Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electrical Stimulation for Preventing Skin Injuries in Denervated Gluteal Muscles—Promising Perspectives from a Case Series and Narrative Review

Spinal cord injury (SCI) where the lower motor neuron is compromised leads to atrophy and degenerative changes in the respective muscle. This type of lesion becomes especially critical when the gluteal muscles and/or the hamstrings are affected as they usually offer a cushioning effect to protect from skin injuries. Previous research conducted over the past 30 years has made advancements in the development of parameters for the optimal application of long pulse stimulation with the aim to restore muscle structure and trophic aspects in people with chronic SCI (<20 years post-injury). This work provides an overview of previous achievements in the field through a narrative literature review before presenting preliminary results in the form of a case series from an ongoing study investigating the acute effects of six months of long pulse stimulation on the tissue composition of the gluteal muscles in five people with chronic SCI (>20 years post-injury). Participants underwent a 33-min home-based long pulse stimulation program five times a week, and their muscle and adipose tissue thicknesses were assessed at baseline, after three and six months, respectively, using magnetic resonance imaging. The results show that the largest increase in muscle thickness occurred at the level of the height of the acetabulum (+44.37%; χ2(2) = 0.5; p = 0.779), whereas the most important decrease in adipose tissue occurred at the level of the sacroiliac joint (SIJ) reference (−11.43%; χ2(2) = 1.6; p = 0.449) within only six months of regular stimulation despite the preceding long denervation period. The underlying mechanism and physiology of muscular resuscitation from myofibrillar debris as presented in chronic denervation to functional contractile entities remain to be investigated further.
Beryllium and the formation of the Thick Disk and of the Halo

Abstract We use Beryllium to investigate star formation in the early Galaxy. Be has been demonstrated to be a good indicator of time in these early epochs. By analyzing the so-far largest sample of halo and thick disk metal poor stars, we find a clear scatter in Be for a given value of [Fe/H] and [O/H]. The scatter is very pronounced for Halo stars, while it is marginal for thick disk stars. Our halo stars separate in the [α/Fe] - Be diagram, showing two main branches: one indistinguishable from the thick disk stars, and one with lower [α/Fe] ratio. The stars belonging to this branch are characterized by highly eccentric orbits and small perigalactic radius (Rmin). Their kinematics are consistent with an accreted component.
Local compactness of families of continuous point-compact relations.

The purpose of this paper is to prove that the pointwise closure of an equicontinuous family of point-compact relations from a compact Hausdorff space to a locally compact Hausdorff uniform space is locally compact in the topology of uniform convergence. This is a generalization of a recent result of R. V. Fuller.
Intel design for manufacturing and evolution of design rules

The difficult issues in continuing Moore's law with the lack of improvement in lithography resolution are well known.1, 2, 3 Design rules have to change and DFM methodology has to continue to improve to enable Moore's law scaling. This paper will discuss our approach to DFM though co-optimization across design and process. The poly layer is used to show how rules have changed to meet patterning requirements and how co-optimization has been used to define the poly design rules. With the introduction and ramp of several products on our 45nm technology, we have shown our ability to meet the goals of Moore's law scaling at high yields in volume manufacturing on a two year cycle.
Entropy characteristics of subsets of states. II

We study the properties of quantum entropy and -capacity (regarded as a function of sets of quantum states) in the infinite-dimensional case. We obtain conditions for the boundedness and continuity of the restriction of the entropy to a subset of quantum states, as well as conditions for the existence of the state with maximal entropy in certain subsets. The notion of -capacity is considered for an arbitrary subset of states. The existence of an optimal average is proved for an arbitrary subset with finite -capacity. We obtain a sufficient condition for the existence of an optimal measure and prove a generalized maximal distance property.
Nonlinear noise reduction based on zero‐crossing representations of a wavelet transform

A novel nonlinear noise reduction method that effectively reduces both impulsive and Gaussian noise is proposed and investigated. In the proposed method, a zero-crossing representation that is a kind of compressed description of the coefficients of a multiscale wavelet transform is obtained first and then, using characteristics of the transform coefficients, any noise that is thought to have entered the zero-crossing representation is suppressed. Noise reduction is achieved by reconstructing the image from the modified zero-crossing representation. It is shown that, compared to nonlinear filtering methods, the proposed method is more effective for simultaneously reducing both impulsive and Gaussian noise for one- dimensional signals and two-dimensional image signals.
Modeling the Design Characteristics of Woven Textile Electrodes for long−Term ECG Monitoring

An electrocardiograph records the periodic voltage generated by the heart over time. There is growing demand to continuously monitor the ECG for proactive health care and human performance optimization. To meet this demand, new conductive textile electrodes are being developed which offer an attractive alternative to adhesive gel electrodes but they come with their own challenges. The key challenge with textile electrodes is that the relationship between the manufacturing parameters and the ECG measurement is not well understood, making design an iterative process without the ability to prospectively develop woven electrodes with optimized performance. Here we address this challenge by applying the traditional skin−electrode interface circuit model to woven electrodes by constructing a parameterized model of the ECG system. Then the unknown parameters of the system are solved for with an iterative MATLAB optimizer using measured data captured with the woven electrodes. The results of this novel analysis confirm that yarn conductivity and total conductive area reduce skin electrode impedance. The results also indicate that electrode skin pressure and moisture require further investigation. By closing this gap in development, textile electrodes can be better designed and manufactured to meet the demands of long−term ECG capture.
Minimum Feedback Arc and Vertex Sets of a Directed Graph

To determine a minimum set of arcs of an arbitrary directed graph which, if removed, leave the graph without directed circuits, is an outstanding problem in graph theory. A related problem is that of finding a minimum set of vertices which, if removed together with their incident arcs, leave the graph with no directed circuits. A closed form solution of both problems is presented. The determination of those minimum sets for a graph with n vertices involves the expansion of an n-th order permanent and some algebraic manipulations of the resultant expression, subject to the absorption laws of Boolean algebra. The proposed procedure renders all possible solutions simultaneously.
Martian Meteoric Mg+: Atmospheric Distribution and Variability From MAVEN/IUVS

Since the discovery of atmospheric Mg+ on Mars in 2015 by the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission, there have been almost continuous observations of this meteoric ion layer in a variety of seasons, local times, and latitudes. Here, we present the most comprehensive set of observations of the persistent metal ion layer at Mars, constructing the first grand composite maps from pooled medians of subsamples of a metallic ion species. These maps demonstrate that Mg+ appears in almost all conditions when illuminated, with peak density values varying between 100 and 500 cm−3, dependent on season and local time. There exists significant latitudinal variation within a given season, indicating that Mg+ is not simply an inert tracer, but may instead be influenced by the meteoric input distribution and/or atmospheric dynamics and chemistry. Geographic maps of Mg+ density as a function of latitude and longitude indicate the influence of atmospheric tides, and there is no apparent correlation with remnant crustal magnetic fields. This work also presents counter‐intuitive results, such as a reduction of Mg+ ions in the northern hemisphere during Northern Winter in an apparent correlation with dust aerosols.
The Impact of Primer Design on Amplicon-Based Metagenomic Profiling Accuracy: Detailed Insights into Bifidobacterial Community Structure

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies have overcome the limitations of cultivation-dependent approaches and allowed detailed study of bacterial populations that inhabit the human body. The consortium of bacteria residing in the human intestinal tract, also known as the gut microbiota, impacts several physiological processes important for preservation of the health status of the host. The most widespread microbiota profiling method is based on amplification and sequencing of a variable portion of the 16S rRNA gene as a universal taxonomic marker among members of the Bacteria domain. Despite its popularity and obvious advantages, this 16S rRNA gene-based approach comes with some important limitations. In particular, the choice of the primer pair for amplification plays a major role in defining the accuracy of the reconstructed bacterial profiles. In the current study, we performed an in silico PCR using all currently described 16S rRNA gene-targeting primer pairs (PP) in order to assess their efficiency. Our results show that V3, V4, V5, and V6 were the optimal regions on which to design 16S rRNA metagenomic primers. In detail, PP39 (Probio_Uni/Probio_Rev), PP41 (341F/534R), and PP72 (970F/1050R) were the most suitable primer pairs with an amplification efficiency of >98.5%. Furthermore, the Bifidobacterium genus was examined as a test case for accurate evaluation of intra-genus performances at subspecies level. Intriguingly, the in silico analysis revealed that primer pair PP55 (527f/1406r) was unable to amplify the targeted region of any member of this bacterial genus, while several other primer pairs seem to rather inefficiently amplify the target region of the main bifidobacterial taxa. These results highlight that selection of a 16S rRNA gene-based PP should be done with utmost care in order to avoid biases in microbiota profiling results.
Multiple Copies of microRNA Binding Sites in Long 3′UTR Variants Regulate Axonal Translation

Rapid responses to changes within subcellular compartments of highly polarized cells, such as neuron axons, depend on local translation and post-transcriptional regulation. The mechanism by which microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate this process is not fully understood. Here, using live cell imaging and RNA sequencing analysis, we demonstrated how miRNAs can differentially control hundreds of transcripts at the subcellular level. We demonstrated that the seed match length of the miRNA target-sequence regulates both mRNA stability and protein translation rates. While longer seed matches have an increased inhibitory effect, transcriptome analysis did not reveal differences in seed match length between axonal and somata mRNAs of motor neurons. However, mRNA variants with longer 3′UTR are enriched in axons and contain multiple repeats of specific miRNA target sequences. Finally, we demonstrated that the long 3′UTR mRNA variant of the motor protein Kif5b is enriched explicitly in motor neuron axons and contains multiple sequence repeats for binding miR-129-5p. This subsequently results in the differential post-transcriptional regulation of kif5b and its synthesis in axons. Thus, we suggest that the number of miRNA binding sites at the 3′UTR of the mRNA, rather than the miRNA seed match length, regulates the axonal transcriptome.
Why and how should we control decoherence?

We present the principles of universal dynamical control of open quantum systems aimed at optimally suppressing their decoherence. Several basic scenarios of this control are discussed. Our results indicate that very limited knowledge regarding the system–environment correlation is sufficient to implement control that would suppress decoherence and bring out quantum behavior in complex macroscopic systems that are embedded in thermal noisy environments. †In memory of Lorenzo Narducci, friend, colleague, scientist.
Assessment of cognitive biases in Augmented Reality: Beyond eye tracking

We study an individual’s propensity for rational thinking; the avoidance of cognitive biases (unconscious errors generated by our mental simplification methods) using a novel augmented reality (AR) platform. Specifically, we developed an odd-one-out (OOO) game-like task in AR designed to try to induce and assess confirmatory biases. Forty students completed the AR task in the laboratory, and the short form of the comprehensive assessment of rational thinking (CART) online via the Qualtrics platform. We demonstrate that behavioural markers (based on eye, hand and head movements) can be associated (linear regression) with the short CART score – more rational thinkers have slower head and hand movements and faster gaze movements in the second more ambiguous round of the OOO task. Furthermore, short CART scores can be associated with the change in behaviour between two rounds of the OOO task (one less and one more ambiguous) – hand-eye-head coordination patterns of the more rational thinkers are more consistent in the two rounds. Overall, we demonstrate the benefits of augmenting eye-tracking recordings with additional data modalities when trying to understand complicated behaviours.
A Two-Stage Optimization Method for Schedule and Trajectory of CAVs at an Isolated Autonomous Intersection

Autonomous intersection management has become a state-of-the-art control strategy customized for connected and autonomous vehicles. Combining the advantages of tile-based and conflict point-based approaches, this paper proposes a two-stage optimization method based on a developed intersection modeling approach. The first stage is a timing schedule optimization model, assigning vehicle arrival times at an intersection. Based on the output of the first stage, the second stage is a trajectory optimization model, which gives the eco-driving strategies. Moreover, a rolling optimization with a variable cycle length is adopted to run the method continuously. Simulation results show that the proposed method outperforms the genetic algorithm-based method in terms of computation time, and can reduce vehicle delay and fuel consumption by 89.48% and 46.84%, respectively, under different traffic demands compared to the first-come-first-serve method. Furthermore, the performance of the proposed method under asymmetric traffic demand is discussed. Sensitivity analyses suggest that (1) a long cycle length benefits the proposed method within certain limits and (2) a proper deceleration within the intersection can balance traffic delay with fuel consumption. In addition, an additional model with a heuristic rule is compared with the original timing schedule optimization model. It is found that reducing binaries in the first stage can make a tradeoff between the quality of the solution and efficiency, which can be used in conjunction with long cycles.
Petrology of Palaeoarchaean mafic–ultramafic rock suites of the western Iron Ore Group, Singhbhum Craton, eastern India, using the chemistry of minerals

Abstract The petrogenesis of Palaeoarchaean mafic–ultramafic rock suites from the western Iron Ore Group, Singhbhum Craton, eastern India, has been evaluated based on the chemistry of constituent mineral phases. The rock suites include basaltic rocks and mafic (gabbro) to ultramafic (serpentinized peridotite) intrusive rocks, which occur in host rocks covering phyllite, ferruginous shale, banded haematite quartzite and jasper. The constituent clinopyroxene shows dominant uralitization, whereas plagioclase grains are generally saussuritized, being marked by relatively tiny granular aggregates of albite, chlorite, epidote and K-feldspar. The ultramafic intrusive rocks are overwhelmingly serpentinized. Clinopyroxene compositions are augitic, whereas relict plagioclase is typically bytownite. Amphiboles of the investigated rock suites are divisible into the ‘uralite’ type (occurring peripherally to clinopyroxene) and the ‘completely changed-over amphibole’ type (with no traces of initial clinopyroxene). Both the amphibole types belong to the ‘calcic group’, showing a compositional spectrum from actinolite–magnesiohornblende–ferrohornblende–ferroactinolite. Opaque minerals include magnetite (both Cr-magnetite and Al-magnetite), chromite (Al-chromite) and ilmenite, whereas serpentine (belonging to the ultramafic intrusive rocks) corresponds to lizardite. Looking at the mineral compositions of the pyroxene, glass and amphibole, the studied rock suites show a wide equilibration temperature–pressure domain range (∼750 °C to ∼1400 °C at ∼0.26 kbar to ∼21 kbar), which corresponds to an ascending magma that underwent a ‘hydration event’ at a shallow level. The assessment of the clinopyroxene and spinel chemistry characteristically suggests an arc setting for the parent magma that has undergone both equilibrium and fractional crystallization in the course of magmatic evolution. During differentiation, the magmatic density remains almost constant, with variable oxygen fugacity.
Viscoelastic simulations of stick‐slip and die‐swell flows

Numerical solutions of viscoelastic flows are demonstrated for a time marching, semi‐implicit Taylor–Galerkin/pressure‐correction algorithm. Steady solutions are sought for free boundary problems involving combinations of die‐swell and stick‐slip conditions. Flows with and without drag flow are investigated comparatively, so that the influence of the additional component of the drag flow may be analysed effectively. The influence of die‐swell is considered that has application to various industrial processes, such as wire coating. Solutions for two‐dimensional axisymmetric flows with an Oldroyd‐B model are presented that compare favourably with the literature. The study advances our prior fixed domain formulation with this algorithm, into the realm of free‐surface viscoelastic flows. The work involves streamline‐upwind/Petrov–Galerkin weighting and velocity gradient recovery techniques that are applied upon the constitutive equation. Free surface solution reprojection and a new pressure‐drop/mass balance scheme are proposed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Inductively Heated Air Plasma Flow Characterization with Laser-Induced Fluorescence Measurements

T HERMAL protection systems for Earth reentry maneuvers are currently being qualified bymeans of plasmawind tunnels. The latter generate high enthalpy air plasma flows as expected for the reentry missions [1,2]. The progress in the development of future thermal protection systems (TPS) as, for example, toward the development of reusable systems, inherently depends on the understanding of the material behavior [2]. Here, especially the catalycity of the selected TPS material is of significant influence. To investigate the catalytic behavior, a stationary pure high enthalpy airflow is needed. Conventional arcjets contaminate the air plasma flow with electrode erosion products similar to copper or tungsten possibly leading to a change in the catalytic material’s behavior during the TPS qualification process. Hence, electrodeless inductively heated plasma generators are advantageous for material investigations as well as for investigations with respect to the impurities of the plasma flow of conventional plasma wind tunnels. In this paper, results of laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) measurements of atomic oxygen in an inductively heated air plasma flow are presented. The experimental and theoretical approaches are described in detail in previous publications [3,4]. The measurements presented in this paper are the first results of an extension of the setup to air plasma conditions. The measurements are of particular importance for comparison andvalidationof futureflight experiments as, for example, the pyrometric heat flux experiment (PHLUX) on the European experimental reentry test bed (EXPERT) [5]. The excitation is performed using a pulsed laser system and the fluorescence is detected using a photomultiplier and a fast oscilloscope as well as gated integrators. Oxygen atoms in the ground electronic state are excited via the 3pP2;1;0 2pP2 twophoton transition at about 225 nm. The resulting fluorescence is measured using the 3pP2;1;0 ! 3sS1 transition at 844.5 nm.
Comparison of Numerical Methods for the Analysis of Plasmonic Structures

Numerical simulations of plasmonic structures are very demanding and expensive in terms of memory and CPU time, making the selection of a suitable numerical method for the field computation important. To examine this problem, we applied several numerical methods to a group of 2D plasmonic nanowire problems. In particular, we examine the Finite Element Method (FEM) and the Finite Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) method from the family of domain-discretization methods. We also look at the Multiple Multipole Program (MMP), the Method of Auxiliary Sources (MAS), and the Mesh-less Boundary Integral Equation (BIE) method from the family of boundary-discretization methods. We quantitatively compare several results generated from each method to make some conclusions about their applicability and accuracy for plasmonic simulations. Domain-discretization methods (FEM and FDTD) can reach a high level of accuracy only with a high discretization. This is affordable on modern computer hardware in 2D. Recommendations for improving this are provided. The boundary-discretization techniques have a clear advantage in terms of speed, matrix size, and accuracy in 2D. This advantage may disappear in the full 3D analysis of geometrically complicated structures. This happens because matrices become denser or more ill-conditioned. Therefore the most efficient method depends on the problem dimension and complexity.
Cryptoblend: An AI-Powered Tool for Aggregation and Summarization of Cryptocurrency News

In the last decade, the techniques of news aggregation and summarization have been increasingly gaining relevance for providing users on the web with condensed and unbiased information. Indeed, the recent development of successful machine learning algorithms, such as those based on the transformers architecture, have made it possible to create effective tools for capturing and elaborating news from the Internet. In this regard, this work proposes, for the first time in the literature to the best of the authors’ knowledge, a methodology for the application of such techniques in news related to cryptocurrencies and the blockchain, whose quick reading can be deemed as extremely useful to operators in the financial sector. Specifically, cutting-edge solutions in the field of natural language processing were employed to cluster news by topic and summarize the corresponding articles published by different newspapers. The results achieved on 22,282 news articles show the effectiveness of the proposed methodology in most of the cases, with 86.8% of the examined summaries being considered as coherent and 95.7% of the corresponding articles correctly aggregated. This methodology was implemented in a freely accessible web application.