Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High-mobility field-effect transistors based on transition metal dichalcogenides

We report on fabrication of field-effect transistors (FETs) based on transition metal dichalcogenides. The unique structure of single crystals of these layered inorganic semiconductors enables fabrication of FETs with intrinsically low field-effect threshold and high charge carrier mobility, comparable to that in the best single-crystal Si FETs (up to 500 cm2/V s for the p-type conductivity in the WSe2-based FETs at room temperature). These FETs demonstrate ambipolar operation. Owing to mechanical flexibility, they hold potential for applications in “flexible” electronics.
Diastereoselective Sonochemical Synthesis of Spirocyclopropaneoxindoles and Evaluation of Their Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Activities

An efficient diastereoselective synthesis of spirocyclopropaneoxindoles is reported using three‐component reactions of various phenacylidenetriphenylphosphorane, isatins and phenacyl bromide under ultrasonic irradiation. The structures of synthesized spirocyclopropaneoxindoles were characterized by their spectral data. The antioxidant activities of the synthesized compounds were evaluated by 1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay. Among the products, those with NH group in their structure exhibited higher antioxidant activities than other derivatives. Also, in vitro cytotoxicity of compounds 4b, 4e, 4j, 4k were examined against heLa cancer cell lines using MTT assay. The results revealed that compound 4j with chlorine substituent on phenyl group displayed higher cytotoxicity activity (IC50=4.50±0.30 μg/mL) after 48 h.
Organ Procurement, Donation, and Transplant Awareness in an Urban Eastern European Region: A General Population Survey

Background Despite significant improvements in Romania’s transplantation system, actual donor numbers have paradoxically fallen, contrary to the European trend. With a donation rate of 3.44 donors per million inhabitants, Romania ranks near the bottom of European countries. This study aimed to identify several predictors of a positive attitude toward organ donation in the Romanian population that could aid in reshaping public policies to improve donation and transplantation rates. Material/Methods The study included a representative Iasi population. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire focused on revealing attitudes toward organ donation, importance of consent, willingness to donate a family member’s organs, and role of medical staff in the donation decision. A perception score was calculated as a methodological approach to validate attitudes toward organ donation. Results Of all respondents, 55% agreed to donate their organs if declared brain-dead, while 20% opposed this idea; 72.7% considered consent necessary; 70% believed that consent must belong to the family when it comes to brain-dead organ donors; and 44.5% supported the idea of financial compensation. Higher monthly income was correlated with a positive attitude toward organ donation. Conclusions Even though the study population had a positive attitude toward organ donation, the willingness to donate was lower than in other European countries and did not translate into actual donations. The necessity of informed consent, lack of knowledge on the topic, bureaucratic aspects, and openness to financial compensation could explain the current situation of the Romanian transplantation system.
Is acetylene essential for carbon dust formation

We have carried out an investigation of the chemical evolution of gas in different carbon-rich circumstellar environments. Previous studies have tended to invoke terrestrial flame chemistries, based on acetylene (C2H2) combustion to model the formation of carbon dust, via Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). In this work we pay careful attention to the accurate calculation of the molecular photoreaction rate coefficients to ascertain whether there is a universal formation mechanism for carbon dust in strongly irradiated astrophysical environments. A large number of possible chemical channels may exist for the formation of PAHs, so we have concentrated on the viability of the formation of the smallest building block species, C2H2, in a variety of carbon-rich stellar outflows. C2H2 is very sensitive to dissociation by UV radiation. This sensitivity is tested, using models of the time-dependent chemistry. We find that C2H2 formation is sensitive to some of the physical parameters and that in some known sources of dust-formation it can never attain appreciable abundances. Therefore multiple (and currently ill-defined) dust-formation channels must exist.
Double-double radio galaxies

Double-double radio galaxies (DDRGs) offer a unique opportunity for us to study multiple episodes of jet activity in large-scale radio sources. We use radio data from the Very Large Array and the literature to model two DDRGs, B1450+333 and B1834+620, in terms of their dynamical evolution. We find that the standard Fanaroff-Riley II model is able to explain the properties of the two outer lobes of each source, whereby the lobes are formed by ram-pressure balance of a shock at the end of the jet with the surrounding medium. The inner pairs of lobes, however, are not well described by the standard model. Instead we interpret the inner lobes as arising from the emission of relativistic electrons within the outer lobes, which are compressed and re-accelerated by the bow shock in front of the restarted jets and within the outer lobes. The predicted rapid progression of the inner lobes through the outer lobes requires the eventual development of a hotspot at the edge of the outer lobe, causing the DDRG ultimately to resemble a standard Fanaroff-Riley II radio galaxy. This may suggest that DDRGs are a brief, yet normal, phase of the evolution of large-scale radio galaxies.
On the radial abundance gradients in disks of irregular galaxies

We determine the radial abundance distributions across the disks of fourteen irregular galaxies of the types Sm and Im (morphological T types T = 9 and T =10) as traced by their HII regions. The oxygen and nitrogen abundances in HII regions are estimated through the Te method or/and with the counterpart method (C method). Moreover, we examine the correspondence between the radial abundance gradient and the surface brightness profile. We find that irregular galaxies with a flat inner profile (flat or outwardly increasing surface brightness in the central region) show shallow (if any) radial abundance gradients. On the other hand, irregular galaxies with a steep inner profile (with or without a bulge or central star cluster) usually show rather steep radial abundance gradients. This is in contrast to the widely held belief that irregular galaxies do not usually show a radial abundance gradient.
Understanding interagency relationships in the sharing of government data: a meta-analysis

This paper reports on a research study that aimed to understand and qualify the influences of interagency relationships on interagency government data sharing (IDS). Using a meta-analysis approach, 76 interviews previously collected from three city governments in China were analysed under the theoretical lens of a unified social network theory of inter-organisational relations (IOR). The meta-analysis shows that interagency data sharing is influenced by the constitution and determinants of interagency relationships. A conceptualisation of the findings indicated that tensions between government agencies are the core cause of the lack of interagency data sharing. Therefore, effective management of interagency tensions should become a central strategy for enhancing interagency data sharing. This paper provides a novel perspective on the conceptualisation of interagency data sharing problems and a new approach to strengthen interagency data sharing in practice.
SSAU-Net: A Spectral–Spatial Attention-Based U-Net for Hyperspectral Image Fusion

Compared with the traditional remote sensing image, there is a large amount of spectral information in the hyperspectral image (HSI), which makes HSI better reflect the actual condition of surface features. However, due to the limitations of imaging conditions, HSI tends to have a lower spatial resolution. In order to overcome this issue, we propose a spectral–spatial attention-based U-Net named SSAU-Net for HSI and multispectral image (MSI) fusion. The SSAU-Net constructs a spectral–spatial attention module by a coordinate-attention (CA) module and an efficient pyramid split attention (EPSA) module, which can enhance the image’s spectral information and spatial information. Meanwhile, the proposed network fully extracts the shallow and deep features of the images and finally generates high-resolution (HR) HSIs. Compared with the state-of-the-art HSI-MSI fusion methods, the experimental results verify that the proposed method has a better subjective and objective fusion effect.
CNN-Based Deep Architecture for Reinforced Concrete Delamination Segmentation Through Thermography

Delamination assessment of the bridge deck plays a vital role for bridge health monitoring. Thermography as one of the nondestructive technologies for delamination detection has the advantage of efficient data acquisition. But there are challenges on the interpretation of data for accurate delamination shape profiling. Due to the environmental variation and the irregular presence of delamination size and depth, conventional processing methods based on temperature contrast fall short in accurate segmentation of delamination. Inspired by the recent development of deep learning architecture for image segmentation, the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based framework was investigated for the applicability of delamination segmentation under variations in temperature contrast and shape diffusion. The models were developed based on Dense Convolutional Network (DenseNet) and trained on thermal images collected for mimicked delamination in concrete slabs with different depths under experimental setup. The results suggested satisfactory performance of accurate profiling the delamination shapes.
Mean-field solution of the Hubbard model: the magnetic phase diagram

The present paper is based on our graduate lectures in condensed-matter physics. We found that the mean-field solution of the Hubbard model is an excellent tool to stimulate students’ reflections towards the treatment of realistic magnetic interactions. We show by detailed analytical and numerical calculations how to find the mean-field solution of the model on a square lattice. We then interpret the physical implications of the ground-state magnetic phase diagram in terms of the electron density and the ratio between the Coulomb repulsion and the electron-structure bandwidth.
SVPWM Strategy Based on the 45$^\circ$ Coordinates to Suppress Common-Mode Voltage for Multilevel Converters

This article proposes an optimized space vector pulsewidth modulation (SVPWM) strategy with minimum common-mode voltage (CMV). Compared with earlier SVPWM methods, the proposed optimized strategy is implemented in the 45$^\circ$ coordinates. Locating the sector triangle, calculating the duty cycles, and determining the switching sequences require only basic arithmetic operations, which greatly reduces the computational complexity. The switching state with minimum CMV corresponding to the space vector can be calculated directly. The proposed optimized modulation strategy effectively solves the problem that the traditional SVPWM is difficult to be implemented as the number of levels increases. It can be easily extended to any level converters without additional computational burden. Based on the proposed optimized SVPWM strategy with minimum CMV, the SVPWM strategy for eliminating CMV is proposed. The proposed SVPWM strategy for eliminating CMV improves the utilization of the redundant cells and reduces the total harmonic distortion of phase voltages without increasing the difficulty of implementing the SVPWM algorithm. Finally, the proposed two SVPWM strategies are verified with extensive simulations and experiments.
The MHD Alfven wave oscillation model of kHz Quasi Periodic Oscillations of Accreting X-ray binaries

We ascribe the interpretation of the twin kilohertz Quasi Periodic Oscillations (kHz QPOs) of X-ray spectra of Low Mass X-Ray Binaries (LMXBs) to MHD Alfven wave oscillations in the different mass density regions of the accreted matter at the preferred radius, and the upper kHz QPO frequency coincides with the Keplerian frequency. The proposed model concludes that the kHz QPO frequencies depend inversely on the preferred radius, and that theoretical relation between the upper frequency (v 2 ) and the lower frequency (v 1 ) is v 1 ∼ v 2 2, which is similar to the measured empirical relation. The separation between the twin frequencies decreases (increases) with increasing kHz QPO frequency if the lower kHz QPO frequency is more (less) than ∼400 Hz.
A Self-Packaged SISL Low-Power Rectifier Based on a High-Impedance Line for C-Band Applications

In this letter, a self-packaged substrate-integrated suspended line (SISL) rectifier is proposed. The rectifier consists of a quarter-wavelength high-impedance transmission line, a diode, a tuning inductor, and a dc pass filter. The lower the power is, the lower the rectifying efficiency is. At a low input power level, the diode impedance real part is almost zero. A tuning inductor is introduced to form a parallel resonator to enhance the diode voltage. A quarter-wavelength high-impedance line is presented to match the rectifying diode to the source. In addition, due to the self-packaging characteristics and air cavity of SISLs, the radiation loss and dielectric loss of the proposed rectifier are reduced. A rectifier was designed, fabricated, and measured at 5.8 GHz. The radio frequency (RF)-dc conversion efficiency reaches 3.5% at −30 dBm, which is close to its theoretical estimated efficiency at 5.8 GHz. This ultralow power rectifier may be used in energy harvesting at $C$ -band.
A hidden reservoir of Fe/FeS in interstellar silicates?

Context. The depletion of iron and sulphur into dust in the interstellar medium and the exact nature of interstellar amorphous silicate grains is still an open question. Aims. We study the incorporation of iron and sulphur into amorphous silicates of olivine- and pyroxene-types and their effects on the dust spectroscopy and thermal emission. Methods. We used the Maxwell-Garnett effective-medium theory to construct the optical constants for a mixture of silicates, metallic iron, and iron sulphide. We also studied the effects of iron and iron sulphide in aggregate grains. Results. Iron sulphide inclusions within amorphous silicates that contain iron metal inclusions show no strong differences in the optical properties of the grains. A mix of amorphous olivine- and pyroxene-type silicate broadens the silicate features. An amorphous carbon mantle with a thickness of 10 nm on the silicate grains leads to an increase in absorption on the short-wavelength side of the 10 μm silicate band. Conclusions. The assumption of amorphous olivine-type and pyroxene-type silicates and a 10 nm thick amorphous carbon mantle better matches the interstellar silicate band profiles. Including iron nano-particles leads to an increase in the mid-IR extinction, while up to 5 ppm of sulphur can be incorporated as Fe/FeS nano inclusions into silicate grains without leaving a significant trace of its presence.
Deriving an Opinion Dynamics Model from Experimental Data

: Opinion dynamics models have huge potential for understanding and addressing social problems where solutions require the coordination of opinions, like anthropogenic climate change. Unfortunately, to date, most of such models have little or no empirical validation. In the present work we develop an opinion dynamics model derived from a real life experiment. In our experimental study, participants reported their opinions before and after social interaction using response options “agree” or “disagree,” and opinion strength 1 to 10. The social interaction entailed showing the participant their interaction partner’s agreement value on the same topic, but not their certainty. From the analysis of the data, we observed a very weak, but statistically significant influence between participants. We also noticed three important effects. (1) Asking people their opinion is sufficient to produce opinion shift and thus influence opinion dynamics, at least on novel topics. (2) About 4% of the time people flipped their opinion, while preserving their certainty level. (3) People with extreme opinions exhibited much less change than people having neutral opinions. We also built an opinion dynamics model based on the three mentioned phenomena. This model was able to produce realistic results (i.e. similar to real-world data) such as polarization from unpolarized states and strong diversity.
Accurate Underwater Optical Wireless Communication Model With Both Line-of-Sight and Non-Line-of-Sight Channels

Underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) systems have been widely studied to achieve high-speed wireless communications. To investigate and design UOWC systems, a mathematical model to characterize the accurate performance of UOWC systems is important. However, the previous mathematical models of UOWC systems have limitations, which mainly focused on the line-of-sight (LOS) link, and only considered the vertical incident background light or optical filters with constant transmittance for simplicity. To overcome these limitations, we establish an accurate UOWC system model, incorporating the previously overlooked impact of signal and sun lights incident angles and including both LOS and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) channels. Our proposed accurate UOWC system model is validated by Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. Results show that our proposed model can capture the changes of received powers of both signal and background lights with various transmitter and receiver alignments and orientations in both LOS and NLOS channels, which typically affect the signal-noise-ratio (SNR) and bit-error-rate (BER) performance of UOWC systems. Furthermore, we show that the incident angles of both signal and sun lights have significant impact on the system performance, and our proposed model can be used to optimize the PD rotation angle to improve the SNR performance. Therefore, the more accurate UOWC channel model established in this paper provides a fundamental framework for future UOWC system design and optimization.
Non-invasive myocardial performance mapping using 3D echocardiographic stress–strain loops

Regional contribution to left ventricular (LV) ejection is of much clinical importance but its assessment is notably challenging. While deformation imaging is often used, this does not take into account loading conditions. Recently, a method for intraventricular pressure estimation was proposed, thus allowing for loading conditions to be taken into account in a non-invasive way. In this work, a method for 3D automatic myocardial performance mapping in echocardiography is proposed by performing 3D myocardial segmentation and tracking, thus giving access to local geometry and strain. This is then used to assess local LV stress–strain relationships which can be seen as a measure of local myocardial work. The proposed method was validated against 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography, the reference method to clinically assess local metabolism. Averaged over all patients, the mean correlation between FDG-PET and the proposed method was . In conclusion, stress–strain loops were, for the first time, estimated from 3D echocardiography and correlated to the clinical gold standard for local metabolism, showing the future potential of real-time 3D echocardiography (RT3DE) for the assessment of local metabolic activity of the heart.
Agricultural support and spatial price transmission: evidence from China’s maize sector

A market-oriented reform of China’s 2016 Temporary Purchase and Storage Policy (TPSP) is important for improving the price-forming mechanism of maize. Using monthly, province-level panel data and a dynamic spatial econometric model, this study distinguishes the heterogeneous spatial price transmissions of maize under officially supportive and market-oriented regimes. Our empirical results show that the spatial transmission of maize prices was remarkably distorted under the TPSP. Simultaneously, its market-oriented reform has greatly reduced regional price differences and generated a more flexible and much smoother spatial price transmission. The reform provides important insights for improving agricultural support regimes for other products in China.
THE MAGELLANIC QUASARS SURVEY. I. DOUBLING THE NUMBER OF KNOWN ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI BEHIND THE SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD

We report the spectroscopic confirmation of 29 new, 12 plausible, and three previously known quasars behind the central ∼1.5 deg2 region of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). These were identified in a single 2df/AAOmega observation on the Anglo-Australian Telescope of 268 candidates selected primarily based on their mid-IR colors, along with a smaller number of optically variable sources in OGLE-II close to known X-ray sources. The low detection efficiency was partly expected from the high surface density of SMC as compared with the Large Magellanic Cloud targets and the faintness of many of them (149 with I>20 mag). The expected number of I < 20 mag quasars in the field is ≃38, and we found 15 (40%). We did not attempt to determine the nature of the remaining sources, although several appear to be new planetary nebulae. The newly discovered active galactic nuclei can be used as reference points for future proper-motion studies, to study absorption in the SMC interstellar medium, and to study the physics of quasar variability with the existing long-term, highly cadenced OGLE light curves.
Metabolic Consequences of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Especially Pertaining to Diabetes Mellitus and Insulin Sensitivity

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and diabetes has been known to be closely related to each other and both diseases impact highly on the public health. There are many evidence of reports that OSA is associated with diabetes with a bidirectional correlation. A possible causal mechanism of OSA to diabetes is intermittent hypoxemia and diabetes to OSA is microvascular complication. However, OSA and diabetes have a high prevalence rate in public and shares the common overlap characteristic and risk factors such as age, obesity, and metabolic syndrome that make it difficult to establish the exact pathophysiologic mechanism between them. In addition, studies demonstrating that treatment of OSA may help prevent diabetes or improve glycemic control have not shown convincing result but have become a great field of interest research. This review outlines the bidirectional correlation between OSA and diabetes and explore the pathophysiologic mechanisms by approaching their basic etiologies.
Identification of novel mutations in preaxial polydactyly patients through whole‐exome sequencing

Polydactyly is one of the most common hereditary limb malformation characterized by additional digits in hands and/or feet. With extra fingers/toes, which could be very problematic, polydactyly patients are usually treated in early childhood by removing of extra digits with surgery. Genetically, polydactyly is caused by mutations of genes that involve in digit formation.