Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Explainable Ensemble Learning Models for the Rheological Properties of Self-Compacting Concrete

Self-compacting concrete (SCC) has been developed as a type of concrete capable of filling narrow gaps in highly reinforced areas of a mold without internal or external vibration. Bleeding and segregation in SCC can be prevented by the addition of superplasticizers. Due to these favorable properties, SCC has been adopted worldwide. The workability of SCC is closely related to its yield stress and plastic viscosity levels. Therefore, the accurate prediction of yield stress and plastic viscosity of SCC has certain advantages. Predictions of the shear stress and plastic viscosity of SCC is presented in the current study using four different ensemble machine learning techniques: Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), random forest, and Categorical Gradient Boosting (CatBoost). A new database containing the results of slump flow, V-funnel, and L-Box tests with the corresponding shear stress and plastic viscosity values was curated from the literature to develop these ensemble learning models. The performances of these algorithms were compared using state-of-the-art statistical measures of accuracy. Afterward, the output of these ensemble learning algorithms was interpreted with the help of SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis and individual conditional expectation (ICE) plots. Each input variable’s effect on the predictions of the model and their interdependencies have been illustrated. Highly accurate predictions could be achieved with a coefficient of determination greater than 0.96 for both shear stress and plastic viscosity.
Auditory brainstem implantation in children: the case of place of articulation

This study aimed to investigate the development of the production of place of articulation of three children with auditory brainstem implants (ABI) in spontaneous speech production. The main participants were three children implanted with an ABI. They were compared against two different control groups: children with a cochlear implant (CI) and children with normal hearing (NH). Data was obtained fromspontaneous speech between the children and their caregivers. For each word production, the place of articulation of both the target word as the child’s own production was identified. This was broadly identified in three categories: labial, coronal and dorsal. The analysis revealed that in general, the coronal place of articulation was most used in all children’s own production, as well as in the target words, except for one child with ABI, who showed a preference for labials. In terms of accuracy, labial place of articulation was produced more accurately than the coronal place of articulation for all children. The dorsal place of articulation had very low accuracy probabilities. Children with ABI had the lowest accuracy rates. When the place of articulation was not correctly produced, they were often omitted instead of replaced by another place of articulation. It was concluded that the children with ABI benefit from their device, but still have a long way to go to catch up to their peers. It is suggested that sign language is needed to guarantee smooth communication. Keywords: auditory brainstem implantation; pediatric; oral language, place of articulation;labial; coronal; dorsal
Noncommutative Graphene

We consider a noncommutative description of graphene. This description consists of a Dirac equation for massless Dirac fermions plus noncommutative corrections, which are treated in the presence of an external magnetic field. We argue that, being a two-dimensional Dirac system, graphene is particularly interesting to test noncommutativity. We find that momentum noncommutativity affects the energy levels of graphene, but that it does not entail any kind of correction to the Hall conductivity.
Quantum efficiency of a single microwave photon detector based on a semiconductor double quantum dot

Motivated by recent interest in implementing circuit quantum electrodynamics with semiconducting quantum dots, we consider a double quantum dot (DQD) capacitively coupled to a superconducting resonator that is driven by the microwave field of a superconducting transmission line. We analyze the DQD current response using input-output theory and show that the resonator-coupled DQD is a sensitive microwave single photon detector. Using currently available experimental parameters of DQD-resonator coupling and dissipation, including the effects of $1/f$ charge noise and phonon noise, we determine the parameter regime for which incident photons are completely absorbed and near-unit $\ensuremath{\gtrsim}98$% efficiency can be achieved. We show that this regime can be reached by using very high quality resonators with quality factor $Q\ensuremath{\simeq}{10}^{5}$.
Challenges and opportunities of ZnO-related single crystalline heterostructures

Recent technological advancement in ZnO heterostructures has expanded the possibility of device functionalities to various kinds of applications. In order to extract novel device functionalities in the heterostructures, one needs to fabricate high quality films and interfaces with minimal impurities, defects, and disorder. With employing molecular-beam epitaxy and single crystal ZnO substrates, the density of residual impurities and defects can be drastically reduced and the optical and electrical properties have been dramatically improved for the ZnO films and heterostructures with MgxZn1-xO. Here, we overview such recent technological advancement from various aspects of application. Towards optoelectronic devices such as a light emitter and a photodetector in an ultraviolet region, the development of p-type ZnO and the fabrication of excellent Schottky contact, respectively, have been subjected to intensive studies for years. For the former, the fine tuning of the growth conditions to make MgxZn1-xO as .
Complex asteroseismology of the hybrid B‐type pulsator γ Pegasi: A test of stellar opacities

Using the updated oscillation spectrum of γ Pegasi, we construct a set of seismic models which reproduce two pulsational frequencies corresponding to the l = 0, p1 and l = 1, g1 modes. Then, we single out models which reproduce other well identified modes. Finally, we extend our seismic modelling by a requirement of fitting also values of the complex, nonadiabatic parameter f associated to each mode frequency. Such complex asteroseismology of the B-type pulsators provides a unique test of stellar metallicity and opacities. In contrast to our previous studies, results for γ Peg indicate that both opacity tables, OPAL and OP, are equally preferred (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
TEV GAMMA-RAY OBSERVATIONS OF THE GALACTIC CENTER RIDGE BY VERITAS

The Galactic Center ridge has been observed extensively in the past by both GeV and TeV gamma-ray instruments revealing a wealth of structure, including a diffuse component and the point sources G0.9+0.1 (a composite supernova remnant) and Sgr A* (believed to be associated with the supermassive black hole located at the center of our Galaxy). Previous very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray observations with the H.E. S.S. experiment have also detected an extended TeV gamma-ray component along the Galactic plane in the >300 GeV gamma-ray regime. Here we report on observations of the Galactic Center ridge from 2010 to 2014 by the VERITAS telescope array in the >2 TeV energy range. From these observations we (1) provide improved measurements of the differential energy spectrum for Sgr A* in the >2 TeV gamma-ray regime, (2) provide a detection in the >2 TeV gamma-ray emission from the composite SNR G0.9+0.1 and an improved determination of its multi-TeV gamma-ray energy spectrum, and (3) report on the detection of VER J1746-289, a localized enhancement of >2 TeV gamma-ray emission along the Galactic plane.
The Optical Variability of Supermassive Black Hole Binary Candidate PG 1302–102: Periodicity and Perturbation in the Light Curve

The photometric light curve of PG 1302–102 shows periodic variability, which makes this object one of the most plausible supermassive black hole binary candidates. Interestingly, the most recent study of its updated optical light curve reports a decrease in the significance of periodicity, which may suggest that the binary model is less favorable. Here we model the PG 1302–102 light curve, spanning almost 20 yr, with a supermassive black hole binary system in which a perturbation in the accretion disk of a more massive component is present. Our model reproduces well the observed light curve, with a slight perturbation of a sinusoidal feature, and predicts that a slightly larger period than previously reported, of about 1899 days, could arise owing to a cold spot in the disk of a more massive component of a close, unequal-mass ( ) black hole binary system. The light curve resembles the pattern of a sinusoid-like shape within a few years, which could be confirmed by future observations. In addition, using our hybrid method for periodicity detection, we show that the periods in the observed (1972 ± 254 days) and modeled (1873 ± 250 days) light curves are within 1σ, which is also consistent with our physical model prediction and with previous findings. Thus, both the periodic nature and its slight fluctuation of the light curve of PG 1302–102 are evident from our physical model and confirmed by the hybrid method for periodicity detection.
Epitopes Determination for OMICRON: The COVID-19 New Variant

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has rapidly evolved in the last couple of years. This has created major havoc and concern because it has affected millions of people around the world. The new variants of covid-19 are classified into two types, VOI (variant of interest) and VOC (variant of concern). The major variants of concern (VOCs) have shared mutations in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The spike proteins of the novel coronavirus located mostly on the S1 unit result in a higher transmissibility rate and affect the viral virulence and clinical outcome. The spike protein and other non-structural protein mutations in VOCs may lead to escape the approved vaccinations. Here the VOC mutations i.e., OMICRON VARIANT have been discussed in detail, and the therapeutic strategies to enhance the host immune responses have been proposed. Additionally, a computational approach is proposed to design the drug and vaccine for the variant. The protein structure for the OMICRON variant has been predicted through bioinformatics tools and several databases have been used to identify suitable natural inhibitors. The OMICRON variant was analyzed to identify suitable vaccine candidates by identifying B-Cell epitopes. To design a drug, REPAGLINIDE and ENT-NATEGLINIDE were identified as natural inhibitors based on docking score. To design a vaccine the B-cell epitope i.e., CLIGAEYVNNSYECD was found to the highest antigenicity score. The present study identifies natural inhibitors and potential antigenic Epitopes which may be used as effective drug and vaccine candidates to suppress the novel coronavirus. Copyright 2023 by the authors. Licensee Zoological Society of Pakistan.
Evolution of the population of very strong Mg II absorbers

We present a study of the evolution of several classes of Mg ii absorbers, and their corresponding Fe ii absorption, over a large fraction of cosmic history: 2.3–8.7 Gyr from the big bang. Our sample consists of 87 strong ( A) Mg ii absorbers, with redshifts 0.2 < z < 2.5, measured in 81 quasar spectra obtained from the Very Large Telescope/Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph archives of high-resolution spectra (R ∼ 45 000). No evolutionary trend in is found for moderately strong Mg ii absorbers ( A). However, at lower redshifts we find an absence of very strong Mg ii absorbers (those with A) with small ratios of equivalent widths of Fe ii to Mg ii. At high redshifts, very strong Mg ii absorbers with both small and large values are present. We compare our findings to a sample of 100 weak Mg ii absorbers ( A) found in the same quasar spectra by Narayanan et al. The main effect driving the evolution of very strong Mg ii systems is the difference between the kinematic profiles at low and high redshift. At high redshift, we observe that, among the very strong Mg ii absorbers, all of the systems with small ratios of have relatively large velocity spreads, resulting in less saturated profiles. At low redshift, such kinematically spread systems are absent, and both Fe ii and Mg ii are saturated, leading to values that are all close to 1. The high redshift, small systems could correspond to sub-damped Lyman α systems, many of which have large velocity spreads and are possibly linked to superwinds in star-forming galaxies. In addition to the change in saturation due to kinematic evolution, the smaller values could be due to a lower abundance of Fe at high redshifts, which would indicate relatively early stages of star formation in those environments.
Controlling the surface plasmon excitation efficiency using dielectric magneto-optical cavity

The diffraction of a plane wave by a magneto-optical cavity located on a metal interface is investigated theoretically. We show that the excitation of localized eigenmodes of the cavity allows one to efficiently excite the surface plasmon polariton (SPP). We exploit the polarization and symmetry properties of the cavity modes to propose an efficient approach for controlling the SPP intensity through an external magnetic field. The presented theoretical predictions are in good agreement with the rigorous computations based on the generalized Lorentz reciprocity theorem and aperiodic Fourier modal method. The magnetization-induced relative intensity variation of the excited SPP demonstrated in numerical computations varies from a few percent to 100% depending on the polarization of the incident wave. Such large modulation opens new possibilities for efficient SPP modulation with considered magneto-optical intensity effect.
Lactoferrin Alleviates Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Infantile Intestinal Immune Barrier Damage by Regulating an ELAVL1-Related Signaling Pathway

As the most important intestinal mucosal barrier of the main body, the innate immune barrier in intestinal tract plays especially pivotal roles in the overall health conditions of infants and young children; therefore, how to strengthen the innate immune barrier is pivotal. A variety of bioactivities of lactoferrin (LF) has been widely proved, including alleviating enteritis and inhibiting colon cancer; however, the effects of LF on intestinal immune barrier in infants and young children are still unclear, and the specific mechanism on how LF inhibits infantile enteritis by regulating immune signaling pathways is unrevealed. In the present study, we firstly performed pharmacokinetic analyses of LF in mice intestinal tissues, stomach tissues and blood, through different administration methods, to confirm the metabolic method of LF in mammals. Then we constructed in Vitro and in Vivo infantile intestinal immune barrier damage models utilizing lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and evaluated the effects of LF in alleviating LPS-induced intestinal immune barrier damage. Next, the related immune molecular mechanism on how LF exerted protective effects was investigated, through RNA-seq analyses of the mouse primary intestinal epithelial cells, and the specific genes were analyzed and screened out. Finally, the genes and their related immune pathway were validated in mRNA and protein levels; the portions of special immune cells (CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells) were also detected to further support our experimental results. Pharmacokinetic analyses demonstrated that the integrity of LF could reach mice stomach and intestine after oral gavage within 12 h, and the proper administration of LF should be the oral route. LF was proven to down–regulate the expression levels of inflammatory cytokines in both the primary intestinal epithelial cells and mice blood, especially LF without iron (Apo-LF), indicating LF alleviated infantile intestinal immune barrier damage induced by LPS. And through RNA-seq analyses of the mouse primary intestinal epithelial cells treated with LPS and LF, embryonic lethal abnormal vision Drosophila 1 (ELAVL1) was selected as one of the key genes, then the ELAVL1/PI3K/NF-κB pathway regulated by LF was verified to participate in the protection of infantile intestinal immune barrier damage in our study. Additionally, the ratio of blood CD4+/CD8+ T cells was significantly higher in the LF-treated mice than in the control mice, indicating that LF distinctly reinforced the overall immunity of infantile mice, further validating the strengthening bioactivity of LF on infantile intestinal immune barrier. In summary, LF was proven to alleviate LPS-induced intestinal immune barrier damage in young mice through regulating ELAVL1-related immune signaling pathways, which would expand current knowledge of the functions of bioactive proteins in foods within different research layers, as well as benefit preclinical and clinical researches in a long run.
The Mass-to-Light Ratios of Galactic Globular Clusters

The observed mass-to-light (M/L) ratios of globular clusters (GCs) are on average ~20% lower than expected from Simple Stellar Population (SSP) models, which only account for the effects of stellar evolution. We study the M/L ratio evolution of a sample of 24 Galactic GCs using parameterised cluster models. The dynamical evolution of GCs is included by accounting for their dissolution and by using a detailed description of the evolution of the stellar mass function. The ejection of low-mass stars leads to a decrease of M/L, which is found to explain the discrepancy between the observations and SSP models.
S Coronae Australis: a T Tauri twin

Context. The star S CrA is a tight visual binary consisting of two classical T Tauri stars. Both components are outstanding regarding their spectral characteristics and brightness variations. Aims. Our aim is to explore the extraordinary spectral features seen in these stars, derive stellar parameters, define spectral signatures of accreting gas and winds, estimate the inclinations of the disks, and to match numerical models with observed properties. Methods. High-resolution spectra were collected of each component over several nights at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) combined with photometric observations covering several years in UBVRI with the SMARTS telescope. The models developed include magnetospheric accretion and a disk wind. Results. Both stars undergo large variation in brightness, ≥2 mag in V band. The variations are caused mainly by variable foreground extinction from small-size dust grains, which may be carried along with the accreting gas. The photospheric absorption lines are washed out by superimposed continuous and line emission, and this veiling becomes occasionally exceptionally high. Nevertheless, we extracted the stellar spectra and found that both stars are very similar with regard to stellar parameters (Teff, log g, v sin i, mass, radius, luminosity). The rotational periods, inferred from velocity shifts in lines originating in surface areas off-set from the pole, are also similar. Combined with the v sin i:s related inclinations were obtained, which agree well with those derived from our model simulations of Balmer line profiles: ~65° for both stars. At this orientation the trajectories of infalling gas just above the stellar surfaces are parallel to the line-of-sight, and accordingly we observe extended red-shifted absorption components extending to +380 km s−1, the estimated free-fall velocity at the surface. Rates of accretion and mass loss were obtained from the models. Conclusions. The two stars are remarkably similar, and S CrA can be regarded as a T Tauri twin. The components differ, however, in terms of degree of veiling and emission line profiles. We have found a good match between observed signatures of accreting gas, wind features, and rotational velocities with those resulting from our modelling for inclinations of ~65°. These inclinations differ from those derived from interferometric near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, and possible causes for this puzzling discrepancy are discussed.
Granite classification using machine learning and edge computing

Background: The outlook and the aura of any place are highly dependent on how a place is decorated and what materials are used in designing it. Granite is such a kind of rock which is vastly used for this purpose. Granite flooring and countershave a major influence on the interior d ´ecor which is essential to set the moodand ambience of a house. A system is needed to help the end users differentiatebetween granites, which enhance the grandeur of their house and also check thefrauds of different color granite being sent by the merchant as compared to whatwas selected by the end user. Several models have been developed for this causeusing CNN and other image processing techniques. However, a solution for thispurpose must be precise and computationally efficient. Methods: For this purpose,researchers in this work developed a machine learning based granite classifier us-ing Edge Computing and a website to help users in choosing which granite wouldgo well with their d ´ecor is also built. The developed system consists of a colorsensor [TCS3200] integrated with an ESP8266 board. The data pertaining to RGBcontrasts of different rocks is acquired by using the color sensor from a dealership.This data is used to train a Machine Learning algorithm to classify the rock intodifferent granite types from a granite dealer and yield the category prediction. Re-sults: The proposed system yields a result of 94% accuracy when classified usingRandom Forest Algorithm. Conclusion: Thus, this system provides an upper handfor the end users in differentiating between different types of granites.