Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Belt Electrode-Skeletal Muscle Electrical Stimulation in Older Hemodialysis Patients with Reduced Physical Activity: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

Background: Although patients receiving hemodialysis are more likely to develop metabolic disorders and muscle weakness at an earlier stage than healthy individuals, many older dialysis patients have difficulty establishing exercise habits to prevent these problems. Therefore, we evaluated the use of belt electrode-skeletal muscle electrical stimulation (B-SES), which can stimulate a wider area than conventional electrical muscle stimulation (EMS), to examine its application and safety in older hemodialysis patients as a means to improve lower extremity function without voluntary effort. Methods: This study was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving 20 older dialysis patients (>65 years old) with reduced physical activity. The control group received 12 weeks of routine care only and the intervention group received 12 weeks of B-SES during hemodialysis in addition to routine care. The primary endpoint was the 6 min walk test (6MWT) distance, while the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), body composition, Functional Independence Measure (FIM), biochemistry test, and blood pressure/pulse measurements were used as secondary endpoints. Results: As a result of the 12-week B-SES intervention, no increase in creatine kinase or C-reactive protein levels was observed after the intervention in either group, and no adverse events attributed to the B-SES intervention were observed in the intervention group. Furthermore, the intervention group showed a significant improvement in the 6MWT and SPPB scores after the intervention. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that a 12-week B-SES intervention during hemodialysis sessions safely improves 6MWT distance and SPPB scores in older patients with a reduced level of physical activity.
Distribution Iteration: A Robust Alternative to Source Iteration for Solving the Discrete Ordinates Radiation Transport Equations in Slab and XY- Geometries

Abstract : The discrete ordinates method is widely used to solve the Boltzmann transport equation for neutral particle transport for many engineering applications. Source iteration is used to solve the discrete ordinates system of equations, but can be slow to converge in highly scattering problems. Synthetic acceleration techniques have been developed to address this shortcoming; however, recent research has shown synthetic acceleration to lose effectiveness or diverge for certain problems. LTC Wager introduced an alternative to source iteration and demonstrated it in slab geometry. Here the method is further developed, enhancing efficiency in various ways, and demonstrated in XY-geometry as well as slab geometry. It is shown to be efficient even for those problems for which diffusion-synthetic and transport-synthetic accelerations fail or are ineffective. The method has significant advantages for massively-parallel implementations.
Age Moderates the Link between Epilepsy and Self-Rated Health (SRH)

Epilepsy is one of the most severe neurological diseases that affect people around the globe. Self-rated health (SRH) refers to one’s subjective evaluation of their own health and is associated with various outcomes such as morbidity and mortality. Thus, understanding the association between epilepsy and SRH is of great importance. Moreover, SRH generally decreases with age. The aim of the current study is to test whether age moderates the link between epilepsy and SRH. The current study used a hierarchical regression and three multiple regressions to analyze the associations between epilepsy and SRH in 529 epilepsy patients and 46,978 healthy controls from the United Kingdom. The current study found that age significantly moderates the association between epilepsy and SRH. Specifically, epilepsy status was negatively related to SRH in young people (b = −0.69, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. [−0.84, −0.54]), more strongly in middle-aged adults (b = −0.81, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. [−0.95, −0.66]), and most strongly in older adults (b = −0.89, p < 0.001, 95% C.I. [−1.09, −0.69]). The current study may imply that older adults need more attention in terms of their SRH, which is closely associated with outcomes. Clinicians and health professionals should come up with ways that improve SRH in people with epilepsy, especially for older adults with epilepsy.
VARIABLE STARS IN THE GLOBULAR CLUSTER NGC 2808

The first calibrated broadband BVI time-series photometry is presented for the variable stars in NGC 2808, with observations spanning a range of 28 years. We have also redetermined the variability types and periods for the variable stars identified previously by Corwin et al., revising the number of probable fundamental-mode RR Lyrae variables (RR0) to 11 and the number of first-overtone variables (RR1) to five. Our observations were insufficient to discern the nature of the previously identified RR1 star, V24, and the tentatively identified RR1 star, V13. These two variables are ∼0.8 mag brighter than the RR Lyrae variables, appear to have somewhat erratic period and/or luminosity changes, and lie inside the RR Lyrae instability strip. Curiously, all but one of the RR Lyrae stars studied in this relatively metal-rich cluster exhibit the Blazhko phenomenon, an effect thought to occur with higher frequency in metal-poor environments. The mean periods of the RR0 and RR1 variables are 〈P〉RR0 = 0.56 ± 0.01 d and 0.30 ± 0.02 d, respectively, supporting an Oosterhoff I classification of the cluster. On the other hand, the number ratio of RR1-to-RR0-type variables is high, though not unprecedented, for an Oosterhoff I cluster. The RR Lyrae variables have no period shifts at a given amplitude compared to the M3 variables, making it unlikely that these variables are He enhanced. Using the recent recalibration of the RR Lyrae luminosity scale by Catelan & Cortés, a mean distance modulus of (m − M)V = 15.57 ± 0.13 mag for NGC 2808 is obtained, in good agreement with that determined here from its type II Cepheid and SX Phoenicis population. Our data have also allowed the discovery of two new candidate SX Phoenicis stars and an eclipsing binary in the blue straggler region of the NGC 2808 color–magnitude diagram.
On the predictability of individual events in power law systems

We consider a modified Burridge-Knopoff model with a view to understand results of acoustic emission (AE) relevant to earthquakes by adding a dissipative term which mimics bursts of acoustic signals. Interestingly, we find a precursor effect in the cumulative energy dissipated which allows identification of a large slip event. Further, the AE activity for several large slip events follows a universal stretched exponential behavior with corrections in terms of time-to-failure. We find that many features of the statistics of AE signals such as their amplitudes, durations and the intervals between successive AE bursts obey power laws consistent with recent experimental results. Large magnitude events have different power law from that of the small ones, the latter being sensitive to the pulling speed.
Two new stipitate species of Phylloporia (Basidiomycota, Hymenochaetaceae) from Chamela Biology Station, U.N.A.M. in Jalisco, Mexico

Phylloporia species are characterized by having annual to perennial, with resupinate, pileate-sessile to pileate-stipitate basidiomata, and duplex context. They have monomitic to dimitic hyphal system, basidiospores are globose to cylindrical, thick-walled, yellowish to pale brown in KOH. The genus includes 72 species described worldwide, and only eight taxa have been recorded in Mexico, five of which have been molecularly characterized. The objective of this study is to describe and illustrate two new stipitate species of Phylloporia from the Chamela Biology Station located in the municipality of La Huerta in the state of Jalisco, Mexico: P. rajchenbergii and P. ryvardenii. For this, the specimens were reviewed in detail in order to describe their macroscopic and microscopic characteristics, DNA extraction was performed and the 28S rDNA (LSU) was amplified by PCR. Phylogenetic analyzes were performed using Bayesian Inference and Maximum Likelihood methods. It is corroborated that Phylloporia rajchenbergii and P. ryvardenii differ from the species described in the genus due to the color of the pileus, the size of the pores, the type of context (homogeneous in P. ryvardenii) and the size of the basidiospores; in addition, both species form different clades in the phylogenetic analyzes carried out.
Emergent Weyl nodes and Fermi arcs in a Floquet Weyl semimetal

When a Dirac semimetal is subject to a circularly polarized laser, it is predicted that the Dirac cone splits into two Weyl nodes and a nonequilibrium transient state called the Floquet Weyl semimetal is realized. We focus on the previously unexplored low-frequency regime, where the upper and lower Dirac bands resonantly couple with each other through multiphoton processes, which is a realistic situation in solid-state ultrafast pump-probe experiments. We find a series of new Weyl nodes emerging in pairs when the Floquet replica bands hybridize with each other. The nature of the Floquet Weyl semimetal with regard to the number, locations, and monopole charges of these Weyl nodes is highly tunable with the amplitude and frequency of the light. We derive an effective low-energy theory using Brillouin-Wigner expansion and further regularize the theory on a cubic lattice. The monopole charges obtained from the low-energy Hamiltonian can be reconciled with the number of Fermi arcs on the lattice, which we find numerically.
Chemo-dynamical evolution of tidal dwarf galaxies. I. Method and IMF dependence

We present high-resolution simulations of tidal dwarf galaxies (TDG) to investigate their early chemo-dynamical evolution and test their survivability. In this work the simulation setup is introduced and the response of TDGs to self-consistent star formation (SF) and an external tidal field is examined. Throughout the simulation star cluster particles with variable masses down to $5\,M_{\odot}$ form, depending on the local gas reservoir. For low cluster masses $M_{\mathrm{cl}}$, the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is considered to be either filled or truncated at a maximal star mass $m_\mathrm{max}$ to represent the observed $m_{\mathrm{max}} - M_{\mathrm{cl}}$ relation (IGIMF theory). The evolution of TDGs with fully-populated and truncated IMFs are compared to study the impact of stellar energy feedback on their survivability. Both TDGs experience an initial starburst but after a dynamical time they evolve into dwarf galaxies with self-regulated and continuous SF. At this stage the truncated-IMF model contains about 6 times more stellar mass than the invariant IMF models, but the final bound gas mass is comparable in both models. In spite of their significantly different SF histories, both TDG models are not disrupted within the first 500 Myr. We conclude that TDGs can survive an early starburst, independent of the underlying IMF description, even though they do not harbor a stabilizing dark matter halo.
Theoretical analysis and design of fire protection and thermal insulation of parallel wire or strand cables

In this study, a transient heat flow model has been established for parallel wire or strand cables at high temperature by employing the lumped thermal mass approach, and the numerical solution of the surface temperature as a function of time in each layer of the steel wire or strand inside the cable was calculated. Accuracy of the theoretical method is verified through uniform heating test of 73Φ15. 7 mm steel strand cable. The results calculated show that temperature field inhomogeneity of cable section is overestimation on the condition that heat conduction inside the cable is not considered. Considering heat conduction or not, the maximum temperature difference of the core steel stand at the same time point is 373 . Unprotected 73Φ15. 7 mm cable is damaged in only 12 min in UL1709 fire, and arrangement of fire protection layer around cable can effectively retard the temperature rise of cable surface. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical calculation values in early stage of fire, and the temperature difference between the two is within 10%. Besides, the numerical calculations were analyzed in accordance with the fire protection requirements limiting the surface temperature of cables. It was observed that the minimum thickness of the fire protection layer required to meet the PTI DC45.1-12 standard was linearly related to the numerical value of the section factor of the outermost layer of steel wires or steel strands in the equivalent model, and the slope of the function was approximately equal to the conduction coefficient of fire protection layer, as the cable was subjected to fire for 30 min. Further, based on this, a simple method was proposed to calculate the minimum thickness of the fire protection layer for parallel wire or strand cables.
Dissipation coefficients for supersymmetric inflatonary models

Dissipative effects can lead to a friction term in the equation of motion for an inflaton field during the inflationary era. The friction term may be linear and localised, in which case it is described by a dissipation coefficient. The dissipation coefficient is calculated here in a supersymmetric model with a two stage decay process in which the inflaton decays into a thermal gas of light particles through a heavy intermediate. At low temperatures, the dissipation coefficient $\propto T^3$ in a thermal approximation. Results are also given for a non-equilibrium anzatz. The dissipation coefficient is consistent with a warm inflationary regime for moderate ($\sim 0.1$) values of the coupling constants.
A NOVEL MALWARE DETECTION APPROACH USING PERFORMANCE IMPORTANCE WEIGHTED RANDOM FOREST (PERI-WRF) LEARNING MODEL

Malware detection has gained huge attention in recent times. This is mainly because of the increase in new malware variants which pose a significant threat to information security. The conventional malware detection systems are not capable of detecting new generation malwares due to the constant changes in the network behavior. An efficient malware detection approach must be able to handle the dynamic changes in the malware behavior with a very minimum processing time to identify malicious attacks at the initial stage. This paper presents a novel Performance Importance Weighted Random Forest (PERI-WRF) for detecting different types of malwares in network systems. The proposed PERI-WRF incorporates a novel data reduction technique which is capable of reducing the size of training data to maximize the classification accuracy. A clustering algorithm consisting of GWO and K-means++ algorithm is implemented to group the malicious data samples collected from input. To validate the effectiveness of the detection framework, the system was tested using various evaluation metrics. Results show that the proposed malware detection model with novel data reduction techniques achieves superior classification accuracy, and the proposed approach is appropriate for detecting real-time malwares with superior accuracy and low MAE score.
Asymptotics for the arc length of a multivariate time series and its applications as a measure of risk

The necessity of more trustworthy methods for measuring the risk (volatility) of financial assets has come to the surface with the global market downturn This dissertation aims to propose sample arc length of a time series, which provides a measure of the overall magnitude of the onestep-ahead changes over the observation time period, as a new approach for quantifying the risk. The Gaussian functional central limit theorem is proven under finite second moment conditions. With out loss of generality we consider equally spaced time series when first differences of the series follow a variety of popular stationary models including autoregressive moving average, generalized auto regressive conditional heteroscedastic, and stochastic volatility. As applications we use CUSUM statistic to identify changepoints in terms of volatility of Dow Jones Index returns from January, 2005 through December, 2009. We also compare asset series to determine if they have different volatility structures when arc length is used as the tool of quantification. The idea is that processes with larger sample arc lengths exhibit larger fluctuations, and hence suggest greater variability.
CFD Modeling of Propeller Tip Vortex over Large Distances

In this paper, a numerical study has been conducted to investigate the evolution of a ship propeller tip vortex over a large distance by using Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) CFD method. In order to reduce numerical dissipation in tracking the tip vortex, a unique hybrid mesh structure was designed, and a vorticity confinement method was also introduced to further enhance the high resolution of the tip vortex.
Evaluation of locked-wheel skid trailer and SCRIM friction measurements at NCAT test track

ABSTRACT This study aimed to evaluate the repeatability of locked-wheel skid trailer (LWST) and sideway-force coefficient routine investigation machine (SCRIM) measurements and investigate the influences of test speed and test temperature on the friction measurements. This study selected 14 test sections from the NCAT Test Track with different surface texture and friction characteristics. The LWST and SCRIM tests were conducted at different test speeds and test times (or temperatures) on the two consecutive days. The repeatability analysis indicates that both LWST skid number (SN) and SCRIM reading (SR) measurements were most repeatable at a test speed of 50 mph and tangent section. The SN measured in the late afternoon and SR measured at noon were more repeatable than those measured at other times. This study recommended an acceptable precision of friction measurement be within 2.5 SN or 3 SR units. In addition, this study concluded that the SN and SR had a good linear correlation. The statistical regression analysis demonstrates that test speed, air temperature, pavement mean profile depth, and pavement type were significant variables affecting asphalt pavement friction. The developed regression models for SN and SR were helpful to correct the friction measurements to a reference speed or temperature.
Building an Optimal Census of the Solar Neighborhood with Pan-STARRS Data

We estimate the fidelity of solar neighborhood (D < 100 pc) catalogs soon to be derived from Pan-STARRS astrometric data. We explore two quantities used to measure catalog quality: completeness, the fraction of desired sources included in a catalog, and reliability, the fraction of entries corresponding to desired sources. We show that the main challenge in identifying nearby objects with Pan-STARRS will be reliably distinguishing these objects from distant stars, which are vastly more numerous. We explore how joint cuts on proper motion and parallax will impact catalog reliability and completeness. Using synthesized astrometry catalogs, we derive optimum parallax and proper-motion cuts to build a census of the solar neighborhood with the Pan-STARRS 3π Survey. Depending on the Galactic latitude, a parallax cut π/σπ > 5 combined with a proper-motion cut ranging from μ/σμ > 1–8 achieves 99% reliability and 60% completeness.
Commentary on Lande-Arnold Analysis

A solution to the problem of estimating fitness landscapes was proposed by Lande and Arnold (1983). Another solution, which avoids problematic aspects of the LandeArnold methodology, was proposed by Shaw, Geyer, Wagenius, Hangelbroek, and Etterson (2008). This technical report goes through Lande-Arnold theory in detail paying careful attention to problematic aspects. The only completely new material is a theoretical analysis of when the best quadratic approximation to a fitness landscape, which is what the Lande-Arnold method estimates, is a good approximation to the actual fitness landscape.
Uniqueness of positive solutions for Sturm-Liouville boundary value problems

Sufficient conditions for the uniqueness of positive solutions of singular Sturm-Liouville boundary value problems (E) (Iu'lm-2u/)/ +f(t,u,u') = 0, in (01,02),m > 2, (BVP) (BC) Ialu(0i) ilu'(0i) = 0, 1 1 0a2U(02) + /2U' (02) = 0, where a? i, 0i > 0 and a? + i32 #0 (i = 1, 2), are established.
Growing network with heritable connectivity of nodes

We propose a model of a growing network, in which preferential linking is combined with partial inheritance of connectivity (number of incoming links) of individual nodes by new ones. The nontrivial version of this model is solved exactly in the limit of a large network size. We demonstrate, that the connectivity distribution depends on the network size, $t$, in a {\em multifractal} fashion. When the size of the network tends to infinity, the distribution behaves as $\sim q^{-\gamma}\ln q$, where $\gamma =\sqrt{2}$. For the finite-size network, this behavior is observed for $1 \ll q \lesssim \exp(\ln ^{1/2}t) $ but the multifractality is determined by the far wider part, $1 \ll q \lesssim \sqrt t$, of the distribution function.
Quad-Port Circularly Polarized MIMO Antenna with Wide Axial Ratio

This article studies a quad-port multi-input-multi-output (MIMO) circularly polarized antenna with good isolation properties. Using characteristic mode analysis (CMA), the first six distinct modes of the asymmetric square slot with an inverted L-strip are analyzed. In this study, modal parameter extraction is carried out for circular polarization (CP) radiation. A simple annular ring microstrip feed is excited to obtain broadband CP based on CMA. The single-unit feeding structure is replicated orthogonally four times to achieve a CP MIMO antenna. This antenna provides port isolation of more than 21 dB without the use of an additional decoupling element. The quad-port CP-MIMO antenna is simulated with a total dimension of 50 × 50 mm2. The antenna attains impedance matching (S11 < −10 dB) from 5.37 GHz to beyond 11 GHz with an axial ratio bandwidth (ARBW) of 4.65 GHz (5.61 GHz to 10.26 GHz). The peak realized gain of the MIMO antenna is measured at 5.69 dBi at 8.4 GHz. Additionally, the diversity performance parameters of the MIMO structure are computed. The advantages of the proposed structure have been evaluated by comparing it to previously reported MIMO structures. A prototype of the MIMO structure measurements was found to match the simulation results.
Evaluation of the Phase-Aggression Criterion for PIO Detection in Real-time 

This paper presents the results of a pilot-in-the-loop experiment performed to investigate the efficacy of a pilot induced oscillation (PIO) or adverse rotorcraft-pilot coupling (RPC) real-time detection method, to be implemented as an in-cockpit warning system. A test pilot performed a number of simulated flights inside the Heliflight-R simulator at the University of Liverpool. Two handling qualities (HQ) mission task element (MTE) maneuvers were chosen, namely Precision Hover and Lateral Reposition. The baseline dynamics were those of a FLIGHTLAB BO105-like helicopter model, as used in previous tests; changes in rate limits were introduced to induce the pilot-vehicle system (PVS) to be more RPC/PIO prone, and to observe pilot’s adaptation to these variations causing system instabilities during the chosen MTEs. To objectively measure the severity of the PIO encountered during the tests, the PhaseAggression Criterion (PAC) has been used. This method has been developed to allow for real-time PIO detection in order to provide the information inside the cockpit. In addition, pilot subjective ratings were collected, by using the HQs, PIO and Pilot Workload rating scales. Overall, the results show a good correlation between objective and subjective evaluations, and that it is possible to detect PIOs in real-time. The information can be provided to the pilot by means of visual, aural or haptic cues, which is the work the authors are currently carrying out.