Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Colloquium : Understanding quantum weak values: Basics and applications

The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USAand Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada(published 28 March 2014)Since its introduction 25 years ago, the quantum weak value has gradually transitioned from atheoretical curiosity to a practical laboratory tool. While its utility is apparent in the recent explosionof weak value experiments, its interpretation has historically been a subject of confusion. Here apragmaticintroductiontotheweakvalueintermsofmeasurablequantitiesispresented,alongwithanexplanation for how it can be determined in the laboratory. Further, its application to three distinctexperimental techniques is reviewed. First, as a large interaction parameter it can amplify smallsignals above technical background noise. Second, as a measurable complex value it enables noveltechniques for direct quantum state and geometric phase determination. Third, as a conditionedaverage of generalized observable eigenvalues it provides a measurable window into nonclassicalfeaturesofquantummechanics.Inthisselectivereview,asingleexperimentalconfigurationtodiscussand clarify each of these applications is used.
High-sensitivity cardiac troponin and natriuretic peptide with risk of lower-extremity peripheral artery disease: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study

Aims Cardiac troponin T (cTnT) is suggested as a predictor of amputation in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). However, cTnT-PAD association has not been systematically studied in a large study. This study evaluated the association of high-sensitivity cTnT (hs-cTnT) with PAD incidence and also explored whether natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), another representative cardiac marker, predicts PAD risk. Methods and results Among 12 288 middle-aged adults, the associations of hs-cTnT and NT-proBNP with incident PAD (hospitalizations with PAD diagnosis or leg revascularization [cases with rest pain or tissue loss considered as critical limb ischaemia (CLI)]) were quantified with multivariable Cox regression models. The risk discrimination was assessed by c-statistic. During a follow-up over 22 years, 454 participants developed PAD (164 CLI cases). In demographically adjusted models, the highest category of hs-cTnT (≥14 vs. <3 ng/L) and NT-proBNP (≥258.3 vs. <51.5 pg/mL) showed ∼8- and 10-20-fold higher risk of PAD and CLI, respectively. Even after adjusting for potential confounders and each other, hazard ratios were greater for CLI than for PAD (7.74 95% confidence interval [95% CI 4.43-13.55] vs. 2.84 [2.02-4.00] for the highest vs. reference hs-cTnT category and 4.63 [2.61-8.23] vs. 3.16 [2.23-4.49] for the highest vs. reference NT-proBNP category). The addition of these cardiac markers improved c-statistics for CLI. Conclusion High-sensitivity cTnT and NT-proBNP were independently associated with incident PAD, particularly its severe form, CLI. Although future studies are warranted to investigate pathophysiological mechanisms behind these associations, our study suggests the usefulness of cardiac markers to identify individuals at high risk of CLI.
Superior self‐cleaning features on wool fabric using TiO2/Ag nanocomposite optimized by response surface methodology

Wool fabrics with superior self-cleaning properties produced using titanium dioxide/silver nanocomposite. The TiO2/Ag nanocomposite first synthesized under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and sonication and then applied on wool fabrics along with citric acid (CA) as a crosslinking agent to stabilize the nanoparticles on the wool surface. The optimum conditions of different properties of the treated wool fabrics obtained using response surface methodology as a statistical method. The role of three independent variables including titanium dioxide/silver nanocomposite (TiO2/Ag), CA, and sodium hypophosphite evaluated to optimize the processing conditions. Fabrics color variation determined after irradiation with three diverse UV sources including sunlight, UV-A, and UV-C rays. Increasing the concentration of TiO2/Ag nanocomposite increased the color removal and decreased the water absorption time. Further, increasing the concentration of CA led to increase adsorption of TiO2/Ag nanocomposite on the fabric surface improved self-cleaning features of treated wool fabrics. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012
Density Functional Methods in the Statistical Mechanics of Materials

▪ Abstract Methods of density functional theory in statistical mechanics have been applied extensively over the past 15 years to problems in the equilibrium and dynamic properties of materials. They allow the incorporation of microscopic atomic and molecular forces at a much lower computational cost than direct simulation. This review discusses recent advances in the calculation of density functionals for materials, with particular emphasis on fluids at walls and in porous media, on crystal nucleation and growth from the melt, and on complex fluids and biomolecules. The extension of equilibrium density functional methods to approximate theories of phase transition dynamics is emphasized.
Influence of intraoperative remifentanil and sufentanil on sensory perception: a randomized trial

Abstract Objective: The clinical relevance of pro- and hyperalgesic effects of opioids is still a matter of debate. Particularly for remifentanil, an increased postoperative need for analgesics has been demonstrated suggesting opioid-induced hyperalgesia as a possible cause. The aim of the study was therefore to investigate the effect of intraoperatively applied remifentanil compared to sufentanil on somatosensory thresholds investigated with the quantitative sensory testing (QST) battery of the German Research Network on Neuropathic Pain (DFNS). Research design and methods: Twenty-three patients undergoing surgery of the female breast were randomly assigned to intraoperative remifentanil (0.4 μg × kg−1 × min−1) or sufentanil (0.25 μg × kg−1 bolus, 0.15 μg × kg−1, repetition after 60 min) application. Anesthesia was maintained BIS-guided (Bispectral indexTM) with propofol and postoperative analgesia was ensured with paracetamol (max. 3 g/24 h). Quantitative sensory testing was performed in the region of dermatome Th 5 in the mid-axillary line preoperatively and 20 h postoperatively. Clinical Trial registration: The study was registered at the German registry for clinical studies (DRKS00009002). Main outcome measures: Comparison of somatosensory thresholds before versus after surgery and application of intraoperative remifentanil or sufentanil. Results: Sixteen patients could be finally included in the analysis. No differences of mechanical or thermal detection or pain thresholds were observed between pre- and postoperative testing or between remifentanil and sufentanil. Conclusion: A change of somatosensory thresholds or a clinically relevant opioid-induced hyperalgesia in the selected small patient sample (segmental resections or mastectomy with or without sentinel lymph node biopsy, surgery length <90 minutes, sufficient postoperative pain medication with paracetamol due to rather low postoperative pain intensities) with remifentanil or sufentanil was not detected 20 h after surgery.
Symptom burden and self-management in persons with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Purpose Self-management is crucial for effective COPD management. This study aimed at identifying associations between self-management and sociodemographic characteristics, clinical characteristics, and symptom burden in people with COPD. Patients and methods In this cross-sectional study with 225 participants diagnosed with COPD grades II–IV, multiple linear regression analysis was conducted, using sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and symptom burden (COPD Assessment Test) as the independent variables and the eight self-management domains of the Health Education Impact Questionnaire (heiQ) as the outcome variables. Results Higher symptom burden was significantly associated with worse scores in all self-management domains (p<0.003), except for self-monitoring and insight (p=0.012). Higher disease severity (p=0.004) and numbers of comorbidities (p<0.001) were associated with more emotional distress, and women scored higher than men on positive and active engagement in life (p=0.001). Higher score in pack-years smoking was associated with lower score in health-directed activities (p=0.006) and self-monitoring and insight (p<0.001), and participation in organized physical training was associated with higher score in health-directed activities (p<0.001). The final models explained 3.7%–31.7% of variance (adjusted R2) across the eight heiQ scales. Conclusion A notable finding of this study was that higher symptom burden was associated with worse scores in all self-management domains, except for self-monitoring and insight. In addition, sex, disease severity, comorbidity, pack-years smoking, and participation in organized physical training were associated with one or two self-management domains. The study contributes to improved understanding of self-management in COPD. However, the explained variance levels indicate that more research needs to be done to uncover what else explains self-management domains in COPD.
Workspaces in the Semantic Web

Due to the recency and relatively limited adoption of Semantic Web technologies. practical issues related to technology scaling have received less attention than foundational issues. Nonetheless, these issues must be addressed if the Semantic Web is to realize its full potential. In particular, we concentrate on the lack of scoping methods that reduce the size of semantic information spaces so they are more efficient to work with and more relevant to an agent's needs. We provide some intuition to motivate the need for such reduced information spaces, called workspaces, give a formal definition, and suggest possible methods of deriving them.
Secular trends in growth

Since the 19th century there have been clearly documented secular trends to increasing adult height in most European countries, with current rates of 10–30 mm / decade. Over the same period menarcheal age has also fallen steeply, but has now stabilized at approximately 13 years and may be rising again. Height trends tend to be greater in childhood than in adulthood due to the associated advance in maturation, but no trends are apparent before the age of 2 years. In particular, birth-weight trends are small and different in shape from height trends. The adult height trend matches that at age 2 years, so that the increment in adult height has already been achieved by age 2 years. To try to identify factors relating to the secular trend, increased height gain in late infancy is hypothesized to be equivalent to a reduction in stunting, and stunting is thought to be caused by impaired growth in the long bones of the leg in later infancy. Leg growth may be regulated by the expression of growth-hormone receptors on the growth plates, which it is hypothesized are susceptible to the interaction between concurrent nutrition and the nominal growth rate set during pregnancy. The timing of menarche is also likely to be determined by some growth factor operating near the time of birth, which also affects later weight, but not height.
Adaptive Resource Management for Distributed Data Analytics based on Container-level Cluster Monitoring

Many distributed data analysis jobs are executed repeatedly in production clusters. Examples include daily executed batch jobs and iterative programs. These jobs present an opportunity to learn workload characteristics through continuous fine-grained cluster monitoring. Therefore, based on detailed profiles of resource utilization, data placement, and job runtimes, resource management can in fact adapt to actual workloads. In this paper, we present a system architecture that contains four mechanisms for an adaptive resource management, encompassing data placement, resource allocation, and container as well as job scheduling. In particular, we extended Apache Hadoop’s scheduling and data placement to improve resource utilization and job runtimes for recurring analytics jobs. Furthermore, we developed a Hadoop submission tool that allows users to reserve resources for specific target runtimes and which uses historical data available from cluster monitoring
A numerical model of grain growth

Abstract A numerical model for grain growth has been developed. The governing equations for the model are derived from a variational principle that enforces the balance between energy dissipation and changes of internal energy. This approach significantly simplifies previous modelling of grain growth by replacing a curved grain boundary with several straight lines and relaxing constraints on triple point angles. Such simplifications provide a basis for a finite element method by reducing the analysis of a complex network of interconnected curved lines to the motion of interacting points. In the finite element formulation two approaches are used, namely an element based formulation and a node based formulation. In the latter case, the properties of the elements are lumped together at their common nodes. Such an approach allows the nodal velocity to be determined independently of the forces on other nodes in a lumped mobility methodology, leading to a further reduction of computer time. Several planar grain networks of Voronoi polygons have been studied. The evolution of the grain structures determined from these two approaches is found to exhibit the same trends as those obtained using other models published in the literature. Owing to its simplicity, the node based formulation is recommended.
Screen-Printed Silicon Solar Cells with LCP Selective Emitters

Fully functional large area screen-printed multi-crystalline silicon solar cells with Laser Chemical Processing (LCP) selective emitters were obtained for the first time. Solar cell efficiencies between 14.4 and 15.2 % were achieved. The absolute efficiency gain of 0.3 %abs was obtained by the application of the LCP process on the lowly doped (120 Ω/sq) emitter in comparison to reference solar cell without the LCP process. The application of the LCP selective emitter increased the fill factor of the solar cells in comparison to the reference solar cells. The efficiency gain of these first solar cells proves the concept of applying the LCP to the standard solar cell structure. However, the overall efficiency was strongly limited by the large width of the metal fingers and the resulting shading and contact recombination losses. Also the non-optimized metal finger distance is limiting the FF of the solar cells with high emitter sheet resistance. Thus the efficiency of the solar cells with lowly doped emitter was lower than in the case of highly doped emitter. A detailed characterization of the processed solar ells is presented.
CRACK MODELING OF ASPHALTIC MIXTURES CONSIDERING HETEROGENEITY OF THE MATERIAL

Cracking in the asphaltic layer of pavement has been shown to be a major source of distress in roadways. Previous studies in asphaltic mixture cracking have typically not considered the material heterogeneity. This paper presents a numerical method of analysis, based on the theory of fracture mechanics, in which the binder and the aggregates are treated as distinct materials. The simulations performed are verified and calibrated from simple and conventional laboratory tests. The study investigates crack evolution under monotonic loading, even though the method outlined can be further developed for the investigation of asphalt mixture fatigue. The approach discussed is part of a multiscale framework for pavement analysis, in which the damage due to cracking in the local scale can be considered in a global analysis at the actual pavement scale.
Brain cancer cluster investigation around a factory emitting dichloromethane

Background The health risks associated with dichloromethane (DCM) for the general population living near industrial activities have not yet been quantified, primarily due to lack of epidemiological datasets. In the absence of such human data, we undertook a cancer cluster investigation in Cyprus around a historically using DCM plant producing shoe soles that were globally exported. We designed the methodology to investigate the possible existence of a cancer cluster in the area around the factory (point zero) and within a radius of 500 meters. Methods A retrospective comparative population study was designed using a group of cancer patients living or working in the chosen geographical area around the factory. Results Mean stack emissions of DCM of 88 mg/Nm3 and flow rates of 850 g/h exceeded the permissible DCM limits established for industrial zones. Brain and central nervous system (CNS) cancer incidence rates showed significant (P < 0.001) increase in the study area around the plant when compared with those observed in other areas of Cyprus. Calculated standardized incidence ratios for brain/CNS after adjusting for the age at diagnosis ranged from 11.3-25.7 [mean 6.5 (3.02 : 12.3)] for the study area. Conclusions We showed the association between chronic, unintentional DCM exposures and brain/CNS cancer cases for the general population located in a residential area being in close proximity with a plant historically emitting DCM.
Production and harvesting of microalgae biomass from wastewater: a critical review

The wide range of microalgae applications has increased in the last decade, due to their importance as the source of biofuel and biomass. The potential of wastewater as a culture media lies in the presence of high contents of nutrients and elements required to improve the growth of microalgae and, thus, the high quantity of biomass. However, these properties might be the limitations in the harvesting of microalgae biomass from wastewater. This review discussed the potential of wastewater as the production media for biomass and focused on the harvesting methods, because it represented a major challenge in the quality and quantity of microalgal cells. It can be concluded that among several technologies used for harvesting microalgae biomass from wastewater, the natural flocculant method was the most efficient due to the absence of toxic by-products and secondary effects on the quality of biomass yield, as well as the high biomass quantity.
Protein kinase Cα stimulates hypoxia-induced pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell proliferation in rats through activating the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 pathway

Hypoxic pulmonary hypertension (HPH) may contribute to vascular remodeling, and pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell (PASMC) proliferation has an important role in this process. However, no relevant information concerning the role and mechanism of protein kinase C (PKC)α in hypoxia-induced rat PASMC proliferation has been elucidated. The present study aimed to further investigate this by comparison of rat PASMC proliferation among normoxia for 72 h (21% O2), hypoxia for 72 h (3% O2), hypoxia + promoter 12-myristate 13-acetate control, hypoxia + safingol control, hypoxia + PD98059 control and hypoxia + U0126 control groups. The present study demonstrated that protein expression levels of PKCα in rat PASMCs were elevated. In conclusion, through activating the extracellular signal-regulated 1/2 signaling pathway, PKCα is involved in and initiates PASMC proliferation, thus bringing about pulmonary artery hypertension. These results add to the understanding of the mechanism PKCα in PH formation and lays a theoretical basis for prevention as well as treatment of HPH.
Migration, Virulence, and the Geographic Mosaic of Adaptation by Parasites

The geographic mosaic theory of coevolution is predicated on structured populations of interacting species where gene flow and the force of selection can vary among populations, leading to a mosaic of traits in space. Here, I briefly review some recent studies of adaptation by a sterilizing parasite to structured populations of a freshwater snail. The results show geographic structure as expected under the geographic mosaic model. I then consider the effects of virulence and migration on local adaptation by parasites using a computer simulation. The results suggest that high virulence and low migration contribute to the strength of local adaptation by parasites. Highly virulent parasites showed adaptation to local hosts for migration rates of up to 10% of the population per generation. In addition, because of the dynamic nature of host‐parasite coevolution, the magnitude of local adaptation fluctuates over time. During some points in the cycle, parasites may be no more effective at infecting individuals from local host populations, even though they would be shown to be locally adapted if examined over enough generations. Contrary to expectation, parasite local adaptation was not affected by giving the parasite a longer generation time than the host, but differences in local selection intensities had a dramatic effect.
Methanol induces cytosolic calcium variations, membrane depolarization and ethylene production in arabidopsis and tobacco

Background and Aims Methanol is a volatile organic compound released from plants through the action of pectin methylesterases (PMEs), which demethylesterify cell wall pectins. Plant PMEs play a role in developmental processes but also in responses to herbivory and infection by fungal or bacterial pathogens. However, molecular mechanisms that explain how methanol could affect plant defences remain poorly understood. Methods Using cultured cells and seedlings from Arabidopsis thaliana and tobacco BY2 expressing the apoaequorin gene, allowing quantification of cytosolic Ca2+, a reactive oxygen species (ROS) probe (CLA, Cypridina luciferin analogue) and electrophysiological techniques, we followed early plant cell responses to exogenously supplied methanol applied as a liquid or as volatile. Key Results Methanol induces cytosolic Ca2+ variations that involve Ca2+ influx through the plasma membrane and Ca2+ release from internal stores. Our data further suggest that these Ca2+ variations could interact with different ROS and support a signalling pathway leading to well known plant responses to pathogens such as plasma membrane depolarization through anion channel regulation and ethylene synthesis. Conclusions Methanol is not only a by-product of PME activities, and our data suggest that [Ca2+]cyt variations could participate in signalling processes induced by methanol upstream of plant defence responses.
Safeguarding against Romance Scams - using Protection Motivation Theory

Online dating offers new opportunities for individuals to seek a romantic partner; however, the platform has also been exploited by criminals seeking to perpetrate scams, classified as online dating (romance) fraud. These are arguably one of the most distressing frauds, as victims suffer both financially and emotionally. Thus, this emergent issue has fielded increasing attention from diverse disciplines, though research still remains limited – in particular, investigation of romance fraud from a risk mitigation and information systems (IS) approach has been neglected. This study begins to address these shortfalls by utilising Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) as a framework for understanding the factors and processes underlying intention to use protective tools safeguarding against online dating (OD) scams. The results of Partial Least Squares analysis showed the perceptions and importance of PMT factors differs among protection mechanisms, highlighting the need to better understand and thus enhance the mechanisms based on empirical evidence. Additionally, an online dater‘s assessment of the protective mechanism (and protective response) generally has a greater influence on adopting protective behaviour, than the evaluation of the scam itself.