Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Detailed Study of Electronic and Dynamic Properties of Noble Gas–Oxygen Molecule Adducts

In this work, the binding features of adducts formed by a noble gas (Ng = He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, and Rn) atom and the oxygen molecule (O2) in its ground Σg−3, in the past target of several experimental studies, have been characterized under different theoretical points of view to clarify fundamental aspects of the intermolecular bond. For the most stable configuration of all Ng–O2 systems, binding energy has been calculated at the theory’s CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ level and compared with the experimental findings. Rovibrational energies, spectroscopic constants, and lifetime as a function of temperature were also evaluated by adopting properly formulated potential energy curves. The nature of the interaction involved was deeply investigated using charge displacement analysis, symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (SAPT), and natural bond orbital (NBO) methods. In all adducts, it was found that the charge transfer plays a minor role, although O2 is an open shell species exhibiting a positive electron affinity. Obtained results also indicate that the dispersion attraction contribution is the main responsible for the complex stability.
Coating Properties of Alkyd Resin, Epoxy Resins and Polyurethane Based Nanocomposites: A Review

The uniqueness of alkyd resin, epoxy resin, and polyurethane nanocomposites has brought prominent recognition to the field of heavy-duty coating materials. This is expected due to the collaborative features of nano-sized materials such as the high surface area to volume ratio, great functionality per-unit space, extremely small sizes with high density, and that of alkyd resin, epoxy resin, and polyurethane (biodegradability, great gloss retention, adaptability, flexibility, durability, good drying properties, and weathering resistance). The objective of this review was to analyze the extent and currency of research and the development of alkyd, epoxy, and polyurethane nanocomposites in coating applications. Some of the several types of modifications discussed in this review are the incorporation of varying types of nanoclay and metal nanoparticles materials into alkyd resins, the incorporation of carbon nanotubes, MGel-graphene oxide (GO)/gelatin (MGel), Ni (II) Complex-Zeolite and starch-modified nano-ZnO into epoxy resin and the incorporation of (Rb2Co(H2P2O7)2.2H2O), modified nanoparticles of ZnO, diminished graphene oxide (dGO) into polyurethane and their effects on coating applications. The various studied modifications resulted in nanocomposite end-products with much improved properties. However, there are several challenges to the development of nanocomposites that need urgent attention. Some of the challenges discussed are the difficulty involved in transforming fabricated nanocomposites from laboratory to commercialized scale, the capital-intensive nature of synthesizing large nanopowder, etc.
Model-independent curvature determination with 21 cm intensity mapping experiments

Recent precision cosmological parameter constraints imply that the spatial curvature of the Universe is essentially dynamically negligible - but only if relatively strong assumptions are made about the equation of state of dark energy (DE). When these assumptions are relaxed, strong degeneracies arise that make it hard to disentangle DE and curvature, degrading the constraints. We show that forthcoming 21cm intensity mapping experiments such as HIRAX are ideally designed to carry out model-independent curvature measurements, as they can measure the clustering signal at high redshift with sufficient precision to break many of the degeneracies. We consider two different model-independent methods, based on `avoiding' the DE-dominated regime and non-parametric modelling of the DE equation of state respectively. Our forecasts show that HIRAX will be able to improve upon current model-independent constraints by around an order of magnitude, reaching percent-level accuracy even when an arbitrary DE equation of state is assumed. In the same model-independent analysis, the sample variance limit for a similar survey is another order of magnitude better.
Recent advances in mechanical torque studies of small-scale magnetism

There is a storied scientific history in the role of mechanical instruments for the measurement of fundamental physical interactions. Among these include the detection of magnetic torques via a displacement of a compliant mechanical sensor as a result of angular momentum transfer. Modern nanofabrication methods have enabled the coupling of mechanical structures to single, miniature magnetic specimens. This has allowed for strikingly sensitive detection of magnetic hysteresis and other quasi-static effects, as well as spin resonances, in materials confined to nanoscale geometries. The extraordinary sensitivities achieved in mechanical transduction through recent breakthroughs in cavity optomechanics, where a high-finesse optical cavity is used for readout of motion, are now being harnessed for torque magnetometry. In this article, we review the recent progress in mechanical detection of magnetic torques, highlight current applications, and speculate on possible future developments in the technology and science. Guidelines for designing and implementing the measurements are also included.
CORROSION INHIBITION EFFICIENCY OF MILD STEEL IN HYDROCLORIC ACID BY ADDING THEOBROMA CACAO PEEL EXTRACT

ABSTRACT Inhibition and adsorption properties of Theobroma cacao peel polar extract (TCPE) addition on corrosion inhibition efficiency of 0.3%C mild steel in hydrochloric acid solution for various exposuring time, TCPE concentration and working temperature were investigated using weight loss test method. Electrochemical polarization test was also conducted to confirm the effectiveness of inhibition. Infrared spectrums of the samples were also evaluated to reveal compounds of the extract which controll the inhibition process. Morphology and local composition of sample surfaces were respectively examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Thermodynamic parameters such as energy activation, enthalpy, entropy and change in the free energy were then determined using related data. The result shows that the inhibition efficiency increases significantly up to 96.3% (by weight loss method) and 95.6% (by electrochemical polarization) with the increase of TCPE content. The optimum efficiency is obtained at TCPE concentration of 2,5% for exposuring time of 768h. However, the efficiency decreases slightly with increasing working temperature in the range of 303K-323K. The polarization curve shows the inhibitor behaves as a mixed inhibitor with the dominant cathodic inhibition. TCPE is identified to have functional groups of phenol, aromatic rings and ether. These compound is then adsorbed by the surface of the mild steel. The adsorption model is found to obey Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Surface condition is improved due to the adsorption and then formation of thin layer film protection in the surface of the steel. The addition of TCPE into HCl is effective to minimize corrosion attack on the mild steel. Keywords: Corrosion, inhibitor, Theobroma cacao peel, Mild steel, Potensiodynamic
Unified origin of axion and monopole dark matter, and solution to the domain-wall problem

We propose a scenario in which the spontaneous breakdown of the Peccei-Quinn symmetry leads to monopole production. Both the axion and the monopole contribute to dark matter, and the Witten effect on the axion mass is a built-in feature. In the Kim-Shifman-Vainshtein-Zakharov-type axion model, seemingly different vacua are actually connected by the hidden gauge symmetry, which makes the axionic string unstable and separate into two Alice strings. The Alice string is attached to a single domain wall due to the QCD instanton effect, solving the domain-wall problem. This is in the same spirit of the Lazarides-Shafi mechanism, although the discrete Peccei-Quinn symmetry is not embedded into the center of the original gauge symmetry. In the Dine-Fischler-Srednicki-Zhitnitsky-type axion model, the domain-wall problem is avoided by the Witten effect. If the Peccei-Quinn symmetry is explicitly broken by a small amount, monopoles acquire a tiny electric charge and become minicharged dark matter. Interestingly, the quality of the Peccei-Quinn symmetry is closely tied to darkness of dark matter.
Methods of Lysergic Acid Synthesis—The Key Ergot Alkaloid

Ergot is the spore form of the fungus Claviceps purpurea. Ergot alkaloids are indole compounds that are biosynthetically derived from L-tryptophan and represent the largest group of fungal nitrogen metabolites found in nature. The common part of ergot alkaloids is lysergic acid. This review shows the importance of lysergic acid as a representative of ergot alkaloids. The subject of ergot and its alkaloids is presented, with a particular focus on lysergic acid. All methods of total lysergic acid synthesis—through Woodward, Hendrickson, and Szantay intermediates and Heck coupling methods—are presented. The topic of biosynthesis is also discussed.
Natural flavoring formulations of straw mushrooms and quality test with variations in temperature and drying time

Mushrooms contain a substance known as glutamic acid, that produce a savory taste which has the potential to be developed into a natural flavoring. The research began with the determination of amino acid levels in three phases of harvesting straw mushrooms, namely: the egg phase, the bud phase and the adult phase, by using High Performance Liquid Chromatography which aims to determine the harvesting phase with the highest glutamic acid content. The test results of amino acid levels showed the adult phase contained the highest glutamic acid levels of 49.08 mg/g. Furthermore, the manufacture of straw mushroom flour was performed with temperature variations of 60° C and 70° C and drying times of 6, 7 and 8 hours. Then the flavoring formulation was completed by mixing mushroom flour and other dry additives namely shallots, garlic, white pepper, tapioca flour, salt and sugar. The resulting flavoring test is conducted using a description test by assessing the sensory properties of natural flavorings, namely color, aroma, taste and texture. Based on a panelist rating, F2 (60°C, 7 hours) has the best score for color (3.88) and aroma (3.32). F5 (70°C, 7 hours) has the best score for taste (3.24) and F1 (60°C, 6 hours) has the best score for texture (2.08). The conclusion of this study is that mushrooms have a very high potential to be deformalized into natural flavorings, as well as the natural flavoring quality parameters of mushrooms is influenced significantly by temperature parameters and drying time
T phase observations in global seismogram stacks

The T phase, conversion of acoustic to seismic energy, is typically observed as a high‐frequency wave train at hydrophones or coastal seismic stations. Here we show that the T phase can be observed in broadband waveform stacks of ∼5200 earthquakes recorded by the Global Seismic Network. To enhance the phase arrivals in stacks, we apply short‐time window average over long‐time window average filtering to individual traces before stacking. Although the T phase arrival is visible in stacks from seismograms filtered at 0.5–5 Hz, it appears much stronger at higher frequencies (2–8 Hz) and is further enhanced by only stacking seismograms from oceanic paths. Stacking only subsets of the data depending on continental path lengths on the receiver side shows that the T phase can be observed at stations up to 4∘ inland from the coast, and changes in the T phase arrival time correspond to reasonable crustal velocities.
Structure-Guided Approach to Discover Tuberosin as a Potent Activator of Pyruvate Kinase M2, Targeting Cancer Therapy

Metabolic reprogramming is a key attribute of cancer progression. An altered expression of pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2), a phosphotyrosine-binding protein is observed in many human cancers. PKM2 plays a vital role in metabolic reprogramming, transcription and cell cycle progression and thus is deliberated as an attractive target in anticancer drug development. The expression of PKM2 is essential for aerobic glycolysis and cell proliferation, especially in cancer cells, facilitating selective targeting of PKM2 in cell metabolism for cancer therapeutics. We have screened a virtual library of phytochemicals from the IMPPAT (Indian Medicinal Plants, Phytochemistry and Therapeutics) database of Indian medicinal plants to identify potential activators of PKM2. The initial screening was carried out for the physicochemical properties of the compounds, and then structure-based molecular docking was performed to select compounds based on their binding affinity towards PKM2. Subsequently, the ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity) properties, PAINS (Pan-assay interference compounds) patterns, and PASS evaluation were carried out to find more potent hits against PKM2. Here, Tuberosin was identified from the screening process bearing appreciable binding affinity toward the PKM2-binding pocket and showed a worthy set of drug-like properties. Finally, molecular dynamics simulation for 100 ns was performed, which showed decent stability of the protein-ligand complex and relatival conformational dynamics throughout the trajectory. The study suggests that modulating PKM2 with natural compounds is an attractive approach in treating human malignancy after required validation.
Pregnenolone Reduces Stress-Induced Craving, Anxiety, and Autonomic Arousal in Individuals with Cocaine Use Disorder

Chronic cocaine use leads to adaptations in stress biology and in neuroactive steroid system. These adaptations are associated with high cocaine craving and increased relapse risk. This study tested whether potentiation of the neuroactive steroid system with the precursor pregnenolone (PREG) affects stress- and cue-induced cocaine craving, anxiety and autonomic response in individuals with cocaine use disorder (CUD). Thirty treatment-seeking individuals (21 Male, 9 Female) with CUD were randomized to placebo (PBO) or supraphysiologic PREG doses of 300 mg or 500 mg per day for 8 weeks. After 2 weeks of treatment, participants were exposed to 5-min personalized guided imagery provocation of stress, cocaine, or neutral/relaxing cues in a 3-day experiment, one condition per day on separate days, in a random, counterbalanced order. Repeated assessment of cocaine craving, anxiety, heart rate (HR), systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were assessed on each day. PREG significantly increased pregnenolone levels compared to PBO. Both PREG doses decreased stress- and cocaine cue-induced craving and reduced both stress- and cue-induced anxiety only in the 500 mg/day group. The 500 mg/day PREG group also displayed decreased stress-induced HR, SBP and DBP. Findings indicate that pregnenolone decreases stress- and cocaine cue-provoked craving and anxiety and reduces stress-induced autonomic arousal in individuals with CUD.
Action Principle for Isotropic General Relativity

We study the generally covariant theory governing an isotropic spacetime region with uniform energy density. Gibbons, Hawking and York showed that fixing the induced boundary metric yields a well-posed variational problem. However, as we demonstrate, fixing the boundary metric violates general covariance and allows the mass of a back hole to vary. This observation has dramatic consequences for path integrals: A sum over spacetimes with fixed boundary metrics is a sum over classically distinct black holes. Instead, we merely demand that coordinates exist such that the metric at the boundary is the Schwarzschild-(A)dS metric of fixed mass M and two-sphere radius R. We derive the action that yields a well-posed variational problem for these physical boundary conditions. The action vanishes for all stationary and isotropic spacetimes. A vanishing action implies that both a Schwarzschild black hole and pure de Sitter space each have one unique semiclassical state. Our results provide a novel and radically conservative approach to several long-standing issues in quantum gravity, such as the wavefunction of the universe, the black hole information paradox, vacuum decay rates and the measure problem of eternal inflation.
Present status and prospects of the Tunka Radio Extension

The Tunka Radio Extension (Tunka-Rex) is a digital radio array operating in the frequency band of 30-80 MHz and detecting radio emission from air-showers produced by cosmic rays with energies above 100 PeV. The experimentis installed at the site of the TAIGA (Tunka Advanced Instrument for cosmic rays and Gamma Astronomy) observatory and performs joint measurements with the co-located particle and air-Cherenkov detectors in passive mode receiving a trigger from the latter. Tunka-Rex collects data since 2012, and during the last five years went throughseveral upgrades. As a result the density of the antenna field was increased by three times since its commission. In this contribution we present the latest results of Tunka-Rex experiment, particularly an updated analysis and efficiency study, which have been applied to the measurement of the mean shower maximum as a function of energy for cosmic rays of energies up to EeV. The future plans are also discussed: investigations towards an energy spectrum of cosmic rays with Tunka-Rex and their mass composition using a combination of Tunka-Rex data with muon measurements by the particle detector Tunka-Grande.
Wakefields in streaming plasmas: Characteristics of the induced charge density distribution

Motivated by experiments on the generation of streaming plasmas in high energy density facilities, industrial setups, and fundamental dusty plasma research the plasma polarization around a test charge in streaming plasmas is considered. The induced charge density distribution of plasma constituents is discussed for the subsonic, sonic, and supersonic regime. Also, it is shown that the plasma polarization in the vicinity of the test charge shows different scaling in subsonic and supersonic regimes.
Microglial Extracellular Vesicles as Modulators of Brain Microenvironment in Glioma

Microglial cells represent the resident immune elements of the central nervous system, where they exert constant monitoring and contribute to preserving neuronal activity and function. In the context of glioblastoma (GBM), a common type of tumor originating in the brain, microglial cells deeply modify their phenotype, lose their homeostatic functions, invade the tumoral mass and support the growth and further invasion of the tumoral cells into the surrounding brain parenchyma. These modifications are, at least in part, induced by bidirectional communication among microglial and tumoral cells through the release of soluble molecules and extracellular vesicles (EVs). EVs produced by GBM and microglial cells transfer different kinds of biological information to receiving cells, deeply modifying their phenotype and activity and could represent important diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets. Recent evidence demonstrates that in GBM, microglial-derived EVs contribute to the immune suppression of the tumor microenvironment (TME), thus favoring GBM immune escape. In this review, we report the current knowledge on EV formation, biogenesis, cargo and functions, with a focus on the effects of microglia-derived EVs in GBM. What clearly emerges from this analysis is that we are at the beginning of a full understanding of the complete picture of the biological effects of microglial-derived EVs and that further investigations using multidisciplinary approaches are necessary to validate their use in GBM diagnosis and therapy.
Caveats in Generating Medical Imaging Labels from Radiology Reports

Acquiring high-quality annotations in medical imaging is usually a costly process. Automatic label extraction with natural language processing (NLP) has emerged as a promising workaround to bypass the need of expert annotation. Despite the convenience, the limitation of such an approximation has not been carefully examined and is not well understood. With a challenging set of 1,000 chest X-ray studies and their corresponding radiology reports, we show that there exists a surprisingly large discrepancy between what radiologists visually perceive and what they clinically report. Furthermore, with inherently flawed report as ground truth, the state-of-the-art medical NLP fails to produce high-fidelity labels.
M ar 2 01 9 Exponentially fast dynamics of chaotic many-body systems

Fausto Borgonovi, Felix M. Izrailev, 4 and Lea F. Santos Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica and Interdisciplinary Laboratories for Advanced Materials Physics, Università Cattolica, via Musei 41, 25121 Brescia, Italy Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pavia, via Bassi 6, I-27100, Pavia, Italy Instituto de F́ısica, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Apartado Postal J-48, Puebla 72570, Mexico Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, Michigan 48824-1321, USA Department of Physics, Yeshiva University, New York, New York 10016, USA (Dated: April 1, 2019)
Galaxy Nurseries: Crowdsourced Analysis of Slitless Spectroscopic Data

The Galaxy Nurseries project was designed to enable crowdsourced analysis of slitless spectroscopic data by volunteers using the Zooniverse online interface. The data set was obtained by the WFC3 Infrared Spectroscopic Parallel (WISP) Survey collaboration (Atek et al. 2010) and comprises NIR grism (G102 and G141) and direct imaging of 432 fields. The scientific goals of WISP Survey require reliable identification of emission lines (e.g., Atek et al. 2014; Masters et al. 2014). Spectral contamination by overlapping signals from multiple sources or diffraction orders as well as residual artifacts of the data reduction can significantly complicate the automatic detection and identification of emission lines. Visual verification of automatically detected features has proved essential to obtain a pure sample of emission lines. In Galaxy Nurseries verification of putative emission lines was delegated to citizen-scientist volunteers. Data were presented as "subject images" using the fixed format illustrated in the top panels of Figure 1. For each target, volunteers were provided with the two-dimensional spectrum (B), the corresponding one-dimensional extraction (A) and its direct image (C). Volunteers were instructed to evaluate only the feature identified by the green crosshairs and to decide whether it was a genuine emission line or more likely an artifact, providing a Boolean Valued (i.e., "Real" or "Spurious") label. Following its launch, Galaxy Nurseries was completed in only 40 days, gathering 414,360 classifications from 3003 volunteers for 27,333 putative emission lines. At least 15 classifications were obtained for each subject image. For reference, it took approximately 4.5 months for the full sample of lines to be visually inspected by two members of the WISP Survey Science Team (WSST).
Localized and Delocalized Charge Transport in Single-Wall Carbon-Nanotube Mats

We measured the complex dielectric constant in mats of single-wall carbon nanotubes between 2.7 K and 300 K up to 0.5 THz. The data are well understood in a Drude approach with a negligible temperature dependence of the plasma frequency ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{p}$ and scattering time $\ensuremath{\tau}$ with an additional contribution of localized charges. The dielectric properties resemble those of the best ``metallic'' polypyrroles and polyanilines. The absence of metallic islands makes the mats a relevant piece in the puzzle of the interpretation of $\ensuremath{\tau}$ and ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{p}$ in these polymers.