Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An automated procedure to detect discontinuities; performance assessment and application to a large European climate data set

Within the framework of the EU-project ENSEMBLES, an automated procedure to detect shift inhomogeneities in climatological time series was developed and used for the homogeneity assessment of a European data set including values for temperature (min, mean, max), precipitation and air pressure covering at least 45 years. The automated process combines VERAQC (Vienna Enhanced Resolution Analysis Quality Control) output with Alexandersson's Standard Normal Homogeneity Test. VERAQC is designed to find outliers, systematic errors and meteorological biases in a time series comparing the data with concurrent observations of neighbouring stations. The resulting deviations can be analysed as time series for a single station and used as an input for relative homogeneity testing. Shift inhomogeneities are detected in accordance with statistical significance. An iterative procedure ensures that multiple break points are detected. The performance of the automated homogenization method was tested comparing its findings to results of a manually homogenized Swiss data set. The latter is based on a relative homogenization procedure in combination with an in-depth analysis of station history information. It is shown that the new automated procedure is able to detect shift inhomogeneities in temperature, precipitation and air pressure series but several limitations exist. Mainly the number of false alarms as well as missed break points is comparatively high at least in the Swiss Alpine test region with its complex topography. The homogeneity assessment of the ENSEMBLES data set for the period 1960-2004 revealed that 12 % to 59 % of the series were homogeneous depending on the variable. By far the highest number of shifts was detected in air pressure series followed by temperature and precipitation.
A comparative study of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor gate dielectrics for solution-processed polymer thin-film transistor circuit integration

This paper considers plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited (PECVD) silicon nitride (SiNx) and silicon oxide (SiOx) as gate dielectrics for organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs), with solution-processed poly[5,5′-bis(3-dodecyl-2-thienyl)-2,2′-bithiophene] (PQT-12) as the active semiconductor layer. We examine transistors with SiNx films of varying composition deposited at 300 °C as well as 150 °C for plastic compatibility. The transistors show over 100% (two times) improvement in field-effect mobility as the silicon content in SiNx increases, with mobility (μFE) up to 0.14 cm2/V s and on/off current ratio (ION/IOFF) of 108. With PECVD SiOx gate dielectric, preliminary devices exhibit a μFE of 0.4 cm2/V s and ION/IOFF of 108. PQT-12 OTFTs with PECVD SiNx and SiOx gate dielectrics on flexible plastic substrates are also presented. These results demonstrate the viability of using PECVD SiNx and SiOx as gate dielectrics for OTFT circuit integration, where the low temperature and large area deposition capabi.
Antiparasitic Meroterpenoids Isolated from Memnoniella dichroa CF-080171

Memnoniella is a fungal genus from which a wide range of diverse biologically active compounds have been isolated. A Memnoniella dichroa CF-080171 extract was identified to exhibit potent activity against Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 and Trypanosoma cruzi Tulahuen whole parasites in a high-throughput screening (HTS) campaign of microbial extracts from the Fundación MEDINA’s collection. Bioassay-guided isolation of the active metabolites from this extract afforded eight new meroterpenoids of varying potencies, namely, memnobotrins C-E (1–3), a glycosylated isobenzofuranone (4), a tricyclic isobenzofuranone (5), a tetracyclic benzopyrane (6), a tetracyclic isobenzofuranone (7), and a pentacyclic isobenzofuranone (8). The structures of the isolated compounds were established by (+)-ESI-TOF high-resolution mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Compounds 1, 2, and 4 exhibited potent antiparasitic activity against P. falciparum 3D7 (EC50 0.04–0.243 μM) and T. cruzi Tulahuen (EC50 0.266–1.37 μM) parasites, as well as cytotoxic activity against HepG2 tumoral liver cells (EC50 1.20–4.84 μM). The remaining compounds (3, 5–8) showed moderate or no activity against the above-mentioned parasites and cells.
On optimum design in fluid mechanics

In this paper, the change in energy dissipation due to a small hump on a body in a uniform steady flow is calculated. The result is used in conjunction with the variational methods of optimal control to obtain the optimality conditions for four minimum-drag problems of fluid mechanics. These conditions imply that the unit-area profile of smallest drag has a front end shaped like a wedge of angle 90°.
The insulator-to-metal transition of Co hyperdoped crystalline silicon

Co hyperdoped crystalline silicon samples were prepared by the combination of ion implantation and pulsed laser melting techniques. The current–voltage curves of the heavily Co-implanted samples present a rectifying behavior, which is related to the contact between the Co implanted layer and the Si substrate. The temperature dependences of the resistances indicate that an insulator-to-metal transition probably happens in the low temperature range. The transition occurs in the Co concentration range of 3 × 1019 – 6 × 1020 cm−3, which corresponds to the Mott insulator-to-metal transition limit. The temperature dependences of the resistances are well fitted based on a simplified two-layer model consisting of an intermediate band layer and a substrate layer. The fitting intermediate band location is at about 0.51 eV below the conduction band edge of Si. The Co hyperdoped crystalline silicon is a kind of potential material for intermediate band solar cells.
Model of localized highly frustrated ferromagnetism: The kagomé spin ice

A model of localized highly frustrated ferromagnetism is presented: kagom\'e spin ice. Using analytical and Monte Carlo calculations its massive ground-state entropy is evaluated. Monte Carlo calculations are also used to explore the phases in the presence of further-neighbor interactions and applied fields. The importance of thermal spin fluctuations and their ability to stabilize a variety of magnetic structures is clearly manifested. Remarkably, some of these phases are only partially ordered and present both disordered and ordered sublattices.
Real-Time Relative Positioning Study of an Underwater Bionic Manta Ray Vehicle Based on Improved YOLOx

Compared to traditional vehicles, the underwater bionic manta ray vehicle (UBMRV) is highly maneuverable, has strong concealment, and is an emerging research field in underwater vehicles. Based on the completion of the single-body research, it is crucial to research the swarm of UBMRVs for the implementation of complex tasks, such as large-scale underwater detection. The relative positioning capability of the UBMRV is the key to realizing a swarm, especially when underwater acoustic communications are delayed. To solve the real-time relative positioning problem between individuals in the UBMRV swarm, this study proposes a relative positioning method based on the combination of the improved object detection algorithm and binocular distance measurement. To increase the precision of underwater object detection in small samples, this paper improves the original YOLOx algorithm. It increases the network’s interest in the object area by adding an attention mechanism module to the network model, thereby improving its detection accuracy. Further, the output of the object detection result is used as the input of the binocular distance measurement module. We use the ORB algorithm to extract and match features in the object-bounding box and obtain the disparity of the features. The relative distance and bearing information of the target are output and shown on the image. We conducted pool experiments to verify the proposed algorithm on the UBMRV platform, proved the method’s feasibility, and analyzed the results.
High peak power amplification in large-core all-solid Yb fibers with an index-elevated pump clad and a low numerical aperture core

We report on the development of large-core Yb-doped fibers with up to 100 μm core diameter and present first experimental results for high peak power amplification. The material for core and pump cladding was fabricated by Powder Sinter Technology. Using a high Al concentration we achieved a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.21 of the pump cladding and a core NA below 0.1. The rod-type fiber exhibits high pump absorption. Using a 0.55 m short fiber sample as the main amplifier in a 3-stage ns pulsed fiber Master Oscillator Power Amplifier system we achieved 3 ns output pulses with 360 kW peak power and 2 mJ pulse energy. We observed suppressed Stimulated Raman Scattering with respect to the signal pulses, which offers the possibility of further power scaling of such fiber amplifier systems.
Mining Literature to Identify Factors Influencing Prosthetic Prescription and Rehabilitation of Persons With Lower-Limb Amputations

ABSTRACT Introduction Proper prosthetic prescription directly impacts rehabilitation and the quality of life of an individual with amputation, yet complications during the prescription process remain a challenge for prosthetists as a variety of patient-specific and prosthetic-specific factors need to be considered simultaneously during prescription. This research aims to identify the factors that affect decision making during prosthetic prescription and rehabilitation processes of individuals with lower-limb amputation via evidence-based approaches. Materials and Methods Abstracts of 140 articles were analyzed using topic modeling—a natural language processing algorithm. Results Mining abstracts of relevant literature revealed seven factors that influence prosthetic prescription and six factors that affect rehabilitation of individuals with amputation. Conclusion The findings of this study focus on improving the rehabilitation process of individuals with lower-limb amputation, enhancing the patient-provider relationship, and improving the overall quality of life via evidence-based methods. Clinical Relevance Understanding the factors that affect prosthetic prescription and patient rehabilitation from the past literature is critical to the establishment of formal and standard prescription strategies that can eventually improve the quality of life of persons with lower-limb amputation.
A simple mortality prediction model for sepsis patients in intensive care

Background: Sepsis is common in the intensive care unit (ICU). Two of the ICU’s most widely used mortality prediction models are the Simplified Acute Physiology Score 3 (SAPS-3) and the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score. We aimed to assess the mortality prediction performance of SAPS-3 and SOFA upon ICU admission for sepsis and find a simpler mortality prediction model for these patients to be used in clinical practice and when conducting studies. Methods: A retrospective study of adult patients fulfilling the Sepsis-3 criteria admitted to four general ICUs was performed. A simple prognostic model was created using backward stepwise multivariate logistic regression. The area under the curve (AUC) of SAPS-3, SOFA and the simple model was assessed. Results: One thousand nine hundred eighty four admissions were included. A simple six-parameter model consisting of age, immunosuppression, Glasgow Coma Scale, body temperature, C-reactive protein and bilirubin had an AUC of 0.72 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.69–0.75) for 30-day mortality, which was non-inferior to SAPS-3 (AUC 0.75, 95% CI 0.72–0.77) (p = 0.071). SOFA had an AUC of 0.67 (95% CI 0.64–0.70) and was inferior to SAPS-3 (p < 0.001) and our simple model (p = 0.0019). Conclusion: SAPS-3 has a lower prognostic value in sepsis than in the general ICU population. SOFA performs less well than SAPS-3. Our simple six-parameter model predicts mortality just as well as SAPS-3 upon ICU admission for sepsis, allowing the design of simple studies and performance monitoring.
Saliva-based microfluidic point-of-care diagnostic

There has been a long-standing interest in point-of-care (POC) diagnostics as a tool to improve patient care because it can provide rapid, actionable results near the patient. Some of the successful examples of POC testing include lateral flow assays, urine dipsticks, and glucometers. Unfortunately, POC analysis is somewhat limited by the ability to manufacture simple devices to selectively measure disease specific biomarkers and the need for invasive biological sampling. Next generation POCs are being developed that make use of microfluidic devices to detect biomarkers in biological fluids in a non-invasive manner, addressing the above-mentioned limitations. Microfluidic devices are desirable because they can provide the ability to perform additional sample processing steps not available in existing commercial diagnostics. As a result, they can provide more sensitive and selective analysis. While most POC methods make use of blood or urine as a sample matrix, there has been a growing push to use saliva as a diagnostic medium. Saliva represents an ideal non-invasive biofluid for detecting biomarkers because it is readily available in large quantities and analyte levels reflect those in blood. However, using saliva in microfluidic devices for POC diagnostics is a relatively new and an emerging field. The overarching aim of this review is to provide an update on recent literature focused on the use of saliva as a biological sample matrix in microfluidic devices. We will first cover the characteristics of saliva as a sample medium and then review microfluidic devices that are developed for the analysis of salivary biomarkers.
Advances in Oral Drug Delivery Systems: Challenges and Opportunities

The oral route is the most preferred route for systemic and local drug delivery. However, the oral drug delivery system faces the harsh physiological and physicochemical environment of the gastrointestinal tract, which limits the bioavailability and targeted design of oral drug delivery system. Innovative pharmaceutical approaches including nanoparticulate formulations, biomimetic drug formulations, and microfabricated devices have been explored to optimize drug targeting and bioavailability. In this review, the anatomical factors, biochemical factors, and physiology factors that influence delivering drug via oral route are discussed and recent advance in conventional and novel oral drug delivery approaches for improving drug bioavailability and targeting ability are highlighted. We also address the challenges and opportunities of oral drug delivery systems in future.
Natural flood management: Opportunities to implement nature‐based solutions on privately owned land

The implementation of Natural Flood Management (NFM), as an example of a nature‐based solution (NbS), is promoted as a risk reduction strategy to support sustainable flood risk management and climate change adaptation more widely. Additionally, as an NbS, NFM aims to provide further multiple benefits, such as increased biodiversity and improved water quality as well as improved mental health. The implementation of NbS often needs private‐owned or managed land, yet can create conflicts between the different stakeholders which can undermine the social consensus required for successful implementation. Consequently, a main question is how the multiple benefits and requirements of NFM can be delivered to meet the different goals of the wide variety of stakeholders who must be involved. This article discusses the challenges and potential of implementing NFM as an alternative to the traditional technical mitigation measures in flood risk management. We outline four opportunities in the implementation of NFM: physical conditions of the catchment, social interaction, financial resources, and institutional setting. Their importance is then demonstrated and compared to different examples across the globe. Nevertheless, the core drivers reflect the social interaction and institutional setting and the role of stakeholders in the successful implementation of NFM.
4DEnVar-based inversion system for ammonia emission estimation in China through assimilating IASI ammonia retrievals

Atmospheric ammonia has been hazardous to the environment and human health for decades. Current inventories are usually constructed in a bottom-up manner and subject to uncertainties and incapable of reproducing the spatiotemporal characteristics of ammonia emission. Satellite measurements, for example, Infrared Atmospheric Sounder Interferometer (IASI) and Cross-Track Infrared Sounder, which provide global coverage of ammonia distribution, have gained popularity in ammonia emission estimation through data assimilation methods. However, satellite-based emission inversion studies on China are limited. In this study, we propose a four-dimensional ensemble variational-based ammonia emission inversion system to optimize ammonia emissions in China. It was developed by assimilating the IASI ammonia retrievals onboard Meteorological Operational satellite A and B into a chemical transport model Goddard Earth Observing System Chemical model (GEOS-Chem). Monthly inversion experiments were conducted in April, July, and October 2016 to test the performance. The inversion result indicated that the prior inventory from the MEIC model captured ammonia spreads in general; however, it heterogeneously underrated the emission intensity. The increments obtained in the assimilation were as high as 50% in North, East, and Northwest China. The posterior emission inventory presented a regional emission flux consistent with relevant studies. Driven by the optimized source estimate, GEOS-Chem provides superior results than using the prior in the evaluation of the assimilated IASI retrievals and the surface ammonia concentration measured by the ground-based Ammonia Monitoring Network in China.
The Association between Apolipoprotein B, Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Subclinical Atherosclerosis—Findings from the SEPHAR National Registry on Hypertension in Romania

The present study aimed to investigate the association between apolipoprotein B (Apo B) and classical features associated with clinical or subclinical atherosclerosis. A total of 811 adult patients from the general Romanian population, included in the national SEPHAR registry on hypertension, were divided into two groups based on Apo B value (low versus high Apo B with a cut-off established at 130 mg/dL) and subsequently into four subgroups according to the cut-offs recommended by the 2021 ESC Guidelines on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention. In all patients, lipid profile, uric acid, full blood count and presence of significant carotid plaques were assessed. Apo B levels were positively correlated with proatherogenic lipids (total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL-cholesterol, p < 0.0001) and negatively correlated with HDL cholesterol (all p < 0.05). In comparison with patients with low Apo B levels, those with elevated Apo B levels more frequently presented significant carotid plaques (17% vs. 19% vs. 28% vs. 46%, p < 0.0001). Univariate regression analysis identified a strong association between the level of uric acid and increased value of Apo B in the four subgroups (uric acid 4.8 +/− 1.3 vs. 5 +/− 1.6 vs. 5.1 +/− 1.5 vs. 5.8 +/− 1.6, r = 0.2, p < 0.0001). The results of this nationwide registry on hypertension in Romania indicate that high Apo B may be considered as a risk factor for CVD, promoting atherosclerosis and associated with increased expression of classical markers of clinical or subclinical CVD.
A Bivariate Mixed Lognormal Distribution with an Analysis of Rainfall Data

Abstract The paper proposes a bivariate Mixed lognormal (Δ2) distribution as a probability model for representing rainfalls, containing zeros, measured at two monitoring sites and provides the maximum-likelihood (ML) estimates or ML estimating equations of the parameters for the Δ2 distribution. The distribution extends the univariate mixed lognormal distribution to the bivariate case. Two procedures for model selection are proposed: the first is the use of statistical test and the second is done by minimizing the Akaike's information criterion (AIC). An illustration for an analysis of the AMeDAS (Automated Meteorological Data Acquisition System) daily rainfall dataset observed in the summer half-year (MayOctober) of 1988 is given. A Δ2 distribution is fitted to the bivariate data obtained from Tokyo and each of the other 1048 monitoring sites. Among the 1048 cases investigated, the agreement between the models selected by the test (5% significance level) and the minimum AIC procedures is 846 cases (80.7.
Delay-bandwidth product of electromagnetically induced transparency media

The limitations on the delay-bandwidth product (DBP) in an electromagnetically induced transparency medium are investigated analytically by studying the susceptibility of the system, derived through Lindblad's master equation, including dephasing. The effect of inhomogeneous broadening is treated. It is shown that the DBP for a given material is fundamentally limited by the frequency-dependent absorption, while the residual absorption limits the penetration length of a pulse. Simple expression for the optimal choice of parameters to maximize the DBP are derived. Also, the length of a device is presented as a function of DBP and control-field Rabi frequency. Supporting these results, numerical calculations are carried out through the Maxwell-Bloch equations in the slowly varying envelope approximation. The results are scalable, hence they apply to the case of atoms or molecules in a gas as well as quantum dots and wells.
Selection of a Photovoltaic Panel Cooling Technique Using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis

Photovoltaic panel performance in terms of its efficiency and durability is severely affected by operating temperature when the temperature is much higher than the nominal operating cell temperature in hot climates. Different cooling methods have been reported over several decades, but photovoltaic panel manufacturers or users are yet to adopt a popular method of panel cooling. This is the main concern of the present work. Potential cooling solutions differ in terms of their criteria for performance evaluation, which are efficiency enhancement, costs, reliability, environmental aspects and ergonomics. Hence, there is a need to identify the optimum cooling method. Eight different cooling methods were identified, and the analysis was made with the multi-criteria analysis tool on the different possible attributes. Two different climate zones with different weight schemes are considered for the evaluation process, and the best to the worst cooling solutions have been identified. Five different scenarios depending on the importance given to each evaluation criterion are analyzed. The best cooling method to the worst cooling method has been arranged under each scenario. When the efficiency of operation was given maximum weight, aluminum fin cooling proved to be the best panel cooling method. When the emission reduction criterion was given maximum weight, thermosiphon cooling was the best cooling option. A comparison of the results indicates that thermosiphon works out to be the best option. The second-best method was found to be forced convection cooling when equal weights were applied and thermosiphon cooling when a 40% weight on efficiency enhancement criteria was applied, which is a more practical weight distribution. Phase change cooling and forced convection cooling had the poorest performance among the different cooling methods for all the weighing scenarios.