Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Masked unbiased principles for parameter selection in variational image restoration under Poisson noise

In this paper we address the problem of automatically selecting the regularization parameter in variational models for the restoration of images corrupted by Poisson noise. More specifically, we first review relevant existing unmasked selection criteria which fully exploit the acquired data by considering all pixels in the selection procedure. Then, based on an idea originally proposed by Carlavan and Blanc-Feraud to effectively deal with dark backgrounds and/or low photon-counting regimes, we introduce and discuss the masked versions—some of them already existing—of the considered unmasked selection principles formulated by simply discarding the pixels measuring zero photons. However, we prove that such a blind masking strategy yields a bias in the resulting principles that can be overcome by introducing a novel positive Poisson distribution correctly modeling the statistical properties of the undiscarded noisy data. Such distribution is at the core of newly proposed masked unbiased counterparts of the discussed strategies. All the unmasked, masked biased and masked unbiased principles are extensively compared on the restoration of different images in a wide range of photon-counting regimes. Our tests allow to conclude that the novel masked unbiased selection strategies, on average, compare favorably with unmasked and masked biased counterparts.
Napyradiomycin A4 and Its Relate Compounds, a New Anti-PRV Agent and Their Antibacterial Activities, from Streptomyces kebangsaanensis WS-68302

Two new napyradiomycins derivatives, napyradiomycin A4 (1) and A80915 H (2), along with five known ones, were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of fermentation culture of Streptomyces kebangsaanensis WS-68302. Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis, including HR-MS, 1D and 2D NMR, CD spectrum, as well as comparison with literature data. Compound 1 exhibited significant antiviral activity against PRV (Pseudorabies virus) with an IC50 value of 2.056 μM and therapeutic ratio at 14.98, suggesting that it might have potential for development of an antiviral agent. Moreover, compound 1 displayed the strongest inhibition against PRV protein among the tested napyradiomycins in the indirect immunofuorescence assay. Compounds 3 and 4 showed higher activities against swine pathogenic Streptococcus suis than the positive control penicillin G sodium salt, with MIC values of 3.125 and 6.25 μg/mL, respectively. Compounds 1 and 3–6 exhibited moderate antibacterial activity against the swine pathogenic Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, with MIC values ranging from 25 to 50 μg/mL.
The distance scale: present status and future prospects

La valeur de la constante de Hubble obtenue par une calibration de l'echelle des distances extragalactiques reste une source de controverse. La solution du probleme exigerait un indicateur global. Un tel indicateur pourrait etre la relation entre la vitesse de rotation et la luminosite IR des galaxies mesuree par la largeur du profil a 21 cm. On resume les resultats obtenus en exploitant la relation IR/HI
Fabrication and characterization of polymer gel for MRI phantom with embedded lesion particles

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to visualize the detailed internal structure and body soft tissues in complete 3D image. MRI performs best when optimal imaging parameters such as contrast, signal to noise ratio (SNR), spatial resolution and total scan time are utilized. However, due to a variety of imaging parameters that differ with the manufacturer, a calibration medium that allows the control of these parameters is necessary. Therefore, a phantom that behaves similar to human soft tissue is developed to replace a real human. Polymer gel is novel material that has great potential in the medical imaging. Since very few have focused on examining the behavior of polymer lesions, the motivation of this study is to develop a polymer gel phantom, especially for liver, with embedded lesions. Both the phantom and lesions should be capable of reflecting T1 and T2 relaxation values through various characterization processes. In this paper, phantom and lesion particles were fabricated with carrageenan as a gelling agent by physical aggregation. Agar was used as supplementary gelling agent and T2 modifier and Gd-DTPA as T1 modifier. The polymer gel samples were fabricated by varying the concentrations of the gelling agent, and T1 and T2 modifiers. The lesion particles were obtained by extracting molten polymer gel solution in chilled oil bath to obtain spherical shape. The polymer gel properties including density, elastic modulus, dielectric constant and optical properties were measured to compare with human tissue values for long period of time.
A review on the application of intelligent control strategies for post-stroke hand rehabilitation machines

Among the approaches to functional hand rehabilitation after stroke, the use of hand rehabilitation robots can provide functional training of the hand or assist the paralyzed hand in activities of daily living, and in particular, intelligent control strategies play a very important role in rehabilitation robotics. The purpose of this review is to summarize the current status of commercially available intelligently controlled hand rehabilitation robots developed in recent years. Firstly, we summarize the theoretical basis of post-stroke hand rehabilitation in the reviewed literature, and the intelligent control strategies of hand rehabilitation robots. Then, representative intelligently controlled hand rehabilitation robots are listed. Finally, we discuss the future directions of the intelligently controlled hand rehabilitation robots. The results show that the development trend in recent years is more inclined to: combining the theoretical basis of stroke hand rehabilitation and studying intelligent control methods of hand function rehabilitation robots that combine human bioelectrical signals to achieve prediction of patients’ motor intentions and also induced stimulation of neuroplasticity in the brain. As well as fusing different bioelectrical signals as a way to improve the applicability of the assistive device in real life. This paper will help researchers to understand the current state of the art regarding intelligently controlled hand rehabilitation robotics after stroke in recent years.
Vanadium Ferrocyanides as a Highly Stable Cathode for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Owing to their high redox potential and availability of numerous diffusion channels in metal–organic frameworks, Prussian blue analogs (PBAs) are attractive for metal ion storage applications. Recently, vanadium ferrocyanides (VFCN) have received a great deal of attention for application in sodium-ion batteries, as they demonstrate a stable capacity with high redox potential of ~3.3 V vs. Na/Na+. Nevertheless, there have been no reports on the application of VFCN in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). In this work, a facile synthesis of VFCN was performed using a simple solvothermal method under ambient air conditions through the redox reaction of VCl3 with K3[Fe(CN)6]. VFCN exhibited a high redox potential of ~3.7 V vs. Li/Li+ and a reversible capacity of ~50 mAh g–1. The differential capacity plots revealed changes in the electrochemical properties of VFCN after 50 cycles, in which the low spin of Fe ions was partially converted to high spin. Ex situ X-ray diffraction measurements confirmed the unchanged VFCN structure during cycling. This demonstrated the high structural stability of VFCN. The low cost of precursors, simplicity of the process, high stability, and reversibility of VFCN suggest that it can be a candidate for large-scale production of cathode materials for LIBs.
Synthesis, Crystal Structure, DFT Studies on Tetramethyl-(p-Tolyl)-Hexahydro-1H-Xanthene-1,8(2H)-Dione

Abstract Tetramethyl-(p-tolyl)-hexahydro-1H-xanthene-1,8(2H)-dione (P-TX) was synthesized and characterized experimentally using X-ray diffraction, FT-IR, 1H, 13 C N.M. R. and UV-Vis spectra, and theoretically using DFT calculations. The most stable optimized structure was discovered utilizing the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) basis set, followed by FTIR and N.M. R. investigation. The researched chemical’s ideal structure corresponds to the findings of the X-ray analysis. TD-DFT analysis also shed more light on how the electronic transitions in the UV–Vis spectra were estimated. The Hirshfeld surface analyses were presented and discussed, as well as the energy framework calculations. Other topics included topological and Mulliken charge distribution studies. The vibrational assignments were completed using individual vibrational modes, then compared to experimental data. The docking studies were utilized to investigate the interactions of the ligand (P-TX) with specific protein targets, suggesting that P-TX could be employed as a potential cytotoxic and antibacterial agent. P-TX may be considered a potential medicinal molecule due to the current research. The experimental and theoretical results were highly similar in geometric and spectroscopic characteristics.
Tooth loss , pancreatic cancer , and Helicobacter pylori 1 – 3

Background: Poor dental health has been associated with increased risks of oral, esophageal, and gastric cancer and may also be associated with pancreatic cancer. In addition, Helicobacter pylori has been found in dental plaque and has been associated with periodontal disease and pancreatic cancer. Objective: The objective was to investigate prospectively the relation between dentition history and pancreatic cancer in the AlphaTocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study cohort in Finland and the association between dentition history and H. pylori seropositivity in a cross-sectional sample of subjects without cancer (n = 475) from the same cohort. Design: Of the 29 104 male smokers aged 50–69 y in the cohort for whom there were complete data, 174 developed pancreatic cancer from 1985 to 1997. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate age-, smoking-, education-, urban living–, and height-adjusted hazard ratios and 95% CIs for pancreatic cancer, and logistic regression models were used to estimate ageand education-adjusted odds ratios for H. pylori carriage. Results: Tooth loss was positively associated with pancreatic cancer (edentulous compared with missing 0–10 teeth: hazard ratio = 1.63; 95% CI: 1.09, 2.46; P for trend = 0.02) but was not significantly associated with H. pylori seropositivity (edentulous compared with missing 0–10 teeth: odds ratio = 1.30; 95% CI: 0.73, 2.32; P for trend = 0.37). Conclusion: Additional studies are needed to evaluate the association between tooth loss and pancreatic cancer, as well as cancers at other gastrointestinal sites, particularly with respect to possible biological mechanisms. Am J Clin Nutr 2003;78:176–81.
More Than an Antioxidant: Role of Dietary Astaxanthin on Lipid and Glucose Metabolism in the Liver of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

This study investigated the influence of dietary astaxanthin (AX) on glucose and lipid metabolism in rainbow trout liver. Two iso-nitrogenous and iso-lipidic diets were tested for 12 weeks in rainbow trout with an initial mean weight of 309 g. The S-ASTA diet was supplemented with 100 mg of synthetic AX per kg of feed, whereas the control diet (CTRL) had no AX. Fish fed the S-ASTA diet displayed lower neutral and higher polar lipids in the liver, associated with smaller hepatocytes and lower cytoplasm vacuolization. Dietary AX upregulated adipose triglyceride lipase (atgl), hormone-sensitive lipase (hsl2) and 1,2-diacylglycerol choline phosphotransferase (chpt), and downregulated diacylglycerol acyltransferase (dgat2), suggesting the AX’s role in triacylglycerol (TAG) turnover and phospholipid (PL) synthesis. Dietary AX may also affect beta-oxidation with the upregulation of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (cpt1α2). Although hepatic cholesterol levels were not affected, dietary AX increased gene expression of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 (srebp2). Dietary AX upregulated the expression of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6pgdh) and downregulated pyruvate kinase (pkl). Overall, results suggest that dietary AX modulates the oxidative phase of the pentose phosphate pathway and the last step of glycolysis, affecting TAG turnover, β-oxidation, PL and cholesterol synthesis in rainbow trout liver.
Design and Implementation of Two-Stage Time-to-Digital Converter Based on Rapid Single-Flux-Quantum Circuits

This work proposed a new time-to-digital converter (TDC) utilizing rapid single-flux-quantum circuits. The proposed TDC architecture comprises a counter and a ring oscillator to construct a coarse TDC and a vernier delay line to build a fine TDC, which would maintain the high resolution and high dynamic range of the whole TDC. A TDC with the proposed architecture has been designed, fabricated, and successfully tested. The measurement shows that the designed TDC works correctly with a 5.5 ps resolution, a 1320 ps dynamic range, and a 1.5 LSB differential nonlinearity.
Mitogen-like Cerium-Based Nanoparticles Protect Schmidtea mediterranea against Severe Doses of X-rays

Novel radioprotectors are strongly demanded due to their numerous applications in radiobiology and biomedicine, e.g., for facilitating the remedy after cancer radiotherapy. Currently, cerium-containing nanomaterials are regarded as promising inorganic radioprotectors due to their unrivaled antioxidant activity based on their ability to mimic the action of natural redox enzymes like catalase and superoxide dismutase and to neutralize reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are by far the main damaging factors of ionizing radiation. The freshwater planarian flatworms are considered a promising system for testing new radioprotectors, due to the high regenerative potential of these species and an excessive amount of proliferating stem cells (neoblasts) in their bodies. Using planarian Schmidtea mediterranea, we tested CeO2 nanoparticles, well known for their antioxidant activity, along with much less studied CeF3 nanoparticles, for their radioprotective potential. In addition, both CeO2 and CeF3 nanoparticles improve planarian head blastema regeneration after ionizing irradiation by enhancing blastema growth, increasing the number of mitoses and neoblasts’ survival, and modulating the expression of genes responsible for the proliferation and differentiation of neoblasts. The CeO2 nanoparticles’ action stems directly from their redox activity as ROS scavengers, while the CeF3 nanoparticles’ action is mediated by overexpression of “wound-induced genes” and neoblast- and stem cell-regulating genes.
Frontal Encephalocele Plus Epilepsy: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

An encephalocele is a pathological brain herniation caused by osseous dural defects. Encephaloceles are known to be regions of epileptogenic foci. We describe the case of a 44-year-old woman with refractory epilepsy associated with a frontal skull base encephalocele. Epilepsy surgery for encephalocele resection was performed; however, the epilepsy was refractory. A second epilepsy surgery for frontal lobectomy using intraoperative electroencephalography was required to achieve adequate seizure control. Previous reports have shown that only encephalocele resection can result in good seizure control, and refractory epilepsy due to frontal lobe encephalocele has rarely been reported. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of frontal encephalocele plus epilepsy in which good seizure control using only encephalocele resection was difficult to achieve. Herein, we describe the possible mechanisms of encephalocele plus epilepsy and the surgical strategy for refractory epilepsy with encephalocele, including a literature review.
Radial-velocity variations in Alpha Ori, Alpha Sco, and Alpha Her

Radial-velocity observations of Alpha Ori, Alpha Sco A, and Alpha Her A are used to study radial-velocity periodicities in M supergiants. The data refer to several metallic lines in the H-alpha region and to H-alpha itself. It is shown that Alpha Ori and Alpha Sco A have cycle lengths of about 1 yr and semiamplitudes of 2 km/s. It is suggested that many semiregular red supergiant varibles such as Alpha Ori may be heading toward chaos. All three stars show short-term stochastic flucutations with an amplitude of 1-2 km/s. It is found that the long-term variability of H-alpha velocities may be a consequence of intermittent failed ejections. 58 refs.
Circuit Topology-Aware Vaccination-Based Hardware Trojan Detection

Hardware trojans (HTs) pose a critical security threat to modern integrated circuits (ICs) through malicious activities, including leaking critical information, executing unauthorized commands, and reducing IC lifetime. Traditional functional and structural verification approaches are inefficient in detecting stealthy Trojans effectively due to corner conditions and rare triggers. Furthermore, the existing approaches are limited to specific circuit designs and require formulating new models for other IC designs. In order to overcome such shortcomings, we introduce an IC topology and behavior-aware HT detection approach, where we extract different structural features of the underlying IC along with the behavioral information for HT detection. Structural features include node (gate) types and their respective counts and connectivity information extracted through an automated process using graph learning. These features are complemented with the behavioral information, such as operating frequency and bit-flip patterns under anomalous operating conditions (analogous to vaccination) and analyzed for Trojan detection. We propose a graph neural network (GNN) architecture where we utilize a graph convolution network (GCN) for detecting HTs. The proposed technique does not require the golden IC reference design for HT detection. Our model shows an average of around 93.15% accuracy while tested on an utterly unseen Trojan benchmark during the training phase. This shows that the proposed technique can learn the structural feature distribution of the ICs and their behavioral information to distinguish Trojan-free and Trojan-inserted circuits irrespective of the IC topology used in the training phase.
Occupational stress among Generation-Y employees in the era of COVID-19: cases from universities in India

Purpose Several organizations decided to work remotely after the Indian Government proclaimed a state of emergency on March 24, 2020, to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Employees across all industries, particularly the Generation-Y, were stressed as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The purpose of this study is to fills that gap by looking at the effects of occupational stress factors (such as coworker support, work–life balance [WLB] and role expectation conflict) on Generation-Y employees in the educational sector during COVID-19. Design/methodology/approach The causes and consequences of the three occupational stresses listed above were investigated. In total, 231 surveys from workers at private and public educational institutions in India were analyzed using partial least square-structural equation modeling analysis. Findings The results revealed that support from coworkers greatly reduced job stress, the WLB had a positive impact on the work and personal lives, and the lack of role specification in Generation-Y employees had a negative impact on their job performance. Originality/value This study has considered the occupational stress variables among Generation-Y in the era of COVID-19, which need attention to improve the performance of the academic sector.
S 3 Appendix : Mediation analysis

where M is some Y Gk or Y Ck , a candidate mediator of the eQTL of Y Gj . Here we consider two models of mediation: 1) the effect of an eQTL is mediated through local chromatin state (Mk) and 2) the effect of the distal-eQTL is mediated through a nearby gene (Mk), depicted in Fig 6. Co-localizing QTL are consistent with the co-occurrence of X → Y Gj and X → Y Ck at a locus. If X is fully independent of Y given M, denoted as: X |= Yj | M (3)
A color-magnitude study of the globular cluster M15

B and V CCD images of the metal-poor Galactic globular cluster M15 have been obtained from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope and the Kitt Peak National Observatory 0.9 m telescope. A complete color-magnitude diagram from the upper red-giant branch to the lower main sequence (V lim ∼24) has been constructed with homogeneous calibration using the faint M15 standards from Stetson and Harris [AJ, 96, 909 (1988)]. Fitting of the CMD fiducial sequence to the Bergbusch and VandenBerg oxygen-enhanced isochrones with an objective statistical method yields an absolute age of 15±3 Gyr. This age is reduced by up to 3 Gyr if isochrones employing helium diffusion (Proffitt and VandenBerg) are used
Nitrogen and aluminum implantation in high resistivity silicon carbide

In this article, the results on N and Al implantations into undoped high-resistance and vanadium doped semi-insulating bulk 6H-SiC are reported for the first time. The N implants were performed at 700 °C and the Al implants at 800 °C to create n- and p-type layers, respectively. For comparison, implants were performed into epitaxial layers at the above temperatures and, for N, also at room temperature. The implanted/annealed material was characterized by van der Pauw Hall, secondary ion mass spectrometry, and Rutherford backscattering (RBS) measurements. After annealing, the room temperature N implantation gave similar electrical and RBS results as the 700 °C implantation for a total implant dose of 8×1014 cm−2 which corresponds to a volume concentration of 2×1019 cm−3. The Al implant redistributed in the bulk crystals during annealing, resulting in a shoulder formation at the tail of the implant profile. Lower implant activation was obtained in V-doped material compared to the undoped bulk and epitaxial .
Mobility and Singularity Analysis of a Class of Two Degrees of Freedom Rotational Parallel Mechanisms Using a Visual Graphic Approach

In this paper, a visual graphic approach is presented for the mobility and singularity analysis of mechanisms with no helical pair. The presented method is established upon the reciprocal screw system theory. Using the visual graphic approach, the mobility and singularity analysis mainly requires applying a few simple rules and involves into no formula derivation. As a case study, the mobility and singularity analysis is implemented for a class of two degrees of freedom (DOF) rotational parallel mechanisms (RPMs), including the Omni-Wrist III with four limbs and its two derived architectures with three limbs called the T-type and Δ-type RPMs. The Δ-type one is found to has kinematic properties close to the Omni-Wrist III.
A Robust Indoor Localization Method for NLOS Environments Utilizing Sensor Subsets

Indoor location localization using the time of arrival (TOA) of ultra-wideband (UWB) radio waves faces a challenge in obtaining accurate TOA values in a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environment owing to obstacles and multipath reception. The accuracy of localization using such sensor data in an NLOS environment is significantly degraded. To address this problem in NLOS environment, we proposed a new localization method that utilizes different sensor combinations for estimation and sensor placement topology. Based on the conventional localization method using various combinations of sensors, the estimation results containing an NLOS ranging value were first removed. Subsequently, we introduced a new parameter called the topological expectancy of localization accuracy (TELA), which represents the effect of sensor placement on the accuracy of localization. The final estimation result was then obtained using the weighted average of the remaining localization results obtained by TELA. Computer simulations and experimental results showed that the performance of the proposed method is superior by 4 to 37% compared with that of conventional methods, even in the presence of many NLOS environment sensors.