Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evidence of higher-order effects in thermally driven rapid granular flows

Molecular dynamic (MD) simulations are used to probe the ability of Navier–Stokes-order theories to predict each of the constitutive quantities – heat flux, stress tensor and dissipation rate – associated with granular materials. The system under investigation is bounded by two opposite walls of set granular temperature and is characterized by zero mean flow. The comparisons between MD and theory provide evidence of higher-order effects in each of the constitutive quantities. Furthermore, the size of these effects is roughly one order of magnitude greater, on a percentage basis, for heat flux than it is for stress or dissipation rate. For the case of heat flux, these effects are attributed to super-Burnett-order contributions (third order in gradients) or greater, since Burnett-order contributions to the heat flux do not exist. Finally, for the system considered, these higher-order contributions to the heat flux outweigh the first-order contribution arising from a gradient in concentration (i.e. the Dufour effect)
Research on the Emergency Obstacle Avoidance Strategy of Intelligent Vehicles Based on a Safety Distance Model

Under emergency conditions, the safety distance between vehicles is insufficient, and drivers initiate unreasonable obstacle avoidance, which results in accident risks to vehicles. Therefore, an emergency obstacle avoidance system is needed for intervention to avoid traffic accidents. This paper proposes a coordinated steering and braking obstacle avoidance control strategy based on a safety distance model. The strategy takes into account handling stability and ride comfort. In the emergency braking obstacle avoidance module, the safety distance model and the graded warning mechanism based on the braking process are established. In the emergency steering obstacle avoidance module, a steering safety distance mode with multiple constraints is established, the obstacle avoidance trajectory is planned using the fifth-degree polynomial, and the obstacle avoidance trajectory is tracked using the model predictive control algorithm. The co-simulation results show that the emergency obstacle avoidance strategy proposed in this paper can select the appropriate way to complete obstacle avoidance under different working conditions. In braking obstacle avoidance, the braking deceleration essentially matches the expected value. In steering obstacle avoidance, the maximum error of lateral displacement can be reduced to 0.09 m. The research in this paper can provide a theoretical and practical basis for improving the driving safety, handling stability and ride comfort of intelligent vehicles.
Simulation experiments to compare the signal detection properties of DFT and MEM spectra

Four simulation experiments have been carried out to compare the statistics of threshold detection of a complex sinusoid in additive noise using the Burg maximum entropy method (MEM) and the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) technique. The results indicate that, in the presence of additive white noise, the DFT consistently provides a higher signal detection probability P D and a more accurate estimate of signal frequency than the MEM. In the presence of colored noise, the DFT provides a higher P D when signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is high, or when signal detection is carried out in the low false-alarm probability P FA region. Only in the very restricted case of low SNR together with a high P FA and the signal far away from the center of the noise band does the MEM provide a higher P D than the DFT.
Electron temperature in the expanding cathode plasma jet in a vacuum arc

The electron temperature distribution in the expanding plasma jet from the group spot in 2D approximation is calculated. The model considers spot currents of about 100 A and the spot (initial) electron temperature of about 2 eV. Effects of the self- and axial magnetic field are studied. Two cases, namely individual single jet from the cathode spot and high current column are considered. The calculations for both cases show that the plasma temperature increases by a factor of 1.5 in comparison to the initial electron temperature in the spot.
Photoluminescence characteristics of high quality ZnO nanowires and its enhancement by polymer covering

We investigated the photoluminescence (PL) properties of ZnO nanowires with and without covering with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). Low temperature PL spectra of as-grown ZnO nanowires are dominated by near band edge (NBE) emission due to donor bound excitons and free-to-bound recombination (FB). FB emission persists till 300 K and together with free exciton emission governs the lineshape of the PL spectra. After covering with PMMA, the integral intensity of NBE emission increases about three times, indicating significantly improved excitonic emission efficiency. A model based on surface states and energy bands theory was proposed to interpret this emission enhancement.
Adaptive optics projects at ESO

Over the past two years ESO has reinforced its efforts in the field of Adaptive Optics. The AO team has currently the challenging objectives to provide 8 Adaptive Optics systems for the VLT in the coming years and has now a world-leading role in that field. This paper will review all AO projects and plans. We will present an overview of the Nasmyth Adaptive Optics System (NAOS) with its infrared imager CONICA installed successfully at the VLT last year. Sodium Laser Guide Star plans will be introduced. The status of the 4 curvature AO systems (MACAO) developed for the VLT interferometer will be discussed. The status of the SINFONI AO module developed to feed the infrared integral field spectrograph (SPIFFI) will be presented. A short description of the Multi-conjugate Adaptive optics Demonstrator MAD and its instrumentation will be introduced. Finally, we will present the plans for the VLT second-generation AO systems and the researches performed in the frame of OWL.
Estimation of the Box Correction for Degrees of Freedom from Sample Data in Randomized Block and Split-Plot Designs

It has been suggested that when the variance assumptions of a repeated measures ANOVA are not met, the df of the mean square ratio should be adjusted by the sample estimate of the Box correction factor, ɛ. This procedure works well when ɛ is low, but the estimate is seriously biased when this is not the case. An alternate estimate is proposed which is shown by Monte Carlo methods to be less biased for moderately large ɛ.
Detection of turbulence occurrences from temperature, pressure, and position measurements under superpressure balloons

Abstract. This article deals with the detection of small-scale turbulence from in situ meteorological measurements performed under superpressure balloons (SPBs). These balloons allow long-duration flights (several months) at a prerequisite height level. The data set is gathered from the Strateole-2 probationary campaign during which eights SPBs flew in the tropical tropopause layer at altitudes of around 19 and 20.5 km from November 2019 to March 2020. Turbulence is not directly measured by the instrument set onboard the SPBs. Nonetheless, there is the potential to derive information about the occurrence of turbulence from the temporally well-resolved measurements of pressure, temperature, and position. It constitutes a challenge to extract the aforementioned information from a measurement set that was not designed for quantifying turbulence, and the paper explains the methodology developed to overcome this difficulty. It is observed that SPBs oscillate quasi-periodically around their equilibrium positions. The oscillation periods, which are 220 s on average with a range of 130 to 500 s, are close to but noticeably smaller than the Brunt–Väisälä period (∼300 s). The amplitude of these vertical motions is ∼±15 m, inducing large fluctuations in all quantities, whether measured (e.g., pressure, temperature and position) or inferred (e.g., density and potential temperature). The relationships between the changes in these quantities and the vertical displacements of the balloons are used to infer properties of the flow in which the SPBs drift. In the case of active turbulence, the vertical stratification as well as the wind shear are likely to be reduced by mixing. Hence, the increments of potential temperature, δθ, and of the vertical displacements of the balloon, δzB, are expected to be uncorrelated because ∂θ/∂z→0. Moreover, the local vertical gradients of measured quantities, temperature (T) and horizontal velocities (u and v), are estimated from the covariance of the increments of the considered quantity with δzB. The Richardson number of the flow is deduced. Several binary indexes (true or false) to describe the state of the flow, laminar or turbulent, are evaluated. These turbulence indexes, based either on correlations between δθ and δzB or on estimates of the local Richardson number, are found to be consistent, as they differ in less than 3 % of cases. The flow is observed to be turbulent for about 5 % of the time, with strong inhomogeneities along the longitude.
Women’s Fertility and Labor Market Responses to a Health Innovation

We investigate women’s fertility, labor and marriage market responses to a health innovation that led to reductions in mortality from treatable causes, and especially large declines in child mortality. We find delayed childbearing, with lower intensive and extensive margin fertility, a decline in the chances of ever having married, increased labor force participation and an improvement in occupational status. Our results provide the first evidence that improvements in child survival allow women to start fertility later and invest more in the labor market. We present a new theory of fertility that incorporates dynamic choices and reconciles our findings with existing models of behavior.
Ecological quality status of the Turkish coastal waters by using a marine macrophytic biotic index (EEI-c)

: The present study includes the results of the second benthic macrophytes’ monitoring period of a survey of ecological status from the Turkish coasts. The biotic index Ecological Evaluation Index (EEI-c) was used to assess the ecological status classes (ESC) and MA-LUSI the anthropogenic pressures. Sampling was made by the quadrat (20 × 20 cm) method, and the samples were collected from 93 sites in Turkish coastal waters between 2017 and 2019. In total, 240 taxa were found in the Turkish marine waters. Forty sites were classified into High ESC, 24 sites into Good, 12 sites into Moderate, 13 sites into Poor, and 4 sites into Bad ESC. The relationship between the pressure index MA-LUSI and EEIeqr values was also tested, and a negative correlation (R 2 = 0.62) was found.
Estimation of Spatial Influence Models Using Mixed-Integer Programming

Estimation of ecosystem models is an important task and many studies have been carried out on the problem. However, estimating some models may be difficult. Here, we want to estimate two nonlinear spatial influence models by using the classical least-squares method, and that requires the solution of difficult nonlinear optimization problems. The aim of this paper is to show that both models can be efficiently estimated using mathematical programming. The estimation problems are first formulated as nonlinear optimization problems which are then transformed into convex quadratic mixed-integer programs. The transformation is based on the discretization of some variables and on the linearization of the product of a Boolean variable with a real variable. The approach which allows to find the best estimation with a certain precision and in the least-squares framework, is interesting for several reasons: the definition of the mathematical programs is relatively simple, they are easy to implement using a mathematical programming language together with a quadratic mixed-integer programming software, and computational experiments carried out on large sets of simulated data show the excellent performance of the approach. Moreover, the ideas underlying the method can be used for other difficult least-squares estimations. These results suggest that mixed-integer programming may be an efficient tool for practitioners and researchers in environmental modeling.
Cryogenic motion performances of a piezoelectric single crystal micromotor

This study investigates the cryogenic performances of a millimeter-size piezoelectric ultrasonic linear micromotor. The piezoelectric vibrator of the micromotor is made of Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3 -Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)-PbTiO3 single crystal and operated in first-bending wobbling mode. Experiments show that the piezoelectric single crystal micromotor works effectively even at extremely low temperature of −175 °C, although its resonance peaks vary with temperature significantly. This work confirms the feasibility of cryogenic operation of the piezo-micromotor, which is meaningful for aerospace or superconducting microwave application.
Division Play and Outcome Uncertainty in Sports Leagues

The analysis of outcome uncertainty (OU) and competitive balance (CB) has been of overwhelming importance in sports economics. Surprisingly, there is little work on the impact of the structure of play on either OU or CB. Balanced and unbalanced schedules, and division play have been used to analyze biasedness of CB measures. And the impact of the introduction of unbalanced schedules on OU has been analyzed. But the impact of the introduction of both unbalanced schedules and division play on OU has not been analyzed. In this paper, we assess the impacts on OU, for given choices of CB (OU/CB) of moving to division play. This includes the impact of schedule imbalance, division strength, the number of teams, and the number of divisions. We also obtain estimates of their marginal impacts on OU/CB via numerical analysis and regression. The results are compared to OU/CB from unbiased estimators, for the case of the introduction of division play in Major League Baseball. The results suggest that the approach is useful and there are policy implications.
Optimization design and analysis of reflecting polarizing beam splitter based on metal–multilayer dielectric grating for 800 nm

A new reflecting polarizing beam splitter (RPBS), based on a metal–multilayer dielectric grating (MMDG), was designed using rigorous coupled wave analysis method and a genetic algorithm. The RPBS reflects the TE wave in the −1st order and TM wave in the 0th order for 800 nm. The optimized RPBS has an extinction ratio of over 20 dB, from 765 nm to 823 nm, and a large angle, from 43.8° to 60°. At 800 nm, the extinction ratios of the 0th and −1st orders reach a maximum of 41.0 dB and 53.2 dB, respectively. Furthermore, analysis suggests that the designed RPBS allows sufficient manufacture tolerance. These results show the potential of MMDGs in fabrication of a RPBS, which can be widely used in optical systems.
Machine Learning for Precision Epilepsy Surgery

Brain surgery offers the best chance of seizure-freedom for patients with focal drug-resistant epilepsy, but only 50% achieve sustained seizure-freedom. With the explosion of data collected during routine presurgical evaluations and recent advances in computational science, we now have a tremendous potential to achieve precision epilepsy surgery: a data-driven tailoring of surgical planning. This review highlights the clinical need, the relevant computational science focusing on machine learning, and discusses some specific applications in epilepsy surgery.
Depression and Anxiety Mediate the Association between Sleep Quality and Self-Rated Health in Healthcare Students

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate factors associated with sleep quality in healthcare students and to determine whether depressive and anxiety symptoms may explain some of the associations between sleep quality and self-rated health. Study design: This is a cross-sectional study at wave one. Methods: A total of 637 healthcare students were recruited via a stratified random sampling method in Hangzhou, China. The Sleep Quality Questionnaire (SQQ) and the four-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4) were used to assess sleep quality, depressive, and anxiety symptoms, respectively. Self-rated health was assessed via a self-developed questionnaire of both physical and psychological health. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the direct and indirect effects of sleep quality on self-rated health through depressive and anxiety symptoms. Results: Students engaged in part-time employment (p = 0.022), who had poor perceived employment prospects (p = 0.009), and who did not participate in recreational sports (p = 0.008) had worse sleep quality. Structural equation modeling revealed a significant total effect of sleep quality on self-rated health (b = 0.592, p < 0.001), a significant direct effect of both sleep quality and depressive and anxiety symptoms on self-rated health (b = 0.277, 95% CI: 0.032–0.522), and a significant indirect effect of sleep quality on self-rated health through depressive and anxiety symptoms (b = 0.315, 95% CI: 0.174–0.457). Conclusions: Depressive and anxiety symptoms partially explain the association between sleep quality and self-rated health. Intervening upon sleep quality, depressive, and anxiety symptoms may bolster the self-rated health of healthcare students.
Assessment of a BEMT-based rotor aerodynamic model under uniform aligned steady inflow

The design of efficient rotor blades is affected by the accuracy of aerodynamic prediction methods for load distributions and power computations. Research showed that the accuracy of BEMT-based industrial codes decreases at high inflow-speed under uniform aligned steady conditions. The identified reasons are inaccuracies in the semi-empirical corrections for 3D effects such as stall delay and tip-losses. This study scrutinizes such corrections by comparison with URANS CFD simulations. Results confirm that the accuracy of the rotor thrust and power coefficients reduces up to 30% for a tip speed ratio of 4. The identified causes in the inboard blade are: (1) a more than twice as large drag coefficient given by the Eggers stall delay correction, (2) a 20% loading overestimation due to the unaccounted root-vortex downwash. Furthermore, the linear interpolation between the cylinder and the DU40 airfoil polars near the root as well as the modeling of 2D separation affect the accuracy at least as much as the stall delay correction at a tip speed ratio of 4. Next, the inadequacy of the Prandtl tip-loss factor at a tip speed ratio of 10 provides 5 to 15% higher loads in the outboard blade. It is recommended to extend stall delay corrections or tune the Prandtl root-loss correction to the location of the maximum chord to capture the root-vortex downwash effect, as the phenomenon is observed on the CFD-extracted lift polar and blade flow streamlines. Finally, 2D RANS simulations of the inboard blade profiles should be compared with the 3D ones from the rotating blade to isolate the effect of stall delay on the pressure and skin friction coefficient distributions to further address the modeling of the drag coefficient.
Fast reconstruction of beams in intense proton accelerators

Conventional methods of monitoring beam locations in a pipe involve measuring signals from strip lines or taking the image of a fluorescent screen inside the beam vacuum pipe. However, these methods, which are called invasive, cannot be applied to the intense proton accelerator dealing with 1.5 GeV. This paper introduces a fast noninvasive method of reconstructing the beam from measurements of the magnetic field, produced by the beam, outside the vacuum pipe. The proposed reconstruction method is based on a Gauss-Newton scheme in addition with a variance uniformization constraint (which will be derived in this paper) to overcome the ill-posed nature of the problem. With this method, the location of the beam within the beam pipe can be reconstructed with satisfying accuracy after just one Gauss-Newton step.
Grand potential formalism of interfacial thermodynamics for critical nucleus

In nucleation theories, the work of formation of a nucleus is often denoted by W = ΔG. This convention misleads that the nucleation should be considered in the isothermal-isobaric system. However, the pressure in the system with a nucleus is no longer uniform due to Laplace’s equation. Instead, the chemical potential is uniform throughout the system for the critical nucleus. Therefore, one can consider the nucleation in the grand ensemble properly. Accordingly, W is found to be the grand potential difference and the interfacial tension is also turned to be an interfacial excess grand potential. This treatment is not entirely new; however, to explicitly treat in the grand potential formalism is for the first time. We have successfully given an overwhelmingly clear description.
MEK5-ERK5 Axis Promotes Self-renewal and Tumorigenicity of Glioma Stem Cells

Glioma stem cells (GSC) promote the malignancy of glioblastoma (GBM), the most lethal brain tumor. ERK5 belongs to the MAPK family. Here, we demonstrated that MAPK kinase 5 (MEK5)-ERK5-STAT3 pathway plays an essential role in maintaining GSC stemness and tumorigenicity by integrating genetic and pharmacologic manipulation and RNA sequencing analysis of clinical specimens. ERK5 was highly expressed and activated in GSCs. ERK5 silencing by short hairpin RNA in GSCs suppressed the self-renewal potential and GBM malignant growth concomitant with downregulation of STAT3 phosphorylation. Conversely, the activation of the MEK5-ERK5 pathway by introducing ERK5 or MEK5 resulted in increased GSC stemness. The introduction of STAT3 counteracted the GSC phenotypes by ERK5 silencing. Moreover, ERK5 expression and signaling are associated with poor prognosis in patients with GBM with high stem cell properties. Finally, pharmacologic inhibition of ERK5 significantly inhibited GSC self-renewal and GBM growth. Collectively, these findings uncover a crucial role of the MEK5-ERK5-STAT3 pathway in maintaining GSC phenotypes and GBM malignant growth, thereby providing a potential target for GSC-directed therapy. Significance: In this study, we demonstrated that MEK5-ERK5-STAT3 axis plays a critical role in maintaining stemness and tumorigenicity in GSCs by using genetic, pharmacologic, and bioinformatics tools, identifying the MEK5-ERK5-STAT3 axis as a potential target for GSC-directed therapy.