Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Thermoplastic composites based on biopolymers and natural fibres

The objective of the present research is to utilise the advantages offered by renewable resources for the development of biodegradable composite materials. Two types of biocomposites using flax fibres as a reinforcement and poly[(R)-3-hydroxyalkanoates] (PHA) as a biodegradable polymer matrix were manufactured: First, natural-fibre-mat-reinforced thermoplastics (NMTs) using a compression moulding method and needle-punched nonwoven flax fibre mats and secondly, injection moulding compounds based on short flax fibres. The influence of fibre content and processing method on the tensile and impact properties of these composites was studied. Results indicated that the addition of (cheap) flax fibre to poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) could be advantageous as far as cost-performance of these materials is concerned. For example, the addition of flax fibres to the relatively brittle PHB matrix offers the chance to obtain cheaper products together with improved toughness, while retaining biodegradability of the resulting polymer composites. Especially in the case of relatively long fibres as in the case of NMTs the improvement in impact resistance is significant. Regarding the influence of processing method it was observed that, with the exception of impact resistance, injection moulded samples possessed similar properties to NMT samples, indicating that for some applications injection moulding might be advantageous over NMT because of the more versatile production process.
A Framework for Non-linear Time Evolution and Field Theories on State-Dependent Geometries

We introduce a framework for non-linear time evolution in quantum mechanics as a natural non-linear generalization of the Schrodinger equation. Within our framework, we derive simple toy models of dynamical geometry on finite graphs. Along similar lines we also propose a model of non-linear quantum field theory on spaces with state-dependent geometry.
DISCOVERY OF A TRANSIENT GAMMA-RAY COUNTERPART TO FRB 131104

We report our discovery in Swift satellite data of a transient gamma-ray counterpart (3.2σ confidence) to the fast radio burst (FRB) FRB 131104, the first such counterpart to any FRB. The transient has a duration T90 ≳ 100 s and a fluence Sγ ≈ 4 × 10−6 erg cm−2, increasing the energy budget for this event by more than a billion times; at the nominal z ≈ 0.55 redshift implied by its dispersion measure, the burst’s gamma-ray energy output is Eγ ≈ 5 × 1051 erg. The observed radio to gamma-ray fluence ratio for FRB 131104 is consistent with a lower limit we derive from Swift observations of another FRB, which is not detected in gamma-rays, and with an upper limit previously derived for the brightest gamma-ray flare from SGR 1806−20, which was not detected in the radio. X-ray, ultraviolet, and optical observations beginning two days after the FRB do not reveal any associated afterglow, supernova, or transient; Swift observations exclude association with the brightest 65% of Swift gamma-ray burst (GRB) X-ray afterglows, while leaving the possibility of an associated supernova at much more than 10% the FRB’s nominal distance, D ≳ 320 Mpc, largely unconstrained. Transient high-luminosity gamma-ray emission arises most naturally in a relativistic outflow or shock breakout, such as, for example, from magnetar flares, GRBs, relativistic supernovae, and some types of galactic nuclear activity. Our discovery thus bolsters the case for an extragalactic origin for some FRBs and suggests that future rapid-response observations might identify long-lived counterparts, resolving the nature of these mysterious phenomena and realizing their promise as probes of cosmology and fundamental physics.
Oscillating soliton stars with network of domain walls

In this work, we study oscillating soliton stars (oscillatons) with network of domain walls. We consider a Lagrangian with three scalar fields coupled among themselves by a specific potential. We choose an appropriate potential to admit the formation of network of domain walls on the oscillatons. With small perturbations applied to this potential, we then compute the Einstein–Klein–Gordon (EKG) equations numerically and analyze the mass profile of this new object. From the results we discuss how the stability of the oscillatons is affected by the network. At some conditions, the network provides a ‘bouncing stability’ to the oscillatons.
Automatic contraction of unstructured tensor networks

The evaluation of partition functions is a central problem in statistical physics. For lattice systems and other discrete models the partition function may be expressed as the contraction of a tensor network. Unfortunately computing such contractions is difficult, and many methods to make this tractable require periodic or otherwise structured networks. Here I present a new algorithm for contracting unstructured tensor networks. This method makes no assumptions about the structure of the network and performs well in both structured and unstructured cases so long as the correlation structure is local.
SIMPLE ONE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATION OF HALL THRUSTER FLOWFIELDS

Low-power Hall thruster flowfields were calculated using a simple one-dimensional model to understand plasma characteristics and ion acceleration processes and to predict thruster performance. The influences of magnetic field strength and acceleration channel length were mainly examined. The model includes first ionization by direct electron-neutral collisions, electron-neutral elastic collisions, Bohm diffusion (anomalous diffusion); channel wall losses of ion flux and electron energy flux with secondary electron emission effect. The thruster model for calculation is the THT-IV low power thruster developed in Osaka University. Generally, ions were produced in an upstream region from the anode to some axial location of the acceleration channel, and then they were intensively accelerated in a region downstream just from the ionization region. When the magnetic field strength increased in the channel, ionization occurred in a more upstream region, and ion acceleration began in the same region; that is, ionization and acceleration overlapped in the relatively long region. On the other hand, with a weak magnetic field ion production and acceleration, intensively and efficiently, occurred in their thin regions. With too short channel, ionization began downstream just from the anode, and then ion acceleration also occurred in the same region. In large channel length, the channel was long enough to produce a fully-ionized plasma, and efficient ion production and acceleration occurred. The calculated thruster performance agreed with the calculated voltage utilization efficiency, plasma plume divergent half-angle and energy balance characteristics as well as the distributions of physical properties in the channel. However, because the measured performance characteristics did not agree well with the calculated ones, we need to improve the present calculation model. Furthermore, we tried to include unclear anomalous electron diffusions by changing a Bohm diffusion coefficient at each high magnetic field strength in order to fit a calculated performance to the measured one. The calculated discharge current almost equaled the measured one, and the thrust characteristic also agreed well with the measured one.
A Quantum Mechanical Review of Magnetic Resonance Imaging

In this paper, we review the quantum mechanics of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We traverse its hierarchy of scales from the spin and orbital angular momentum of subatomic particles to the ensemble magnetization of tissue. And we review a number of modalities used in the assessment of acute ischemic stroke and traumatic brain injury.
Fly Ash-Incorporated Polystyrene Nanofiber Membrane as a Fire-Retardant Material: Valorization of Discarded Materials

Reusing or recycling waste into new useful materials is essential for environmental protection. Herein, we used discarded polystyrene (PS) and fly-ash (FA) particles and a fabricated fly-ash incorporated polystyrene fiber (FA/PS fiber) composite. The electrospinning process produced continuous PS fibers with a good distribution of FA particles. The prepared nanofibers were characterized by state-of-the-art techniques. The performances of the composite nanofibers were tested for fire-retardant applications. We observed that the incorporation of FA particles into the PS fibers led to an improvement in the performance of the composite as compared to the pristine PS fibers. This study showed an important strategy in using waste materials to produce functional nanofibers through an economical procedure. We believe that the strategy presented in this paper can be extended to other waste materials for obtaining nanofiber membranes for various environmental applications.
Portable Non-Destructive Magnetic Resonance Sensor for Assessing the Aging Status of Silicon Rubber Insulators

Silicone rubber insulators (SRIs) are widely used in high-voltage power grids. Due to high-voltage fields and harsh environmental conditions, SRIs eventually deteriorate with use in the power grid, decreasing their insulating performance and operational life and contributing to transmission line failures. Therefore, quantitatively assessing the aging status of SRIs is crucial. In this study, we evaluated the viability of the magnetic resonance method for assessing the age of SRIs at the level of chemical structure; we built and made a portable magnetic resonance sensor, and evaluated the sensor’s functionality. By measuring the SRI sheds at various service times, it was discovered that the equivalent transverse relaxation time, T2eff, can describe the degree of aging of the SRIs. The results of the magnetic resonance measurements were also compared with those of the static contact angle method, and the two measurement methods yielded the same conclusions. However, the magnetic resonance method was more sensitive than the one using the static contact angle method.
Electronic superlattices in corrugated graphene

We theoretically investigate electron transport through corrugated graphene ribbons and show how the ribbon curvature leads to an electronic superlattice with a period set by the corrugation wavelength. Transport through the ribbon depends sensitively on the superlattice band structure which, in turn, strongly depends on the geometry of the deformed sheet. In particular, we find that for ribbon widths where the transverse level separation is comparable to the band edge energy, a strong current switching occurs as a function of an applied back gate voltage. Thus, artificially corrugated graphene sheets or ribbons can be used for the study of Dirac fermions in periodic potentials. Furthermore, this provides an additional design degree of freedom for graphene-based electronics.
The Impact of Contact and Colonization on Indigenous Worldviews, Rock Art, and the History of Southern Africa

The archaeological record undergoes a dramatic shift in appearance whenever indigenous peoples encounter incoming populations—whether in the form of economy, politics, or identity. Rock art in southern Africa testifies to successive interactions among hunter-gatherers, incoming African herders, African farmers, and, later, European settlers. New subject matter, however, is not simply incorporated into the preexisting tradition. Without exception, the many rock arts that depict novel motifs are made differently from the “traditional corpus,” usually rougher in appearance (in both paintings and engravings), more dynamic, or made with vivid and chalky paints. The drop in pigment quality is likely owing to the disruption and ultimate decimation of indigenous groups and the subsequent breakdown in trade and social communications—the Disconnect. The shifts in manners of depiction and the ways in which motifs are treated owe more, it seems, to the increasingly heterogeneous and creolizing membership of the art-producing people and the mixing of their cosmologies, albeit with specific cultural survivals. Precolonial contact images speak to a multitude of interactions and entanglements in ways that can inform the archaeological record, and colonial-era rock art constitutes a major component of the historical archive, an emic, agentive artifact that offers a reverse gaze from an indigenous perspective.
Detection of Anti-Neospora caninum IgG in Blood Serum and Colostrum Samples in Naturally Infected Sheep and in Their Newborn Offspring

The aim was to detect correlations of IgG antibodies against N. caninum in serum and colostrum samples from ewes, through the IFAT, and to evaluate the presence of this immunoglobulin in the serum of newborn lambs after colostrum ingestion. Blood samples from 162 ewes that did not show any disease in the general physical examination and from their newborn lambs, not more than five days postpartum, along with 162 colostrum samples and 182 blood samples from the neonates, were analyzed. In total, 27.8% (45/162) of the mothers were positive for anti-N. caninum IgG, among which antibodies were detected in the colostrum in 46.7% (21/45). All the ewes with positive colostrum had reactive offspring. The kappa agreement for the correlation between the serological tests on the ewes and the colostrum results was 0.558. This correlation increased as the antibody titers of the mothers increased, and reached 1.000 from the titer of 1:400 from the mothers. Comparison of the antibody detection results between the offspring’s serum and colostrum showed a kappa agreement of 1.000. In conclusion, there was a good agreement regarding the detection of anti-N. caninum IgG between the colostrum samples and the lambs’ serum; the use of colostrum forms a noninvasive alternative for diagnosing N. caninum in sheep herds.
Study of Vertical Ga2O3 FinFET Short Circuit Ruggedness using Robust TCAD Simulation

In this paper, the short circuit ruggedness of Gallium Oxide (Ga2O3) vertical FinFET is studied using Technology Computer-Aided-Design (TCAD) simulations. Ga2O3 is an emerging ultra-wide bandgap material and Ga2O3 vertical FinFET can achieve the normally-off operation for high voltage applications. Ga2O3 has a relatively low thermal conductivity and, thus, it is critical to explore the design space of Ga2O3 vertical FinFETs to achieve an acceptable short-circuit capability for power applications. In this study, appropriate TCAD models and parameters calibrated to experimental data are used. For the first time, the breakdown voltage simulation accuracy of Ga2O3 vertical FinFETs is studied systematically. It is found that a background carrier generation rate between 105 cm-3s-1 and 1012 cm-3s-1 is required in simulation to obtain correct results. The calibrated and robust setup is then used to study the short circuit withstand time (SCWT) of an 800V-rated Ga2O3 vertical FinFET with different inter-fin architectures. It is found that, due to the high thermal resistance in Ga2O3, to achieve an SCWT > 1μs, low gate overdrive is needed which increases Ron,sp by 66% and that Ga2O3 might melt before the occurrence of thermal runaway. These results provide important guidance for developing rugged Ga2O3 power transistors.
Assessing the Efficiency of Thermal Pressurization Using Natural Pseudotachylyte‐Bearing Rocks

The efficiency of thermal pressurization as a dynamic weakening mechanism relies on the thermal and hydraulic properties of the rocks forming the fault core. Here we assess the effectiveness of thermal pressurization by comparing predictions of temperature rise to field estimates based on pseudotachylyte‐bearing rocks. We measure hydraulic and transport properties of a suite of fault rocks (a healed cataclasite, an unhealed breccia, and the intact parent rock) from the pseudotachylyte‐bearing Gole Larghe fault in the Adamello batholith (Italy) and use them as inputs in numerical simulations of thermal pressurization. We find that the melting temperature can be reached only if damaged, unhealed rock properties are used. A tenfold increase in permeability or a fourfold increase in pore compressibility of the intact rock is required to achieve melting. Our results emphasize the importance of damage processes that strongly modify fault rock properties and dynamic weakening processes during earthquake propagation.
A Novel m7G-Related Genes-Based Signature with Prognostic Value and Predictive Ability to Select Patients Responsive to Personalized Treatment Strategies in Bladder Cancer

Simple Summary Although N7-methylguanosine (m7G) modification serves as a tumor promoter in bladder cancer (BLCA), the comprehensive role of m7G-related characterization in BLCA remains unclear. In this study, we integrated three cohorts consisting of 760 BLCA patients and used a consensus unsupervised clustering method to classify the BLCA patients into different clusters based on 18 m7G-related genes. Next, we identified some candidate proteins via various approaches to reveal the potential mechanism among these m7G-related clusters. Finally, we developed a novel scoring system depending on the GSVA algorithm. The constructed m7G-related signature can accurately be used for risk stratification. Most importantly, our signature can effectively predict patients’ response to immunotherapy and some targeted chemotherapeutic drugs. We believe our research can guide more clinical therapeutic strategies, improving the survival of BLCA patients in the future. Abstract Although N7-methylguanosine (m7G) modification serves as a tumor promoter in bladder cancer (BLCA), the comprehensive role of m7G-related characterization in BLCA remains unclear. In this study, we systematically evaluated the m7G-related clusters of 760 BLCA patients through consensus unsupervised clustering analysis. Next, we investigated the underlying m7G-related genes among these m7G-related clusters. Univariate Cox and LASSO regressions were used for screening out prognostic genes and for reducing the dimension, respectively. Finally, we developed a novel m7G-related scoring system via the GSVA algorithm. The correlation between tumor microenvironment, prediction of personalized therapies and this m7G-related signature was gradually revealed. We first identified three m7G-related clusters and 1108 differentially expressed genes relevant to the three clusters. Based on the profile of 1108 genes, we divided BLCA patients into two clusters, which were quantified by our established m7G-related scoring system. Patients with higher m7G-related scores tended to have a better OS and more chances to benefit from immunotherapy. A significantly negative connection between sensitivity to classic chemotherapeutic drugs and m7G-related signature was uncovered. In summary, our data show that m7G-related characterization of BLCA patients can be of value for prognostic stratification and for patient-oriented therapeutic options, designing personalized treatment strategies in the preclinical setting.
Histidine 19 Residue Is Essential for Cell Internalization of Antifungal Peptide SmAPα1-21 Derived from the α-Core of the Silybum marianum Defensin DefSm2-D in Fusarium graminearum

The synthetic peptide SmAPα1-21 (KLCEKPSKTWFGNCGNPRHCG) derived from DefSm2-D defensin α-core is active at micromolar concentrations against the phytopathogenic fungus Fusarium graminearum and has a multistep mechanism of action that includes alteration of the fungal cell wall and membrane permeabilization. Here, we continued the study of this peptide’s mode of action and explored the correlation between the biological activity and its primary structure. Transmission electron microscopy was used to study the ultrastructural effects of SmAPα1-21 in conidial cells. New peptides were designed by modifying the parent peptide SmAPα1-21 (SmAPH19R and SmAPH19A, where His19 was replaced by Arg or Ala, respectively) and synthesized by the Fmoc solid phase method. Antifungal activity was determined against F. graminearum. Membrane permeability and subcellular localization in conidia were studied by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was assessed by fluorescence spectroscopy and CLSM. SmAPα1-21 induced peroxisome biogenesis and oxidative stress through ROS production in F. graminearum and was internalized into the conidial cells’ cytoplasm. SmAPH19R and SmAPH19A were active against F. graminearum with minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 38 and 100 µM for SmAPH19R and SmAPH19A, respectively. The replacement of His19 by Ala produced a decrease in the net charge with a significant increase in the MIC, thus evidencing the importance of the positive charge in position 19 of the antifungal peptide. Like SmAPα1-21, SmAP2H19A and SmAP2H19R produced the permeabilization of the conidia membrane and induced oxidative stress through ROS production. However, SmAPH19R and SmAPH19A were localized in the conidia cell wall. The replacement of His19 by Ala turned all the processes slower. The extracellular localization of peptides SmAPH19R and SmAPH19A highlights the role of the His19 residue in the internalization.
A hybrid composite features based sentence level sentiment analyzer

Current lexica and machine learning based sentiment analysis approaches still suffer from a two-fold limitation. First, manual lexicon construction and machine training is time consuming and error-prone. Second, the prediction’s accuracy entails sentences and their corresponding training text should fall under the same domain. In this article, we experimentally evaluate four sentiment classifiers, namely support vector machines (SVMs), Naive Bayes (NB), logistic regression (LR) and random forest (RF). We quantify the quality of each of these models using three real-world datasets that comprise 50,000 movie reviews, 10,662 sentences, and 300 generic movie reviews. Specifically, we study the impact of a variety of natural language processing (NLP) pipelines on the quality of the predicted sentiment orientations. Additionally, we measure the impact of incorporating lexical semantic knowledge captured by WordNet on expanding original words in sentences. Findings demonstrate that the utilizing different NLP pipelines and semantic relationships impacts the quality of the sentiment analyzers. In particular, results indicate that coupling lemmatization and knowledge-based n-gram features proved to produce higher accuracy results. With this coupling, the accuracy of the SVM classifier has improved to 90.43%, while it was 86.83%, 90.11%, 86.20%, respectively using the three other classifiers.
Theory of friction: contribution from fluctuating electromagnetic field

We calculate the friction force between two semi-inﬁnite solids in relative parallel motion (velocity V ), and separated by a vacuum gap of width d . The friction force result from coupling via a ﬂuctuating electromagnetic ﬁeld, and can be considered as the dissipative part of the van der Waals interaction. We consider the dependence of the friction force on the temperature T , and present a detailed discussion of the limiting cases of small and large V and d .
New CMB spectral distortion constraints on decaying dark matter with full evolution of electromagnetic cascades before recombination

Current constraints on energy injection in the form of energetic particles before the epoch of recombination using CMB spectral distortions assume that all energy goes into $y$ and $\mu$-type distortions. We revisit these constraints with exact calculations of the spectral distortions by evolving the electromagnetic cascades. The actual spectral distortion differs in shape and amplitude from the $y$-type distortion and depends on the energy and nature of injected particles. The constraints on the energy injection processes such as dark matter decay can be relaxed by as much as a factor of 5.