Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
System Noise in the NESDIS TOVS Forward Model. Part II: Consequences

Abstract To utilize satellite radiance sounding data, in either explicit or implicit retrieval algorithms, a proper understanding of the noise in the measurements is required. Conventionally, to define the expected accuracy of atmospheric profiles inferred from sounder data, instrument noise equivalent temperature difference (NEΔT) noise specifications have been used to simulate spacecraft data. Here it is demonstrated that NEΔT noise specifications are inappropriate for this purpose. Instead, total system noise estimates should be employed since use of sounding data in any type of physical retrieval algorithm implies application of a radiative transfer model, which in turn must be “calibrated” against in situ and satellite data. It is demonstrated that the accuracy of atmospheric retrievals inferred from the TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder radiometers is limited by the total system noise rather than NEΔT noise, and that modeled radiance temperatures perturbed by Gaussian total system noise very nearly.
A Decorated Parallel Coordinate Plot for Categorical Longitudinal Data

This article proposes a decorated parallel coordinate plot for longitudinal categorical data, featuring a jitter mechanism revealing the diversity of observed longitudinal patterns and allowing the tracking of each individual pattern, variable point and line widths reflecting weighted pattern frequencies, the rendering of simultaneous events, and different filter options for highlighting typical patterns. The proposed visual display has been developed for describing and exploring the order of event occurrences, but it can be equally applied to other types of longitudinal categorical data. Alongside the description of the principle of the plot, we demonstrate the scope of the plot with a real dataset. A second application and R code for the plot are available online as supplementary materials.
Design, synthesis, and in silico study of hybrid oxoazetidine conjugated thiazoles as anti‐EGFR with cytotoxicity activity

We report a series of hybrid oxoazetidine conjugated thiazoles as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors, which were synthesized and tested using a variety of in silico and in vitro studies. The compounds were found to be active against breast and hepatic cancer cell lines, with Compounds 7a, 7b, and 7e being the most potent ones. The derivatives were also evaluated for molecular docking and complementarity studies to explicate fundamental substituent groups essential for their bioactivity. Moreover, the structural activity relationship of the analogues was performed for future compound optimization. These studies advocated that the analogues have a high affinity towards EGFR with favorable anticancer potential. The study advised that the derivatives have potency against breast and hepatic cancer and can assist as an initial scaffold for further development of anti‐EGFR compounds.
Quality index based on fatty acids for Syrian pistachio cultivars (Pistacia vera L.) grown in Mascara (North-West of Algeria)

Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) is one of the most important hard-shelled nuts all over the world. Pistachio has a very high nutritional value with its quality index based on fatty acids composition, protein, mineral, vitamin-E, and antioxidant contents. In the current study, fatty acids values of the Syrian pistachio varieties cultivated in Algeria (‘Adjmi’, ‘Bayadhi’, ‘Batouri’, ‘Achouri,’ and ‘Neb-djemel’) were detected for the first time. Oil extraction of cultivars was performed using n-hexane in a Soxhlet apparatus, and the fatty acids composition of the oil was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with a flame ionization detector (GC/FID) in the methyl ester form. The fatty acid composition of the pistachio cultivars was detected as: palmitic acid (8.23 % ± 0.36 to 9.49 % ± 0.07), palmitoleic acid (0.10 % ± 0.02 to 0.62 % ± 0.24), stearic acid (0.67 % ± 0.04 to 1.40 % ± 0.18), oleic acid (56.35 % ± 2.13 to 61.90 % ± 1.07), linoleic acid (19.48 % ± 0.27 to 26.76 ± 0.55) and linolenic acid (0.390 % ± 0, 03 to 0.59 % ± 0.01) in all samples. The results demonstrated that the five pistachio cultivars were rich in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) (56.9 7% ± 1.88 to 62.10 % ± 1.02) and moderately low in saturated fatty acids (SFA) (9.90 % ± 0.04 to 10.37 % ± 0.23). ‘Adjmi’ has fatty acid composition lower than the other cultivars statically. Oleic acid value was determined higher than other fatty acid components. In the current study, the fat and fatty acid components of pistachio cultivars were determined and the results of this study can be used for future pistachio breeding programs.
Low kV rotational 3D x-ray imaging for improved CNR of iodine contrast agent

The contrast of iodine to soft tissue (water) decreases with higher tube voltage in reconstructed 3D X-ray images. Improved acquisition protocols with a tube voltage of about 80 kV for imaging iodine have been proposed earlier for diagnostic CT imaging. We investigate the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and the CNR-to-dose ratio (CDR) for different concentrations of iodinated contrast agent inserts in water background. The tube voltage of the protocol is lowered from 123 kV to 83 kV in 10 kV steps. Measurements with 16 different settings of tube voltage, current and Copper (Cu) filter settings are investigated. The weighted computed tomography dose index (CTDIW) for the new protocol settings is measured. Four protocols with tube voltages between 83 kV and 103 kV and similar X-ray dose are compared to the original protocol. An iodine-water contrast phantom, containing a water filled cylinder with 5 tubes of different mixtures of iodine contrast agent inside a 32 cm PMMA ring, is imaged with each protocol. Increased contrast of the iodine filled tubes to the water background is clearly visible in the reconstructed volumes for lower tube voltage and less copper filtering. The CNR increased by about 100% for the 83 kV protocols compared to 123 kV and the dose utility in terms of the CDR even by 350%. The best results are obtained with the (83 kV, 561 mA, 0.4 mm Cu) - protocol. This protocol may improve iodine contrast agent visibility in various 3D imaging applications. For large patients a higher tube voltage, e.g. the (103 kV, 325 mA, 0.4 mm Cu) - protocol, may be used to avoid tube power limitations at 83 kV. This protocol still has improved iodine contrast compared to the 123 kV protocol and a larger tube power reserve.
Experimental studies of linear quadratic regulator (LQR) cost matrices weighting to control an accurate take-off position of bicopter unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)

Controller design for airplane flight control is challenged to achieve an optimum result, particularly for safety purposes. The experiment evaluated the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) method to research the optimal gain of proportional-integral-derivative (PID) to hover accurately the bicopter model by minimizing error. The 3 degree of freedom (DOF) helicopter facility is a suitable bicopter experimental simulator to test its complex multiple input multiple output (MIMO) flight control model to respond to the challenge of multipurpose drone control strategies. The art of LQR setting is how to search for appropriate cost matrices scaling to optimize results. This study aims to accurately optimize take-off position control of the bicopter model by investigating LQR cost matrices variation in actual experiments. From the experimental results of weighted matrix variation on the bicopter simulator, the proposed LQR method has been successfully applied to achieve asymptotic stability of roll angle, although it yielded a significant overshoot. Moreover, the overshoot errors had good linearity to weighting variation. Despite that, the implementation of cost matrices is limited in the real bicopter experiment, and there are appropriate values for achieving an optimal accuracy. Moreover, the unstable step response of the controlled angle occurred because of excessive weighting.
Examination of Prospective Teachers' Creative Comparisons for the Concept of "Science Education" in Terms of Various Variables

Determination of prospective teachers' metaphoric perceptions of science education will contribute to the more effective and efficient organization of science education and the organize and structure of its teaching. In this aspect, this research aimed at determining prospective teachers' metaphoric perceptions toward science education in terms of various variables. This research was conducted on 301 prospective teachers. In this research, a phenomenological study, which is one of the qualitative research designs, was adopted. A creative comparison form was used as a data collection tool. The content analysis method, which is one of the qualitative data analysis methods, was used to analyze the collected data. As a result of this study, the creative comparisons of prospective teachers for science education were gathered under 5 categories: emotion, color, game, transportation vehicle, and technological tool. Prospective teachers produced several metaphors according to these categories. And some suggestions were made based on the results.
Savoring as an intervention for cannabis use: acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary results

Abstract Although savoring appears protective against cannabis problems, researchers have yet to apply it to reduce cannabis-related harms. Study I surveyed a large (N = 557, M age = 36.9, 50.1% Male, 73% White) sample who rated a hypothetical savoring intervention as feasible and acceptable; those who savored more reported fewer cannabis problems, less use, and less intoxication. Study II, a pilot experiment (N = 26, M age = 18, 34.6% Male, 42% White), randomly assigned participants to either a week-long savoring intervention (n = 15) or control group (n = 11). Savorers reported moderate to large decreases across time in cannabis use, amount consumed, and intoxication as well as increases in happiness and negative cannabis expectancies. Both studies suggest that savoring can reduce use and protect against negative outcomes. These preliminary findings suggest that further work to examine the efficacy of savoring as an intervention for substance use appears warranted.
Feedback control of von Kármán vortex shedding behind a circular cylinder at low Reynolds numbers

A computational study of the feedback control of von Karman vortex shedding behind a circular cylinder at low Reynolds numbers is reported. The two‐dimensional Navier–Stokes equations with feedback are solved numerically. The control actuators are a pair of blowing/suction slots located at ±110° from the leading stagnation point. A single feedback sensor is used and the actuators are 180° out of phase with each other. Complete suppression of vortex shedding is achieved for the simulation at Reynolds number Re=60. The suppression window in the feedback sensor location xs is narrow. With the feedback sensor location fixed at the optimum location, vortex shedding becomes suppressed with increasing feedback gain α. However, further increase of the feedback gain destabilizes the flow again. At Reynolds number Re=80, and above, the feedback control stabilizes the primary vortex shedding mode, but a secondary mode which may be lower or higher in frequency than the primary depending upon the phase of the feedback.
Fast inhomogeneous plane wave algorithm for the fast analysis of two‐dimensional scattering problems

A novel algorithm, the fast inhomogeneous plane wave algorithm (FIPWA), has been developed to accelerate the solution of integral equations pertinent to the analysis of the scattering from two‐dimensional perfect electric conducting surfaces. Unlike the fast steepest descent path algorithm, the proposed technique directly interpolates the far‐field pattern of the source group and matches it along a modified steepest descent path. A novel approach, which results in a diagonal translator with built‐in interpolation coefficients, is proposed. The computational complexity per matrix‐vector multiplication of a two‐level implementation of the proposed FIPWA is O(N4/3) and the multilevel implementation further reduces the complexity to O(NlogN), where N is the number of unknowns in the discretized integral equation. It is shown that this technique outperforms the previously developed fast methods such as the fast mulitpole method and the ray‐propagation fast multipole algorithm.
Equilibrium Stranski-Krastanow and Volmer-Weber models

An equilibrium random surface model in 3d is defined which includes versions of both the Stranski-Krastanow and Volmer-Weber models of crystal surface morphology. In a limiting case, the model reduces to one studied previously in a different context for which exact results are available in part of the phase diagram, including the critical temperature, the associated specific heat singularity and the geometrical character of the transition. Through a connection to the 2d Ising model, there is a natural association with the Schramm-Loewner evolution that has also been observed experimentally in a nonequilibrium deposition setting.
A simple model for the efficient correction of collimator blur in 3D SPECT imaging

The problem of performing an efficient compensation of collimator blur in the three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of SPECT data acquired in parallel beam geometry is tackled. An approximate model for data acquisition is developed, which leads to the construction of the corresponding projector-backprojector pair. In order to perform some numerical tests, the model is customized to a state-of-the-art neuro-SPECT scanner, which is supplied with a three-segmented parallel beam collimator. Some reconstruction algorithms based on this customization are presented and their results are compared, in terms of quality and timing requirements, with the outcome generated by the corresponding fully 3D model. According to this numerical simulation, where voxel-driven (back-)projectors are used, the conclusion can be drawn that the approximate model produces reconstructions as good as the ones generated by the fully 3D model in a time which is one order of magnitude shorter. In the case that (back-)projectors based on the rotation of the emission matrix are used, the proposed approximate model is evaluated to be about four times faster than the corresponding fully 3D model.
Risk-sensitive linear/quadratic/gaussian control

The conventional linear/quadratic/Gaussian assumptions are modified in that minimisation of the expectation of cost G defined by (2) is replaced by minimisation of the criterion function (5). The scalar –θ is a measure of risk-aversion. It is shown that modified versions of certainty equivalence and the separation theorem still hold, that optimal control is still linear Markov, and state estimate generated by a version of the Kalman filter. There are also various new features, remarked upon in Sections 5 and 7. The paper generalises earlier work of Jacobson.
Design of a novel multicore optical fibre for imaging and beam delivery in endoscopy

With the ever-increasing prevalence of minimally invasive procedures (MIP) in the medical world, the designing of endoscopes, essential in MIP, becomes more and more challenging. As the continuous and ubiquitous need for miniaturization is starting to outmatch the possibilities offered by the combination of conventional fibre optics and micro-optics, novel approaches are necessary in order to ensure the advancement of endoscopy and consequently of MIP. In conventional fibre bundles the phase-relation between cores is not conserved during the propagation of an electrical field and as such extra micro-optics at the distal end are necessary in order to be able to focus or scan the exiting light or achieve a certain field of view (FOV). In this paper we analyze the requirements and constraints for a multi-core optical fibre (MCF) which conserves the phase relationship between the cores. With such a phase conserving MCF, focusing and scanning light at the distal end could be done by shaping the wavefront through adaptive optics before coupling the light into the fibre therefore making extra micro-optics superfluous. Using numerical and mode solving simulations we investigate the relationship between the size, the period and the numerical aperture of the cores on the one hand and the focal point and field of view on the other hand. We show that there is a non-circumventable trade-off between intercore crosstalk and the FOV. In addition, we determine the effects on the focusing ability and on the FOV of deviations of core size and period, due to fabrication errors. Using this knowledge, we propose two designs for the phase conserving MCF. The first design allows for focusing and scanning the exiting light but is sensitive to deviations in core size and separation. The second design is less sensitive to fabrication errors but can only focus and not sweep.
International Symposium on Radioimmunoassay and Related Procedures in Medicine

Title: International Symposium on Radioimmunoassay and Related Procedures in Medicine Date: 31 October to 4 November 1977 Location: Berlin (West) Organized by: International Atomic Energy Agency, Kärntner Ring 11, P.O. Box 590, A-1011 Vienna, Austria. Cable address: INATOM VIENNA; Telex No: 12 645. Scientific Secretary: E. H. Belcher, Medical Applications Section, IAEA Scope: This Symposium, the third to be organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency in the subject field, will like its predecessors entertain contributions on all aspects of radioligand assays in medicine, but will place emphasis on the current status of assays for hormones associated with thyroid function and for hormones involved in reproduction. It will also discuss the reliability of assays based on kits and consider advances in assays for drugs, vitamins, and other small molecules, assays for tumor-associated antigens, and assays relating to communicable diseases. Participation: Participation in the symposium, whether or not a paper will be presented, must be through designation by the Government of a Member State of the International Atomic Energy Agency or by an international organization invited to participate.
Augmentation of BMP Signaling in Cranial Neural Crest Cells Leads to Premature Cranial Sutures Fusion through Endochondral Ossification in Mice

Craniosynostosis is a congenital anomaly characterized by the premature fusion of cranial sutures. Sutures are a critical connective tissue that regulates bone growth; their aberrant fusion results in abnormal shapes of the head and face. The molecular and cellular mechanisms have been investigated for a long time, but knowledge gaps remain between genetic mutations and mechanisms of pathogenesis for craniosynostosis. We previously demonstrated that the augmentation of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling through constitutively active BMP type 1A receptor (caBmpr1a) in neural crest cells (NCCs) caused the development of premature fusion of the anterior frontal suture, leading to craniosynostosis in mice. In this study, we demonstrated that ectopic cartilage forms in sutures prior to premature fusion in caBmpr1a mice. The ectopic cartilage is subsequently replaced by bone nodules leading to premature fusion with similar but unique fusion patterns between two neural crest‐specific transgenic Cre mouse lines, P0‐Cre and Wnt1‐Cre mice, which coincides with patterns of premature fusion in each line. Histologic and molecular analyses suggest that endochondral ossification in the affected sutures. Both in vitro and in vivo observations suggest a greater chondrogenic capacity and reduced osteogenic capability of neural crest progenitor cells in mutant lines. These results suggest that the augmentation of BMP signaling alters the cell fate of cranial NCCs toward a chondrogenic lineage to prompt endochondral ossification to prematurely fuse cranial sutures. By comparing P0‐Cre;caBmpr1a and Wnt1‐Cre;caBmpr1a mice at the stage of neural crest formation, we found more cell death of cranial NCCs in P0‐Cre;caBmpr1a than Wnt1‐Cre;caBmpr1a mice at the developing facial primordia. These findings may provide a platform for understanding why mutations of broadly expressed genes result in the premature fusion of limited sutures. © 2022 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Optical and Electrical Characterizations of ZnMnO Thin Films on c-Al2O3

We have studied the manganese (Mn) composition dependence of the optical and electrical properties of ZnMnO thin films, which are grown on c-Al2O3 substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE). The lattice constant and grain size are estimated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and it is found that the lattice constant increases and the grain size decreases with increasing Mn composition. When more Mn is incorporated into the ZnMnO thin films, a blue shift of the absorption edges and photoluminescence emission peaks are observed. Hall measurement shows n-type conduction behavior for all the samples. The decrease in mobility might be related with the increase in the number of impurity scattering centers, and the decrease in the carrier concentration can be attributed to the carrier quenching effect induced by the deep-level defects. The ac electrical response of ZnMnO is studied by impedance spectroscopy (IS). The equivalent RC circuit and parameters of the grain and grain boundary are determined.
Legendre polynomial approach for modeling free-ultrasonic waves in multilayered plates

Modeled on the Laguerre polynomial approach used for surface acoustic waves, a formulation is presented for the study of free-acoustic wave propagation in layered plates. It uses the Legendre polynomials. Each layer can be of arbitrary anisotropy and piezoelectricity with arbitrary crystal orientation with the only restriction that the parameters of the constituent materials are close to each other. Formulations are given for open-circuit and short-circuit surfaces. Phase velocity dispersion curves, attenuations, power distributions, and field profiles are easily obtained from an algorithm easily implemented on a computer using commercial software. Numerical results are given for AlAs/GaAs multilayered structures which illustrate the capabilities of the described method. Its major advantages are: (i) in a unified formulation, all types of modes, surface modes, interface modes, and plate modes are naturally encompassed. (ii) Large values of the frequency-thickness product as compared to the values allowed .
Drops onto gradients of texture

Hydrophobic microtextures on solids provide water repellency: drops hardly stick on these materials and bounce off after impacts. Here we achieved solids decorated with a texture of variable density. Impacting water drops were observed to bounce off obliquely, demonstrating a transfer of vertical momentum in the horizontal direction, after rebound. This allows us to understand why vibrated drops move on such surface: an asymmetric dewetting takes place for each cycle of the vibration, which leads to an incremental drift of the liquid towards regions of high texture density.
Giant magnetoimpedance-based microchannel system for quick and parallel genotyping of human papilloma virus type 16/18

Quick and parallel genotyping of human papilloma virus (HPV) type 16/18 is carried out by a specially designed giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) based microchannel system. Micropatterned soft magnetic ribbon exhibiting large GMI ratio serves as the biosensor element. HPV genotyping can be determined by the changes in GMI ratio in corresponding detection region after hybridization. The result shows that this system has great potential in future clinical diagnostics and can be easily extended to other biomedical applications based on molecular recognition.