Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Galactic initial mass function: origin in the combined mass distribution functions of dust grains and gas clouds

We present here a theoretical model to account for the stellar initial mass function (IMF) as a result of the composite behaviour of the gas and dust distribution functions. Each of these has previously been modelled and the models tested against observations (Casuso & Beckman 2002, 2007, 2010). The model presented here implies a relation between the characteristic size of the dust grains and the characteristic final mass of the stars formed within the clouds containing the grains, folded with the relation between the mass of a gas cloud and the characteristic mass of the stars formed within it. The physical effects of dust grain size are due to equilibrium relations between the efficiency of grains in cooling the clouds, which is a falling function of grain size, and the efficiency of grains in catalysing the production of molecular hydrogen, which is a rising function of grain size. We show that folding in the effects of grain distribution can yield a reasonable quantitative account of the IMF, while gas cloud mass function alone cannot do so. When we observe the mass distribution function of stars in a galaxy, we obtain the present-day mass function (PDMF) which is not the mass function of stars at their birth (the initial mass function, IMF) but the distribution resulting from the accumulation of stars since the first star formation occurred in the Galaxy. In this process, whether the star formation is continuous or sporadic, the most massive stars with their short lifetimes are more quickly eliminated and the masses of all the stars are reduced secularly by mass-loss, while the stellar population may be augmented by the arrival of stars from outside the Galaxy in accretion events with dwarf galaxies. The local IMF is a basic function in the study of the chemical evolution of our Galaxy, as it is the measure of the number of stars formed in a given mass interval in the solar neighbourhood (Scalo 1978, 1986; Tinsley 1980). The origin of the IMF is a fundamental problem in the whole of astrophysics because it determines the photometric properties of galaxies, and the dynamical and chemical evolution of their interstellar media. Salpeter (1955) was the first to note that there appears to be a power-law relationship between the number of stars observed in the Galactic field and their masses, and it was his work which gave rise to our concept of the IMF.
Proteomics coupled with in vitro model to study the early crosstalk occurring between newly excysted juveniles of Fasciola hepatica and host intestinal cells

Fasciolosis caused by the trematode Fasciola hepatica is a zoonotic neglected disease affecting animals and humans worldwide. Infection occurs upon ingestion of aquatic plants or water contaminated with metacercariae. These release the newly excysted juveniles (FhNEJ) in the host duodenum, where they establish contact with the epithelium and cross the intestinal barrier to reach the peritoneum within 2–3 h after infection. Juveniles crawl up the peritoneum towards the liver, and migrate through the hepatic tissue before reaching their definitive location inside the major biliary ducts, where they mature into adult worms. Fasciolosis is treated with triclabendazole, although resistant isolates of the parasite are increasingly being reported. This, together with the limited efficacy of the assayed vaccines against this infection, poses fasciolosis as a veterinary and human health problem of growing concern. In this context, the study of early host-parasite interactions is of paramount importance for the definition of new targets for the treatment and prevention of fasciolosis. Here, we develop a new in vitro model that replicates the first interaction between FhNEJ and mouse primary small intestinal epithelial cells (MPSIEC). FhNEJ and MPSIEC were co-incubated for 3 h and protein extracts (tegument and soma of FhNEJ and membrane and cytosol of MPSIEC) were subjected to quantitative SWATH-MS proteomics and compared to respective controls (MPSIEC and FhNEJ left alone for 3h in culture medium) to evaluate protein expression changes in both the parasite and the host. Results show that the interaction between FhNEJ and MPSIEC triggers a rapid protein expression change of FhNEJ in response to the host epithelial barrier, including cathepsins L3 and L4 and several immunoregulatory proteins. Regarding MPSIEC, stimulation with FhNEJ results in alterations in the protein profile related to immunomodulation and cell-cell interactions, together with a drastic reduction in the expression of proteins linked with ribosome function. The molecules identified in this model of early host-parasite interactions could help define new tools against fasciolosis.
Improved handling and embedding schemes for cultured murine neuroretinal explants

ABSTRACT Traumatic, inherited, and age-related degenerative diseases of the retina, such as retinal detachment, retinitis pigmentosa, and age-related macular degeneration, are characterized by the irreversible loss of retinal neurons. While current treatments aim to prevent neuronal degeneration, there are no available treatments to restore neurons after loss. Cultured murine neuroretinal tissue explants model retinal injury and offer a high throughput approach to identify experimental interventions capable of regenerating neurons. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) preparations of murine neuroretinal explants can be used to identify cells throughout the retinal layers to provide information on proliferation and activity following exposure to therapeutics. However, retinal explants are friable, particularly after ex vivo culture, sample handling and FFPE processing steps can result in tissue loss and damage. Friability also prohibits bisecting samples post-culture to display more than one region of interest for analysis. We developed a sample handling and embedding technique for cultured murine neuroretinal explants using HistogelTM in combination with a post-processing trimming step that eliminates tissue loss, increases cross-sectional retinal representation, and captures proximal and central retina on one slide to facilitate analysis of explants subjected to neurotrophic compounds.
Adaptive Oscillator-Based Assistive Torque Control for Gait Asymmetry Correction With a nSEA-Driven Hip Exoskeleton

Gait asymmetry is an important clinical characteristic of the hemiplegic gait most stroke survivors suffered, leading to restricted functional mobility and long-term negative impact on their quality of life. In recent years, robot assistance has been proven able to improve stroke patients’ functional walking, but few studies have been conducted to specifically correct gait asymmetry of stroke patients during the whole gait cycle. In this work, an adaptive oscillator-based assistive torque control was developed and implemented on a unilateral hip exoskeleton driven by a novel nonlinear series elastic actuator (nSEA), aiming at correcting gait asymmetry at hip joints during the whole gait cycle. The adaptive oscillator-based gait asymmetry detection method extracted continuous gait phase and gait asymmetry seamlessly, and then the proposed assistive control attempted to correct gait asymmetry by delivering precise assistive torques synchronized with the continuous gait phase of the patients’ gait. An initial experimental study was conducted to evaluate the proposed assistive control on seven healthy subjects with artificial impairment. The participants walked on a treadmill with assistance from the hip exoskeleton, while artificial impairment was added to mimic the hemiplegic gait with both spacial and temporal asymmetry (such as reduced hip flexion in the impaired side and reduced hip extension in the healthy side). Experimental results suggested the effectiveness of the proposed assistive control in restoring gait symmetry to levels comparable to a normal gait of the participants ( $p < 0.05$ ).
Origin of fermion masses without spontaneous symmetry breaking

Using a simple three dimensional lattice four-fermion model we argue that massless fermions can become massive due to interactions without the need for any spontaneous symmetry breaking. Using large scale Monte Carlo calculations within our model, we show that this non-traditional mass generation mechanism occurs at a second order quantum critical point that separates phases with the same symmetries. Universality then suggests that the new origin for the fermion mass should be of wide interest.
Asteroids’ physical models from combined dense and sparse photometry and scaling of the YORP effect by the observed obliquity distribution

The larger number of models of asteroid shapes and their rotational states derived by the lightcurve inversion give us better insight into both the nature of individual objects and the whole asteroid population. With a larger statistical sample we can study the physical properties of asteroid populations, such as main-belt asteroids or individual asteroid families, in more detail. Shape models can also be used in combination with other types of observational data (IR, adaptive optics images, stellar occultations), e.g., to determine sizes and thermal properties. We use all available photometric data of asteroids to derive their physical models by the lightcurve inversion method and compare the observed pole latitude distributions of all asteroids with known convex shape models with the simulated pole latitude distributions. We used classical dense photometric lightcurves from several sources and sparse-in-time photometry from the U.S. Naval Observatory in Flagstaff, Catalina Sky Survey, and La Palma surveys (IAU codes 689, 703, 950) in the lightcurve inversion method to determine asteroid convex models and their rotational states. We also extended a simple dynamical model for the spin evolution of asteroids used in our previous paper. We present 119 new asteroid models derived from combined dense and sparse-in-time photometry. We discuss the reliability of asteroid shape models derived only from Catalina Sky Survey data (IAU code 703) and present 20 such models. By using different values for a scaling parameter cYORP (corresponds to the magnitude of the YORP momentum) in the dynamical model for the spin evolution and by comparing synthetics and observed pole-latitude distributions, we were able to constrain the typical values of the cYORP parameter as between 0.05 and 0.6.
Human monkeypox virus in a tertiary hospital in Madrid, Spain: An observational study of the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of 53 cases

A new outbreak of monkeypox virus (MPXV) infection, a zoonotic infection endemic in Central and West Africa, is spreading throughout the world with new epidemiology and clinical features. Our aim was to characterize patients presenting to Dermatology emergency room with a MPXV infection between 15 May and 30 June 2022 in a tertiary hospital in Madrid, Spain. We collected 53 patients and describe their clinical, demographic and epidemiological characteristics and followed their evolution. Most of the patients were men who had sex with men with high‐risk sexual practices and no recent travels abroad. Most of them (91%) had had a sexually transmitted infection before. All patients had typical skin lesions consisting of vesicular‐pustular rash with central umbilication which was localized or disseminated. The most frequent extracutaneous symptoms were fever, painful regional lymphadenopathy and asthenia. Proctitis was present in more than one third of patients. All patients were diagnosed by real time polymerase chain reaction of samples obtained from skin lesions. Pharyngeal and/or rectal exudates demonstrated MPXV in 74% of patients. The current worldwide outbreak of MPXV infections shows epidemiological and clinical differences from previous ones. Clinicians should be aware of these characteristics to correctly diagnose this emerging disease.
Characterization of cellular phenotypes in neurons derived from induced pluripotent stem cells of male patients with Fabry disease

Fabry disease (FD) is an X‐linked inherited lysosomal metabolism disorder in which globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) accumulates in various organs resulting from a deficiency in alpha‐galactosidase A. The clinical features of FD include progressive impairments of the renal, cardiac, and peripheral nervous systems. In addition, patients with FD often develop neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as depression and dementia, which are believed to be induced by the cellular injury of cerebrovascular and partially neuronal cells due to Gb3 accumulation. Although the analysis of autopsy brain tissue from patients with FD showed no accumulation of Gb3, abnormal deposits of Gb3 were found in the neurons of several brain areas, including the hippocampus. Therefore, in this study, we generated induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from patients with FD and differentiated them into neuronal cells to investigate pathological and biological changes in the neurons of FD. Neural stem cells (NSCs) and neurons were successfully differentiated from the iPSCs we generated; however, cellular damage and morphological changes were not found in these cells. Immunostaining revealed no Gb3 accumulation in NSCs and neurons. Transmission electron microscopy did not reveal any zebra body‐like structures or inclusion bodies, which are characteristic of FD. These results indicated that neuronal cells derived from FD‐iPSCs exhibited normal morphology and no Gb3 accumulation. It is likely that more in vivo environment‐like cultures are needed for iPSC‐derived neurons to reproduce disease‐specific features.
Coherent oscillations in a superconducting tunable flux qubit manipulated without microwaves

We experimentally demonstrate coherent oscillations of a tunable superconducting flux qubit by manipulating its energy potential with a nanosecond-long pulse of magnetic flux. The occupation probabilities of two persistent current states oscillate at a frequency ranging from 6 GHz to 21 GHz, tunable by changing the amplitude of the flux pulse. The demonstrated operation mode could allow quantum gates to be realized in less than 100 ps, which is much shorter than gate times attainable in other superconducting qubits. Another advantage of this type of qubit is its immunity to both thermal and magnetic field fluctuations.
QATAR-2: A K DWARF ORBITED BY A TRANSITING HOT JUPITER AND A MORE MASSIVE COMPANION IN AN OUTER ORBIT

We report the discovery and initial characterization of Qatar-2b, a hot Jupiter transiting a V = 13.3 mag K dwarf in a circular orbit with a short period, Pb = 1.34 days. The mass and radius of Qatar-2b are MP = 2.49 MJ and RP = 1.14 RJ, respectively. Radial-velocity monitoring of Qatar-2 over a span of 153 days revealed the presence of a second companion in an outer orbit. The Systemic Console yielded plausible orbits for the outer companion, with periods on the order of a year and a companion mass of at least several MJ. Thus, Qatar-2 joins the short but growing list of systems with a transiting hot Jupiter and an outer companion with a much longer period. This system architecture is in sharp contrast to that found by Kepler for multi-transiting systems, which are dominated by objects smaller than Neptune, usually with tightly spaced orbits that must be nearly coplanar.
Qualitative analysis of Kantowski-Sachs metric in a generic class of f(R) models

In this paper we investigate, from the dynamical systems perspective, the evolution of a Kantowski-Sachs metric in a generic class of f(R) models. We present conditions (i.e., differentiability conditions, existence of minima, monotony intervals, etc.) for a free input function related to the f(R), that guarantee the asymptotic stability of well-motivated physical solutions, specially, self-accelerated solutions, allowing to describe both inflationary- and late-time acceleration stages of the cosmic evolution. We discuss which f(R) theories allows for a cosmic evolution with an acceptable matter era, in correspondence to the modern cosmological paradigm. We find a very rich behavior, and amongst others the universe can result in isotropized solutions with observables in agreement with observations, such as de Sitter, quintessence-like, or phantom solutions. Additionally, we find that a cosmological bounce and turnaround are realized in a part of the parameter-space as a consequence of the metric choice.
Ordering and Excitation in Orbital Compass Model on a Checkerboard Lattice

We study an orbital compass model on a checkerboard lattice where orbital degree of freedom is represented by the pseudo-spin operator. Competition arises from an Ising interaction for the $z$ component of pseudo-spins along the vertical/horizontal bonds and an Ising interaction for the $x$ component along diagonal bonds. Classical and quantum compass models are analyzed by utilizing several analytical methods and numerical simulations. At a fully frustrated point where the two Ising interactions compete with each other, a macroscopic number of orbital configurations are degenerate in a classical ground state. This degeneracy is lifted by thermal and quantum fluctuations, and a staggered long-range order of the $z$ component of the pseudo-spin is realized. A tricritical point for this order appears due to competition between the bond dependent Ising interactions. Roles of geometrical frustration on excitation dynamics are also examined.
Identifying characteristics of a skilled communicator in the clinical encounter

In medical communication research, there has been a shift from ‘communication skills’ towards ‘skilled communication’, the latter implying the development of flexibility and creativity to tailor communication to authentic clinical situations. However, a lack of consensus currently exists what skilled communication entails. This study therefore aims to identify characteristics of a skilled communicator, hereby contributing to theory building in communication research and informing medical training.
Slowly rotating black holes in alternative theories of gravity

We present, in closed analytic form, a general stationary, slowly rotating black hole, which is a solution to a large class of alternative theories of gravity in four dimensions. In these theories, the Einstein-Hilbert action is supplemented by all possible quadratic, algebraic curvature invariants coupled to a scalar field. The solution is found as a deformation of the Schwarzschild metric in general relativity. We explicitly derive the changes to the orbital frequency at the innermost stable circular orbit and at the light ring in closed form. These results could be useful when comparing general relativity against alternative theories by (say) measurements of x-ray emission in accretion disks, or by stellar motion around supermassive black holes. When gravitational-wave astronomy comes into force, strong constraints on the coupling parameters can in principle be made.
THE ORIGIN OF NEUTRAL HYDROGEN CLOUDS IN NEARBY GALAXY GROUPS: EXPLORING THE RANGE OF GALAXY INTERACTIONS

We combine high-resolution N-body simulations with deep observations of neutral hydrogen (H i) in nearby galaxy groups in order to explore two well-known theories of H i cloud formation: H i stripping by galaxy interactions and dark-matter minihalos with embedded H i gas. This paper presents new data from three galaxy groups—Canes Venatici I, NGC 672, and NGC 45—and assembles data from our previous galaxy group campaign to generate a rich H i cloud archive to compare to our simulated data. We find no H i clouds in the Canes Venatici I, NGC 672, or NGC 45 galaxy groups. We conclude that H i clouds in our detection space are most likely to be generated through recent, strong galaxy interactions. We find no evidence of H i clouds associated with dark-matter halos above MH i ∼ 106 M☉, within ±700 km s−1 of galaxies, and within 50 kpc projected distance of galaxies.
Adaptive Margin Aware Complement-Cross Entropy Loss for Improving Class Imbalance in Multi-View Sleep Staging Based on EEG Signals

Sleep data are typically characterized by class imbalance, which can cause the model to be overly biased toward frequent classes, resulting in low accuracy of minority class classification. However, the minority class of sleep staging has important value in diagnosing certain disorders, such as an N1 Stage that is too short indicating possible hypersomnia or narcolepsy. To address this problem, we propose a multi-view CNN model based on adaptive margin-aware loss. A novel margin-aware factor that considers the relative sample sizes of both frequent and minority classes can improve the overfitting of minority classes by increasing the regularization strength of minority classes without changing the sample size to maximize the decision margins of minority classes. On this basis, we propose margin-aware cross-entropy and margin-aware complement entropy loss, respectively. Margin-aware complement entropy can be achieved to increase the regularization for minority classes while neutralizing errors for minority classes, thus improving the classification accuracy for minority classes. Finally, the synergy of margin-aware complement entropy and cross-entropy is realized in an adaptive way to improve the sleep staging classification accuracy. We tested on three sleep datasets and compared them with the state-of-the-art, and the results demonstrate that our proposed algorithm not only improves the accuracy of sleep staging in general, but also improves the minority classes to a greater extent.
Chromatin remodeling is required for sRNA‐guided DNA elimination in Paramecium

Small RNAs mediate the silencing of transposable elements and other genomic loci, increasing nucleosome density and preventing undesirable gene expression. The unicellular ciliate Paramecium is a model to study dynamic genome organization in eukaryotic cells, given its unique feature of nuclear dimorphism. Here, the formation of the somatic macronucleus during sexual reproduction requires eliminating thousands of transposon remnants (IESs) and transposable elements scattered throughout the germline micronuclear genome. The elimination process is guided by Piwi‐associated small RNAs and leads to precise cleavage at IES boundaries. Here we show that IES recognition and precise excision are facilitated by recruiting ISWI1, a Paramecium homolog of the chromatin remodeler ISWI. ISWI1 knockdown substantially inhibits DNA elimination, quantitatively similar to development‐specific sRNA gene knockdowns but with much greater aberrant IES excision at alternative boundaries. We also identify key development‐specific sRNA biogenesis and transport proteins, Ptiwi01 and Ptiwi09, as ISWI1 cofactors in our co‐immunoprecipitation studies. Nucleosome profiling indicates that increased nucleosome density correlates with the requirement for ISWI1 and other proteins necessary for IES excision. We propose that chromatin remodeling together with small RNAs is essential for efficient and precise DNA elimination in Paramecium.
Beyond the Einstein Equation of State: Wald Entropy and Thermodynamical Gravity

We show that the classical equations of gravity follow from a thermodynamic relation, dQ = T dS, where S is taken to be the Wald entropy, applied to a local Rindler horizon at any point in spacetime. Our approach works for all diffeomorphism-invariant theories of gravity. This suggests that classical gravity may be thermodynamic in origin.