Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long time behaviour for the reinitialization of the distance function

In this article we study the long-time behaviour of a class of non-coercive Hamilton-Jacobi equations, that includes, as a notable example, the so called reinitialization of the distance function. In particular we prove that its viscosity solution converges uniformly as $t\rightarrow +\infty$ to the signed distance function from the zero level set of the initial data.
Electrically switchable mesoscale Penrose quasicrystal structure

We present the design, fabrication, and electro-optical properties of a switchable Penrose quasicrystal configuration in holographic polymer dispersed liquid crystal (H-PDLC) materials using a 5-beam hololithography exposure technique. The Penrose quasicrystal structure is confirmed through diffraction patterns and scanning electron microscopy (SEM); both show the expected tenfold symmetry. We also present electro-optic switching parameters of this quasicrystal structure and determine its index modulation to be 3×10−3 using coupled wave theory.
Experience Pandemic Fatigue? Social Media Use May Play a Role: Testing a Model of Pandemic Fatigue Development from a Social Media Perspective

ABSTRACT Recently, the World Health Organization noted the increasing signs of pandemic fatigue around the world and repeatedly warned the public to continue to stay cautious. The current study explores whether social media use plays a role in the formation and development of pandemic fatigue. Drawing on a survey of 849 social media users in China, the findings indicated that different social media behaviors play different roles in affecting pandemic fatigue. Specifically, social interaction use is negatively associated with pandemic fatigue, mediated by more social support and reduced hopelessness. Active content use contributes to pandemic fatigue development, an association explained by information overload and desensitization. Notably, passive content use is found to trigger reactance but is negatively associated with pandemic fatigue, which is fully mediated by reduced information overload. This study seeks to understand how pandemic fatigue is associated with social media use and to explicate the underlying mechanism. The implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.
Silicon doping induced bending in aluminum nanowires

Bent aluminum nanowires are produced by heating equimolar mixture of aluminum and silicon, and bending is due to Al–Si formation. Calculation reveals that incorporation of Si into metal lattice induces cell stress, leading to nanowire growth deviation. An energy barrier is established at nanowire bends, similar to junction devices.
Experimental Study of Acoustic Properties of (0-3) Composite Materials for Intermediate Layer or Backing of Ultrasonic Transducers

The acoustic properties of composite materials used for an intermediate layer or backing of an ultrasonic transducer are studied experimentally. (0-3) composite materials are formed from a mixture of epoxy resin and tungsten powder for various weight ratios and their acoustic properties are measured. The experimental results are compared with the results predicted by different models, which are based on the elastic-wave scattering theory, to verify if the measured acoustic properties agree with theoretical estimations. For the ultrasonic velocities, the estimations of the Devaney model were closest to the experimental results. The weight fractions of tungsten powder for the composite materials, which have objective acoustic properties, can easily be estimated by theoretical calculations using the Devaney model.
Random minimality and continuity of invariant graphs in random dynamical systems

We study dynamical systems forced by a combination of random and deterministic noise and provide criteria, in terms of Lyapunov exponents, for the existence of random attractors with continuous structure in the fibres. For this purpose, we provide suitable random versions of the semiuniform ergodic theorem and also introduce and discuss some basic concepts of random topological dynamics.
The Macaronesian Liverwort Riccia boumanii Dirkse, Losada & M.Stech (Marchantiophyta: Ricciaceae) Confirmed New to Asia by Morphological and Molecular Evidence

ABSTRACT Riccia L. is the largest genus of complex thalloid liverworts with over 250 species currently accepted. Riccia boumanii Dirkse, Losada & M.Stech (Ricciaceae) has been considered to be endemic to the Canary Islands, Spain. Morphological evidence and molecular-phylogenetic analyses based on sequences of nuclear ribosomal ITS2, plastid rbcL, and plastid trnL-F confirm that this species occurs in Gansu and Sichuan, China. Riccia boumanii represents the first species of section Pilifer Volk of the genus in Asia. The low values of p-distances (0% for trnL-F-region, and 1.6% for ITS2-region) reveal that R. boumanii bears a low level of divergence. Micrographs, a distribution map and descriptions based on the Chinese plants are provided. The range extension of Riccia boumanii suggests that more taxa of Riccia may have a wider distribution. RÉSUMÉ L'hépatique macaronésienne Riccia boumanii Dirkse, Losada & M.Stech (Marchantiophyta: Ricciaceae) confirmée nouvelle en Asie par des preuves morphologiques et moléculaires. Riccia L. est le plus grand genre d'hépatiques thalloïdes complexes avec plus de 250 espèces actuellement acceptées. Riccia boumanii Dirkse, Losada & M.Stech (Ricciaceae) a été considérée comme endémique des îles Canaries, en Espagne. Des preuves morphologiques et des analyses phylogénétiques moléculaires basées sur les séquences du ribosome nucléaire ITS2, du plastide rbcL, et du plastide trnL-F confirment que cette espèce est présente dans le Gansu et le Sichuan, en Chine. Riccia boumanii représente la première espèce de la section Pilifer Volk du genre en Asie. Les faibles valeurs des p-distances (0 % pour la région trnL-F, et 1.6 % pour la région ITS2) révèlent que R. boumanii présente un faible niveau de divergence. Des micrographies, une carte de distribution et des descriptions basées sur les plantes chinoises sont fournies. L'extension de l'aire de répartition de Riccia boumanii suggère que d'autres taxons de Riccia pourraient avoir une distribution plus large.
Ultrasonic and Piezoelectric Investigations of Phase Transitions in Ferroelastic Cu6PS5(I,Br) Mixed Crystals

The ultrasonic velocity and attenuation anomalies were observed near the elastic phase transitions (PT) in the vicinity of 270 K in Cu 6 PS 5 (I,Br) mixed superionic crystals, where I was partially substituted by Br. We have shown that elastic anomalies at phase transition gradually decrease with increasing of iodine concentration in the material. The critical anomalies were described by relaxational Landau theory, which implies the increase of order parameter relaxation time: τ = τ o /(T c − T). The prefactor τ o increases with increasing iodine content in crystal. The ultrasonic anomalies near low temperature superionic phase transitions were weak. These transitions were observed using piezoelectric detection of ultrasonic waves by surface barrier. The temperature dependencies of detected by surface barrier signal were measured and it was shown that this method is very sensitive for indication of phase transitions in such superionic crystals.
Nonlinear Alfvén waves in a finite-beta plasma

The DNLS equation for parallel nonlinear and weakly dispersive MHD waves is extended to finite beta values as well as to three spatial dimensions, by means of the reductive perturbation method. Kinetic effects are included by means of the hybrid fluid and kinetic guiding-centre model of Grad (1961). The resulting equation contains a nonlinear and non-local term representing the effect of resonant particles.
BrainAGE: Revisited and reframed machine learning workflow

Since the introduction of the BrainAGE method (Franke et al., 2010), novel machine learning methods of brain age prediction have continued to emerge. The idea of estimating the chronological age from magnetic resonance images proved to be an interesting field of research due to the relative simplicity of its interpretation and its potential use as a biomarker of brain health. We revised our previous BrainAGE approach, originally utilising relevance vector regression (RVR), and substituted it with Gaussian process regression (GPR), which enables more stable processing of larger datasets, such as the UK Biobank (UKB). In addition, we extended the global BrainAGE approach to regional BrainAGE, providing spatially specific scores for 5 brain lobes per hemisphere. We tested the performance of the new algorithms under several different conditions and investigated their validity on the ADNI and schizophrenia samples, as well as on a synthetic dataset of neocortical thinning. The results show an improved performance of the reframed global model on the UKB sample with a mean absolute error (MAE) of less than 2 years and a significant difference in BrainAGE between healthy participants and patients with Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. Moreover, the workings of the algorithm show meaningful effects for a simulated neocortical atrophy dataset. The regional BrainAGE model performed well on two clinical samples, showing disease-specific patterns for different levels of impairment. The results demonstrate that the new improved algorithms provide reliable and valid brain age estimations.
Sex differences in prenatal development of neural complexity in the human brain

The complexity of neural activity is a commonly used read-out of healthy functioning in cortical circuits. Prior work has linked neural complexity to the level of maternal care in preterm infants at risk for developing mental disorders, yet the evolution of neural complexity in early human development is largely unknown. We hypothesized that cortical dynamics would evolve to optimize information processing as birth approaches, thereby increasing the complexity of cortical activity. To test this hypothesis, we conducted the first ever study relating prenatal neural complexity to maturation. MEG recordings were obtained from a sample of fetuses and newborns, including longitudinal data before and after birth. Using cortical responses to auditory irregularities, we computed several entropy measures which reflect the complexity of the MEG signal. Despite our hypothesis, neural complexity significantly decreased with maturation in both fetuses and newborns. Furthermore, we found that complexity decreased significantly faster in male fetuses for most entropy measures. Our surprising results lay the groundwork for the first ever mapping of how neural complexity evolves in early human development, with important implications for future efforts to develop predictive biomarkers of psychiatric disorders based on the complexity of perinatal MEG signals.
CRISPR-Cas9-based repeat depletion for high-throughput genotyping of complex plant genomes

High-throughput genotyping enables the large-scale analysis of genetic diversity in population genomics and genomewide association studies that combine the genotypic and phenotypic characterization of large collections of accessions. Sequencing-based approaches for genotyping are progressively replacing traditional genotyping methods due to the lower ascertainment bias. However, genome-wide genotyping based on sequencing becomes expensive in species with large genomes and a high proportion of repetitive DNA. Here we describe the use of CRISPR/Cas9 technology to deplete repetitive elements in the 3.76-Gb genome of lentil (Lens culinaris), 84% consisting of repeats, thus concentrating the sequencing data on coding and regulatory regions (single-copy regions). We designed a custom set of 566,766 gRNAs targeting 2.9 Gbp of repeats and excluding repetitive regions overlapping annotated genes and putative regulatory elements based on ATAC-Seq data. The novel depletion method removed ∼40% of reads mapping to repeats, increasing those mapping to single-copy regions by ∼2.6-fold. When analyzing 25 million fragments, this repeat-to-single-copy shift in the sequencing data increased the number of genotyped bases of ∼10-fold compared to non-depleted libraries. In the same condition, we were also able to identify ∼12-fold more genetic variants in the single-copy regions and increased the genotyping accuracy by rescuing thousands of heterozygous variants that otherwise would be missed due to low coverage. The method performed similarly regardless of the multiplexing level, type of library or genotypes, including different cultivars and a closely-related species (L. orientalis). Our results demonstrated that CRISPR/Cas9-driven repeat depletion focuses sequencing data on meaningful genomic regions, thus improving high-density and genome-wide genotyping in large and repetitive genomes.
The Drosophila dopamine 2‐like receptor D2R (Dop2R) is required in the blood brain barrier for male courtship

The blood brain barrier (BBB) has the essential function to protect the brain from potentially hazardous molecules while also enabling controlled selective uptake. How these processes and signaling inside BBB cells control neuronal function is an intense area of interest. Signaling in the adult Drosophila BBB is required for normal male courtship behavior and relies on male-specific molecules in the BBB. Here we show that the dopamine receptor D2R is expressed in the BBB and is required in mature males for normal mating behavior. Conditional adult male knockdown of D2R in BBB cells causes courtship defects. The courtship defects observed in genetic D2R mutants can be rescued by expression of normal D2R specifically in the BBB of adult males. Drosophila BBB cells are glial cells. Our findings thus identify a specific glial function for the DR2 receptor and dopamine signaling in the regulation of a complex behavior.
A Camera Calibration Method Based on Free Points

A new accurate calibrating technique for intrinsic parameters and extrinsic parameters of CCD camera is described. The camera model is derived by the pinhole projection theory. Then other parameters of the model are resolved under the radial alignment constraints and orthogonal constraints. In order to get a fine initial guess for the nonlinear searching solution, the least square method is introduced, and finally uses radial alignment constraint method to get the results. The experimental results show that the mean absolute differences in x direction and y direction are 0.0070 and 0.1430 separately while the standard deviation are 0.5006 and 1.2046 separately.
A Maturity Model for Digital Information Management in University Libraries: A Design Science Study

Abstract Identifying dimensions and levels of maturity in digital information management is of high significance for university libraries because it would highly influence their daily businesses and future decisions. The current study is an effort to develop, confirm and test a maturity model for digital information management in the context of university libraries as a response to ever-increasing digital information. A design science approach in qualitative-quantitative order was considered as the research design. Initially, a meta-synthesis was conducted to systematically review the related literature and to develop the conceptual model for dimensions and levels. Afterward, a set of 30 related experts analyzed and confirmed the model with a 95% confidence level. Finally, the maturity levels of 14 central university libraries across Iran were measured through a multiple case study design. The MMDIM (Maturity Model for Digital Information Management) includes 10 dimensions, 20 components and 5 levels. Regarding priorities given to the components by the experts, the digital business model and digital work environment were the first and last priorities respectively. The results showed that most selected libraries were at level three namely slight management of digital information. Moreover, library managers evaluated levels of their maturity which showed that digital processes and operations and digital culture were given the first and last levels respectively. The model could be regarded as a diagnostic tool to identify development needs that could be supported by objectives of other similar libraries.
Formalization and computational aspects of image analysis

In this article we shall present a unified and axiomatized view of several theories and algorithms of image multiscale analysis (and low level vision) which have been developed in the past twenty years. We shall show that under reasonable invariance and assumptions, all image (and shape) analyses can be reduced to a single partial differential equation. In the same way, movie analysis leads to a single parabolic differential equation. We discuss some applications to image segmentation and movie restoration. The experiments show how accurate and invariant the numerical schemes must be and we compare several (old and new) algorithms by discussing how well they match the axiomatic invariance requirements.
PilD mutant is a new cheater in Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum-sensing evolution

Pathogen virulence is largely driven by the evolution and adaptation of the genome. LasR is a master regulator of quorum-sensing (QS) system. The QS-inactive LasR-null mutant regains QS activation in a laboratory evolution experiment through obtaining mutations in mexT, a gene encoding transcriptional regulator. How the QS-active LasR-MexT mutant continuously evolves is still unknown. Here we passaged the LasR-MexT mutant in casein broth and monitored its evolutionary trajectory. By examining the proteolytic phenotype of isolated single colonies, we found a protease-negative subpopulation arising from the parental population. The whole genome sequencing analysis revealed that these protease-negativ colonies bear mutations in pilD gene. In accordance with its role as a prepilin peptidase of type IV system, PilD mutants are defective in twitching motility. In conclusion, we identified a new PilD mutant cheater that evolved from the parental LasR-MexT mutant population. Our work demonstrates that population evolution is highly dynamics, with arising of distinct subpopulations containing different social behaviors.
A simple and rapid CRISPR-Cas12a-based detection test for diastatic Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Diastatic Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a common contaminant in the brewing industry. Currently available detection methods are either time-coansuming or require specialized equipment. The aim of this study was to develop a new rapid and simple assay for the detection of diastatic yeast from beer and yeast samples. More specifically, we aimed to develop a simple and rapid assay that requires minimal laboratory equipment or training, and ideally yields results as accurate as PCR-based methods. The developed assay consisted of three main steps: DNA extraction, pre-amplification of DNA, and CRISPR-Cas12a-based detection and visualisation. We compared different preamplification and visualisation techniques, and the final assay involved a one-pot reaction where LAMP and Cas12a were consecutively used to pre-amplify and detect a fragment from the STA1 gene in a single tube. These reactions only required a heat block, a pipette, and a centrifuge. The assay result was then visualised on a lateral flow strip. We used the developed assay to monitor an intentionally contaminated beer fermentation, and it was shown to yield results as accurate as PCR using previously published primers. Furthermore, the assay yielded results in approx. 75 minutes starting from a beer sample. The developed assay therefore offers reliable and rapid quality control for breweries of all sizes and can be performed without any expensive laboratory equipment. We believe the assay will be particularly useful for smaller breweries that don’t already have well-equipped laboratories and are looking to implement better quality control.
Insights into the biosynthesis of icumazole unveiling a distinctive family of crotonyl-CoA carboxylase/reductase

Icumazoles are potent antifungal polyketides with intriguing structural features. Here, we present the polyketide synthase (PKS)/nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) hybrid biosynthetic gene cluster of icumazoles. Surprisingly, an unusual non-terminal thioesterase domain divides the PKS/NRPS assembly line. The succeeding PKS modules potentially form a rare precursor 4-methyl-2-hexenoyl-ACP thus deviating from the previously proposed polyoxypeptin pathway. The 4-methyl-2-hexenoyl-ACP is further reductive carboxylated to 2-methylbutylmalonyl-ACP essential for icumazole biosynthesis by IcuL, representing a new type of crotonyl-CoA carboxylase/reductase (CCR). We characterize IcuL and its homologs TgaD and Leu10 in vitro, suggesting a stricter substrate specificity of this new family of CCRs than found in canonical ones. Intriguingly, we also find that TgaD unprecedently utilizes both NADPH and NADH as cofactors with similar efficiency, diverging from the NADPH-specific characteristic of canonical CCRs. Furthermore, a sequence similarity network-based bioinformatic survey reveals that the IcuL-like CCRs are evolutionarily separated from canonical CCRs.
Efficacy of Non-invasive Brain Stimulation on Vision: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Objective Multiple studies have explored the use of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) to enhance visual function. These studies vary in sample size, outcome measures, and NIBS methodology. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analyses to assess the effects of NIBS on visual functions in human participants with normal vision. Methods We followed the PRISMA guidelines, and a review protocol was registered with PROSPERO before study commencement (CRD42021255882). We searched Embase, Medline, PsychInfo, PubMed, OpenGrey and Web of Science using relevant keywords. The search covered the period from 1st January 2000 until 1st September 2021. Comprehensive meta-analysis (CMA) software was used for quantitative analysis. Results Forty-nine studies were included, of which 19 were included in a meta-analysis (38.8%). Meta-analysis indicated acute (Hedges’s g=0.232, 95% CI: 0.023-0.442, p=0.029) and aftereffects (0.590, 95% CI: 0.182-0.998, p=0.005) of transcranial electrical stimulation (tES, including three different stimulation protocols) on contrast sensitivity. Visual evoked potential (VEP) amplitudes were significantly enhanced immediately after tES (0.383, 95% CI: 0.110-0.665, p=0.006). Both tES (0.563, 95% CI: 0.230 to 0.896, p=0.001)] and anodal-transcranial direct current stimulation (a-tDCS) alone (0.655, 95% CI: 0.273 to 1.038, p=0.001) reduced crowding in peripheral vision. The effects of NIBS on visual acuity, motion perception and reaction time were not statistically significant. Conclusions There are significant effects of visual cortex NIBS on contrast sensitivity, VEP amplitude, an index of cortical excitability, and crowding among normally sighted individuals. Future studies with robust experimental designs are needed to substantiate these findings in populations with vision loss. PROSPERO registration number CRD42021255882 Highlights We conducted a meta-analysis and a systematic review on the efficacy of non-invasive brain stimulation for improving on visual function Visual cortex non-invasive brain stimulation can enhance contrast sensitivity, reduce crowding in peripheral vision and enhance visually evoked potential amplitude among normally sighted individuals.