Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quenched-in liquid in glass

Glasses have long been considered as frozen liquids because of the similarity between their static amorphous structures. While the modern theories about glass transition suggest that glass transition may result from supercooling of a heterogeneous liquid that contains fast and slow regions, it remains unclear whether such a physical picture applies to metallic glasses, which are a densely packed solid glass that was once believed to be a vitrified homogeneous metallic liquid. However, in the recent work published in Nature Materials, Chang et al provide compelling evidence to show that metallic glasses contain liquid-like atoms that behave as a high-temperature liquid in stress relaxation. Being activated under cyclic loading, this quenched-in liquid results in a fast relaxation process, which is discovered in a variety of metallic glasses. Their results are important and deliver a strong message that metallic glasses have a dynamic microstructure containing liquid- and solid-like atoms. Most importantly, the outcome of their research provides physical insight into the nature of glass-transition in metallic glasses, and also helps unravel their structure-property relations.
Multiresponse systems optimization using a goal attainment approach

A goal attainment approach to optimize multiresponse systems is presented. This approach aims to identify the settings of control factors to minimize the overall weighted maximal distance measure with respect to individual response targets. Based on a nonlinear programming technique, a sequential quadratic programming algorithm, the method is proved to be robust and can achieve good performance for multiresponse optimization problems with multiple conflicting goals. Moreover, the optimization formulation may include some prior work as special cases by assigning proper response targets and weights. Fewer assumptions are needed when using the approach as compared to other techniques. Furthermore, the decision-maker's preference and the model's predictive ability can easily be incorporated into the weights' adjustment schemes with explicit physical interpretation. The proposed approach is investigated and compared with other techniques through various classical examples in the literature.
Bacteriobiota and Chemical Changes during the Ripening of Traditional Fermented “Pirot ‘Ironed’ Sausage”

“Pirot ‘ironed’ sausage“ (Pis) is a traditional, fermented sausage, made from different types of meat (beef and chevon), without additives or starter cultures. The physical–chemical properties (pH, water activity, fats, moisture, and protein contents) were examined in the initial meat batter stuffing and during ripening. Total bacterial diversity was examined at different time points using both culturable (traditional) and non-culturable (NGS sequencing) approaches. During the ripening, a decrease in pH value, aw, and moisture content was observed, as well as an increase in protein and fat content. At least a two-fold significant decrease was noted for colorimetric values during the ripening period. The dominance of Proteobacteria and Firmicutes was observed in the non-culturable approach in all studied samples. During the ripening process, an increase in Firmicutes (from 33.5% to 63.5%) with a decrease in Proteobacteria (from 65.4% to 22.3%) was observed. The bacterial genera that were dominant throughout the ripening process were Lactobacillus, Photobacterium, Leuconostoc, Weissella, and Lactococcus, while Carnobacterium, Brochothrix, and Acinetobacter were found also, but in negligible abundance. Among the culturable bacteria, Latilactobacillus sakei (Lactobacillus sakei) and Leuconostoc mesenteoides were present in all stages of ripening.
Pathways to Glycine and Other Amino Acids in Ultraviolet-irradiated Astrophysical Ices Determined via Quantum Chemical Modeling

A recent experimental study reported that glycine and other amino acids were formed when cryogenic H2O ice containing small amounts of CH3OH, NH3, and HCN was subjected to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. Quantum chemical calculations were employed to evaluate the viability of various pathways to the formation of glycine, alanine, and serine in dilute H2O ice containing CH3OH and HCN. Under the experimental processing conditions of deposition and UV irradiation at 15 K followed by heating to room temperature, amino acids can form by recombining radicals produced by dehydrogenating H2O and CH3OH and subsequently hydrogenating HCN. The study indicates that isotopic substitution experiments would identify CH3OH as the source of the C atom in the COOH carboxylic acid group of the amino acids observed in the irradiation experiments, with the CO+OH reaction playing an important role. The remaining C and N atoms in glycine are predicted to originate from HCN via sequential hydrogenation to yield CH2NH2. Formation pathways for alanine and serine are also discussed.
Proximal interactions can direct selective sulfenate alkylation chemistry

Abstract Sulfenate anions (RSO-M+) represent emerging sulfur nucleophiles that can introduce an alkyl/aryl sulfinyl unit into a substrate as a single substitution event. The S-functionalization reaction can be directed though interactions of the sulfenate oxygen and its counterion. Using computational methods, we demonstrate the factors that direct the stereoselective S-alkylation of a protected cysteinesulfenate. In another study, our methods predict that a nearby boronic ester can direct and accelerate an S-benzylation reaction by preforming a Lewis complex between the sulfenate oxygen and the boron atom. An unexpected off-shoot of this study suggests an H-bonding interaction during the alkylation of a sulfenate may facilitate the substitution reaction. Graphical Abstract
Renewable Energy Sources Based on Agricultural Production: Potential Applications Within the Silk Road Economic Belt Framework

The article is devoted to the Ukrainian-Chinese cooperation in the context of the joint construction of the "Silk Road Economic Belt", in particular, the cost-effective production of renewable energy sources based on agricultural production on the territory of Ukraine with the involvement of investors from China is highlighted. It has been proved that it is advisable to create an agro-industrial park in the agricultural sector, whose activities can be aimed at research and development of new technologies for growing agricultural products and "green technologies" in the field of agriculture. Calculations indicate the possibility of substantiating the quantitative characteristics of biofuel production and the ecological state of the territories. It is shown that in order to identify the degree of influence of these economic and environmental factors on the efficiency of biofuel production enterprises, it is necessary to conduct a systematic assessment of them with the construction of a mechanism for the functioning of such an enterprise as part of an agricultural park, which reflects the relationship of factors of the efficiency of biofuel production. Keywords: The economic belt of the Silk Road, Agricultural Park; Production of renewable energy sources, Production of biofuels, Efficiency of functioning of biofuel production enterprises.
Morphology and anatomy of the root system of new potato cultivars. Part II. Root anatomy

The comparison of primary adventitious roots structure was done in a survey study of 17 Solanum tuberosum cultivars differently tolerant to drought by means of microscopic methods. Cell wall autofluorescence combined with aniline blue treatment of handmade sections was shown to be a convenient method for fast examination of large amount of plant material. Secondary structure limited to the formation of vascular cambium and its derivative tissues was found in all the cultivars examined. Anatomical differences were found between cultivars, individual plants and individual roots, and they were most evident in regard to the extent of secondary structure formation and number of primary vascular tissues strands. By means of image-analysis method, cross-section areas of the root and xylem were measured in 16 cultivars, and by means of statistical analysis significant differences were found between cultivars in regard to these traits.
A deep imaging survey of the Pleiades with ROSAT

We have obtained deep ROSAT images of three regions within the Pleiades open cluster. We have detected 317 X-ray sources in these ROSAT Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC) images, 171 of which we associate with certain or probable members of the Pleiades cluster. We detect nearly all Pleiades members with spectral types later than G0 and within 25 arcminutes of our three field centers where our sensitivity is highest. This has allowed us to derive for the first time the luminosity function for the G, K, amd M dwarfs of an open cluster without the need to use statistical techniques to account for the presence of upper limits in the data sample. Because of our high X-ray detection frequency down to the faint limit of the optical catalog, we suspect that some of our unidentified X-ray sources are previously unknown, very low-mass members of Pleiades. A large fraction of the Pleiades members detected with ROSAT have published rotational velocities. Plots of L(sub X)/L(sub Bol) versus spectroscopic rotational velocity show tightly correlated `saturation' type relations for stars with ((B - V)(sub 0)) greater than or equal to 0.60. For each of several color ranges, X-ray luminosities rise rapidly with increasing rotation rate until c sin i approximately equal to 15 km/sec, and then remains essentially flat for rotation rates up to at least v sin i approximately equal to 100 km/sec. The dispersion in rotation among low-mass stars in the Pleiades is by far the dominant contributor to the dispersion in L(sub X) at a given mass. Only about 35% of the B, A, and early F stars in the Pleiades are detected as X-ray sources in our survey. There is no correlation between X-ray flux and rotation for these stars. The X-ray luminosity function for the early-type Pleiades stars appears to be bimodal -- with only a few exceptions, we either detect these stars at fluxes in the range found for low-mass stars or we derive X-ray limits below the level found for most Pleiades dwarfs. The X-ray spectra for the early-type Pleiades stars detected by ROSAT are indistinguishable from the spectra of the low-mass Pleiades members. We believe that the simplest explanation for this behavior is that the early-type Pleiades stars are not themselves intrinsic X-ray sources and that the X-ray emission actually arises from low-mass companions to these stars.
Predicting the Moisture Ratio of a Hami Melon Drying Process Using Image Processing Technology

For food drying, moisture content and shrinkage are vital in the drying process. This paper is concerned with the moisture ratio modeling and prediction issues of the Hami melon drying process. First, an experimental system was developed; it included an adjustable-power microwave drying unit and an image-processing unit. The moisture contents and the areas of Hami melon slices at different times were sampled in real time. Then, the expression of the moisture ratio with regard to shrinkage was derived by using the Weierstrass approximation theorem. A maximum likelihood fitness function-based population evolution (MLFF-PE) algorithm was then put forward to fit the moisture ratio model and predict the moisture ratio. The results showed that the proposed MLFF-PE algorithm was effective at fitting and predicting the moisture ratio model of the drying process of Hami melon slices.
Do Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Monoclonal Antibodies Have an Impact on Pregnancy Outcome? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have been used as a rescue strategy for pregnant women affected by COVID-19. To explore its impact on maternal-fetal health, we included all observational studies reporting maternal, fetal, delivery and neonatal outcomes in women who underwent mAbs infusion for COVID-19. Primary outcome was the percentage of preterm delivery. We used meta-analyses of proportions to combine data for maternal, fetal, delivery and neonatal outcome of women treated with mAbs for COVID-19 and reported pooled proportions and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for categorical variables or mean difference (MD) with their 95% confidence intervals for continuous variables. Preterm birth was observed in 22.8% of cases (95% CI 12.9–34.3). Fetal distress was reported in 4.2% (95% CI 1.6–8.2). Gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia were observed in 3.0% (95% CI 0.8–6.8) and 3.4% (95% CI 0.8–7.5) of cases, respectively. Fetal growth restriction was observed in 3.2% of fetuses (95% CI 0.8–7.0). Secondary prophylaxis with mAbs is currently considered the best treatment option for people with mild to moderate COVID-19 disease. More attention should be paid to infants born from mothers who were treated with mAbs, for the risk of immunosuppression.
Utilizing Attitude Information for Efficient Multi-User Millimeter-Wave Communications

Sensing has played an important role in the 5G wireless network. It is well recognized that the energy efficiency of mobile devices can be further improved with the assistance of sensing. As an important sensing resource, attitude information is highly related to the angle of arrivals (AoAs) information when user equipments (UEs) rotate. It provides great potential to improve transceiver designs for multi-user millimeter-wave (mmWave) green communications. In this paper, we propose an attitude information aided block diagonalization receiver design algorithm. We first adopt angle of departure aided block diagonalization (AoD-BD) to eliminate inter-user interference (IUI). Then we compensate the rotation for each UE by only updating the receiver with attitude information from motion sensors. Compared to the joint transceiver design performance, we have theoretically proved that the sum spectral efficiency performance penalty of keeping transmitter unchanged is generally negligible. Furthermore, we consider the effect of imperfect attitude information, and derive a robust receiver by modeling the measurement error as Gaussian. Finally, the simulation results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed design. It is noted that no feedback is required between the base station (BS) and UE during the rotation, which substantially reduces the system overhead.
Super-compact dual-axis optical scanning unit applying a tortional spring resonator driven by a piezoelectric actuator

A novel super compact dual axis optical scanner composed of a miniature resonator driven by a piezoelectric actuator and a micro-collimated light source using a micro Fresnel lens has been developed. The scanner is able to scan an optical beam in two directions with a scanning angle of more than 20 degrees, and its dimensions are 30 mm X 20 mm X 20 mm.
Performance verification of HARPS: first laboratory results

The high-resolution spectrograph HARPS (High-Accuracy Radial-velocity Planet Searcher) will be installed on the 3.6m telescope at the ESO La Silla Observatory towards the end of 2002 and offered to the astronomical community by mid-2003. Assembly and integration of the instrument took place at the Geneva Observatory, Switzerland, during Spring 2002. At present, the verification of the system performance is in progress and is already in an advanced phase. We present in this paper the first results of our laboratory tests and describe various performance figures. We stress the outstanding mechanical and thermal stability of the instrument which are crucial for accurate radial velocity measurements. We also give a description of the simultaneous ThAr-reference technique which ensures an overall efficiency 6 times higher than with an the iodine cell absorption method. The combination of the high instrumental stability with the simultaneous ThAr-reference technique provides HARPS with characteristics highly adapted for accurate radial-velocity determination at the level of 1 ms-1. These make our instrument suitable for the detection of planetary systems and of extra-solar planets with sub-saturnian mass.
Towards an Efficient Fog-Based Forest Fire Management Architecture

Forest fires cause significant human losses and natural damage and threaten the biodiversity on our planet. Several researchers have studied the potential of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) to manage a forested area and have proven the real potential of this paradigm. Such systems generate a large amount of heterogeneous data in a short time, which may lead to network congestion and delay in data transmission. Processing such data in a short time frame is challenging for a traditional WSN. This article presents a multi-layered architecture for wildfire prevention, detection, and intervention based on WSN, IoT, cloud, and fog computing technologies. The proposed architecture is validated using the iFogSim simulation tool. Two models are compared, cloud-only and fog-cloud-based scenarios. The experimental results show that the cloud-fog model minimizes latency and significantly reduces bandwidth consumption compared to the cloud-only model. To bring fast fire extinguishing ability to the system, the authors recommend the employment of drones equipped with fire extinguishing balls.
Hyperspectral Band Selection via Difference Between Intergroups

Various methods are proposed to reduce the dimensions of hyperspectral image (HSI) by band selection in recent years. Most methods select one band from each group to construct a band subset. However, the redundancy in the selected bands from different groups is neglected. Furthermore, the researchers do not pay enough attention to how many bands are appropriated for selection. To solve these issues, we propose a hyperspectral band selection method via difference between intergroups (DIG), which includes grouping strategy and ranking strategy. Specifically, the grouping strategy adopts intragroup similarity to reasonably distribute all partitioning point positions. The similarity of bands within the same group is significantly improved. For the ranking strategy, it not only takes into account the knowledge and intragroup similarity of bands, but also evaluates the differences between each band and other intergroup bands. The redundancy in band subset is reduced sufficiently. To accurately obtain the optimal number of bands, an evaluation function is designed to measure the information content and redundancy in various band subsets. Experimental results from different aspects show that the proposed model has a large performance advantage on three public datasets.
Diabetes-Induced Autophagy Dysregulation Engenders Testicular Impairment via Oxidative Stress

Testes produce sperms, and gamete generation relies on a proper niche environment. The disruption of hierarchical regulatory homeostasis in Leydig or Sertoli cells may evoke a sterile phenotype in humans. In this study, we recapitulated type 2 diabetes mellitus by using a high-fat diet- (HFD-) fed mouse model to identify the phenotype and potential mechanism of diabetes-induced testicular impairment. At the end of the study, blood glucose levels, testosterone structure, testicular antioxidant capacity, and testosterone level and the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor- (HIF-) 1α, apoptosis-related protein cleaved-caspase3, and autophagy-related proteins such as LC3I/II, p62, and Beclin1 were evaluated. We found that long-term HFD treatment causes the development of diabetes mellitus, implicating increased serum glucose level, cell apoptosis, and testicular atrophy (P < 0.05 vs. Ctrl). Mechanistically, the results showed enhanced expression of HIF-1α in both Sertoli and Leydig cells (P < 0.05 vs. Ctrl). Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) were demonstrated to be a potential factor leading to HIF-1α upregulation in both cell types. In Sertoli cells, high glucose treatment had minor effects on Sertoli cell autophagy. However, AGE treatment stagnated the autophagy flux and escalated cell apoptosis (P < 0.05 vs. Ctrl+Ctrl). In Leydig cells, high glucose treatment was adequate to encumber autophagy induction and enhance oxidative stress. Similarly, AGE treatment facilitated HIF-1α expression and hampered testosterone production (P < 0.05 vs. Ctrl+Ctrl). Overall, these findings highlight the dual effects of diabetes on autophagy regulation in Sertoli and Leydig cells while imposing oxidative stress in both cell types. Furthermore, the upregulation of HIF-1α, which could be triggered by AGE treatment, may negatively affect both cell types. Together, these findings will help us further understand the molecular mechanism of diabetes-induced autophagy dysregulation and testicular impairment, enriching the content of male reproductive biology in diabetic patients.
Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Appraising Myocardial Strain and Biomechanics: A Current Overview

Subclinical alterations in myocardial structure and function occur early during the natural disease course. In contrast, clinically overt signs and symptoms occur during late phases, being associated with worse outcomes. Identification of such subclinical changes is critical for timely diagnosis and accurate management. Hence, implementing cost-effective imaging techniques with accuracy and reproducibility may improve long-term prognosis. A growing body of evidence supports using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) to quantify deformation parameters. Tissue-tagging (TT-CMR) and feature-tracking CMR (FT-CMR) can measure longitudinal, circumferential, and radial strains and recent research emphasize their diagnostic and prognostic roles in ischemic heart disease and primary myocardial illnesses. Additionally, these methods can accurately determine LV wringing and functional dynamic geometry parameters, such as LV torsion, twist/untwist, LV sphericity index, and long-axis strain, and several studies have proved their utility in prognostic prediction in various cardiovascular patients. More recently, few yet important studies have suggested the superiority of fast strain-encoded imaging CMR-derived myocardial strain in terms of accuracy and significantly reduced acquisition time, however, more studies need to be carried out to establish its clinical impact. Herein, the current review aims to provide an overview of currently available data regarding the role of CMR in evaluating myocardial strain and biomechanics.
Comparative chloroplast genome analyses of diverse Phoebe (Lauraceae) species endemic to China provide insight into their phylogeographical origin

The genus Phoebe (Lauraceae) includes about 90 evergreen tree species that are an ideal source of timber. Habitat destruction and deforestation have resulted in most of them being endemic to China. The accurate identification of endangered Phoebe species in China is necessary for their conservation. Chloroplast genome sequences can play an important role in species identification. In this study, comparative chloroplast genome analyses were conducted on diverse Phoebe species that are primarily distributed in China. Despite the conserved nature of chloroplast genomes, we detected some highly divergent intergenic regions (petA–psbE, ndhF–rpl32, and psbM–trnD-GUC) as well as three highly divergent genes (rbcL, ycf1, and ycf2) that have potential applications in phylogenetics and evolutionary analysis. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that various Phoebe species in China were divided into three clades. The complete chloroplast genome was better suited for phylogenetic analysis of Phoebe species. In addition, based on the phylogeographical analysis of Phoebe species in China, we inferred that the Phoebe species in China first originated in Yunnan and then spread to other southern areas of the Yangtze River. The results of this research will add to existing case studies on the phylogenetic analysis of Phoebe species and have the potential to contribute to the conservation of Phoebe species that are in danger of extinction.