Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Status update of the Parkes pulsar timing array

The Parkes Pulsar Timing Array project aims to make a direct detection of a gravitational wave background through the timing of millisecond pulsars. In this paper, the main requirements for that endeavour are described and recent and ongoing progress is outlined. We demonstrate that the timing properties of millisecond pulsars are adequate and that technological progress is timely to expect a successful detection of gravitational waves within a decade, or alternatively to rule out all current predictions for gravitational wave backgrounds formed by supermassive black-hole mergers.
A family of cometary globules at the periphery of Cyg OB1: the star HBHA 3703-01 and the reflection nebula GM 2-39

The interstellar medium in the region of a family of cometary globules including the reflection nebula GM 2-39 has been analyzed basing on our observations with the slit spectrograph, the results of our previous observations with a Fabry-Perot interferometer in the H-alpha line, Spitzer archival data together with CO microwave data. The structure of globules' IR emission, velocity field of ionized gas in the H-alpha line and of molecular gas in the CO line have been considered. We have detected a CO cavern around the eastern globules and faint high-velocity H-alpha features of surrounding gas. The most probable sources of ionizing radiation and wind of the Cyg OB1 association responsible for the globules' formation are proposed. Based on our multicolour photometry, it has been found that the brightest compact source in the southern 'head' of the cometary globule - the star HBHA 3703-01 (IRAS 20153+3850) - is a B(5-6)V star with E(B-V)=1.18 mag. The strong and broad H-alpha emission line was revealed in its spectrum. The spectral energy distribution of HBHA 3703-01 in the 0.44-24 micron range has been modeled. It is shown that the star has a hot dust envelope with T(dust)=1400 K and tau(V)=1.1. Besides, the star HBHA 3703-01 illuminates the encompassing diffuse nebula GM 2-39 with a diameter of about 30 arcsec. With regard to all obtained observational data for HBHA 3703-01, this object may be classified as the Herbig Ae/Be star.
An Image Steganography Algorithm Based on PSO and IWT for Underwater Acoustic Communication

To achieve fast and secure information steganography in underwater acoustic channel scenarios, this paper proposes a PSO (Particle Swarm Optimization) and IWT (integer wavelet transform) based image steganography algorithm for underwater acoustic communication. Firstly, the underwater image to be embedded is interleaved and packed to generate the secret information code-stream to improve the detection and recovery performance of transmission errors. Secondly, the cover image is divided into non-overlapping blocks and IWT is applied to each block, which can save PSO search space and improve the optimal solution performance. Thirdly, the embedding position matrix of the high frequency sub-band coefficients is chaotic scrambled, and PSO is used to select the optimal key to obtain the optimal matching position for the secret information to produce the best stego-image quality. Finally, transmission error detection and recovery measures are applied to the extracted secret information to improve the reconstruction quality in underwater acoustic channel scenarios. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms existing approaches in terms of information embedding capacity and steganographic visual quality, meeting the requirements of safety and real-time performance of underwater communication. Moreover, it also has the ability of error detection and recovery for harsh underwater acoustic channel.
Mechanical Properties and Equilibrium Swelling Characteristics of Some Polymer Composites Based on Ethylene Propylene Diene Terpolymer (EPDM) Reinforced with Hemp Fibers

EPDM/hemp fiber composites with fiber loading of 0–20 phr were prepared by the blending technique on a laboratory electrically heated roller mill. Test specimens were obtained by vulcanization using a laboratory hydraulic press. The elastomer crosslinking and the chemical modification of the hemp fiber surface were achieved by a radical reaction mechanism initiated by di(tert-butylperoxyisopropyl)benzene. The influence of the fiber loading on the mechanical properties, gel fraction, swelling ratio and crosslink degree was investigated. The gel fraction, crosslink density and rubber–hemp fiber interaction were evaluated based on equilibrium solvent-swelling measurements using the Flory–Rehner relation and Kraus and Lorenz–Park equations. The morphology of the EPDM/hemp fiber composites was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. The water absorption increases as the hemp fiber loading increases.
THE PRECISION AND ACCURACY OF EARLY EPOCH OF REIONIZATION FOREGROUND MODELS: COMPARING MWA AND PAPER 32-ANTENNA SOURCE CATALOGS

As observations of the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) in redshifted 21 cm emission begin, we assess the accuracy of the early catalog results from the Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER) and the Murchison Wide-field Array (MWA). The MWA EoR approach derives much of its sensitivity from subtracting foregrounds to <1% precision, while the PAPER approach relies on the stability and symmetry of the primary beam. Both require an accurate flux calibration to set the amplitude of the measured power spectrum. The two instruments are very similar in resolution, sensitivity, sky coverage, and spectral range and have produced catalogs from nearly contemporaneous data. We use a Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo fitting method to estimate that the two instruments are on the same flux scale to within 20% and find that the images are mostly in good agreement. We then investigate the source of the errors by comparing two overlapping MWA facets where we find that the differences are primarily related to an inaccurate model of the primary beam but also correlated errors in bright sources due to clean. We conclude with suggestions for mitigating and better characterizing these effects.
Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Hemiculter leucisculus (Basilesky, 1855) in Xinjiang Tarim River

Hemiculter leucisculus is an invasive fish and widely distributed in the Xinjiang Tarim River. In this study, RAD-seq was used to explore the genetic diversity and population subgroup structure of H. leucisculus in the Tarim River and develop relevant Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) markers. The study collected 40 samples distributed at four different sites of the Tarim River. A total of 7,291,260 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were obtained. The genetic diversity results showed that the population genetic diversity level of H. leucisculus was low. The population pairwise FST values ranged from 0.231 to 0.258, indicating that there was moderate genetic differentiation among these populations. AMOVA showed that the genetic variation within populations accounted for 92.31% of the total variation. The principal component analysis (PCA) and neighbor joining (NJ) tree revealed that the four populations could be separated into two clusters (upper-middle and downstream populations) and the individuals from Taitema Lake (TTMH) showed differences and had a bigger geographic distance than the others. There is the probability that the H. leucisculus from Bosten Lake entered Taitema Lake to breed and then expanded into the Tarim River due to the water diversion projects in location. In addition, 147,705 SSRs loci were detected and 22,651 SSR primer pairs were developed. This study will contribute to providing valuable molecular data for the management of wild populations, marker-assisted selection and resource exploitation of H. leucisculus.
Controlling Fano Profiles via Conical Intersections

An ab initio analytical model for Fano resonances in two-channel systems is presented. We find that the lineshape parameter q factors into a background contribution q_b that depends only on the uncoupled channels and an interaction contribution q_i that is affected by the coupling between the channels, revealing how the overall lineshape parameter q may be controlled. In particular, we show how conical intersections of the background phase shifts have an important role in the interplay between q_b and q_i. Finally, control of Fano transmission profiles through q_b and q_i is demonstrated for quantum billiards.
Advances and challenges in multiscale characterizations and analyses for battery materials

Rechargeable ion batteries are efficient energy storage devices widely employed in portable to large-scale applications such as electric vehicles and grids. Electrochemical reactions within batteries are complex phenomena, and they are strongly dependent on the battery materials and systems used. These electrochemical reactions often include detrimental irreversible reactions at various length scales from atomic- to macro-scales, which ultimately determine the overall electrochemical behavior of the system. Understanding such reaction mechanisms is a critical component to improve battery performance. To help this effort, this review article discusses recent advances and remaining challenges in both computational and experimental approaches to better understand dynamic electrochemical reactions in batteries across multiple length scales. Important related findings from this focus issue will also be highlighted. The aim of our focus issue is to contribute to the battery community towards having better understanding of complex reactions occurring in battery devices and of computational and experimental methods to investigate them. Graphical abstract
THE AGES, METALLICITIES, AND ALPHA ELEMENT ENHANCEMENTS OF GLOBULAR CLUSTERS IN THE ELLIPTICAL NGC 5128: A HOMOGENEOUS SPECTROSCOPIC STUDY WITH GEMINI/GEMINI MULTI-OBJECT SPECTROGRAPH

We present new integrated light spectroscopy of globular clusters (GCs) in NGC 5128, a nearby giant elliptical galaxy less than 4 Mpc away, in order to measure radial velocities and derive ages, metallicities, and alpha-element abundance ratios. Using the Gemini South 8 meter telescope with the instrument Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph, we obtained spectroscopy in the range of ∼3400–5700 Å for 72 GCs with a signal-to-noise ratio greater than 30 Å−1; and we have also discovered 35 new GCs within NGC 5128 from our radial velocity measurements. We measured and compared the Lick indices from HδA through Fe5406 with the single stellar population models of Thomas et al. in order to derive age, metallicity, and [α/Fe] values. We also measure Lick indices for 41 Milky Way GCs from Puzia et al. and Schiavon et al. with the same methodology for direct comparison. Our results show that 68% of the NGC 5128 GCs have old ages (>8 Gyr), 14% have intermediate ages (5–8 Gyr), and 18% have young ages (<5 Gyr). However, when we look at the metallicity of the GCs as a function of age, we find 92% of metal-poor GCs and 56% of metal-rich GCs in NGC 5128 have ages >8 Gyr, indicating that the majority of both metallicity subpopulations of GCs formed earlier, with a significant population of young and metal-rich GCs forming later. Our metallicity distribution function generated directly from spectroscopic Lick indices is clearly bimodal, as is the color distribution of the same set of GCs. Thus, the metallicity bimodality is real and not an artifact of the color to metallicity conversion. However, the metallicity distribution function obtained from comparison with the single stellar population models is consistent with a unimodal, bimodal, or multimodal shape. The [α/Fe] values are supersolar with a mean value of 0.14 ± 0.04, indicating a fast formation timescale. However, the GCs in NGC 5128 are not as [α/Fe] enhanced as the Milky Way GCs also examined in this study. Our measured indices also indicate that the GCs in NGC 5128 may have a slight overabundance in nitrogen and a wider range of calcium strength compared to the Milky Way GCs. Our results support a rapid, early formation of the GC system in NGC 5128, with subsequent major accretion and/or GC and star-forming events in more recent times.
Jacobians of etale covers of the projective line minus three points

We consider the outer pro-2 Galois representation on the algebraic fundamental group of the projective line minus three points. This representation has a kernel, whose fixed field r22, is a pro-2 extension of Q(/^2°°) i unramified away from 2. The fields of 2-power torsion of the Jacobians of curves defined over Q, possessing good reduction away from 2, are also pro-2 extensions of Q(/X2») , unramified away from 2. In this dissertation, we show that these fields are contained in 0,2 for certain choices of curves. In particular, the result is shown for all elliptic curves over Q with good reduction away from 2. In proving this theorem, we will demonstrate that these curves appear in the tower of finite etale 2-covers of the projective line minus three points. In the final chapter, we briefly consider three natural generalizations of the result and give partial results in these cases. Specifically, we consider the case of elliptic curves defined over certain extensions of Q, the case of the prime i = 3, and the case of higher genus curves occurring as 2-covers.
Dusting Hole Film Cooling Heat Transfer on a Transonic Turbine Blade Tip

Investigated is a transonic turbine blade tip with a squealer rim and a squealer recess, with a single dusting film cooling hole contained within the leading edge region of the squealer recess. Data are provided for transonic flow conditions for a range of film cooling blowing ratios for two tip gap values, using a linear cascade, with no relative motion between the blade and the casing. Surface heat transfer characteristics are measured using the transient impulse-response measurement approach, employed with infrared thermography. Line-averaged adiabatic film cooling effectiveness values, for the 1.4 mm tip gap, are generally very small along the pressure side rim, with only small, locally increased values along the suction side rim. For the 0.8 mm tip gap, line-averaged adiabatic film cooling effectiveness values are generally somewhat higher along the pressure side rim and along the suction side rim. In general, effectiveness values for both tip gap values, for these locations, and for the recess region, increase as the blowing ratio increases. As the tip gap decreases from 1.4 mm to 0.8 mm, line-averaged adiabatic film cooling effectiveness generally increases on the rims and downstream regions of the recess, with increased magnitudes which are spread over larger spatial surface areas. For tip gaps of 0.8 mm and 1.4 mm, for regions where the line-averaged heat transfer coefficient ratio deviates significantly from 1.00, values generally decrease as the blowing ratio increases. Across every region of the blade, line-averaged heat transfer coefficient ratios either decrease or remain approximately invariant, as the tip gap value decreases from 1.4 mm to 0.8 mm.
Preparation of low density, high-strength, strong hydrophobic particles (LHSPs) and its application as oil fracturing proppant

Abstract Aiming at the problems of the high density of conventional proppant and poor sand carrying performance of slick water in shale oil and gas exploitation. A kind of polymer microsphere with low density and high strength and strong hydrophobic properties (LHSPs) was synthesized by using a silane coupling agent in one step and used as proppants in petroleum fracturing. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra showed that the silane coupling agent formed a rough interface on the particles, which greatly improved the strength and hydrophobicity of the microspheres. The density of LHSPs is 1.075 g·cm-³; Under 69 MPa, the breakage rate of LHSPs was 6.3%. The static water contact Angle is 124°, showing strong hydrophobic state. Meanwhile, the suspension performance test further shows that the ratio of quartz sand to LHSPs settlement is 288 at 120 °C. Water control experiments have also been used to prove that LHSPs can reduce the velocity of water flow and achieve the purpose of water control. The conductivity test shows that LHSPs have good conductivity in gas phase. As the pressure rises to 69 MPa, the quartz sand and LHSPs deflection capacity multiple reached 20 times. This work proves that the preparation of LHSPs is successful and has a broad application prospect in improving the fracturing effect and enhancing shale oil and gas recovery. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Impact of a One-Day Three-Dimensional Transesophageal Echocardiography Workshop on Clinical Practice at a Single Academic Centre

Background: Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is a powerful diagnostic tool which has become an integral part in the management of cardiac surgery patients. We developed a one-day 3D TEE workshop specifically designed to meet the needs of perioperative cardiac anaesthesiologists. We hypothesized that participation in the workshop would increase the uptake of 3D TEE in routine perioperative practice. Aims: To examine the impact of one-day 3D TEE workshop on 3D TEE image acquisition and incorporation into routine perioperative practice. Setting: Tertiary care hospital. Design: Prospective observational monocentric study. Subjects and Methods: A convenience sample of 20 cardiac anesthesiologists (with an option to attend the one- day workshop midway through the study) from a single center consented to have their intraoperative TEE images collected during the course of the study reviewed for research purposes. Images acquired 6 months before, immediately after, and 6 months following the workshop and images were examined by a blinded, expert echocardiographer. Results: Data collected for 16 participants (8 workshop attendees, 8 non-attendees) indicate that the TEE workshop increased the number of 3D TEE images, but not x images acquired immediately following the workshop (P=0.006). No difference was observed in number of 3D images at six months' post workshop. Workshop participants obtained more 3D and multi-plane images after the workshop and more 3D images at 6 months compared to those who did not attend the workshop. Conclusion: Our study suggests that a single day hands-on 3D TEE workshop may have had an impact on the implementation of intraoperative 3D TEE in experienced echocardiographers.
Comparison of neoadjuvant immunotherapy plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone for patients with locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: A propensity score matching

Objectives Clinical studies on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) combined with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (nCT) have been carried out for the resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). So far, few studies have compared the survival outcomes of nCT plus ICIs and nCT alone. This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant ICIs combined with nCT versus nCT followed by esophagectomy for patients with resectable locally advanced ESCC. Methods A retrospective analysis of ESCC patients underwent nCT or nCT combined with ICIs followed by esophagectomy (from March 2013 to April 2021) was performed. A 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) with a caliper 0.01 was conducted to balance potential bias. Results A total of 47 comparable pairs of ESCC patients receiving nCT and nCT combined with ICIs were selected for the final analysis. The tumor regression grade (TRG) 0 and pathologic complete response (pCR) rates in the nCT+ICIs group were significantly higher than those of the nCT group (21.7% vs. 4.5%, P=0.016; and 17.0% vs. 2.1%, P=0.035, respectively). The rate of nerve invasion was 4.3% in the nCT+ICIs group, significantly lower than 23.4% of the nCT group (P=0.007). The incidences of adverse events in the nCT+ICIs group were similar compared with the nCT group and there was no grade 5 toxicity in either group. The 1-, 2-year disease-free survival rates (DFS) were 95.7%, 80.7% and 76.1%, 63.8% in the two groups (P=0.001, and P=0.046, respectively). The 1-year OS was improved in the nCT+ICIs group, which was close to a statistical difference (95.7% vs. 84.8%, P=0.074). Local recurrence rate in the nCT+ICIs group was 6.4%, significantly lower than 21.3% of the nCT group (P=0.036), while there was no significant difference in the distant metastasis. Conclusions Compared with nCT alone, neoadjuvant immunotherapy plus nCT for patients with locally advanced ESCC has an advantage in pathological response, and could improve DFS with a good safety and feasibility, while long term survival validation is still needed further.
Simple Microcontact Printing Technique to Obtain Cell Patterns by Lithography Using Grayscale, Photopolymer Flexographic Mold, and PDMS

Microcontact printing using PDMS embossing tools and its variations have aroused the interest of a wide spectrum of research fields, hence the feasibility of defining micro and nanoscale patterns. In this work, we have proposed and demonstrated a novel lithography method based on grayscale patterns printed in a flexographic photopolymer mold and transferred to epoxy resin and a single PDMS stamp to obtain different microprint pattern structures. The geometry of the patterns can be modified by adjusting the layout and grayscale of the stamp patterns. The functionality of this contact printing methodology was validated by generating human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) patterns. These specific micropatterns can be very useful for achieving complex differentiation in cell lines such as hiPSC. Microfabrication through the new technique provides a promising alternative to conventional lithography for constructing complex aligned surfaces; these structures could be used as components of biological patterns or microfluidic devices.
A High Performance MRAM Cell Through Single Free-Layer Dual Fixed-Layer Magnetic Tunnel Junction

As technology size scales down, magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) as a promising technology are becoming more and more sensitive to process variation, especially in oxide barrier thickness. Process variation particularly affects the cell resistance and the critical switching current for the smaller dimensions. This article proposes an MTJ cell with one free and two pinned layers, which highly improves the process variation robustness. By employing the spin transfer torque (STT)-spin-Hall effect (SHE) switching method, our proposed MTJ cell improves the switching speed and lowers the switching power consumption. Per simulations, an MRAM cell built with the proposed MTJ cell offers up to 36% lower total power consumption, up to 32% higher write performance, and 35% higher read performance over the previous state-of-the-art MRAMs. Also, the error rate resulting from process variation is 1.4%, which is about one-tenth of the best examples reported in the literature.
Extreme gravitational waves from inflaton fragmentation

Although inflationary models generically predict a flat spectrum of gravitational waves, we point out a general process that produces a sharply peaked spectrum of gravitational radiation. This process is generic for inflationary models with a complex inflaton field which couples to fermions. In particular, for chaotic models these may be the most extreme gravitational waves in the Universe with a very large energy density fraction 10^-9 and ultra-high frequency, 10^10 Hz. Although not amenable to space based interferometers, the signal from this model may be detectable by future table top experiments.
Linéarisation par bouclage dynamique et transformations de Lie-Bäcklund

Automatique non lineaire et linearisation par bouclage dynamique sont abordees dans le cadre des transformations de Lie-Backlund de varietes differentiables de dimension infinie. On compare linearisations endogene et exogene et l'on propose une commande de l'horloge. On interprete la commandabilite grâce au complexe variationnel de Vinogradov