Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis and Design of Ultrawideband Circularly Polarized Antenna and Array

This article presents the design and analysis of an ultrawideband (UWB) circularly polarized (CP) antenna element and its array. First, an UWB CP antenna element using circular-arc-shaped monopole (CASM) with asymmetric ground plane is proposed. Characteristic mode analysis (CMA) is used to investigate its CP operating mechanism, providing physical insights into different modes (mode currents and characteristic radiation fields) at various frequencies. The CMA results show that the asymmetric ground plane makes great contribution to produce CP radiation in the lower frequency band, while another upper CP band is generated by CASM. Thus, the overall 3 dB axial ratio bandwidth (ARBW) of the element can be significantly expanded. Furthermore, a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2 \times 2$ </tex-math></inline-formula> UWB CP array is designed based on this element. A gradient artificial magnetic conductor (GAMC) with a metal cone is adopted to realize both a low-profile (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0.1 \times \lambda $ </tex-math></inline-formula>, where <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\lambda $ </tex-math></inline-formula> is the air-free wavelength at lowest frequency) and the high-gain radiation for the first time. To validate this novel configuration, this array is fabricated and measured. The measured bandwidth (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\vert S_{11} \vert < -10$ </tex-math></inline-formula> dB, AR < 3 dB) is approximately 92.3% (1.75–4.75 GHz). It also achieves a wide 3 dB gain bandwidth of 72.3%. Both the simulated and measured results demonstrate that this low-profile high-gain antenna array is promising for applications in wireless systems such as mobile satellite communication system.
Remarks on eigenvalue problems for fractional p ( · )-Laplacian

In this paper, we give some properties of the new fractional Sobolev spaces with variable exponents and apply them to study a class of eigenvalue problems involving the fractional p ( · )-Laplace operator. We obtain sequences of eigenvalues going asymptotically to infinity and we also establish sufficient conditions to get zero value for the principal eigenvalue, which is a striking difference between the variable exponent case and the constant exponent case. As an application, we obtain several existence and nonexistence results for the eigenvalue problem according to the asymptotic growth of the nonlinearity and the range of the spectral parameter.
A Low-Cost Multiwinding Transformer Balancing Topology for Retired Series-Connected Battery String

The traditional balance circuit is employed to balance the retired battery string. It will occupy some space for the extra switches, inductors, or/and capacitors of the energy storage system. This letter is trying to share the inductor of the dc–dc converter with the balance system by utilizing the current ripple on the inductor of the multiwinding transformer. The balance circuit does not require additional switches and control logic. The results of dynamic charging conditions show that the circuit is appropriate for balancing the battery string, and the system efficiency with the proposed approach reaches 94.1% at rated 28-W input power. The balance system only increases one diode and one inductor for each cell, which reduces the cost by 60% and 66% separately compared with the traditional resistance equalizer and transformer-based equalizer.
Internal structure of the Parenting Practices Scales in a vulnerable sample: a confirmatory factor analysis

The objective of this study was to assess the internal structure of the Brazilian version of the Parenting Practices Scales, examining its dimensionality and the internal consistency of their subscales in a sample of vulnerable young individuals (N = 452). The six-factor structure was replicated through Confirmatory Factor Analysis; however, Cronbach’s alpha values for two factors indicated poor internal consistency: autonomy granting (α = 0.55) and punitive control (α = 0.51). Considering the correlations between the factors and the theoretical framework, a 2nd-order structure was performed, evidencing two correlated latent dimensions: demandingness and responsiveness. This model presented a good fit to the data and the 2nd latent dimensions achieved satisfactory internal consistency. The results were discussed considering sociocultural-related issues. Recommendations about the usage of this instrument were made, regarding both assessment and intervention contexts.
Integrated Phosphoproteomics and Transcriptional Classifiers Reveal Hidden RAS Signaling Dynamics in Multiple Myeloma

A major driver of multiple myeloma is thought to be aberrant signaling, yet no kinase inhibitors have proven successful in the clinic. Here, we employ an integrated, systems approach combining phosphoproteomic and transcriptome analysis to dissect cellular signaling in multiple myeloma to inform precision medicine strategies. Collectively, these predictive models identify vulnerable signaling signatures and highlight surprising differences in functional signaling patterns between NRAS and KRAS mutants invisible to the genomic landscape. Transcriptional analysis suggests that aberrant MAPK pathway activation is only present in a fraction of RAS-mutated vs. WT RAS patients. These high-MAPK patients, enriched for NRAS Q61 mutations, have inferior outcomes whereas RAS mutations overall carry no survival impact. We further develop an interactive software tool to relate pharmacologic and genetic kinase dependencies in myeloma. These results may lead to improved stratification of MM patients in clinical trials while also revealing unexplored modes of Ras biology.
A new species of pea crab from south-western Europe (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura): species description, geographic distribution and population structure with an identification key to European Pinnotheridae

Abstract After the recent detection, by both morphology and DNA barcodes, of the larval stages of an unknown species of pea crab (Pinnotheres sp.) in European waters, adults of this crab are herein reported and described as a new species. The current known geographic distribution of the species comprises the Gulf of Cádiz in the eastern Atlantic and the adjacent Mediterranean waters of the south of the Iberian Peninsula (Alboran Sea), where this crab is well-established inside the anomiid bivalve Anomia ephippium. In the Gulf of Cádiz, the species displayed a relatively high prevalence: on average, 55.6–77.7%, in A. ephippium samples. The dominant demographic categories of the new species were soft females (61.8–77.0%) with fewer males (17.7–21.10%). Most of the host bivalves carried only one crab; in bivalves harbouring two crabs, heterosexual pairs were collected more frequently than expected by chance, which suggests that they could be mated pairs. A strong correlation between host size and soft female size was found (r = 0.73, P < 0.01) indicating that space availability within hosts seems to be relevant in determining the size of the sedentary phase of the new crab species.
Effect of carbonic anhydrase-containing endophytic bacteria on growth and physiological attributes of wheat under water-deficit conditions

ABSTRACT Drought is one of the major limitations to agricultural productivity, suppressing plant growth and yield of food crops throughout the world particularly in arid and semiarid regions. Drought-tolerant carbonic anhydrase (CA; EC 4.2.1.1)-containing endophytic bacteria may improve plant growth under stressed conditions. In the present study, effect of drought-tolerant CA-containing endophytic bacteria on growth and physiology of wheat under water-deficit conditions was studied. One hundred and fifty isolates were isolated from wheat plants and screened for their ability to tolerate polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000-induced water-deficit stress (−0.31 to −3.20 MPa). Fifty isolates exhibiting intrinsic ability to tolerate stress were further screened for CA activity. Ten drought-tolerant isolates with higher CA activity were evaluated for improving wheat growth under water-deficit conditions (−0.04, −1.09, −1.23 MPa). Results showed that PEG-mediated water-deficit stress significantly reduced growth of wheat. However, inoculation with isolates WR2, WS11 and WL19 significantly enhanced seedling growth by improving maximum root length, shoot length, root and shoot dry weight under non-stressed as well as stressed conditions. These isolates were identified by 16S rRNA as Bacillus marisflavi (WR2) Bacillus thuringiensis (WS11) and Bacillus subtilis (WL19). Isolate WL19 also improved chlorophyll content, photosynthetic rate, CA activity and relative water content compared to uninoculated control plants. Overall, our findings suggest that endophytic bacterial isolates WR2, WS11 and WL19 with CA activity can enhance photosynthesis and biomass of wheat seedlings under water-deficit conditions. Abbreviations: CA: Carbonic anhydrase; PEG: Polyethylene glycol; CO2: Carbon dioxide; HCO3–: Bicarbonate; TSA: Tryptic Soy Agar; LB: Luria Bertani; A: CO2 assimilation rate; E: Transpiration rate; gs: Stomatal conductance; Ci: Substomatal CO2 concentration; RWC: Relative water content; EL: Electrolyte leakage
Financial Knowledge, Personality Traits, and Risky Borrowing Behaviors in Iranian Households

This article examines the influence of financial knowledge and personality traits on risky borrowing behaviors among Iranian respondents. A proprietary dataset was used in this study. Logistic regression results indicated that numeracy and knowledge of the time value of money were negatively associated with two of the three risky borrowing behaviors (borrowing more than $1500 USD and use of rent-to-own). Conscientiousness was negatively related to the same two borrowing behaviors. Neuroticism negatively influenced use of payday lending. The article concludes with financial education policy suggestions for Iran and directions for future research.
Simple means to improve the interpretability of regression coefficients

1. Linear regression models are an important statistical tool in evolutionary and ecological studies. Unfortunately, these models often yield some uninterpretable estimates and hypothesis tests, especially when models contain interactions or polynomial terms. Furthermore, the standard errors for treatment groups, although often of interest for including in a publication, are not directly available in a standard linear model.
Supramolecular chemistry of anions

Physical Factors in Anion Separations (B. Moyer & P. Bonnesen). Historical View on the Development of Anion Coordination Chemistry (B. Dietrich & M. Hosseini). Natural Anion Receptors: Anion Recognition by Proteins (S. Mangani & M. Ferraroni). Artificial Anion Hosts: Concepts for Structure and Guest Binding (F. Schmidtchen). Structural and Topological Aspects of Anion Coordination (J. Atwood & J. Steed). Thermodynamics of Anion Complexation (A. Bianchi & E. Garcia-Espana). Electrochemical Aspects of Anion Chemistry (A. Carbo). Photochemistry and Photophysics of Supramolecular Systems Containing Anions (L. Moggi & M. Manfrin). Anion Binding Receptors: Theoretical Studies (J. Wiorkiewicz-Kuczera & K. Bowman-James). Application Aspects Involving the Supramolecular Chemistry of Anions (J. Sessler, et al.). Supramolecular Catalysis of Phosphoryl Anion Transfer Processes (M. Hasseini). Index.
Contactless Finger Tapping Detection at C-Band

The rapid finger tap test is widely used in clinical assessment of dyskinesias in Parkinson’s disease. In clinical practice, doctors rely on their clinical experience and use the Parkinson’s Disease Uniform Rating Scale to make a brief judgment of symptoms. We propose a novel C-band microwave sensing method to evaluate finger tapping quantitatively and qualitatively in a non-contact way based on wireless channel information (WCI). The phase difference between adjacent antennas is used to calibrate the original random phase. Outlier filtering and smoothing filtering are used to process WCI waveforms. Based on the resulting signal, we define and extract a set of features related to the features described in UPDRS. Finally, the features are input into a support vector machine (SVM) to obtain results for patients with different severity. The results show that the proposed system can achieve an average accuracy of 99%. Compared with the amplitude, the average quantization accuracy of the phase difference on finger tapping is improved by 3%. In the future, the proposed system could assist doctors to quantify the movement disorders of patients, and it is very promising to be a candidate for clinical practice.
Allele and haplotype frequencies of human leukocyte antigen-A, -B, -C,-DRB1, and -DQB1 in Chinese patients with hematological diseases

The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system plays a central role in the immune response to pathogens, as well as in organ and allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Finding a five-locus (i.e., HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, and -DQB1) matched unrelated donor for a patient awaiting HSCT is a major clinical challenge, due to the lack of HLA-identical sibling donors and the high polymorphism of HLA. To date, most studies providing HLA allele frequencies (AF) and haplotype frequencies (HF) in Chinese populations have focused on donors instead of the recipients and have provided data for three loci (HLA-A, -B, and -DR); however, data from five-locus HLA typing in a large sample of patients, especially those with hematological diseases, remains unavailable. Therefore, this study was designed to determine HLA AF and two-, three-, fourand five-locus HF in a large cohort of Chinese Han patients with hematological diseases. The AF and the HF were determined using high-resolution HLA typing data from 2,878 patients. The total number of HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, and -DQB1 alleles was determined to be 48, 92, 49, 52, and 24, respectively. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) analyses indicated significant deviations from HWE for HLA-A, -C, -DRB1, and -DQB1 AF, but not for HLA-B locus. The three most common alleles at each locus were A*11:01, A*24:02, A*02:01; B*46:01, B*40:01, B*13:02; C*01:02, C*07:02, C*06:02; DRB1*09:01, DRB1*15:01, DRB1*07:01; DQB1*03:01, DQB1*03:03, and DQB1*06:01. Our data may help to determine whether the current bone marrow registry contains sufficient diversity to meet the demand.
Dealing with a hyper-successful neighbor: effects of the invasive apple snail Pomacea canaliculata on exotic and native snails in South America

Abstract Pomacea canaliculata is a successful invader and also a competitor and predator of other snails and may play a key role in structuring freshwater snail communities both in its native and invaded range. In the present study we evaluated the contact and distant effects of P. canaliculata in its native range on exotic (Melanoides tuberculata and Physa acuta) and native snails (Heleobia parchappii, Biomphalaria peregrina, and Chilina parchappii). Habitat use was affected in P. acuta, H. parchappii, and B. peregrina by contact effects of P. canaliculata, whereas survival was only affected in P. acuta through combined contact and distant effects. Fecundity was reduced in P. acuta and B. peregrina by combined contact and distant effects; evidence of egg mass predation was also observed in both species. Melanoides tuberculata was not affected at all by P. canaliculata. The snail species with higher withdrawal responses to contacts with P. canaliculata were those that suffered less mortality by corporal contact, whereas snails with high crawling away responses suffered from higher mortality. The effects of P. canaliculata seem to be highly negative to small nonoperculate snails that lay gelatinous egg masses, whereas large operculate ovoviviparous snails are not affected in their survival and reproduction. This apple snail may exert biotic resistance against P. acuta but could favor the establishment of M. tuberculata and other functionally similar species in new habitats in South America.
Transposon-insertion sequencing screens unveil requirements for EHEC growth and intestinal colonization

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EHEC) is an important food-borne pathogen that colonizes the colon. Transposon-insertion sequencing (TIS) was used to identify genes required for EHEC and commensal E. coli K-12 growth in vitro and for EHEC growth in vivo in the infant rabbit colon. Surprisingly, many conserved loci contribute to EHEC’s but not to K-12’s growth in vitro, suggesting that gene acquisition during EHEC evolution has heightened the pathogen’s reliance on certain metabolic processes that are dispensable for K-12. There was a restrictive bottleneck for EHEC colonization of the rabbit colon, which complicated identification of EHEC genes facilitating growth in vivo. Both a refined version of an existing analytic framework as well as PCA-based analysis were used to compensate for the effects of the infection bottleneck. These analyses confirmed that the EHEC LEE-encoded type III secretion apparatus is required for growth in vivo and revealed that only a few effectors are critical for in vivo fitness. Numerous mutants not previously associated with EHEC survival/growth in vivo also appeared attenuated in vivo, and a subset of these putative in vivo fitness factors were validated. Some were found to contribute to efficient type-three secretion while others, including tatABC, oxyR, envC, acrAB, and cvpA, promote EHEC resistance to host-derived stresses encountered in vivo. cvpA, which is also required for intestinal growth of several other enteric pathogens, proved to be required for EHEC, Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio parahaemolyticus resistance to the bile salt deoxycholate. Collectively, our findings provide a comprehensive framework for understanding EHEC growth in the intestine. Author Summary Enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) are important food-borne pathogens that infect the colon. We created a highly saturated EHEC transposon library and used transposon insertion sequencing to identify the genes required for EHEC growth in vitro and in vivo in the infant rabbit colon. We found that there is a large infection bottleneck in the rabbit model of intestinal colonization, and refined two analytic approaches to facilitate rigorous identification of new EHEC genes that promote fitness in vivo. Besides the known type III secretion system, more than 200 additional genes were found to contribute to EHEC survival and/or growth within the intestine. The requirement for some of these new in vivo fitness factors was confirmed, and their contributions to infection were investigated. This set of genes should be of considerable value for future studies elucidating the processes that enable the pathogen to proliferate in vivo and for design of new therapeutics.
Dispersal limitations of early life stages and sibling aggregations in a broadcasting Millepora hydrocoral, as revealed by parentage analysis

Dispersal is a critical process for the persistence and productivity of marine populations. For many reef species, there is increasing evidence that local demography and self-recruitment have major consequences on their genetic diversity and adaptation to environmental change. Yet empirical data of dispersal patterns in reef-building species remain scarce. Here, we document the first genetic estimates of local dispersal and self-recruitment in a broadcasting reef-builder, the hydrocoral Millepora platyphylla. Using microsatellite markers, we gathered genotypic information from 3160 georeferenced colonies collected over 9000 m2 of reef in three adjacent habitats in Moorea, French Polynesia; the mid slope, upper slope and back reef. Our parentage analysis revealed a predominance of self-recruitment with 58% of sexual propagules produced locally. Sexual propagules often settled at less than 10 meters from their parents and dispersal events decrease with increasing geographic distance. Limited dispersal among adjacent habitats via cross-reef transport was also detected. Sibship analysis showed that both full and half siblings recruit together on the reef, resulting in sibling aggregations. The identification of local families revealed discrepancies between dispersal patterns of sexual and asexual propagules. Self-recruits are dispersed with along-reef currents and settled in alignment with the location of their parents, while the dispersal of asexual fragments is heavily influenced by wave-driven cross-reef currents. Our findings highlight the importance of self-recruitment together with clonality in stabilising population dynamics, as it can enhance local sustainability and resilience to disturbance, but also raise uncertainties on the widely accepted high dispersal ability of broadcasting reef species.
Event-Triggered Predictive Control for Automatic Train Regulation and Passenger Flow in Metro Rail Systems

Focusing on improving the operation efficiency and riding comfort of metro rail lines in the peak hours, this article investigates the real-time train regulation and passenger load control problem with respect to frequent disturbances. To better illustrate the relationship between the train timetable and the on-board passengers, the variations of the departure time and the passenger load are elaborated in the form of a state-space model. Based on the Lyapunov stability theory, the problem of minimizing an upper bound on the quadratic performance function is transformed to a dynamic optimization problem with a set of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), and a predictive control strategy is designed to guarantee the actual train schedule and number of in-vehicle passengers track the nominal timetable and the expected passenger load with a given disturbance attenuation level. With the objective to reduce the computational workloads and cut down the utilization of wireless transmitting resources, an event-triggered strategy is developed to implement the proposed stabilizing feedback controller only when the measurement error exceeds certain threshold, which has better adaptability to the application in large-scale metro networks. Some numerical examples based on the Beijing Yizhuang Metrol Line are provided for illustration of the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.
Intermittent Stabilization of Fuzzy Competitive Neural Networks With Reaction Diffusions

This article investigates the global exponential stability and stabilization problems for a class of Takagi–Sugeno (T–S) fuzzy competitive neural networks (NNs). In the considered model, we introduce the T–S fuzzy rule to describe the parametric switching causing by complexity and the vagueness in practical environment. Besides, the effects of reaction diffusions and distributed delays, which inherently exist in circuits of NNs, are also taken into consideration. By using the Lyapunov functional theory and Green formula, several stability criteria in terms of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathbb {p}$</tex-math></inline-formula>-norm are established for the uncompensated fuzzy competitive NNs. Moreover, by designing a fuzzy intermittent controller, the corresponding stabilizability criteria in terms of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathbb {p}$</tex-math></inline-formula>-norm are derived. We also carry out some discussions and comparisons to further show the less conservativeness and wide applicability of the main theorems. Finally, several examples are presented to verify the obtained results.