Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE SPARSEST CLUSTERS WITH O STARS

There is much debate on how high-mass star formation varies with environment, and whether the sparsest star-forming environments are capable of forming massive stars. To address this issue, we have observed eight apparently isolated OB stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) using Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Five of these objects appear as isolated stars, two of which are confirmed to be runaways. The remaining three objects are found to exist in sparse clusters, with ≲10 companion stars revealed, having masses of 1–4 M☉. Stochastic effects dominate in these sparse clusters, so we perform Monte Carlo simulations to explore how our observations fit within the framework of empirical, galactic cluster properties. We generate clusters using a simplistic −2 power-law distribution for either the number of stars per cluster (N*) or cluster mass (Mcl). These clusters are then populated with stars randomly chosen from a Kroupa initial mass function (IMF). We find that simulations with cluster lower-mass limits of Mcl,lo ⩾ 20 M☉ and N*,lo ⩾ 40 match best with observations of SMC and Galactic OB star populations. We examine the mass ratio of the second most massive and most massive stars mmax,2/mmax, finding that our observations all exist below the 20th percentile of our simulated clusters. However, all of our observed clusters lie within the parameter space spanned by the simulated clusters, although some are in the lowest 5th percentile frequency. These results suggest that clusters are built stochastically by randomly sampling stars from a universal IMF with a fixed stellar upper-mass limit. In particular, we see no evidence to suggest an mmax–Mcl relation. Our results may be more consistent with core accretion models of star formation than with competitive accretion models, and they are inconsistent with the proposed steepening of the integrated galactic stellar initial mass function (IGIMF).
Erratum: On the existence of a luminosity threshold of GRB jets in massive stars

Motivated by the many associations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with energetic supernova (SN) explosions, we study the propagation of relativistic jets within the progenitor star in which an SN shock wave may be launched briefly before the jets start to propagate. Based on analytic considerations and verified with an extensive set of 2D axisymmetric relativistic hydrodynamic simulations, we have estimated a threshold intrinsic jet luminosity, $L_{\rm j}^{\rm thr}$, for successfully launching a jet. This threshold depends on the structure of the progenitor and, thus, it is sensitive to its mass and to its metallicity. For a prototype host of cosmological long GRBs, a low-metallicity star of 35 M⊙, it is $L_{\rm j}^{\rm thr}\simeq 1.35\times 10^{49}$ erg s−1. The observed equivalent isotropic gamma-ray luminosity, $L_{\rm \gamma ,iso,BO} \simeq 4 \epsilon _\gamma L_{\rm j} \theta _{\rm BO}^{-2}$, crucially depends on the jet opening angle after breakout, θBO, and on the efficiency for converting the intrinsic jet luminosity into γ-radiation, εγ. Highly energetic jets can produce low-luminosity events if either their opening angle after the breakout is large, which is found in our models, or if the conversion efficiency of kinetic and internal energy into radiation is low enough. Beyond this theoretical analysis, we show how the presence of an SN shock wave may reduce this luminosity threshold by means of numerical simulations. We foresee that the high-energy transients released by jets produced near the luminosity threshold will be more similar to llGRBs or X-ray flashes than to GRBs.
Radiological and inflammatory outcome in severe covid-19 patients received tocilizumab versus high dose of methylprednisolone

: Background: Cytokine storm causes ARDS, multiple organ failure and post covid-19 pulmonary sequale so anti-inflammatory drugs as tocilizumab and methylprednisolone are widely used to treat covid-19 patients. Methods: prospective observational study on 60 covid-19 patients >18 years old. Diagnosis of covid-19 infection was based on World Health Organization (WHO) criteria and confirmed by nasal and pharyngeal swab for real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis. 30 hypoxemic covid-19 who received tocilizumab and 30 hypoxemic covid-19 patients who received high dose of methylprednisolone.then Comparison of both groups regarding duration of admission, length of Oxygen need, resolution of CT findings and inflammatory marker levels. Results: There was no significant difference ( p-value >0.05) between the two treatment protocols as regards CT findings at time of admission and after a month from discharge. On admission, Higher mean of CRP, D-dimer and a lower mean of procalcitonine were noted among the group treated with Tocilizumab protocol while significantly lower mean of ferritin (p-value <0.05) . After one month follow up there was no difference in CRP level between the two groups. Also there was no statistical significant difference between the two groups regarding hospital stay and length of oxygen therapy between the two groups. Conclusion: lower ferritin and higher D-Dimer were noted in tocilizumab treated group while no difference in radiological finding or length of hospital stay between the two groups
3-D deconvolution of hyper-spectral astronomical data

In this paper we present a general method for multichannel image restoration based on regularized χ. We introduce separable regularizations that account for the dynamic of the model and take advantage of the continuities present in the data, leaving only two hyper-parameters to tune. We illustrate a practical implementation of this method in the context of host galaxy subtraction for the Nearby SuperNova factory. We show that the image restoration obtained fulfills the stringent requirements on bias and photometricity needed by this program. The reconstruction yields sub-percent integrated residuals in all the synthetic filters considered both on real and simulated data. Even though our implementation is tied to the SNfactory data, the method translates to any hyper-spectral data. As such, it is of direct relevance to several new generation instruments like MUSE. Also, this technique could be applied to multiband astronomical imaging for which image reconstruction is important, for example to increase image resolution for weak lensing surveys.
Convolutional Neural Network for Halal Detection of Korean Cosmetic Composition

Korean cosmetics occupy the position as the best and most favorite cosmetics in Indonesia with a user percentage of 46.6%, beating domestic cosmetics with 34.1%. Unfortunately, Hangeul's writing on Korean cosmetic packaging often confuses the contents of the cosmetics. In fact, as a country with the most significant Muslim majority in the world, Indonesian people are required to use everything halal. A halal detection application for Korean cosmetic compositions was created by implementing the Convolutional Neural Network. The test results show that the application can detect material doubts with an accuracy rate of 95.56%. This indicates that the Korean cosmetic halal detection application is in a suitable category.
Thermodynamics and Dark Energy

Significant observational effort has been directed to unveiling the nature of the so-called dark energy. However, given the large number of theoretical possibilities, it is possible that this a task cannot be based only on observational data. We discuss some thermodynamic properties of this energy component assuming a general time-dependent equation-of-state parameter w(z) = w0 + waf (z), where w0 and wa are constants and f (z) may assume different forms. We show that very restrictive bounds can be placed on the w0 – wa space when current observational data are combined with the thermodynamic constraints derived.
Identification of viral RNA sequences in vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) from central Mexico

Bats are important reservoirs of viral entities that cause diverse economical and health problems in several sectors. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of the rabies virus in vampire bats. We also tested for 3 other zoonotic viruses in the collected tissue. We captured 45 vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus), which were measured and sexed under standard parameters. We followed an RT-PCR reaction to amplify the viral products of four virus types: chikungunya (CHIKV), dengue (DENV), rabies (RABV) and Zika virus (ZIKV) from cerebral tissue. We obtained an amplicon of 100 bp for ZIKV in 2 samples, representing a prevalence of 4.4%. An amplicon of 581 bp for RABV was observed in 9 individuals, which is equivalent to 20% of our sample. We obtained 4 different haplotypes for RABV and a single haplotype for ZIKV. We did not record the presence of DENV and CHIKV. We corroborated the presence of the family Rhabdoviridae in the vampire bat and recorded the presence of ZIKV for the first time in this bat species.
Ergodic properties of continuous-time random walks: Finite-size effects and ensemble dependences

The effects of spatial confinements and smooth cutoffs of the waiting time distribution in continuous-time random walks (CTRWs) are studied analytically. We also investigate dependences of ergodic properties on initial ensembles (i.e., distributions of the first waiting time). Here, we consider two ensembles: the equilibrium and a typical non-equilibrium ensembles. For both ensembles, it is shown that the time-averaged mean square displacement (TAMSD) exhibits a crossover from normal to anomalous diffusion due to the spacial confinement and this crossover does not vanish even in the long measurement time limit. Moreover, for the non-equilibrium ensemble, we show that the probability density function of the diffusion constant of TAMSD follows the transient Mittag-Leffler distribution, and that scatter in the TAMSD shows a clear transition from weak ergodicity breaking (an irreproducible regime) to ordinary ergodic behavior (a reproducible regime) as the measurement time increases. This convergence to ordinary ergodicity requires a long measurement time compared to common distributions such as the exponential distribution; in other words, the weak ergodicity breaking persists for a long time. In addition, it is shown that, besides the TAMSD, a class of observables also exhibits this slow convergence to ergodicity. We also point out that, even though the system with the equilibrium initial ensemble shows no aging, its behavior is quite similar to that for the non-equilibrium ensemble.
Perceptions of two different alcohol use behaviours in pregnancy: an application of the prototype/willingness model

ABSTRACT Objective This study explored whether exposure to either an ‘ambiguous consumption’ prototype (no amount of alcohol specified) or a ‘small consumption’ prototype (‘small’ amount of alcohol specified) had an impact on prototype perceptions of, and willingness to use, small amounts of alcohol during pregnancy. Method Participants were 140 women living in the UK, aged 20–45 years old, of whom 92% had previously been, or intended to become, pregnant. Participants completed measures to assess how favourably they viewed alcohol use in pregnancy, how similar they felt to those who would use alcohol in pregnancy and how responsible they perceived those who would use alcohol in pregnancy to be. Participant’s own willingness to use small amounts of alcohol during pregnancy was also assessed. Results Having at least one child was positively correlated with being willing to accept an alcoholic drink while pregnant for those exposed to the ‘ambiguous consumption’ prototype only. Although perceptions of favourability, similarity and responsibility were consistently higher for those exposed to a ‘small consumption’ condition, there were no differences in willingness to drink according to exposure. Conclusion This research suggests that women’s perceptions of those who drink alcohol while pregnant differ according to the amount of alcohol that they perceive as typical. This may have implications for how alcohol use in pregnancy is portrayed in public health messaging, particularly regarding the level of acceptance that may be associated with low to moderate alcohol use.
Surround-View Fisheye BEV-Perception for Valet Parking: Dataset, Baseline and Distortion-Insensitive Multi-Task Framework

Surround-view fisheye perception under valet parking scenes is fundamental and crucial in autonomous driving. Environmental conditions in parking lots perform differently from the common public datasets, such as the imperfect light and opacity, which substantially impacts on perception performance. Most existing networks based on public datasets may generalize suboptimal results on these valet parking scenes, also affected by the fisheye distortion. In this article, we introduce a new large-scale fisheye dataset called Fisheye Parking Dataset (FPD) to promote the research in dealing with diverse real-world surround-view parking cases. Notably, our compiled FPD exhibits excellent characteristics for different surround-view perception tasks. In addition, we also propose our real-time distortion-insensitive multi-task framework Fisheye Perception Network (FPNet), which improves the surround-view fisheye BEV perception by enhancing the fisheye distortion operation and multi-task lightweight designs. Extensive experiments validate the effectiveness of our approach and the dataset's exceptional generalizability.
A Long Decay of X-Ray Flux and Spectral Evolution in the Supersoft Active Galactic Nucleus GSN 069

GSN 069 is an optically identified very low-mass active galactic nuclei (AGN) that shows supersoft X-ray emission. The source is known to exhibit a huge X-ray outburst, with flux increased by more than a factor of ∼240 compared to the quiescence state. We report its long-term evolution in the X-ray flux and spectral variations over a timescale of ∼decade, using both new and archival X-ray observations from the XMM-Newton and Swift. The new Swift observations detected the source in its lowest level of X-ray activity since the outburst, a factor of ∼4 lower in the 0.2–2 keV flux than that obtained with the XMM-Newton observations nearly eight years ago. Combining with the historical X-ray measurements, we find that the X-ray flux is decreasing slowly. There seemed to be spectral softening associated with the drop of X-ray flux. In addition, we find evidence for the presence of a weak, variable, hard X-ray component, in addition to the dominant thermal blackbody emission reported before. The long decay of X-ray flux and spectral evolution, as well as the supersoft X-ray spectra, suggest that the source could be a tidal disruption event (TDE), though a highly variable AGN cannot be fully ruled out. Further continued X-ray monitoring would be required to test the TDE interpretation, by better determining the flux evolution in the decay phase.
Encrypted Cloud Storage Approach For A Multicloud Environment Using Fog Computing

For disaster recovery, data backup is critical. Cloud-based solutions already provide a secure infrastructure. However, while data is hosted on a single cloud, there is no guarantee of data privacy. Multi-cloud technologies are another option. Using numerous clouds to save smaller chunks is an option. Although encrypting data can improve data privacy, it comes at the expense of the edge device’s need to maintain many types of data, accounts and connectivity with various clouds are managed. Using state-of-the-art Multi-Cloud and encryption techniques, we present a storage system which is easy-to-use, highly secure, and reliable backup system. The storage system gives an abstraction layer for end-users to mask any system intricacies. The user has complete control over the situation. As a result, the user does not have to rely on any untrustworthy third parties. In order to do this, we used Fog Computing, a computing technique that makes advantage of fog. According to test findings, proposed method increases data security and reliability while maintaining a simple and direct interface with edge devices.
The role of magnetic fields in the structure and interaction of supershells

Context. Large-scale shocks formed by clustered feedback of young OB stars are considered an important source of mechanical energy for the interstellar medium (ISM) and a trigger of molecular cloud formation. Their interaction sites are locations where kinetic energy and magnetic fields are redistributed between ISM phases. Aims. In this work we address two questions, both involving the role of galactic magnetic fields in the dynamics of supershells and their interactions. On the one hand, we study the effect of the magnetic field on the expansion and fragmentation of supershells and, on the other hand, we look for the signatures of supershell collisions on dense structures and on the kinetic and magnetic energy distribution of the ISM. Methods. We performed a series of high-resolution, three-dimensionalsimulations of colliding supershells. The shocks are created by time-dependent feedback and evolve in a diffuse turbulent environment that is either unmagnetized or has different initial magnetic field configurations. Results. In the hydrodynamical situation, the expansion law of the superbubbles is consistent with the radius-time relation R alpha t(3/5) that is theoretically predicted for wind-blown bubbles. The supershells fragment over their entire surface into small dense clumps that carry more than half of the total kinetic energy in the volume. However, this is not the case when a magnetic field is introduced, either in the direction of the collision or perpendicular to the collision. In both situations, the shell surfaces are more stable to dynamical instabilities. When the magnetic field opposes the collision, the expansion law of the supershells also becomes significantly flatter than in the hydrodynamical case. Although a two-phase medium arises in all cases, in the magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) simulations the cold phase is limited to lower densities and the cold clumps are located further away from the shocks with respect to the hydrodynamical simulations. Conclusions. For the parameters we explored, self-gravity has no effect on either the superbubble expansion or the shock fragmentation. In contrast, a magnetic field, whether mostly parallel or mostly perpendicular to the collision axis, causes a deceleration of the shocks, deforms them significantly, and largely suppresses the formation of the dense gas on their surface. The result is a mult-iphase medium in which the cold clumps are not spatially correlated with the supershells.
THE COEVOLUTION OF NUCLEAR STAR CLUSTERS, MASSIVE BLACK HOLES, AND THEIR HOST GALAXIES

Studying how nuclear star clusters (NSCs) form and how they are related to the growth of the central massive black holes (MBHs) and their host galaxies is fundamental for our understanding of the evolution of galaxies and the processes that have shaped their central structures. We present the results of a semi-analytical galaxy formation model that follows the evolution of dark matter halos along merger trees, as well as that of the baryonic components. This model allows us to study the evolution of NSCs in a cosmological context, by taking into account the growth of NSCs due to both dynamical-friction-driven migration of stellar clusters and star formation triggered by infalling gas, while also accounting for dynamical heating from (binary) MBHs. We find that in situ star formation contributes a significant fraction (up to ∼80%) of the total mass of NSCs in our model. Both NSC growth through in situ star formation and that through star cluster migration are found to generate NSC—host galaxy scaling correlations that are shallower than the same correlations for MBHs. We explore the role of galaxy mergers on the evolution of NSCs and show that observational data on NSC—host galaxy scaling relations provide evidence of partial erosion of NSCs by MBH binaries in luminous galaxies. We show that this observational feature is reproduced by our models, and we make predictions about the NSC and MBH occupation fraction in galaxies. We conclude by discussing several implications for theories of NSC formation.
Joint Communication, Computation, and Control for Computational Task Offloading in Vehicle-Assisted Multi-Access Edge Computing

Future generation of Electric Vehicles (EVs) equipped with modern technologies will impose a significant burden on computation and communication to the network due to the vast extension of onboard infotainment services. To overcome this challenge, multi-access edge computing (MEC) or Fog Computing can be employed. However, the massive adoption of novel infotainment services such as Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality-based services will make the MEC and Fog resources insufficient. To cope with this issue, we propose a system model with onboard computation offloading, where an EV can utilize its neighboring EVs resources that are not resource-constrained to enhance its computing capacity. Then, we propose to solve the problem of computational task offloading by jointly considering the communication, computation, and control in a mobile vehicular network. We formulate a mixed-integer non-linear problem (MINLP) to minimize the trade-off between latency and energy consumption subject to the network resources and the mobility of EVs. The formulated problem is solved via the block coordination descent (BCD) method. In such a way, we decompose the original MINLP problem into three subproblems which are resource block allocation (RBA), power control and interference management (PCP), and offload decision problem (ODP). We then alternatively obtain solutions of RBA and PCP via the duality theory, and the third sub-problem is solvable via the relaxation method and alternating direction Lagrangian multiplier method (ADMM). Numerical results reveal that the proposed solution BCD-based algorithm performs a fast convergence rate.
Fragmentation functions in nuclear media

We perform a detailed phenomenological analysis of how well hadronization in nuclear environments can be described in terms of effective fragmentation functions. The medium modified fragmentation functions are assumed to factorize from the partonic scattering cross sections and evolve in the hard scale in the same way as the standard or vacuum fragmentation functions. Based on precise data on semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering off nuclei and hadron production in deuteron-gold collisions, we extract sets of effective fragmentation functions for pions and kaons at next-to-leading order accuracy. The obtained sets provide a rather accurate description of the kinematical dependence of the analyzed cross sections and are found to differ significantly from standard fragmentation functions both in shape and magnitude. Our results support the notion of factorization and universality in the studied nuclear environments, at least in an effective way and within the precision of the available data.
CMB Distortions from Damping of Acoustic Waves Produced by Cosmic Strings

We study diffusion damping of acoustic waves in the photon-baryon fluid due to cosmic strings, and calculate the induced $\mu$- and $y$-type spectral distortions of the cosmic microwave background. For cosmic strings with tension within current bounds, their contribution to the spectral distortions is subdominant compared to the distortions from primordial density perturbations.