Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Numerical study on the development of asymmetric convection and vertical wind shear during tropical cyclone landfall

Idealized simulations on an f‐plane of tropical cyclone (TC) landfall under a quiescent environment in the Southern Hemisphere are performed to investigate the effects of land–sea surface contrast on precipitation. In the control simulation, with realistic roughness and moisture over land to the south of the TC, the simulated vortex moves toward land due to a land‐induced steering flow. The abrupt decrease (increase) of tangential wind at the surface leads to convergence (divergence) on the onshore (offshore) flow side. Enhanced convergence at the top of the planetary boundary layer is found on both onshore and offshore sides and is caused by advection from the surface and the enhanced offshore radial wind. The boundary‐layer top convergence pattern is consistent with the rainfall distribution. Vertical wind shear develops during the landfall process associated with the low‐ and upper‐level asymmetric flows across the model domain. The wavenumber‐1‐like low‐level asymmetric flow is introduced by an asymmetric geopotential height field that is generated by the large area of frictionally induced convergence on the onshore side and divergence on the offshore side. The upper‐level asymmetric flow is attributed to asymmetric convection and associated diabatic heating after landfall. Most rainfall is found in the down‐shear right quadrant, which is consistent with previous studies that focused on the effect of environmental shear. Although the existence of feedback from the vertical wind shear to rainfall remains an open question, the relation between maximum rainfall and vertical wind shear is robust, especially when the shear magnitude is large after landfall.
Mixed phase ARMA system identification by bispectrum: a group delay approach

A method of identification of a mixed-phase system (driven by a zero mean nonGaussian white noise) from its output, by an autoregressive moving-average (ARMA) model is proposed. This is achieved by relating the bispectrum phase and magnitude to the system group delay functions. The method uses only the bispectrum information and it is applicable for MA, AR, or ARMA systems with either mixed-phase poles, mixed-phase zeros, or both. The identification does not involve any solution of a system of equations and is free from the limitations found in many of the existing methods. Its evaluation for different ARMA terms indicates that its performance is good in terms of root-mean-square (which accounts both for bias and variance), since the normalized sum of the sample mean-square error is about 1%. <<ETX>>
Epidemiology of Injuries in Amateur Male Soccer Players: A Prospective One-Year Study

The purpose of this study was to prospectively monitor and analyze injuries in Greek amateur male soccer players over one competitive season. One hundred and thirty male soccer players in a regional amateur league participated in this study. Injury data and exposure were collected from six teams during training and competition match over one season (2018/19). Injuries were collected weekly and were classified by setting, mechanism, severity, type, calendar distribution, period of injury occurrence, and anatomical location. A total of 103 injuries were recorded during the season, with an incident rate (IR) of 5.5 injuries/1000 h with 95% confidence intervals (CI) values of 4.45 (lower limit) and 6.09 (upper limit). Furthermore, IR was greater for the posterior thigh (IR 1.83/1000 h, 95% CI 1.21–2.44) and hip/groin complex (IR 1.45/1000 h, 95% CI 0.90–1.99) compared to other anatomical locations. Similarly, muscle injuries had greater IR (IR 3.61/1000 h, 95% CI 2.74–4.47) than other tissues. Amateur soccer players had a seven-fold greater chance of getting injured during games (IR 20.76/1000 h, 95% CI 15.28–26.24) rather than during training (IR 3.077/1000 h, 95% CI 2.16–3.80), while injury rates were higher towards the end of a session and peaked in October and February of the season. Based on these results, amateur soccer may benefit from injury prevention strategies incorporated into their regular training practice and focus on muscle injuries, especially in the posterior thigh and the hip/groin complex.
Colloidal dynamics in the circularly symmetric optical potential of a Bessel beam

In the optical domain, the gradient force may be exploited in optical tweezers to confine high-index particles to points of maximum light intensity [1]. This methodology has enabled key advances in biology enabling a deeper understanding of molecular motors and the properties of DNA. Optical traps have also enabled a wide range of studies in optical angular momentum, colloid science and microfluidics. Recent work has shown that extended, optically tailored landscapes can offer a mechanism by which to arrange and accumulate microparticles in pre-described arrays [2]). The ability to sculpt and reconfigure the optical potential energy landscape external to the sample is a key component of such studies. We may add a tilt to the potential or, more generally, break symmetry, enabling unprecedented control over directed transport of particles [3] Three dimensional optical lattices may be used for sorting and fractionation of biological material in a microfluidic flow [4]. However it would be advantageous to be able to separate and even accumulate both biological and colloidal matter in the absence of any flow within any sample chamber. This would allow true compatibility of sorting and separation without the need to implement flows and microfluidic systems. We exploit the varying affinity of mesoscopic objects to a circularly symmetric optical landscape to demonstrate this effect and demonstrate separation of cells and chromosomes. The differing Kramers residence time in each part of the light pattern leads to a thermally activated method for sorting based on their hopping probabilities within the rings of the Bessel beam. Whilst we employ a Bessel beam to elucidate and demonstrate the dynamics of the sorting other tailored landscapes can also be used.
Transmit Power Optimization and Precoding Design in Multiuser Satellite MIMO Downlink With SINR Constraints

In this article, a multiuser (MU) satellite multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) downlink including a multibeam GEO satellite and multiple terrestrial users is considered. In order to meet the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) requirements of different users while minimizing the satellite transmit power, the onboard precoding problem is investigated. Zero-forcing (ZF) and regularized ZF (RZF) precoding are first adopted and it is found that they can satisfy the SINR constraints by multiplying by a power allocation matrix. The required power allocation matrix is divided into two types: 1) equal power factor schemes and 2) unequal power factor schemes, and they are derived separately, where Karush–Kuhn–Tucker (KKT) conditions are used in RZF unequal power factor scheme and a heuristic algorithm is proposed to optimize the regularization factor in RZF schemes to further reduce the transmit power. Then, a semidefinite programming beamforming (SDPBF) is proposed to jointly optimize precoding and power allocation matrices. The closed-form expressions of the transmit power of the above five precoding schemes are derived and their performance is compared in the simulation part. The research results show that under the same conditions, the performance of RZF is better than that of ZF, the unequal power factor scheme is better than the equal power factor scheme, and SDPBF has the best performance. Besides, it is also found that in addition to changing the precoding method, activating more beams will further reduce the transmit power.
Wheat Stem Rust Detection and Race Characterization in Tunisia

Climate changes over the past 25 years have led to conducive conditions for invasive and transboundary fungal disease occurrence, including the re-emergence of wheat stem rust disease, caused by Puccinia graminis f.sp. tritici (Pgt) in East Africa, Europe, and the Mediterranean basin. Since 2018, sporadic infections have been observed in Tunisia. In this study, we investigated Pgt occurrence at major Tunisian wheat growing areas. Pgt monitoring, assessment, and sampling from planted trap nurseries at five different locations over two years (2021 and 2022) revealed the predominance of three races, namely TTRTF (Clade III-B), TKKTF (Clade IV-F), and TKTTF (Clade IV-B). Clade III-B was the most prevalent in 2021 as it was detected at all locations, while in 2022 Pgt was only reported at Beja and Jendouba, with the prevalence of Clade IV-B. The low levels of disease incidence during these two years and Pgt population diversity suggest that this fungus most likely originated from exotic incursions and that climate factors could have caused disease establishment in Tunisia. Further evaluation under the artificial disease pressure of Tunisian wheat varieties and weather-based modeling for early disease detection in the Mediterranean area could be helpful in monitoring and predicting wheat stem rust emergence and epidemics.
Evaluation of VEGF and VEGFR gene expression as prognostic markers in low and intermediate‑1 risk patients with myelodysplastic syndromes

Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) are angiogenic factors playing a key role in tumor development. VEGFs are produced by different normal and tumor cells, including platelets, lymphocytes and mononuclear cells of peripheral blood. VEGF (VEGF-A, VEGF-C and VEGF-D) and VEGFR (VEGFR1, VEGFR2 and VEGFR3) gene expression was studied in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) to evaluate the possible prognostic role of the expression of these genes. Gene expression levels were determined using peripheral blood samples of 51 patients with MDS and 15 healthy volunteers by quantitative PCR. Expression of all VEGF and VEGFR genes was elevated in patients with MDS compared with healthy volunteers. No association of VEGF-A expression with the hemoglobin content in peripheral blood was found. The analyses of gene expression in patients with MDS stratified by risk groups according to the International Prognostic Scoring System showed progressive augmentation of VEGF-A gene expression from low to high-risk groups and VEGFR1 and VEGFR2 expression from intermediate-1 to high-risk groups. The statistically significant difference in survival time of patients with high and low levels of VEGFR1 expression was revealed. VEGF-A/VEGFR1 expression may be important for risk evaluation of patients with MDS.
Temperature- and field-dependent electron and hole mobilities in polymer light-emitting diodes

We have studied the transport properties of electron- and hole-dominated MEH-PPV, poly(2-methoxy,5-(2′-ethyl-hexoxy)-p-phenylene vinylene), devices in the trap-free limit and have derived the temperature-dependent electron and hole mobilities (μ=μ0eγ√E) from the space-charge-limited behavior at high electric fields. Both the zero-field mobility μ0 and electric-field coefficient γ are temperature dependent with an activation energy of the hole and electron mobility of 0.38±0.02 and 0.34±0.02 eV, respectively. At 300 K, we find a zero-field mobility μ0 on the order of 1±0.5×10−7 cm2/V s and an electric-field coefficient γ of 4.8±0.3×10−4 (m/V)1/2 for holes. For electrons, we find a μ0 an order of magnitude below that for holes but a larger γ of 7.8±0.5×10−4 (m/V)1/2. Due to the stronger field dependence of the electron mobility, the electron and hole mobilities are comparable at working voltages in the trap-free limit, applicable to thin films of MEH-PPV.
Tracking trajectories of multiple long-term conditions using dynamic patient-cluster associations

Momentum has been growing into research to better understand the dynamics of multiple long-term conditions – multimorbidity (MLTC-M), defined as the co-occurrence of two or more long-term or chronic conditions within an individual. Several research efforts make use of Electronic Health Records (EHR), which represent patients’ medical histories. These range from discovering patterns of multimorbidity, namely by clustering diseases based on their co-occurrence in EHRs, to using EHRs to predict the next disease or other specific outcomes. One problem with the former approach is that it discards important temporal information on the co-occurrence, while the latter requires "big" data volumes that are not always available from routinely collected EHRs, limiting the robustness of the resulting models.In this paper we take an intermediate approach, where initially we use about 143,000 EHRs from UK Biobank to perform time-independent clustering using topic modelling, and Latent Dirichlet Allocation specifically. We then propose a metric to measure how strongly a patient is "attracted" into any given cluster at any point through their medical history. By tracking how such gravitational pull changes over time, we may then be able to narrow the scope for potential interventions and preventative measures to specific clusters, without having to resort to full-fledged predictive modelling.In this preliminary work we show exemplars of these dynamic associations, which suggest that further exploration may lead to actionable insights into patients’ medical trajectories.
Educating children as sustainable citizen-consumers: A qualitative content analysis of sustainability education resources

ABSTRACT This paper explores how children (aged 7–11) in the UK are educated about sustainability and climate change, through exploring a sample of 155 learning resources from public, private and third sector organisations. Using qualitative content analysis, key codes captured a) how sustainability was represented; b) how responsibilities for sustainability are imagined and allocated within society; and c) how children are encouraged to act for sustainability. The paper shows how sustainability resources represent children as powerful agents of social change charged with the responsibility and means to change their (and their close relatives’) behaviour within the household and school. Drawing on critical debates about sustainability education, I argue these representations are problematic because they do not equip children with an understanding of the political and moral economies that shape their actions (or inactions) as citizens, nor provide them with opportunities to develop collaborative competencies.
A Novel Creatinine Muscle Index Based on Creatinine Filtration: Associations with Frailty and Mortality

Significance Statement Low muscle mass is related to frailty and increased mortality in older adults. However, muscle mass is not easily assessed in routine clinical practice. This paper describes a novel creatinine muscle index (CMI) on the basis of serum creatinine and cystatin C. CMI was moderately associated with frailty among older adults. A significantly higher proportion of individuals with weak grip strength were in the lowest tertile of CMI. The index was also associated with mortality. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that creatinine filtration may be an index of muscle mass, which may have utility in clinical practice. Background Low muscle mass is related to frailty and increased mortality in older adults. However, muscle mass is not easily assessed in routine clinical practice. Methods This study describes a novel creatinine muscle index (CMI) on the basis of serum creatinine and cystatin C in a community-based sample of older adults from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. Analyses included 4639 participants who attended visit 5 (2011–2013) and 12,786 participants who attended visit 2 (1990–1992). CMI was defined as creatinine filtration (the product of serum creatinine times eGFR on the basis of cystatin C) and was analyzed in sex-specific tertiles. Cross-sectional associations of CMI with a frailty trichotomy, defined by the number (robust [0]/prefrail [1–2]/frail [3–5]) of five frailty components (weight loss, slowness, exhaustion, weakness, and low physical activity), were studied using polychotomous logistic regression and binary logistic regression with each frailty component. Cox regression was used to estimate associations of CMI at visit 5 and visit 2 with mortality. Models were adjusted for demographics, clinical variables, and comorbid conditions. Results CMI (tertile 1 versus 3) was moderately associated with frailty (visit 5: adjusted odds ratio 4.23 [95% confidence interval (CI), 2.02 to 8.87] in men and 2.34 [95% CI, 1.41 to 3.89] in women) and with mortality (visit 5: adjusted hazard ratio 1.45 [95% CI, 1.08 to 1.94] in men and 1.55 [95% CI, 1.13 to 2.12] in women; similar results were seen at visit 2). Conclusion Lower CMI was associated with frailty and increased mortality, two clinical outcomes known to be associated with decreased muscle mass. Creatinine filtration may be an index of muscle mass and have utility in clinical practice, particularly at low levels.
Crystal growth in China

Crystal growth in China, with a history of about 1000 years, has been developing rapidly since the end of 1950. A powerful crystal growth community has been forming during the last three decades and many well-trained experts are now spread over the institutions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, universities, and industrial departments, each with its own characteristic. The crystal growth techniques have now reached a higher level. Almost all the artificial crystals needed for high tech in China today (including the major nonlinear optical crystals BGO, BBO, KTP, LiNbO3, KNbO3, and the KDP family which are now entering the international market) are grown. Combining theory with practice, China is now exploring new crystal materials. New nonlinear optical crystal BBO, LBO, LAP, organometallic complexes have been developed. Photorefractive crystal research and fundamental research based on crystal growth mechanisms and new physical effects are also under way, and Chinese researchers look to academic exchange and cooperation with worldwide crystal growth communities and applied industrial corporations.
The dependence of the brightness fluctuation distance indicator on stellar population age and metallicity

We describe how the extragalactic distance indicator L depends on stellar population age, metallicity, and IMF, assuming single-burst ages between 5 and 17 Gyr and metallicities between −0.5 and +0.5 dex. We consider Johnson/Cousins BVR C l C JHKLL'M passbands. We find that (1) L is insensitive to changes in IMF, (2) L can be reliably calibrated against colors or spectral indices, due to the similarity of the effects of age and metallicity on the stellar populations, (3) the calibration presented here may already give distances good to 10% for an isolated galaxy measured in one fluctuation passband and one color or spectral index, not including observational error, and (4) our theoretical results are consistent with the distance of M32 and with the latest empirical Ī calibration and require no empirical corrections
Look-Ahead Rolling Economic Dispatch Approach for Wind-Thermal-Bundled Power System Considering Dynamic Ramping and Flexible Load Transfer Strategy

With a wind-thermal-bundled power system (WTBPS) under high wind penetration levels, the sharp power fluctuations of tie-lines for interconnected grids trigger a significant challenge of security-constrained power system operation. Smoothing power fluctuations with economic dispatch is widely concerned against this challenge. In this paper, an appropriate look-ahead economic dispatch framework for WTBPS considering the variable ramp rate of retrofitted coal-fired units and the flexible load transfer strategy (LTS) in high voltage distribution networks (HVDNs) is proposed. To cope with this issue, i) we derive a new family of tightened ramping constraints of retrofitted coal-fired units in the linear and second-order conic (SOC) forms, respectively. ii) Using graph characterization of typical HVDNs, the simplified voltage-constrained LTS via topological structures can be developed. This proposed look-ahead economic dispatch model is cast as a mixed-integer second-order cone programming (MISOCP) problem, which can be reformulated by Multi-cut Generalized Benders Decomposition (MGBD). This MGBD enables multiple sub-problems can be solved in parallel and accelerates the solving process. Finally, simulation results of a large-scale practical system validate the computational accuracy and efficiency of the proposed approach.
Energy deposition by fast protons in pellet fusion targets

The energy loss of energetic protons in heavy metal targets is calculated at temperatures and densities of interest for pellet fusion. The contributions of bound and free electrons to the stopping power are considered. It is found that in the temperature range of interest the increase in the number of free electrons in the target plasma causes range shortening with increasing temperatures and specific volumes. In order to study this effect on the ablation process, a one‐dimensional calculation of the hydrodynamic flow with energy deposition was carried out.
Context and the interpretation of quantifiers of frequency

In this paper are reported four experiments which investigated the effects of context on the interpretation of quantifiers of frequency such as often and seldom. The proportion that a quantifier was assumed to signify was influenced by certain aspects of context, especially the expected frequency of the event or activity described. However, the order of presentation of the quantifiers, set size and the number of other quantifiers available produced no significant effects. It is concluded that caution must be exercised when interpreting the results of questionnaires which use such quantifiers. In addition, the difficulty of producing a scale of quantifiers with equal interval properties is clearly illustrated.
A 9-to-42-GHz High-Gain Low-Noise Amplifier Using Coupled Interstage Feedback in 0.15-μm GaAs pHEMT Technology

This article presents a 3-stage millimeter-wave low-noise amplifier (LNA) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) design for broadband applications. The proposed structure consists of cascading common-source (CS) LNA with coupled interstage feedback (CIF) paths at the second and third stages. By tuning the coupling factor and the inductance of the CIF, enhanced overall gain and extended working bandwidth can be achieved simultaneously. The proposed CIF formed by a simple on-chip edge-coupled parallel metal-lines features small size and high flexibility. To facilitate circuit design and optimization, an equivalent circuit for the proposed CIF structure is developed. Besides, to address the trade-off between impedance matching and noise performance, a noise matching strategy focusing more on higher frequencies is presented to achieve good noise performance. With the proposed techniques, an LNA prototype is demonstrated in a commercial 0.15- $\mu \text{m}$ GaAs E-mode pHEMT process. The fabricated LNA has a die size of 1.15 mm2 and DC power consumption of 109 mW. The measurement results show a peak gain of 25.6 dB with a 3-dB bandwidth of 9~42 GHz, the minimal noise figure (NF) of 1.91 dB, a group delay of 68.7± 20.5 ps, and 20.8 dBm best OIP3 under 2.0-V VDD.