Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Astrometric and Photometric Standard Candidates for the Upcoming 4-m International Liquid Mirror Telescope Survey

The International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) is a 4-m class survey telescope that has recently achieved first light and is expected to swing into full operations by January 1, 2023. It scans the sky in a fixed [Formula: see text] wide strip centered at the declination of [Formula: see text] and works in Time Delay Integration (TDI) mode. We present a full catalog of sources in the ILMT strip that can serve as astrometric calibrators. The characteristics of the sources for astrometric calibration are extracted from Gaia EDR3 as it provides a very precise measurement of astrometric properties such as RA ([Formula: see text]), Dec ([Formula: see text]), parallax ([Formula: see text]), and proper motions ([Formula: see text] & [Formula: see text]). We have crossmatched the Gaia EDR3 with SDSS DR17 and PanSTARRS-1 (PS1) and supplemented the catalog with apparent magnitudes of these sources in [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] filters. We also present a catalog of spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) magnitudes that may serve as photometric calibrators. The catalogs generated are stored in an SQLite database for query-based access. We also report the offsets in equatorial positions compared to Gaia for an astrometrically calibrated TDI frame observed with the ILMT.
Realization and Tests of Prototype Fluxgate Magnetic Sensors for the ITER Neutral Beam Injectors

In the ITER neutral beam injectors (NBI), the presence of an external variable magnetic field generated by the ITER tokamak itself, could deflect the ion beam during acceleration and cause a loss of beam focusing. For this reason, the ion source, the accelerator and the neutralizer will be shielded from external magnetic field by means of a passive magnetic shield and a system of active correction and compensation coils (ACCC). The ACCC will operate in a feedback control loop and thus require the measurement of magnetic field inside the NBI vessel. Magnetic sensors for this application must be capable of measuring DC and slow variable magnetic fields, and be vacuum-compatible, radiation-hard and robust, since they will be subjected to neutron flux produced by fusion reactions in the tokamak and inaccessible for maintenance. This paper describes the realization and tests of fluxgate magnetic sensors prototypes specifically designed for this purpose before the installation in MITICA and ITER.
Investigating the Relation between the Gut Microbiota and Inflammatory Bowel Disease in a Mouse Model

Introduction: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of chronic gastrointestinal disorders affecting millions worldwide. Several factors are involved in developing this disease, but gut microbiota is known to be one of the most critical factors. This study investigated the relationship between gut microbiota and IBD in a mouse model. Methods: In this study, two methods were used: chemical induction with dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) and biological induction with stool from a human with IBD (fecal microbiota transplantation) to induce inflammation in the gut of mice. The gut microbiota populations in both groups were studied using real-time PCR. In addition, the serum levels of inflammatory cytokines and the colon tissues of the mice were analyzed
Light-Induced Flavonoid Biosynthesis in Sinopodophyllum hexandrum with High-Altitude Adaptation

Sinopodophyllum hexandrum is a perennial alpine herb producing the anti-cancer metabolite podophyllotoxin (PPT). Although the adaptation of S. hexandrum to high altitudes has been demonstrated and the effects of temperature, precipitation, and UV-B light on plant growth and metabolite accumulation have been studied, knowledge on the role of flavonoid biosynthesis in adapting to high altitudes is limited. In this study, light intensity, amount and type of flavonoids, and differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) and genes (DEGs) at 2300 and 3300 m were analyzed by HPLC, proteomic, transcriptomic, and qRT-PCR analysis. We found that higher light intensity correlated with greater flavonoid, flavonol, and anthocyanin content as well as higher anthocyanin to total flavonoid and flavonol ratios observed at the higher altitude. Based on proteomic and transcriptomic analyses, nine DEPs and 41 DEGs were identified to be involved in flavonoid biosynthesis and light response at 3300 m. The relative expression of nine genes (PAL, CHS1, IFRL, ANS, MYB4, BHLH137, CYP6, PPO1, and ABCB19) involved in flavonoid biosynthesis and seven genes (HSP18.1, HSP70, UBC4, ERF5, ERF9, APX3, and EX2) involved in light stress were observed to be up-regulated at 3300 m compared with 2300 m. These findings indicate that light intensity may play a regulatory role in enhancing flavonoid accumulation that allows S. hexandrum to adapt to elevated-altitude coupled with high light intensity.
Public Opinions on Stray Cats in China, Evidence from Social Media Data

Simple Summary Stray cat management is often under public discussion because of different perceptions toward these animals. Accordingly, understanding public opinions on stray cats is important for devising management strategies. Using user-generated content (UGC) from Weibo (Chinese Tweet), this study analyzed public opinions on stray cats for five topics: (1) human-stray cat interactions, (2) stray cat-related welfare, (3) public nuisances, (4) ecological impacts, and (5) actions to be taken for stray cat management. Results indicated that people’s interactions with and attitudes to these animals were distinct. Management implications were proposed based on the detailed results. Abstract The management of stray cats is often contentious because public perceptions about these animals are different. Using user-generated content from Weibo, this study investigated Chinese citizens’ opinions on stray cats on a large scale. Through the techniques of natural language processing, we obtained each Weibo post’s topics and sentiment propensity. The results showed that: (1) there were some irresponsible feeding behaviors among citizens; (2) public perceptions of the ecological impacts caused by stray cats were unlike; (3) the trap-neuter-return (TNR) method served high support in public discussion; (4) knowledge about stray cats’ ecological impacts was positively correlated with support for the lethal control methods in management. Based on these findings, we suggested that management policies should be dedicated to (1) communicating to the (potential) cat feeders about the negative aspects of irresponsible feeding behaviors; (2) raising “ecological awareness” campaigns for the public as well as highlighting the environmental impacts caused by stray cats; (3) understanding citizens’ perceptions toward different management scenarios and making decisions accordingly. In addition, this study also suggested that social media data can provide useful information about people’s opinions on wild animals and their management. Policies would benefit by taking this source of information into the decision-making process.
Sexual Orientation Microaggression Experiences and Coping Responses of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Individuals in Taiwan: A Qualitative Study

This qualitative study explored the sexual orientation microaggression (SOM) experiences and coping strategies of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals in Taiwan. In total, 30 LGB individuals (17 women and 13 men; 17 homosexual and 13 bisexual individuals) who experienced SOMs participated in qualitative, semistructured interviews, during which their SOM experiences were assessed. Through the interviews, several types of SOMs were identified, corresponding to three main types of microaggression (microassaults, microinsults, and microinvalidations) previously identified in Western studies. The participants reported various coping responses to SOMs, ranging from active responses to choosing not to respond, to protecting themselves or to minimizing the negative consequences of confrontation. The results provide mental health professionals with insight regarding the contexts of and coping responses to the SOMs experienced by LGB individuals.
Decoding the viscoelastic response of polydisperse star/linear polymer blends

We probed the viscoelastic behavior of polydisperse star/linear polymer blends with varying composition and average arm length. The linear viscoelastic behavior has been investigated over a wide range of frequencies using both oscillatory and long creep/recovery experiments. A method was developed for splitting the molar mass distributions of the blends into the contributions of different architectures. These results were used to implement a time-marching algorithm based on a parameter-free tube model for predicting the linear viscoelastic behavior. The model predictions were successfully validated with the experimental data, opening the route for designing blends with desired rheological properties.
Launching Relationship-Oriented Behavioral Services for Youth Opioid Use Disorder: Innovations in Medication Decision-Making and Adherence Planning

Abstract This article presents behavioral interventions designed to enhance uptake and retention on medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) among transition-age youth (16–25 years) enrolled in treatment services. The article describes three relationship-oriented interventions designed to address barriers to MOUD uptake, enhance MOUD adherence planning, and strengthen OUD recovery among youth: Relational Orientation; Medication Education and Decision-making Support, and Family Leadership and Ownership of Adherence to Treatment. These interventions are inter-connected can be delivered flexibly. The article concludes with three case examples that illustrate how these modular interventions can be tailored to meet the needs of diverse client profiles.
Multiband Signal Receiver by Using an Optical Bandpass Filter Integrated with a Photodetector on a Chip

Photonic integration brings the promise of significant cost, power and space savings and propels the real applications of microwave photonic technology. In this paper, a multiband radio frequency (RF) signal simultaneous receiver using an optical bandpass filter (OBPF) integrated with a photodetector (PD) on a chip is proposed, which was experimentally demonstrated. The OBPF was composed of ring-assisted Mach–Zehnder interferometer with a periodical bandpass response featuring a box-like spectral shape. The OBPF was connected to a PD and then integrated onto a single silicon photonic chip. Phase-modulated multiband RF signals transmitted from different locations were inputted into the OBPF, by which one RF sideband was filtered out and the phase modulation to intensity modulation conversion was realized. The single sideband with carrier signals were then simultaneously detected by the PD. A proof-of-concept experiment with the silicon photonic integrated chip was implemented to simultaneously receive four channels of 8 GHz, 12 GHz, 14 GHz and 18 GHz in the X- and Ku-bands. The performance of the integrated microwave photonic multiband receiver—including the receiving sensitivity, the spurious free dynamic range, the gain and the noise figure across the whole operation frequency band—was characterized in detail.
Quasispecies Nature of RNA Viruses: Lessons from the Past

Viral quasispecies are distinct but closely related mutants formed by the disparity in viral genomes due to recombination, mutations, competition, and selection pressure. Theoretical derivation for the origin of a quasispecies is owed to the error-prone replication by polymerase and mutants of RNA replicators. Here, we briefly addressed the theoretical and mathematical origin of quasispecies and their dynamics. The impact of quasispecies for major salient human pathogens is reviewed. In the current global scenario, rapid changes in geographical landscapes favor the origin and selection of mutants. It comes as no surprise that a cauldron of mutants poses a significant risk to public health, capable of causing pandemics. Mutation rates in RNA viruses are magnitudes higher than in DNA organisms, explaining their enhanced virulence and evolvability. RNA viruses cause the most devastating pandemics; for example, members of the Orthomyxoviridae family caused the great influenza pandemic (1918 flu or Spanish flu), the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) outbreak, and the human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV), lentiviruses of the Retroviridae family, caused worldwide devastation. Rapidly evolving RNA virus populations are a daunting challenge for the designing of effective control measures like vaccines. Developing awareness of the evolutionary dispositions of RNA viral mutant spectra and what influences their adaptation and virulence will help curtail outbreaks of past and future pathogens.
Urban Heritage Rehabilitation: Institutional Stakeholders’ Contributions to Improve Implementation of Urban and Building Regulations

Climate change, natural hazards, and human actions are threatening cultural heritage in urban areas. More than ever, building regulations’ procedures and criteria are essential to guarantee the protection and safeguarding of urban areas and their buildings. These procedures and criteria are crucial to assist stakeholders in decision-making, especially when facing rapid transitions and transformative changes in urban heritage areas. Several institutional stakeholders in charge of urban heritage protection strengthen the need for a better implementation of building regulations through flexible criteria to support intervention procedures in buildings with different features and in different contexts. Under this topic, the present study uses a twofold method. Firstly, the authors analyze and compare the urban and building regulations of three Southern European countries, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, concerning procedures and criteria directed to the built heritage; secondly, they highlight and compare the views of different institutional stakeholders from the same three countries, at different levels (national, regional, and municipal), to understand the impact of the implementation of the regulations on the ground. The findings show the relevance of the institutional stakeholders’ views to improve the regulations and their practice. They highlight the need to promote inventory and cataloging procedures, as well as flexible criteria when dealing with urban heritage buildings.
A new finite-state machine queuing tool for the "EPICS" control system toolkit

A new sequencing tool, the finite-state machine queueing tool (FSQT) for the EPICS control system toolkit, is presented, and its design and implementation are described. The advantages of applying this new tool in a new release of our magnetic measurements test-bench application are discussed. FSQT was originally conceived to overcome the limitations of the equivalent EPICS tool (the Sequencer) and considered a complementary alternative. A performance comparison between them is also shown. This new utility has been presented to the EPICS collaboration and it is currently under evaluation.
High levels of surface differential rotation on the young G0 dwarf HD 171488

We present high-resolution images of the young, rapidly rotating G0 dwarf HD 171488, using both Stokes I and Stokes V data. The observations were secured with the MuSiCoS spectropolarimeter at Telescope Bernard Lyot from 2005 May 31 to June 10. The photospheric surface brightness distributions show a strong and slightly decentred polar cap that dominates over weak high- and low-latitude spot features. The large-scale magnetic field topology shows a strong ring of anticlockwise azimuthal field with a latitudinal dependence on polarity and large regions of radial field with negative polarity at all latitudes. Using the good phase coverage of our data, we measure the differential rotation on HD 171488. The results indicate that the equator laps the pole every 12 days for brightness data and 13 days for magnetic data, which is the highest measurement of differential rotation obtained using Zeeman–Doppler imaging techniques.
Automated Host Verification and Authentication for IoT Devices Using Network Access Authentication Model

The Internet of Things (IoT) technology has grown and advanced significantly through years providing multiple opportunities, features, and vast domains for future development. Much research has been done to further improve on the capacity of the devices and its components due to its benefit in simplifying the work for industries and end users. Additionally, this project review previous studies on the IoT device security with focus on finding the vulnerabilities and weaknesses of IoT devices, review challenges in providing security solution to authentication and authorization schemes and research gaps especially in IoT network and communication in the research literature. Network Access Control software allows the enterprise to restrict from internal and external threat, managing the corporate network, portioning intranet through Virtual Local Area Network, deployment of firewall and integrating authentication mechanisms and authorization. This project proposed an improvement in securing the IoT network system by combining automated host verification and authentication using different technologies, protocols, and architectures. This work also covers various possible attacks to IoT system and using cyber-attack tools to analyze the security level of the system.
Room-Temperature Self-Healable Blends of Waterborne Polyurethanes with 2-Hydroxyethyl Methacrylate-Based Polymers

The design of self-healing agents is a topic of important scientific interest for the development of high-performance materials for coating applications. Herein, two series of copolymers of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) with either the hydrophilic N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMAM) or the epoxy group-bearing hydrophobic glycidyl methacrylate were synthesized and studied as potential self-healing agents of waterborne polyurethanes (WPU). The molar percentage of DMAM or GMA units in the P(HEMA-co-DMAMy) and P(HEMA-co-GMAy) copolymers varies from 0% up to 80%. WPU/polymer composites with a 10% w/w or 20% w/w copolymer content were prepared with the facile method of solution mixing. Thanks to the presence of P(HEMA-co-DMAMy) copolymers, WPU/P(HEMA-co-DMAMy) composite films exhibited surface hydrophilicity (water contact angle studies), and tendency for water uptake (water sorption kinetics studies). In contrast, the surfaces of the WPU/P(HEMA-co-GMAy) composites were less hydrophilic compared with the WPU/P(HEMA-co-DMAMy) ones. The room-temperature, water-mediated self-healing ability of these composites was investigated through addition of water drops on the damaged area. Both copolymer series exhibited healing abilities, with the hydrophilic P(HEMA-co-DMAMy) copolymers being more promising. This green healing procedure, in combination with the simple film fabrication process and simple healing triggering, makes these materials attractive for practical applications.
Functional Importance of the Hydrophobic Residue 362 in Influenza A PB1 Subunit

PB1, acting as the catalytic subunit of the influenza polymerase, has numerous sequentially and structurally conserved regions. It has been observed that the slight modification of residues in PB1 would greatly affect the polymerase activity and even host adaptation ability. Here, we identified a critical residue, 362M, on the polymerase activity and virus replication. By means of the minireplicon assay, we assured the importance of the hydrophobicity of PB1 362, and the possibility that the size and charge of the side chain might directly interfere with the polymerase function. We also proposed a hydrophobic core between the PA-arch and the PB1 β-hairpin motifs and showed the importance of the core to the polymerase function.
X‐ray total‐external‐reflection–Bragg diffraction: A structural study of the GaAs‐Al interface

A new technique utilizing conventional x‐ray diffraction in conjunction with total external reflection has provided a powerful tool for studying ordered interfaces and surface phenomena. It has been used in this work to study the details of the interface region of a molecular beam epitaxially grown Al single crystal on a molecular beam epitaxially grown GaAs single‐crystal substrate. A simple model including variations of the lattice parameter and disorder in the interface region is in agreement with these experimental results.
Plant-Associated Novel Didymellaceous Taxa in the South China Botanical Garden (Guangzhou, China)

The South China Botanical Garden (SCBG), one of the largest and oldest botanical gardens in China, conserves important plant germplasms of endangered species. Therefore, ensuring tree health and studying the associated mycobiome of the phyllosphere is essential to maintaining its visual aesthetics. During a survey of plant-associated microfungal species in SCBG, we collected several coelomycetous taxa. Phylogenetic relationships were evaluated based on the analyses of ITS, LSU, RPB2, and β-tubulin loci. The morphological features of the new collections were compared with those of existing species, emphasizing close phylogenetic affinities. Based on the morphological comparisons and multi-locus phylogeny, we introduce three new species. These are Ectophoma phoenicis sp. nov., Remotididymella fici-microcarpae sp. nov., and Stagonosporopsis pedicularis-striatae sp. nov. In addition, we describe a new host record for Allophoma tropica in the Didymellaceae. Detailed descriptions and illustrations are provided along with notes comparing allied species.
Critical reflections on three popular computational linguistic approaches to examine Twitter discourses

Although computational linguistic methods—such as topic modelling, sentiment analysis and emotion detection—can provide social media researchers with insights into online public discourses, it is not inherent as to how these methods should be used, with a lack of transparent instructions on how to apply them in a critical way. There is a growing body of work focusing on the strengths and shortcomings of these methods. Through applying best practices for using these methods within the literature, we focus on setting expectations, presenting trajectories, examining with context and critically reflecting on the diachronic Twitter discourse of two case studies: the longitudinal discourse of the NHS Covid-19 digital contact-tracing app and the snapshot discourse of the Ofqual A Level grade calculation algorithm, both related to the UK. We identified difficulties in interpretation and potential application in all three of the approaches. Other shortcomings, such the detection of negation and sarcasm, were also found. We discuss the need for further transparency of these methods for diachronic social media researchers, including the potential for combining these approaches with qualitative ones—such as corpus linguistics and critical discourse analysis—in a more formal framework.