Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Photometric Study of Markarian Galaxies

Photoelectric UBV observations were obtained for 92 Markarian galaxies and an additional five Seyfert galaxies to study the colors of the continuous spectra in these objects. A total of 28 Seyfert galaxies, 42 other galaxies with bright blue nuclei, and 27 diffuse galaxies were included. Multiaperture observations are presented for seven of these galaxies. It was found that galaxies spectroscopically classified as Seyfert galaxies because of broad nuclear emission lines have UBV colors corresponding to nonthermal continua, but the numerous Markarian galaxies with bright nuclei having narrow emission lines do not have such colors; instead, the ultraviolet continua of these galaxies apparently arise from hot stars. New spectroscopic and photographic observations are also presented for some Markarian galaxies of particular interest, including Markarian 3 and 205. (auth)
Characterization of vapor-deposited Lu2O3:Eu3+ scintillator for x-ray imaging applications

The europium-doped lutetium oxide (Lu2O3:Eu) transparent optical ceramic has excellent scintillation properties, namely very high density (9.5 g/cm3), high effective atomic number (67.3), light output comparable to thallium-doped cesium iodide (CsI:Tl), and emission wavelength (610 nm) for which silicon-based detectors have a very high quantum efficiency. If microcolumnar films of this material could be fabricated, it would find widespread use in a multitude of highspeed imaging applications. However, the high melting point of over 2400°C makes it extremely challenging to make microcolumnar films of this material. We have recently fabricated and characterized microcolumnar films of Lu2O3:Eu. These results are presented in this paper.
The Australia Telescope National Facility Pulsar Catalogue

We have compiled a new and complete catalog of the main properties of the 1509 pulsars for which published information currently exists. The catalog includes all spin-powered pulsars, as well as anomalous X-ray pulsars and soft gamma-ray repeaters showing coherent pulsed emission, but excludes accretion-powered systems. References are given for all data listed. We have also developed a new World Wide Web interface for accessing and displaying either tabular or plotted data with the option of selecting pulsars to be displayed via logical conditions on parameter expressions. The Web interface has an "expert" mode giving access to a wider range of parameters and allowing the use of custom databases. For users with locally installed software and database on Unix or Linux systems, the catalog may be accessed from a command-line interface. C-language functions to access specified parameters are also available. The catalog is updated from time to time to include new information.
Trophectoderm non-coding RNAs reflect the higher metabolic and more invasive properties of young maternal age blastocysts

Abstract Increasing female age is accompanied by a corresponding fall in her fertility. This decline is influenced by a variety of factors over an individual’s life course including background genetics, local environment and diet. Studying both coding and non-coding RNAs of the embryo could aid our understanding of the causes and/or effects of the physiological processes accompanying the decline including the differential expression of sub-cellular biomarkers indicative of various diseases. The current study is a post-hoc analysis of the expression of trophectoderm RNA data derived from a previous high throughput study. Its main aim is to determine the characteristics and potential functionalities that characterize long non-coding RNAs. As reported previously, a maternal age-related component is potentially implicated in implantation success. Trophectoderm samples representing the full range of maternal reproductive ages were considered in relation to embryonic implantation potential, trophectoderm transcriptome dynamics and reproductive maternal age. The long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) biomarkers identified here are consistent with the activities of embryo-endometrial crosstalk, developmental competency and implantation and share common characteristics with markers of neoplasia/cancer invasion. Corresponding genes for expressed lncRNAs were more active in the blastocysts of younger women are associated with metabolic pathways including cholesterol biosynthesis and steroidogenesis.
High-speed functional OCT with self-reconstructive Bessel illumination at 1300 nm

We present a Bessel beam illumination FDOCT setup with FDML buffered swept source at 1300nm. An extended focus is achieved due to the Bessel beam that preserves its lateral extend over a large depth range. Decoupling the illumination from the Gaussian detection improves the sensitivity as compared to double passing the ring filter and enables dark field imaging. Dark field imaging is useful to avoid strong reflexes from the sample's surface that adversely affect the sensitivity due to the limited dynamic range of high-speed 8bit acquisition cards. Furthermore, Bessel beams exhibit a self-reconstruction property that allows imaging even behind obstacles such as hairs on skin. Densely sampled volumes of skin in-vivo with high lateral resolution are acquired at up to 440kHz A-Scan rate. In addition the possibility of contrasting capillaries with high sensitivity is shown, using inter-B-scan speckle variance analysis. High-speed imaging is of crucial importance for imaging small details since sample motion artifacts are reduced and high sampling can be maintained while increasing the B-Scan rate.
Global unicity in semi-infinite optimization

A characterization of those linear semi-infinite optimization problems which have a unique resp. strongly unique solution for all restriction functions is given. This result is applied to best approximation of continuous functions. The classical theorem of Haar in Chebyshev approximation follows as a special case. More over it is shown that global unicity in one-sided L1-approximation is equivalent to the non-existence of certain quadrature formulas. Using this characterization a general non-unicity result on one-sided L1-approximation is obtained.
Tissue Engineering in Neuroscience: Applications and Perspectives

Neurological disorders have always been a threat to human physical and mental health nowadays, which are closely related to the nonregeneration of neurons in the nervous system (NS). The damage to the NS is currently difficult to repair using conventional therapies, such as surgery and medication. Therefore, repairing the damaged NS has always been a vast challenge in the area of neurology. Tissue engineering (TE), which integrates the cell biology and materials science to reconstruct or repair organs and tissues, has widespread applications in bone, periodontal tissue defects, skin repairs, and corneal transplantation. Recently, tremendous advances have been made in TE regarding neuroscience. In this review, we summarize TE’s recent progress in neuroscience, including pathological mechanisms of various neurological disorders, the concepts and classification of TE, and the most recent development of TE in neuroscience. Lastly, we prospect the future directions and unresolved problems of TE in neuroscience.
Monomode Guiding of 10 16 W/cm 2 Laser Pulses over 100 Rayleigh Lengths in Hollow Capillary Dielectric Tubes

Monomode guiding over 100 Rayleigh lengths (10 cm) of high intensity ultrashort laser pulses ( ${10}^{16}\mathrm{W}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$, 120 fs) has been demonstrated in hollow dielectric capillary tubes (45\char21{}70 \ensuremath{\mu}m internal diameter) without inner wall damage. Analytical predictions for coupling conditions and damping length are confirmed experimentally for tubes under vacuum. With 5 to 40 mbar of He gas in the tube, when laser ionization occurs the energy and duration of the transmitted pulse decrease while its spectrum is broadened.
Peptide-Based Materials That Exploit Metal Coordination

Metal–ion coordination has been widely exploited to control the supramolecular behavior of a variety of building blocks into functional materials. In particular, peptides offer great chemical diversity for metal-binding modes, combined with inherent biocompatibility and biodegradability that make them attractive especially for medicine, sensing, and environmental remediation. The focus of this review is the last 5 years’ progress in this exciting field to conclude with an overview of the future directions that this research area is currently undertaking.
Assessment of Entrepreneurial Leadership among Undergraduate Nursing Students: The Case from Thailand

Background: Entrepreneurial leadership is the becoming concept in health, social sciences, business, management, and education that can influence and direct the performance and achievement of either staff or organizations. Unfortunately, entrepreneurial leadership has received limited attention in healthcare fields, especially nursing.Purpose: This cross-sectional study aimed to explore entrepreneurial leadership and examine its associated factors among undergraduate nursing students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 410 nursing students who were recruited using a simple random sampling strategy. The data were collected using an online self-reporting survey and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, and multivariate logistic regression analysis.Results: This study’s results revealed that most nursing students generally have entrepreneurial leadership at a high level (Mean=4.04, SD=0.49). The factors significantly associated with entrepreneurial leadership among the undergraduate nursing students were the level of study year class and parental income (p<0.05). Conclusion: This study proposed critical factors influencing entrepreneurial leadership among nursing students and recommends that entrepreneurial characteristics and approaches be utilized to improve all educational aspects among undergraduate nursing students. Nursing students must learn, train, and practice entrepreneurial leadership for the development of professional skills, abilities and initiation of innovation.
Experimental Evaluation of the Impact of Rapid Environmental Changes on Stress Distribution in Tablet Coatings

Drying-induced cracks in tablet coatings are undesirable as they not only affect tablet’s appearance, but they may also interfere with its function. While it is well known that tensile stresses in the coating are responsible for coating failures, few have measured the stress in tablet coatings, especially when exposed to rapid environmental changes. In this study, two commercial tablet coatings based on Hydroxy Propyl Methyl Cellulose (HPMC) and Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) are exposed to rapid variations in temperature and humidity to observe the variation in residual stress. Reducing temperature at a fixed humidity or reducing humidity at fixed temperature, both lead to high residual stresses. When both the humidity and temperature were reduced together, the residual stresses were very high causing delamination in the PVA-based film and cracking in the HPMC-based film. The changes in residual stress are almost instantaneous for the HPMC-based film while it is slower for the PVA-based film. The results highlight the importance of environmental conditions on the residual stress in the film and the resulting coating failure.
Discrepancy between the Status Quo and Adjusted Risk of First-Onset Suicidal Ideation in Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study Based on the Korean Welfare Panel Study (2011–2021)

Whether older adults can more likely commit suicide than those in other age groups, after adjusting for other possible causes, remains unknown. We aimed to examine why elderly individuals are more likely to develop first-onset suicidal ideation than individuals in other age groups. We identified 2018 young, 3329 middle-aged, and 2714 elderly individuals without a history of suicidal ideation, from the Korean Welfare Panel Study 2011–2021. To determine key stressors that can induce suicidal ideation, selected groups of variables were adjusted progressively in a generalized estimating equation (GEE) model. Incidence rates of the elderly, middle-aged, and young individuals were 15.9, 22.0, and 11.3 per 1000 person-years, respectively. In GEE analysis, a positive association was not noted between age group and suicidal ideation after adjusting for stressor variables. Furthermore, the overly adjusted model (Full model) showed a strong negative association with aging; young [odds ratio (OR): 1.68, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.35–2.11] and middle-aged (OR: 1.94, 95% CI: 1.38–2.73) individuals were more likely to develop first-onset suicidal ideation than the elderly. We found that full models, particularly assessing wealth rather than income, can explain why the elderly have higher suicide rates than those in other age groups.
Variations of Winds and Turbulence Seen by the 50-MHz Radar at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico

Abstract The mean vertical profiles of the winds from about 5 to 20 km at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, are described. The variability of wind speed, spectral width, volume reflectivity calibrated as CN2, and vertical wind shear are documented as functions of season and of time of day using observations taken from 1991 through April 1994 with the 50-MHz profiling radar. The mean meridional winds are from the south at about 1-3 m s−1 during every season except autumn, and mean zonal winds have a broad jet near the tropopause with maximum speed over 30 m s−1 during the winter. The mean vertical velocity is downward at about 5 cm s−1 in the troposphere and is weakly upward in the lower stratosphere. The shear of the mean wind and the mean wind shear have small interseasonal variability. The variance over 1-h periods of all three wind components, the spectral width, and CN2 have lognormal frequency distributions. The variance of the meridional wind speed is greater than that of the zonal wind speed i.
Unraveling the macroevolution of horseshoe bats (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae: Rhinolophus)

Unraveling the diversification mechanisms of organisms is a fundamental and important macroevolutionary question regarding the diversity, ecological niche, and morphological divergence of life. However, many studies have only explored diversification mechanisms via isolated factors. Here, based on comparative phylogenetic analysis, we performed a macroevolutionary examination of horseshoe bats (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae: Rhinolophus), to reveal the inter-relationships among diversification, intrinsic/extrinsic factors, and climatic ecological niche characteristics. Results showed a general slowing trajectory during diversification, with two dispersal events from Asia into Southeast Asia and Africa playing key roles in shaping regional heterogeneous diversity. Morphospace expansions of the investigated traits (e.g., body size, echolocation, and climate niche) revealed a decoupled pattern between diversification trajectory and trait divergence, suggesting that other factors (e.g., biotic interactions) potentially played a key role in recent diversification. Based on ancestral traits and pathway analyses, most Rhinolophus lineages belonging to the same region overlapped with each other geographically and were positively associated with the diversification rate, implying a competitive prelude to speciation. Overall, our study showed that multiple approaches need to be integrated to address diversification history. Rather than a single factor, the joint effects of multiple factors (biogeography, environmental drivers, and competition) are responsible for the current diversity patterns in horseshoe bats, and a corresponding multifaceted strategy is recommended to study these patterns in the future.
Intergenerational Perspectives on Media and Fake News During Covid-19: Results From Online Intergenerational Focus Groups

This article reflects on intergenerational perspectives on media habits and fake news during Covid-19. Active participation is closely linked to the citizens’ media literacy competencies. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, inequalities in access, use, and understanding of the information conveyed by the media became more evident. Digital skills are essential to encourage co-learning and active ageing among different generations. This article relies on data collected during two online intergenerational focus groups with family pairs of different ages (grandparents and grandchildren) conducted in Portugal in the context of the European project SMaRT-EU. The focus groups addressed subjects such as news, fake news, critical perspective towards social networks and digital communication, and younger and older people’s perspectives regarding these matters. The thematic analysis of the Portuguese data suggests that, by placing grandparents and grandchildren side by side, the online intergenerational focus groups promoted sharing and exchange of knowledge, valuing the intergenerational encounter and the voices of one of society’s most fragile groups. Data also shows that participants have different perspectives on communication and digitally mediated interaction, mainly related to age factors and media literacy skills. As for fake news, although grandparents and grandchildren show awareness of the phenomenon, for the youngest participant it was complex to identify characteristics or the spaces where they are disseminated. The young adult participant was the most proficient and autonomous digital media user. Results further indicate that, although the online environment contributed to continuing research in times of pandemic, bringing together family members with different media literacy skills and ages poses difficulties related to the recruitment of participants.
Discrimination and Classification Using Both Binary and Continuous Variables

Abstract The likelihood ratio classification rule is derived from the location model, applicable when the data contains both binary and continuous variables. A method is proposed for estimating the rule in practical situations and assessing its performance. Losses incurred by the estimation procedure are investigated, and use of Fisher's linear discriminant function on such data is studied for the case of known population parameters. Finally, the proposed rule is applied to some data sets, and its performance is compared with that of some other classification rules.
Evaluation of Chokeberry/Carboxymethylcellulose Hydrogels with the Addition of Disaccharides: DART-TOF/MS and HPLC-DAD Analysis

With the growing awareness of the importance of a healthy diet, the need for the development of novel formulations is also on the rise. Chokeberry products are popular among consumers since they are a rich source of polyphenols that are responsible for antioxidant activity and other positive effects on human health. However, other natural food ingredients, such as disaccharides, can affect their stability. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of disaccharides addition on the polyphenol composition of chokeberry hydrogels. Hydrogels were prepared from chokeberry juice and 2% of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) with the addition of 30%, 40%, or 50% of disaccharides (sucrose or trehalose). Samples were analyzed using DART-TOF/MS. The method was optimized, and the fingerprints of the mass spectra have been statistically processed using PCA analysis. Prepared samples were evaluated for total polyphenols, monomeric anthocyanins, and antioxidant activity (FRAP, CUPRAC, DPPH, ABTS assays) using spectrophotometric methods. Individual polyphenols were evaluated using HPLC-DAD analysis. Results showed the addition of disaccharides to 2% CMC hydrogels caused a decrease of total polyphenols. These findings confirm proper formulation is important to achieve appropriate retention of polyphenols.
3-D traveltime computation using the fast marching method

We present a fast algorithm for solving the eikonal equation in three dimensions, based on the fast marching method. The algorithm is of the order O(N log N), where N is the total number of grid points in the computational domain. The algorithm can be used in any orthogonal coordinate system and globally constructs the solution to the eikonal equation for each point in the coordinate domain. The method is unconditionally stable and constructs solutions consistent with the exact solution for arbitrarily large gradient jumps in velocity. In addition, the method resolves any overturning propagation wavefronts. We begin with the mathematical foundation for solving the eikonal equation using the fast marching method and follow with the numerical details. We then show examples of traveltime propagation through the SEG/EAGE salt model using point-source and planewave initial conditions and analyze the error in constant velocity media. The algorithm allows for any shape of the initial wavefront. While a point source is the most commonly used initial condition, initial plane waves can be used for controlled illumination or for downward continuation of the traveltime field from one depth to another or from a topographic depth surface to another. The algorithm presented here is designed for computing first-arrival traveltimes. Nonetheless, since it exploits the fast marching method for solving the eikonal equation, we believe it is the fastest of all possible consistent schemes to compute first arrivals.
A Novel Integrated Transdermal Drug Delivery System with Micropump and Microneedle Made from Polymers

Transdermal drug delivery (TDD), which enables targeted delivery with microdosing possibilities, has seen much progress in the past few years. This allows medical professionals to create bespoke treatment regimens and improve drug adherence through real-time monitoring. TDD also increases the effectiveness of the drugs in much smaller quantities. The use of polymers in the drug delivery field is on the rise owing to their low cost, scalability and ease of manufacture along with drug and bio-compatibility. In this work, we present the design, development and characterization of a polymer-based TDD platform fabricated using additive manufacturing technologies. The system consists of a polymer based micropump integrated with a drug reservoir fabricated by 3D printing and a polymer hollow microneedle array fabricated using photolithography. To the best of our knowledge, we present the fabrication and characterization of a 3D-printed piezoelectrically actuated non-planar valveless micropump and reservoir integrated with a polymer hollow microneedle array for the first time. The integrated system is capable of delivering water at a maximum flow rate of 1.03 mL/min and shows a maximum backpressure of 1.37 kPa while consuming only 400 mW. The system has the least number of moving parts. It can be easily fabricated using additive manufacturing technologies, and it is found to be suitable for drug delivery applications.