Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A spatial and contextual exposome-wide association study and polyexposomic score of COVID-19 hospitalization

Abstract Environmental exposures have been linked to COVID-19 severity. Previous studies examined very few environmental factors, and often only separately without considering the totality of the environment, or the exposome. In addition, existing risk prediction models of severe COVID-19 predominantly rely on demographic and clinical factors. To address these gaps, we conducted a spatial and contextual exposome-wide association study (ExWAS) and developed polyexposomic scores (PES) of COVID-19 hospitalization leveraging rich information from individuals’ spatial and contextual exposome. Individual-level electronic health records of 50 368 patients aged 18 years and older with a positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR/Antigen lab test or a COVID-19 diagnosis between March 2020 and October 2021 were obtained from the OneFlorida+ Clinical Research Network. A total of 194 spatial and contextual exposome factors from 10 data sources were spatiotemporally linked to each patient based on geocoded residential histories. We used a standard two-phase procedure in the ExWAS and developed and validated PES using gradient boosting decision trees models. Four exposome measures significantly associated with COVID-19 hospitalization were identified, including 2-chloroacetophenone, low food access, neighborhood deprivation, and reduced access to fitness centers. The initial prediction model in all patients without considering exposome factors had a testing-area under the curve (AUC) of 0.778. Incorporation of exposome data increased the testing-AUC to 0.787. Similar findings were observed in subgroup analyses focusing on populations without comorbidities and aged 18–24 years old. This spatial and contextual exposome study of COVID-19 hospitalization confirmed previously reported risk factor but also generated novel predictors that warrant more focused evaluation.
Stochastic modeling in lithography: autocorrelation behavior of catalytic reaction-diffusion systems

Reaction-diffusion chemical systems where the catalyst of the reaction is the only diffusing species are investigated. Here, the correlation length and Hurst roughness exponent are derived in one-, two- and three-dimensional firstorder catalytic reaction-diffusion problems. These results are relevant to many chemical systems, and in particular to chemically amplified photoresists used in semiconductor lithography, where the correlation length and Hurst exponent affect the line-edge roughness of sub-100-nm printed features.
In Favour of the Raising Analysis of Passivisation

This paper presents arguments from Polish in support of the raising analysis of passivisation. It shows that it is preferable to the current mainstream analysis where the passivised verb is treated as the main verb. Arguments for the raising analysis are based on the interaction of passivisation and negation, as well as on coordination facts involving predicative constructions.
Characterization of the complete mitochondrial genome of the nematode-trapping fungus Drechslerella dactyloides

Abstract The complete mitochondrial genome of Drechslerella dactyloides was characterized in this study. This mitogenome is a closed circular molecule of 246860 bp in length with a GC content of 26.16%, including 87 predicted protein-coding genes, 29 transfer RNA genes, and two rRNA gens. Phylogenetic analyses based on concatenated amino acid sequences at 14 conserved mitochondrial protein-coding genes showed that D. dactyloides was closely related to Dactylellina haptotyla.
Pop Song English as a supralocal norm

An American-influenced singing accent, referred to here as Pop Song English (PSE), is common in popular music throughout (and beyond) the Anglophone world. This article presents an analysis of the sung pronunciation of two variables (bath and nonprevocalic /r/) that distinguish New Zealand English (NZE) from American Englishes (AmE). The Phonetics of Popular Song (PoPS) corpus includes 154 performers, structured according to country of origin (NZ and the US) and musical genre (pop and hip hop). An auditory analysis was conducted for each variable, distinguishing between the NZE and PSE/AmE variants. Almost all New Zealand performers adopt the PSE variants at least some of the time, with greater adherence to the American model in pop than in hip hop. In the US, region determines hip hop, but not pop, artists’ degree of rhoticity. PSE represents a supralocal norm for pop music, while hip hop artists tend to use their ‘own accent’. (Pop Song English, singing accent, rap accent, supralocal norm, nonprevocalic /r/, trap–bath split, intentionality, language performance, pop music, hip hop, responsive style, initiative style)*
A stable arbitrarily discontinuous staggered grid for FD modeling of seismic motion

We present an algorithm of the spatial discontinuous staggered grid. The ratio between the grid spacings of the coarser and finer grids can be an arbitrary odd number. We numerically tested ratios up to 25. Relatively many algorithms for different kinds of discontinuous grids have been developed and published. They focused on the problem how to interpolate values at missing grid positions in order to update wavefield in the finer grid. As we found out, the interpolation, in fact, neither poses a real problem nor solves the key aspect of a contact between the finer and coarser grids. As far as we know the other algorithms did not address this aspect and consequently and inevitably had problems with stability. The key aspect of a contact between the finer and coarser grids is what values at grid positions of a finer grid should enter the update in the coarser grid. We solve this aspect by the application of the Lanczos downsampling filter. Our algorithm is sufficiently accurate and stable.
Interleaved LDPC Decoding Scheme Improves 3-D TLC NAND Flash Memory System Performance

Although NAND flash memory does a lot of work in effectively using error correcting code (ECC) to reduce uncorrectable bit error rate (UBER). However, if the frame error rate (FER) is not reduced, the lower UBER cannot effectively reduce the read latency of the flash memory system. This phenomenon is especially evident at the end of the flash memory lifetime, where conventional methods significantly reduce the UBER but not to zero, and the remaining error bits are still evenly distributed throughout the flash memory page, resulting in a significant increase in read latency. In this article, an interleaved LDPC decoding scheme is proposed. By re-evaluating the flash memory channel during the decoding process, the codewords in the flash memory page are corrected frame by frame, and the problem of high FER is solved at the end of the flash memory lifetime. Compared with the conventional algorithm, the proposed method can reduce the FER by up to 34%, reduce the average decoding iterations by 63.4%, and reduce the read latency by up to 65%.
Elliptic Curve Crytography: A Computational Science Model

This is an advanced module in cryptography. Intended as a follow up to a previous module titled “Public Key Cryptography and the RSA Cryptosystem” by the author, it introduces a few cryptosystems based on the elliptic curves. Advantages of using elliptic curves over other public-key systems are also discussed. Elliptic curves are introduced with a minimal amount technical material accompanied by intuitive motivation. Some material from public key cryptosystems that are directly relevant to the elliptic curve cryptosystems are introduced or reviewed at the beginning of the module. This module assumes some basic knowledge in cryptography and abstract algebra. Necessary background material include an understanding of basic ideas of symmetric-key and public-key cryptography, concepts from computational complexity, some elementary number theory and basic definitions of groups, rings and fields. In particular, it assumes that the reader is familiar with the content (or an equivalent knowledge) of the earlier module “Public Key Cryptography and the RSA Cryptosystem”. It is assumed that students are familiar with such concepts as groups, subgroups, cyclic groups, order of an element, order of a group, generators, Lagrange’s theorem, the multiplicative group Zn of units modulo n, and definitions of rings and fields. These topics are typically covered in a first course in abstract algebra. In fact, this module could be used in an abstract algebra course to illustrate some of the applications of the topics in abstract algebra.
A Genetic Algorithm Approach for Clustering

The paper deals with the applicability of GA to clustering and compares it with the standard K-means clustering technique. K- means clustering results are extremely sensitive to the initial centroids, so many a times it results in sub-optimal solutions. On the other hand the GA approach results in optimal solutions and finds globally optimal disjoint partitions. Fitness calculated on the basis of intra- cluster and inter-cluster distance is the performance evaluation standard in this paper. The experimental results show that the proposed GA is more effective than K-means and converges to more accurate clusters.
Compact Additively Manufactured Conformal Slotted Waveguide Antenna Array

In this letter, we present the design and fabrication in metallic 3-D printing of a compact conformal slotted waveguide antenna array (CSWAA) operating in the Ku-band. The application objective, although not limited only to this, is the optimization of an antenna element which by stacking will be able to form a quasi-cylindrical sector. A beamforming network will be used for beam steering in the elevation plane as coverage in the azimuthal plane is guaranteed by the conformal geometry. The compact design of the antenna element is, therefore, of great significance. For this reason, a direct feeding scheme by a coaxial connector is adopted. The antenna has been optimized following multiple parameteric analyses of its geometrical parameters for the enhancement of the bandwidth, return losses, and realized gain. The antenna was fabricated with selective laser melting in aluminum and the experimental results agree well with the numerically calculated ones. The proposed CSWAA exhibits a reflection coefficient below −10 dB, realized gain above 14 dBi, as well as good cross-polarization and side-lobe level over a relative bandwidth of 8%.
A Mann–Whitney scan statistic for continuous data

ABSTRACT A new method is proposed for identifying clusters in continuous data indexed by time or by space. The scan statistic we introduce is derived from the well-known Mann–Whitney statistic. It is completely non parametric as it relies only on the ranks of the marks. This scan test seems to be very powerful against any clustering alternative. These results have applications in various fields, such as the study of climate data or socioeconomic data.
Three Dimensional Simulation of Supersonic Flow over Missiles of Different Shapes

In this work, a three-dimensio nal primitive variable of supersonic flow over missiles was computed based on finite difference computational fluid dynamic methods. The problem was considered is to deal with external, inviscid, compressible supersonic- flow over three-dimensional missiles with and without canard. Euler equations were solved using time-marching MacCormack’s explicit technique. The flow conditions are taken at sea level and Mach number was tested up to 4.0. To deal with complex shape of missiles the so-called “body fitted coordinate system” was considered and the algebraic and elliptic methods were used to generate grids over missiles. The number of iterations and the number of mesh points depending on Mach number. The result indicate, that for the same Mach number, the increasing of mesh points, lead to increase of the number of iterations.
Resolving XUV induced femtosecond and attosecond dynamics in polyatomic molecules with a compact attosecond beamline

XUV induced dynamics in molecules is still largely unexplored while experimental and theoretical tools are becoming available in several labs. In this work, we present a compact XUV beamline designed to induce and probe femtosecond and attosecond dynamics in gas samples (from atoms to complex molecular species). The induced processes are studied with time-resolved photoelectron or/and photoion imaging. The characterization of the performances of the experimental setup is presented. We show experimental results obtained in naphthalene molecule showing femtosecond and attosecond time-resolved photoelectron imaging experiments allowing electron wavepacket phase measurements.
Abrupt Dietary Change and Gradual Dietary Transition Impact Diarrheal Symptoms, Fecal Fermentation Characteristics, Microbiota, and Metabolic Profile in Healthy Puppies

Simple Summary In this study, dietary changes in puppies were observed to cause different gastrointestinal responses. Using two change methods, one direct and one gradual, we found that a gradual transition reduced the incidence of diarrhea in puppies throughout the trial period, as well as the concentration of isovaleric acid. Meanwhile, 16S rRNA sequencing showed that the fecal microbiota was changed after different dietary changes. Compared with the bacterial changes after an abrupt dietary change, the relative abundances of beneficial bacteria (i.e., Turicibacter and Faecalibacterium) in feces were increased after a gradual dietary transition in puppies. Additionally, both change methods caused changes in amino acid metabolism, while an abrupt change also altered lipid metabolism. An abrupt change increased fecal histamine and spermine concentrations, but decreased concentrations of metabolites such as 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid and serotonin. Our findings indicated that a gradual transition most likely reduced the diarrhea rate in puppies by modulating the composition and metabolism of the gut microbiota. Abstract Dietary changes are inevitable for pets, yet little is known about the impact of different dietary change methods on the gastrointestinal response. The current comparative study evaluated the effects of different dietary changes on the diarrheal symptoms, fecal fermentation characteristics, microbiota, and metabolic profile of healthy puppies. A total of 13 beagle puppies were randomly divided into two groups; puppies in the abrupt change (AC) group were given 260 g of a chicken- and duck-based extruded diet (CD)daily for the one-week transition period, whereas puppies in the gradual transition (GT) group were fed according to a gradual transition ratio of a salmon-based extruded diet (SA) and a CD diets with a difference of 40 g per day for seven consecutive days. Serum samples were collected on D7, and fecal samples were collected on D0 and D7. The results indicated that GT reduced the incidence of diarrhea in puppies throughout the trial period. Dietary change methods had no influence on serum inflammatory factors or fecal SCFAs, but isovaleric acid was significantly reduced after GT. Meanwhile, 16S rRNA sequencing showed that the fecal microbiota was changed after different dietary changes. Compared with the bacterial changes after AC, the relative abundances of beneficial bacteria (i.e., Turicibacter and Faecalibacterium) in feces were increased after GT in puppies. Additionally, both GT and AC caused changes in amino acid metabolism, while AC also altered lipid metabolism. AC increased fecal histamine and spermine concentrations, but decreased concentrations of metabolites such as 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid and serotonin. Our findings indicated that GT most likely reduced the diarrhea rate in puppies by modulating the composition and metabolism of the gut microbiota.
Pliant Arithmetics and Pliant Arithmetic Operations

Fuzzy arithmetic based α -cuts, where the result of the α -cuts represent an interval. The arithmetic can be understand as an interval arithmetic of the α -cuts. Instead of dealing with intervals we are dealing with left and right hand sided soft inequalities which define the interval. We offer a new calculation procedure of arithmetics, when these soft inequalities meet certain properties (i.e. strict monotonously increasing function represent the inequality). We show that the result of linear combinations of linear is also linear and the linear combination of sigmoid is also sigmoid function (i.e. they are closed under linear combination). We give the result of other operation, too. The soft inequalities define an interval by using proper conjunctive and disjunctive operator. We give such operations, too.
Arctic Sea Ice and Open Water Classification From Spaceborne Fully Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar

We present an approach for automatic classification of Arctic sea ice and open water from spaceborne C-band RADARSAT-2 fully polarimetric (HH, HV, VH, VV) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery based on the random forest (RF) model. The HH- and HV-polarized radar backscatter, incidence angle, and optimal polarimetric features are inputs of the RF model. First, we use a physics-based unsupervised scheme to generate well-annotated sea ice and open water samples. This scheme can alleviate labeling errors arising from visual interpretation or temporal–spatial mismatch between SAR images and operational ice charts. Subsequently, we estimate a set of characteristic polarimetric parameters and select the most representative features using the recursive feature elimination method. Finally, the RF model is trained and validated using more than one million labeled samples. Statistical validation results show that the overall sea ice and water classification accuracy is 99.94% and the Kappa coefficient is 0.999. We find that ice–water discrimination accuracy can be improved by about 4%–10% when optimal polarimetric features are involved in the RF model input. Moreover, the polarization difference (PD, VV–HH) is found to be the foremost polarimetric parameter for distinguishing sea ice from open water. The proposed approach has the capability of yielding satisfactory ice–water classification over the complicated marginal ice zone. High-resolution ice–water classification maps clearly show that sea ice leads and their surroundings are also well separated.
Identification of immune cell infiltration landscape for predicting prognosis of colorectal cancer

Abstract Background The tumor microenvironment plays an essential role in the therapeutic response to immunotherapy. It is necessary to identify immune cell infiltration (ICI) subtypes for evaluating prognosis and therapeutic benefits. This study aimed to evaluate the ICI score as an effective prognostic biomarker for immune response. Methods The cell-type identification by estimating relative subsets of RNA transcripts and the estimation of stromal and immune cells in malignant tumors using expression methods were used to analyse ICI landscapes in 161 colorectal cancer (CRC) samples with patients’ clinical and prognostic data, RNA sequencing data, and whole-exome sequencing data from the Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University (Guangzhou, China). Statistical analysis and data processing were conducted to calculate ICI scores, and to analyse the prognosis of CRC patients with different ICI scores and other features. A similar analysis with RNA sequencing and clinical data of colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was conducted to confirm the correctness of the findings. Results The high-ICI score group with a better prognosis (hazard ratio [HR], 2.19; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03–4.64; log-rank test, P = 0.036) was characterized by the increased tumor mutational burden and interleukin-17 (IL-17) signaling pathway. Significant differences in the prognosis and the expression levels of immune checkpoints and chemokine marker genes were found between the two ICI score groups. For COAD samples from TCGA, the results also showed a significant difference in patients’ prognosis between the two ICI score groups (HR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.00–2.96; log-rank test, P = 0.047). Conclusions Tumor heterogeneity induced differences in identifying ICI subtypes of CRC patients. The ICI score may serve as an effective biomarker for predicting prognosis, help identify new therapeutic markers for CRC, and develop novel effective immune checkpoint blockade therapies.
The multidimensional implications of entrepreneurial orientation on export performance: empirical evidence from manufacturing SMEs in Tanzania

PurposeThis study aims to examine the influence of the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) dimensions (innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, competitive aggressiveness and autonomy) on the export performance (EXP) of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approachIn this study a cross-sectional survey design was used and data were collected from 250 managers of manufacturing-exporting SMEs in Tanzania. The developed conceptual model was empirically tested using confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression.FindingsThe results reveal that innovativeness, risk-taking, competitive aggressiveness and autonomy have a significant positive influence on EXP. However, proactiveness hurts EXP. Additionally, findings indicate that the dimensions of EO do not have an equal impact on SMEs’ EXP.Research limitations/implicationsThis study only covered SMEs; future studies would be advised to include large firms because they may behave differently with respect EO due to their resource advantages. Furthermore, this study was conducted in a single country, Tanzania, and thus the findings should be interpreted cautiously, since each country has specific institutional frameworks that foster entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial culture in a different way.Originality/valueThe context of this study contributes significantly to the research’s originality. The study contributes to the body of knowledge on the EO-EXP link in developing countries, where research on EO-export is scant, and it further contributes to the debate on the EO-EXP link by demonstrating that the dimensions of EO do not have an equal impact on SMEs’ EXP, and accordingly a disaggregated approach would be more meaningful. Furthermore, the study contributes with regards the role of competitive aggressiveness and autonomy in improving SMEs’ EXP, which has received little attention in previous studies.
Sensitivity analysis of aggregate morphology on mass-mobility relationship and improved parameterizations

Abstract Past studies have shown that the diffusion-limited cluster aggregation mechanism yields aggregates with a mass fractal dimension (Df) of around 1.8 and power-law prefactor (kf) ranging between 1.2 and 2.5. For a fixed Df, an increasing kf physically manifests as decreasing shape anisotropy or the degree of “stringiness” of an aggregate. In this work, we investigate the effects of changing kf, monomer size (d), and number of monomers (N) of computer-simulated aggregates on their mass-mobility scaling exponent (Dfm) and prefactor (kfm). Our simulation results for a statistically significant number of Df = 1.78 ± 0.10 aggregates yielded Dfm values of 2.20 ± 0.05. These values are in excellent agreement with previous experimental observations. While variations in Dfm were predominantly influenced by Df, kfm showed sensitivity to fluctuations in kf. The validity and accuracy of the empirical power-law exponent 1.08 used for estimating N in three dimensions from two dimensional projection images was also evaluated. It was found that the exponent was only valid for aggregates with kf close to unity. A correction has been proposed to account for the enhanced apparent screening effects at large kf. © 2016 American Association for Aerosol Research