Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Weak nonequilibrium states of photons in equilibrium plasma

The photon kinetics in equilibrium plasma medium is investigated on the basis of the Bogolyubov reduced description method. A starting point of the analysis is a linearized kinetic equation which takes into account the Compton and the bremsstrahlung photon processes. The photon polarization, electron spin phenomena and plasma ion effects are neglected. It is assumed that all processes in the system can be considered in quasi-relativistic approximation. In this approximation change of a photon (an electron) energy in the Compton process is small that is described by small parameter λ. The states of the system are considered as spatially weakly non-uniform that is described by small parameter g. A situation is investigated in which contribution of the bremsstrahlung processes is small compared with the Compton processes (for simplicity this is described by the small parameter g too). Reduced description of photons in the plasma by photon energy distribution is investigated. The consideration is based on the Bogolyubov idea of the functional hypothesis that leads to a generalization of the Chapman-Enskog method. The kinetic equation for the photon energy distribution is obtained that describes the photon diffusion similar to the known neutron diffusion equation.
Chaperone-Subunit-Usher Interactions Required for Donor Strand Exchange during Bacterial Pilus Assembly

ABSTRACT The assembly of type 1 pili on the surface of uropathogenic Escherichia coli proceeds via the chaperone-usher pathway. Chaperone-subunit complexes interact with one another via a process termed donor strand complementation whereby the G1β strand of the chaperone completes the immunoglobulin (Ig) fold of the pilus subunit. Chaperone-subunit complexes are targeted to the usher, which forms a channel across the outer membrane through which pilus subunits are translocated and assembled into pili via a mechanism known as donor strand exchange. This is a mechanism whereby chaperone uncapping from a subunit is coupled with the simultaneous assembly of the subunit into the pilus fiber. Thus, in the pilus fiber, the N-terminal extension of every subunit completes the Ig fold of its neighboring subunit by occupying the same site previously occupied by the chaperone. Here, we investigated details of the donor strand exchange assembly mechanism. We discovered that the information necessary for targeting the FimC-FimH complex to the usher resides mainly in the FimH protein. This interaction is an initiating event in pilus biogenesis. We discovered that the ability of an incoming subunit (in a chaperone-subunit complex) to participate in donor strand exchange with the growing pilus depended on a previously unrecognized function of the chaperone. Furthermore, the donor strand exchange assembly mechanism between subunits was found to be necessary for subunit translocation across the outer membrane usher.
Season of Birth and Later Outcomes: Old Questions, New Answers

Abstract Season of birth is associated with later outcomes; what drives this association remains unclear. We consider a new explanation: variation in maternal characteristics. We document large changes in maternal characteristics for births throughout the year; winter births are disproportionally realized by teenagers and the unmarried. Family background controls explain nearly half of season-of-birth's relation to adult outcomes. Seasonality in maternal characteristics is driven by women trying to conceive; we find no seasonality among unwanted births. Prior seasonality-in-fertility research focuses on conditions at conception; here, expected conditions at birth drive variation in maternal characteristics, while conditions at conception are unimportant.
Laser-actuated centrifugo-pneumatic flow control towards ‘sample-to-answer’ integrated detection of multi-marker panels at the point-of-care

Point-of-care diagnostics devices require user-friendly automation of multi-step / multi-reagent bioana-lytical protocols. We demonstrate, for the first time, Laser-actuated, Centrifugo-Pneumatic Valves (LCPVs) which open on-demand by ablating a remotely connected polymeric membrane with an instrument-based laser. Due to its small footprint, isolation of radiation-induced heating from the biological fluids and independence of radial position & contact-angle, the novel LCPV technology enables large-scale integration of flexibly customizable and operationally robust centrifugal microfluidic “Lab-on-a-Disc” (LoaD) systems. As a pilot application, we demonstrate the detection of Fatty Acid Binding Protein and Myeloperoxidase, both potential biomarkers used for cardiovascular disease (CVD) determination.
Alfven waves in spiral interplanetary field. [microscale MHD waves

This paper presents a theoretical study of the Alfven waves in the spiral interplanetary magnetic field. The Alfven waves under consideration are arbitrary large-amplitude nonmonochromatic microscale waves of any polarization. They superpose on a mesoscale background flow of thermally anisotropic plasma. When the WKB approximation is used, an analytical solution for the amplitude vectors is obtained as a function of the background flow properties: density, velocity, Alfven speed, thermal anisotropy, and the spiral angle. The necessary condition for the validity of the WKB approximation is discussed. The intensity of fluctuations is calculated as a function of heliocentric distance. The relative intensity of fluctuations compared with the magnitude of the background field has its maximum in the region near 1 AU. Thus outside of this region the solar wind is less turbulent. Owing to attenuation of microscale Alfven waves, fluctuation energy is converted into the kinetic energy of the solar wind. Its contribution amounts to about 20% of the kinetic energy at 1 AU.
A 28-GHz CMOS Direct Conversion Transceiver With Packaged  $2 \times 4$  Antenna Array for 5G Cellular System

This paper describes a 28-GHz CMOS direct conversion transceiver with packaged <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2 \times 4$ </tex-math></inline-formula> patch antenna array for 5G communication. Beamforming antenna and reconfigurable transceiver architecture are used for high effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP). For low error vector magnitude (EVM), switchless matching transmitter (Tx)/receiver (Rx) to antenna and 28-GHz injection-locked local oscillator (LO) generator are employed. Test chip was fabricated in 28-nm RF CMOS process. Measurement results show Tx EIRP<sub>sat</sub> of 31.5 dBm (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$P_{\mathrm {sat}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of 10.5 dBm in one power amplifier (PA)), EIRP<sub>max</sub> 24 dBm (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$P_{\mathrm {max}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of 2 dBm with backoff of 7.5 dB in one PA), Rx noise figure of 6.7 dB, and integrated LO phase noise of −38.7 dBc (0.67°). After IQ mismatch calibration, Tx LO leakage and image power are less than −35 dBc. Rx and Tx EVM show 2.2% (−33 dB) at medium RF power (Rx <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$P_{\mathrm {in}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of −60 dBm and Tx EIRP of 0 dBm) with well-fit beam control capability.
Ultrasound and Infrared-Based Imaging Modalities for Diagnosis and Management of Cutaneous Diseases

Non-invasive bedside imaging tools are becoming more prevalent for assessing cutaneous lesions. Ultrasound used at specific frequencies allows us to assess margins of lesions to minimize the extent of the biopsy that is performed and improve cosmetic outcomes. Vascularity, seen on Doppler ultrasound and contrast-enhanced ultrasound, and stiffness, assessed on tissue elastography, can help differentiate between benign and malignant lesions for clinicians to be more judicious in deciding whether to biopsy. Moreover, research has shown the efficacy in using ultrasound in monitoring flares of hidradenitis suppurativa, a disease affecting apocrine gland-rich areas of the body, for which the current gold standard involves examining and scoring inflammatory lesions with the naked eye. Infrared-based modalities have also been on the uptrend to aid in clinical decision-making regarding suspiciousness of lesions. Reflectance confocal microscopy has lateral resolution that is comparable to histopathology and it has been shown to be an appropriate adjunctive tool to dermoscopy, specifically when evaluating melanomas. Optical coherence tomography has utility in determining lesion thickness because of its depth penetration, and spectrophotometric intracutaneous analysis is becoming more popular as a tool that can be used by general practitioners to know when to refer to dermatology regarding worrisome pigmented lesions. Strides have been made to incorporate electrical impedance spectroscopy alongside dermoscopy in decision-making regarding excision, although the evidence for its use in the clincial setting remains inconclusive. This paper reviews the efficacy and drawbacks of these techniques in the field of dermatology and suggests future directions.
Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for coronary heart disease and stroke: systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal observational studies

Background The influence of social relationships on morbidity is widely accepted, but the size of the risk to cardiovascular health is unclear. Objective We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the association between loneliness or social isolation and incident coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke. Methods Sixteen electronic databases were systematically searched for longitudinal studies set in high-income countries and published up until May 2015. Two independent reviewers screened studies for inclusion and extracted data. We assessed quality using a component approach and pooled data for analysis using random effects models. Results Of the 35 925 records retrieved, 23 papers met inclusion criteria for the narrative review. They reported data from 16 longitudinal datasets, for a total of 4628 CHD and 3002 stroke events recorded over follow-up periods ranging from 3 to 21 years. Reports of 11 CHD studies and 8 stroke studies provided data suitable for meta-analysis. Poor social relationships were associated with a 29% increase in risk of incident CHD (pooled relative risk: 1.29, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.59) and a 32% increase in risk of stroke (pooled relative risk: 1.32, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.68). Subgroup analyses did not identify any differences by gender. Conclusions Our findings suggest that deficiencies in social relationships are associated with an increased risk of developing CHD and stroke. Future studies are needed to investigate whether interventions targeting loneliness and social isolation can help to prevent two of the leading causes of death and disability in high-income countries. Study registration number CRD42014010225.
NLOS Mitigation for UWB Localization Based on Sparse Pseudo-Input Gaussian Process

Ultra-wideband technology has found promising application in high accuracy localization due to its high time resolution and through-wall propagation properties. However, its performance seriously degrades in non-line-of-sight (NLOS) scenario. Gaussian Process (GP) regression is the state-of-the-art machine learning approach that addresses this issue. But it is too complex in its original form. This paper proposes a novel NLOS mitigation method based on Sparse Pseudo-input Gaussian Process (SPGP) with low complexity. In contrast to conventional approaches which perform NLOS identification first, this approach directly mitigates the bias of both LOS and NLOS conditions. Monte-Carlo simulations demonstrate that with much less (very sparse) training data, SPGP achieves performance comparable to GP regression.
The effect of light stress on the release of volatile iodocarbons by three species of marine microalgae

We investigated the influence of high light stress on iodocarbon release by three species of marine phytoplankton from different algal classes: the prymnesiophyte Emiliania huxleyi, the prasinophyte Tetraselmis sp. , and the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana. Despite a pronounced decrease in the fluorescence‐based maximum quantum yield for photosystem II (Fv/Fm), increased iodocarbon release relative to lower light controls was not observed in any of the experiments performed. These findings do not support the hypothesis that upper‐ocean iodocarbon concentrations are influenced by light‐induced algal stress.
Adaptive Object Segmentation from Surveillance Video Sequences

Identifying moving objects from a video sequence is a fundamental and critical task in many computer vision applications. We develop an efficient adaptive object segmentation algorithm for color video surveillance sequences; background is modeled using Multiple Correlation Coefficient ( ) using pixel-level based approach. Segmented foreground generally includes self shadows as foreground objects since the shadow intensity differs and gradually changes from the background in a video sequence. Moreover, self shadows are vague in nature and have no clear boundaries. To eliminate such shadows from motion segmented video sequences, we propose an algorithm based on inferential statistical Difference in Mean (Z) method. Self shadow eliminated foreground contains cast shadows. Where, cast shadows produce troublesome effects for video surveillance systems, typically for object tracking from a fixed viewpoint. It yields appearance variations of objects depending on whether they are inside or outside the shadows. To eliminate cast shadows from video sequences, we propose an algorithm based on the fact that, cast shadow points are usually adjacent to object points and are merged in a single blob on the edge of the moving objects. Also cast shadow occurs only at run time (as objects move in the scene). The approach uses the Standard Scores (S) to build statistical model. This statistical modeling can deal with scenes with complex and time varying illumination. S models are constructed and updated for every inputted frame. Results obtained with different indoor and outdoor sequences show the robustness of the approach.
Depth-Bounded Logic for Realistic Agents

In this paper we survey the “informational view” of classical propositional logic that has been outlined in (D’Agostino & Floridi, 2009; D’Agostino, 2010, 2013; D’Agostino et al., 2013). This view is based on a kind of “informational semantics” for the logical operators and on a non-standard proof-theory. The latter is a system of classical natural deduction (Mondadori, 1989; D’Agostino, 2005) that, unlike Gentzen’s and Prawitz’s systems, provides natural means for measuring the “depth” of inferences in terms of the minimum number of nested applications of a single (non-eliminable) structural rule, which is an informational version of the Principle of Bivalence and is closely related to classical (analytic) cut. This leads to defining, in a natural way, hierarchies of tractable depthbounded logical systems that indefinitely approximate Boolean logic. We argue that this approach may be apt to provide more realistic prescriptive models of resource-bounded logical agents and, at the same time, solve the most disturbing anomalies that affect the received view in classical semantics and proof-theory. We also suggest that this informational view of classical logic can partially vindicate the old Kantian idea of synthetic a priori knowledge.
Catastrophe risk sharing and public-private partnerships: From natural disasters to terrorism

Recent extreme events showed how insurers, deprived of reinsurance capacity at an affordable price, could decide to stop covering for specific extreme events and rapidly let people and firms uncovered. Developing public-private partnerships could constitute one of the most appealing ways to solve the problem of financing the consequences of those extremes events by taking advantage of strengths of both sectors. Catastrophic risks present, however, very specific characteristics which really challenge any traditional economic approach to analyse those issues. So as of today little has been done in the economic literature to reassess the role of public and private sectors with respect to making available protection to victims as well as better understanding how those risks are effectively shared between all partners in those partnerships. This paper aims to provide a partial answer by analysing policy issues related to risk sharing between insurers and a dedicated state-backed governmental reinsurer, who are part of a national partnership of insurance against extreme events. The insurance is mandatory with premium policy that is decided by Treasury. We show that a government can modulate its premium policy levied against insured to make the private insurers in the country participating in the partnership instead of leaving the market and then to adopt two different strategies: (1) to behave as a simple financial intermediary between insured and the public reinsurer so as the former supports the largest portion of the risks or (2) to conserve the largest part of risks to benefit from government incentives. National schemes for covering against natural hazards and those developed post 9/11 for emerging terrorism provide illustrations.
Stochastic simulation using @Risk for dairy business investment decisions

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop a dynamic, stochastic, mechanistic simulation model of a dairy business to evaluate the cost and benefit streams coinciding with technology investments. The model was constructed to embody the biological and economical complexities of a dairy farm system within a partial budgeting framework. A primary objective was to establish a flexible, user-friendly, farm-specific, decision-making tool for dairy producers or their advisers and technology manufacturers. Design/methodology/approach - The basic deterministic model was created in Microsoft Excel (Microsoft, Seattle, Washington). The @Risk add-in (Palisade Corporation, Ithaca, New York) for Excel was employed to account for the stochastic nature of key variables within a Monte Carlo simulation. Net present value was the primary metric used to assess the economic profitability of investments. The model was composed of a series of modules, which synergistically provide the necessary inputs for profitability analysis. Estimates of biological relationships within the model were obtained from the literature in an attempt to represent an average or typical US dairy. Technology benefits were appraised from the resulting impact on disease incidence, disease impact, and reproductive performance. In this paper, the model structure and methodology were described in detail. Findings - Examples of the utility of examining the influence of stochastic input and output prices on the costs of culling, days open, and disease were examined. Each of these parameters was highly sensitive to stochastic prices and deterministic inputs. Originality/value - Decision support tools, such as this one, that are designed to investigate dairy business decisions may benefit dairy producers.
The European problem of spotted fever group rickettsiae, transmitted by ticks: biology, ecology, detection

The genus Rickettsia is composed of obligatory intracellular gram−negative bacteria associated with arthropods: ticks, mites and insects. The genus was found to comprise the sub−groupings: the spotted fever group (SFG) and the typhus group (TG). Members of the SFG rickettsiae are usually associated with ixodid ticks which transfer them to vertebrates via arthropod secretions and between themselves transstadially and transovarially. Rickettsiosis is a com− plex pathogenic condition which takes on a number of various forms, depending on aetiological factors prevalent local− ly. Symptoms of rickettsiosis are similar to those occurring in many other tick−borne diseases. The necrotic skin lesion is a typical sign of spotted fever−group rickettsioses. The definition of SFG species has been recommended to use com− bined methods: rickettsiae detection and identification should be carried out based on serological tests and molecular techniques. Those recommended among the latter include PCR, PCR−RFLP, macrorestriction analysis by pulse−field gel electrophoresis and sequencing. The SFG rickettsiae are present in the Old Continent for example in Italy, France, Sweden, Denmark or Slovakia. Rickettsiae have been detected in patients and ticks from genus Ixodes and Dermacentor. The bacteria of SFG (Rickettsia helvetica) is present in ticks Ixodes ricinus from northern Poland creat− ing potential danger for humans and animals.
Conflict management in multiagent robotic system: FSM and fuzzy logic approach

Intelligent agents are a new paradigm for developing complex system applications. Agent systems are based on autonomous software-hardware components (technical agents) that cooperate within an environment to perform some task. An agent can be viewed as a self-contained, concurrently executing thread of control that encapsulates some states and communicates with its environment and possibly other agents via some sort of message passing. The environment may contain other agents whose environments are disjoint with or only partially overlap with the environment of a given agent. The authors present a conflict management problem in a multiagent robotic system. The multiagent robotic system consists of a group of autonomous agents on the first (lower) level of its hierarchy, and management agents on the second (upper) level of the hierarchy.
Novel Shoulder-Surfing Resistant Haptic-based Graphical Password

Graphical password schemes are believed to be more secure and more resilient to dictionary attacks than textual passwords, but more vulnerable to shoulder surfing attacks. In this work, we design a new graphical password which is larger in the possible passwords’ space than in similar schemes and it is more resilient to shouldersurfing attacks. Personal entropies are integrated into the system in the user-aware behavior that reduces the False Acceptance and False Rejection Rates. The user-aware personal entropy we employ is the binary pressure when drawing a secret on the screen; unlike conventional authentication schemes that use personal entropies, the binary pressure in our scheme is varied arbitrarily by the users and is not intuitive. This method yields the authentication scheme that acquires all the advantages of graphical passwords and behavioral authentication schemes all together; our scheme is resilient to both dictionary attacks and shoulder surfing attacks. We also suggest the main criteria in which the graphical passwords should be evaluated, and we test our scheme within the given framework.
Constraining the Clustering Transition for Colorings of Sparse Random Graphs

Let $\Omega_q$ denote the set of proper $q$-colorings of the random graph $G_{n,m}, m=dn/2$ and let $H_q$ be the graph with vertex set $\Omega_q$ and an edge $\{\sigma,\tau\}$ where $\sigma,\tau$ are mappings $[n]\to[q]$ iff $h(\sigma,\tau)=1$. Here $h(\sigma,\tau)$ is the Hamming distance $|\{v\in [n]:\sigma(v)\neq\tau(v)\}|$. We show that w.h. p. $H_q$ contains a single giant component containing almost all colorings in $\Omega_q$ if $d$ is sufficiently large and $q\geq \frac{cd}{\log d}$ for a constant $c>3/2$.