e.g. bulk density, texture, organic carbon content\\ldots), this Soil Structure Library can be harnessed towards data mining and development of soil structure based pedotransfer functions. In this paper we describe the architecture of the Soil Structure Library and the provided metrics. This is complemented by an example how the data base can be used to address new research questions.
Preparation and performance of non-enzymatic glucose sensor electrode based on nanometer cuprous oxide

Cuprous oxide nanometer thin-film electrodes of different structures were successfully prepared by electrochemical deposition. The structures and properties of the samples were characterized by X-ray diffractometer, ultraviolet–visible and scanning electron microscope. The cuprous oxide thin-film electrode was used as a non-enzymatic glucose sensor, and the electrocatalytic response of the sensor for glucose was investigated by cyclic voltammetry. Results showed that cuprous oxide with higher purity, neat morphology structure and uniform grain size was prepared. The cuprous oxide nanometer thin-film sensor with a sword-shaped dendrite has a good response to glucose. Moreover, it has a good linear relationship of 1–20 mg·L−1 in the range of glucose concentration, a correlation coefficient of 0.997, a detection limit of 0.337 mg·L−1, a sensitivity of 23.24 mA·cm−2·mM−1 and good stability. Therefore, it has potential for application in sensors.
A first-principles study on the chemical stability of inorganic perovskite solid solutions Cs1−xRbxPbI3 at finite temperature and pressure

The inorganic halide perovskite Cs(Rb)PbI3 has attracted significant research interest for its application as a light-absorbing material in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Although there have been extensive studies on structural and electronic properties of inorganic halide perovskites, the investigation on their chemical stability is lacking. Therefore, we investigate the effect of substituting Rb for Cs in CsPbI3 on the chemical stability against decomposition using first-principles thermodynamics. The calculated Helmholtz free energy of solid solutions indicates that Cs1−xRbxPbI3 has good thermodynamic stability at room temperature due to the good miscibility of CsPbI3 and RbPbI3. By calculating the Helmholtz free energy difference of solid solutions Cs1−xRbxPbI3 from their constituents Cs1−xRbxI and PbI2, we find that the Rb content x ≈ 0.7 and 0.4 at zero and room temperature are the turning points, at which the chemical decomposition changes from endothermic to exothermic. From the calculated Gibbs free energy differences, we further highlight that RbPbI3 may decompose spontaneously at any temperature and pressure, while CsPbI3 in the cubic phase can be safe against decomposition in the temperature range of 0–600 K and the pressure range of 0–4 GPa. Our work reasonably explains the experimental observations and paves the way for understanding the chemical stability of inorganic halide perovskites and designing efficient inorganic halide PSCs.
Defining river thermal sensitivity as a function of climate

Water temperature is increasingly acknowledged as a key variable for the sustainable management of lotic environments. Thermal variability in rivers dictates in large part the ecosystem functions of these water bodies. River thermal sensitivity (TS), defined in this work as the value of the regression slope between water and air temperature (Tair) measurements, is often used to determine how river temperature regime is expected to vary as climate evolves. This study proposes a method to contextualize climate conditions during the river temperature‐monitoring period in order to define a common basis to compare TS values calculated for different stations distributed across various climatic regions in the province of Québec (Canada). Nine climate classes were defined based on Tair and precipitation. Annual climate conditions were classified according to their anomalies compared to a reference period (1981–2010). For the reference climate class (“Normal–Normal” conditions), results indicate contrasted summer TS values between Québec rivers and within rivers. Furthermore, observed summer TS variations between climate classes underline the need to account for climate conditions when studying spatial variations in river thermal sensitivity. Climate contextualization also allows us to study the potential role of previous conditions. Rivers were grouped according to their drainage basins characteristics to examine spatial variability in TS for the chosen reference climate conditions. River slope, station elevation and geographic location partly explained TS spatial variability. Useful proxies are needed to describe the relative contribution of groundwater to river temperature and to potentially improve the group classification results.
Strain-Tuned Structural, Mechanical and Electronic Properties of Two-Dimensional Transition Metal Sulfides ZrS2: A First Principles Study1

Two-dimensional semiconductor material zirconium disulfide (ZrS2) monolayer is a new promising material with good prospects for nanoscale applications. Recently, a new zirconium disulfide (ZrS2) monolayer with a space group of 59_Pmmn has been successfully predicted. Using first-principles calculations, this new monolayer ZrS2 structure is obtained with stable indirect band gaps of 0.65 eV and 1.46 eV at the DFT-PBE (HSE06) functional levels, respectively. Strain engineering studies on ZrS2 monolayer show effective band gap modulation. The bandgap shows a linear regularity from narrow to wide under applied stresses (strain ranged from − 6% to + 8%). Young's modulus of elasticity of ZrS2 rectangular cells along the tensile directions (x-axis and y-axis) is 83.63 (N/m) and 63.61 (N/m) with Poisson's ratios of 0.09 and 0.07, respectively. The results of carrier mobility show that the electron mobility along the y-axis can reach 1.32×103 cm2V− 1s− 1. Besides, the order of magnitude of the light absorption coefficient in the ultraviolet spectral region is calculated to reach 2.0×105cm−1 for ZrS2 monolayers. Moreover, by regulating the bandgap under stress, some bandgaps of the stretched energy band exceed the free energy of 1.23 eV and possess a suitable energy band edge position. The results indicates that the new two-dimensional Pmmn-ZrS2 monolayer is a potential material for photovoltaic devices and photocatalytic water decomposition.