Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Wind Tunnel Study on the Shape, Oscillation, and Internal Circulation of Large Raindrops with Sizes between 2.5 and 7.5 mm

Abstract Precipitation prediction using weather radars requires detailed knowledge of the shape parameters of raindrops falling at their terminal velocities in air. Because the raindrops undergo oscillation, the most important shape parameters from the radar prediction point of view are the equilibrium drop shape, the time-averaged axis ratio, and the oscillation frequency. These parameters for individual water drops with equivalent diameter from 2.5 to 7.5 mm were investigated in a vertical wind tunnel using high-speed video imaging. A very good agreement was found between the measured and the theoretically determined raindrop shape calculated by a force balance model. A new method was developed to determine the equivalent drop diameter with the help of the oscillation frequency. The drop size determination by means of the frequency method was found to be three times more precise than by volumetric methods. The time-averaged axis ratio was found to be equal to the equilibrium axis ratio in the investigat.
Inspiratory–Expiratory Muscle Training Improved Respiratory Muscle Strength in Dialysis Patients: A Pilot Randomised Trial

Highlights What are the main findings? Low-intensity home-based breathing exercise improves respiratory muscle strength Only 4 weeks of training is required to improve maximal inspiratory–expiratory pressure What is the implication of the main finding? Deconditioned dialysis patients may benefit from respiratory muscle training A home-based program autonomously executed is effective for preventing respiratory muscle function decline Abstract End-stage kidney disease (ESKD) exposes patients to progressive physical deconditioning involving the respiratory muscles. The aim of this pilot randomized controlled trial was to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of low-intensity respiratory muscle training (RMT) learned at the hospital and performed at home. A group of ESKD patients (n = 22) were randomized into RMT or usual care (control group, CON) in a 1:1 ratio. The respiratory training was performed at home with an inspiratory–expiratory system for a total of 5 min of breathing exercises in a precise rhythm (8 breaths per minute) interspersed with 1 min of rest, two times per day on nondialysis days for a total of 4 weeks, with the air resistance progressively increasing. Outcome measures were carried out every 4 weeks for 3 consecutive months, with the training executed from the 5th to the 8th week. Primary outcomes were maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressure (MIP, MEP), while secondary outcomes were lung capacity (FEV1, FVC, MVV). Nineteen patients without baseline between-group differences completed the trial (T: n = 10; Age: 63 ± 10; Males: n = 12). Both MIP and MEP significantly improved at the end of training in the T group only, with a significant difference of MEP of 23 cmH2O in favor of the RMT group (p = 0.008). No significant variations were obtained for FVC, FEV1 or MVV in either group, but there was a greater decreasing trend over time for the CON group, particularly for FVC (t = −2.00; p = 0.046). Low-fatiguing home-based RMT, with a simple device involving both inspiratory and expiratory muscles, may significantly increase respiratory muscle strength.
Specific Heat Study of Multiferroic LuFe2O4 Single Crystal

Precise measurements of specific heat were performed on high quality single crystals of multiferroic LuFe2O4 by using an ac calorimeter. The thermal anomalies corresponding to four known phase transitions were observed at 220 K (Tg), 260 K (TN), 380 K (T3CO) and 590 K (T2CO). In addition to them, a new clear anomaly was detected at 305 K. No other distinct anomaly could be observed below 220 K down to 100 K. It is clarified that the temperature dependence of the order parameter associated with this new phase transition at 305 K is quite similar to those of spontaneous polarization reported previously by Ikeda et al.
Two-in-one system and behavior-specific brain synchrony during goal-free cooperative creation: an analytical approach combining automated behavioral classification and the event-related generalized linear model

Abstract. Significance In hyperscanning studies of natural social interactions, behavioral coding is usually necessary to extract brain synchronizations specific to a particular behavior. The more natural the task is, the heavier the coding effort is. We propose an analytical approach to resolve this dilemma, providing insights and avenues for future work in interactive social neuroscience. Aim The objective is to solve the laborious coding problem for naturalistic hyperscanning by proposing a convenient analytical approach and to uncover brain synchronization mechanisms related to human cooperative behavior when the ultimate goal is highly free and creative. Approach This functional near-infrared spectroscopy hyperscanning study challenged a cooperative goal-free creative game in which dyads can communicate freely without time constraints and developed an analytical approach that combines automated behavior classification (computer vision) with a generalized linear model (GLM) in an event-related manner. Thirty-nine dyads participated in this study. Results Conventional wavelet-transformed coherence (WTC) analysis showed that joint play induced robust between-brain synchronization (BBS) among the hub-like superior and middle temporal regions and the frontopolar and dorsomedial/dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) in the right hemisphere, in contrast to sparse within-brain synchronization (WBS). Contrarily, similar regions within a single brain showed strong WBS with similar connection patterns during independent play. These findings indicate a two-in-one system for performing creative problem-solving tasks. Further, WTC-GLM analysis combined with computer vision successfully extracted BBS, which was specific to the events when one of the participants raised his/her face to the other. This brain-to-brain synchrony between the right dorsolateral PFC and the right temporo-parietal junction suggests joint functioning of these areas when mentalization is necessary under situations with restricted social signals. Conclusions Our proposed analytical approach combining computer vision and WTC-GLM can be applied to extract inter-brain synchrony associated with social behaviors of interest.
Global research trends on platelet-rich plasma for tendon and ligament injuries from the past two decades: A bibliometric and visualized study

Background In sports medicine, tendon and ligament injuries are the most prevalent conditions, and with the booming of sports competition, the incidence of sports injuries is gradually increasing, investigating more potent therapeutic options is therefore becoming increasingly crucial. Platelet-rich plasma therapy has gained popularity as an effective and secure treatment in recent years. Currently, a faceted systematic and clear visual analysis is lacking in this research area. Methods The literature related to using platelet-rich plasma to treat ligament and tendon injuries from 2003 to 2022 in the core dataset of the Web of Science database was collected and analyzed visually using Citespace 6.1 software. Research hotspots and development trends were analyzed in terms of high-impact countries or regions, authors, research institutions, keywords, and cited literature. Results The literature comprised a total of 1,827 articles. The annual publication volume of relevant literature has demonstrated a significant development tendency as the field of platelet-rich plasma research for tendon and ligament injuries has heated up in recent years. With 678 papers, the United States came in top place, followed by China with 187 papers. Hosp Special Surg ranked first with 56 papers. The hot research topics analyzed by keywords were tennis elbow, anterior cruciate ligament, rotator cuff repair, achilles tendon, mesenchymal stem cells, guided tissue regeneration, network meta analysis, chronic patellar tendinopathy, and follow up. Conclusion Analysis of the research literature over the past 20 years shows that the United States and China will continue to dominate in terms of volume of publications based on annual volume and trends, with some collaboration among high-impact authors and further collaboration still needed in different countries and institutions. Platelet-rich plasma is widely used in the treatment of tendon ligament injuries. Its clinical efficacy is influenced by a number of factors, the main ones being the inconsistency in the preparation and composition of platelet-rich plasma and its related preparations, and the differences in efficacy due to different activation methods of platelet-rich plasma, as well as factors such as injection time, injection site, administration method, number of administrations, acidity and evaluation methods, In addition, the applicability to different injury diseases remains controversial. In recent years, the molecular biology of platelet-rich plasma for tendon ligament therapy has received increasing attention.
Wavefront control in space with MEMS deformable mirrors for exoplanet direct imaging

Abstract. To meet the high contrast requirement of 1×10−10 to image an Earth-like planet around a sun-like star, space telescopes equipped with coronagraphs require wavefront control systems. Deformable mirrors (DMs) are a key element of a wavefront control system, as they correct for imperfections, thermal distortions, and diffraction that would otherwise corrupt the wavefront and ruin the contrast. The goal of the CubeSat DM technology demonstration mission is to test the ability of a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) DM to perform wavefront control on-orbit on a nanosatellite platform. We consider two approaches for an MEMS DM technology demonstration payload that will fit within the mass, power, and volume constraints of a CubeSat: (1) a Michelson interferometer and (2) a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor. We clarify the constraints on the payload based on the resources required for supporting CubeSat subsystems drawn from subsystems that we have developed for a different CubeSat flight project. We discuss results from payload laboratory prototypes and their utility in defining mission requirements.
Linking individual and collective social capital: operationalization, association, and sociodemographic heterogeneity

Abstract Despite the ubiquity of “social capital” in sociological research, this measure has broadly been conceptualized as both an individual and collective level measure. We explore the link between these two levels within the United States using recently constructed scales of state- and county-level social capital linked to the geocoded 2000–2018 General Social Survey. Collective social capital is associated with greater individual-level trust and voting. However, heterogeneity analysis reveals substantial differences by race/ethnicity, education, sex, and marital status. Moreover, there is heterogeneity for individual-level confidence in institutions and social interaction frequency, despite no overall relationship between those outcomes and collective social capital. Only some of our results align with existing dimensions of stratification, showing the importance of being clear about the operationalization and level of social capital being studied and highlighting how the “advantages” of collective social capital may not extend broadly to all the members of the collective.
Lithological controls influence river form in contrasting sub‐catchments: The Scamander and Avenue Rivers, Tasmania

Bedrock influence on river channel form is difficult to assess, with many catchments dominated by glacial erosion and with blanketing sediments from both pluvial and fluvial sources. The Scamander catchment in Tasmania lacks glacial history and features two bedrock‐confined sub‐catchments of similar area and maximum flow length, but one dominated by Mathinna Group sedimentary rocks, and the other with large areas in granite lithology. Lithology types, stream network parameters and near stream slope angles were analysed using geographical information systems, and results of stream cross sections, channel form and planforms were compared for each lithology. Results showed that granite features low gradient, shallow streams with channel slope cross sections of <10°. Granite channels are irregular and dominated by large boulders that create channel roughness and resist incision. Weathering products of coarse quartz sand provide anchorages for in‐channel vegetation. By contrast, sedimentary Mathinna Group rocks feature steeply incised trough‐like channels, with near‐channel hillslope gradients mostly between 30° and 50°. Rectangular blocks disintegrate to gravel cobbles on the channel bed, providing poor anchorage for vegetation. Mathinna lithology influences steep, low roughness channels, and stable, incised recurved meanders formed by river interaction with vertical layers of resistant rock. The resistant bedrock lithology is demonstrated in this study to influence varied river planforms, near‐channel slope gradients, channel sediments and cross sections.
Performance of DJIA Stocks Using Fundamental Indexation

During the decade beginning on December 31, 1999, an equal-weighted portfolio of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) stocks outperformed the market capitalization and priceweighted portfolios, with ending values of $1,020, $731, and $777 on the $1,000 originally invested, respectively. The net income and free cash flows-weighted portfolios performed the best with identical ending values of $1,082. The portfolio with the lowest standard deviation measure of total risk was weighted on net income (14.26%) and the portfolio with the highest total risk was weighted on total assets (27.78%). All portfolios had their worst performance in 2008, while the best performance varied across portfolios but were limited to the years 2003, 2006 and 2009.
An integrable equation governing short waves in a long-wave model

The dynamics of a nonlinear and dispersive long surface capillary-gravity wave model equation is studied analytically in its short-wave limit. We exhibit its Lax pair and some non-trivial conserved quantities. Through a change of functions, an unexpected connection between this classical surface water-wave model and the sine-Gordon (or sinh-Gordon) equation is established. Numerical and analytical studies show that in spite of integrability their solutions can develop singularities and multivaluedness in finite time. These features can be traced to the fact that the surface tension term in the energy involves second-order derivatives. It would be interesting to see in an experiment whether such singularities actually appear, for which surface tension would be specifically responsible.
Local Conditional Influence

Abstract Through an investigation of normal curvature functions for influence graphs of a family of perturbed models, we develop the concept of local conditional influence. This concept can be used to study masking and boosting effects in local influence. We identify the situation under which the influence graph of the unperturbed model contains all the information on these effects. The linear regression model is used for illustration and it is shown that the concept developed is consistent with Lawrance’s (1995) approach of conditional influence in Cook’s distance.
Rao-Blackwellised Extended Kalman Filter with Correlated Noises ⋆

Aiming at the adverse influence of correlation between measurement noise and process noise for filtering precision in nonlinear system estimation, Firstly, Rao-Blackwellised modeling technique is introduced to disassemble nonlinear and linear component of system state, and then Kalman filter and extended Kalman filter are used to realize estimation for them, respectively. On that basis, we construct the Rao-Blackwellised extended Kalman filter. Secondly, through rearrange the state transition function and make it independent between process noise and measurement noise, we give the decoupling method of correlated noises. Finally, combined with the Rao-Blackwellised extended Kalman filter and the decoupling method of correlated noises, a novel Rao-Blackwellised extended Kalman filter with correlated noises is proposed in this paper. The new method not only improves the filtering precision, but also decreases the calculated amount relative to standard extended Kalman filter, The theoretical analysis and experimental results show the efficiency of the proposed algorithm.
LISA Pathfinder data analysis

As the launch of LISA Pathfinder (LPF) draws near, more and more effort is being put in to the preparation of the data analysis activities that will be carried out during the mission operations. The operations phase of the mission will be composed of a series of experiments that will be carried out on the satellite. These experiments will be directed and analysed by the data analysis team, which is part of the operations team. The operations phase will last about 90 days, during which time the data analysis team aims to fully characterize the LPF, and in particular, its core instrument the LISA Technology Package. By analysing the various couplings present in the system, the different noise sources that will disturb the system, and through the identification of the key physical parameters of the system, a detailed noise budget of the instrument will be constructed that will allow the performance of the different subsystems to be assessed and projected towards LISA. This paper describes the various aspects of the full data analysis chain that are needed to successfully characterize the LPF and build up the noise budget during mission operations.
Effectiveness of Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL)-Based Intervention on Developing Thai EFL Learners’ Oral Accuracy

With the rapid growth of digital technology, mobile phones are widely used for EFL teaching and learning. However, little is known about the effectiveness of integrating a mobile application into EFL classrooms to improve oral accuracy in Thai school contexts. An instructional intervention grounded with Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) and dynamic assessment in Thai EFL contexts needs to be further investigated. This quasi – experimental study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a mobile-based intervention to develop Thai EFL learners’ speaking. Thirty students from a secondary school in southern Thailand were assigned to complete five oral tasks through the dynamic assessment process as an intervention on WhatsApp in order to develop their oral accuracy. Quantitative data were collected from the oral pre-test and post-test to examine the students’ speaking development by utilizing the paired samples t-test. The results showed a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test after the implementation of the MALL-based intervention. It could be suggested that the application of the MALL-based intervention could develop EFL learners’ oral accuracy in Thai school contexts. Implementations and recommendations of this study are discussed.
Arch with Persistent Covariate

The paper considers a volatility model which introduces a persistent, integrated or nearly integrated, covariate to the standard ARCH(1) model. For such a model, we derive asymptotic theory of quasi-maximum likelihood estimator. In particular, we establish consistency and obtain limit distribution. The limit distribution is generally non-Gaussian and represented as a functional of Brownian motions. However, it becomes Gaussian if the covariate is strictly exogenous or the volatility function is linear in parameter. We also analyze the effect of omitting the persistent covariate. Our analysis shows that, if the relevant covariate is omitted and the usual GARCH(1,1) model is fitted, then the model would be estimated approximately as IGARCH. This may well explain the ubiquitous evidence of IGARCH in empirical volatility analysis.
Association between Fibrinogen-to-Albumin Ratio and Prognosis in Patients Admitted to an Intensive Care Unit

The objective of this study was to investigate the usefulness of fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio (FAR) as a prognostic marker in patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) compared with Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, a widely used prognostic scoring system. An inverse probability weighting (IPW) was used to control for selection bias and confounding factors. After IPW adjustment, the high FAR group showed significantly higher risk of 1-year compared with low FAR group (36.4% vs. 12.4%, adjust hazard ratio = 1.72; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.59–1.86; p < 0.001). In the receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis associated with the prediction of 1-year mortality, there was no significant difference between the area under the curve of FAR on ICU admission (C-statistic: 0.684, 95% CI: 0.673–0.694) and that of SOFA score on ICU admission (C-statistic: 0.679, 95% CI: 0.669–0.688) (p = 0.532). In this study, FAR and SOFA score at ICU admission were associated with 1-year mortality in patients admitted to an ICU. Especially, FAR was easier to obtain in critically ill patients than SOFA score. Therefore, FAR is feasible and might help predict long-term mortality in these patients.
A Novel MAC-Based Authentication Scheme (NoMAS) for Internet of Vehicles (IoV)

The fully dynamic dense environment of the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) and conditions like high traffic jams, collisions, and uneven road conditions increase the communication messages. Consequently, the computation and communication costs of the IoV network are increased. Therefore, IoV needs a lightweight and efficient security solution along with effective communications. Existing state-of-the-art schemes in IoV are generally based on cryptographic methods that use session keys, public keys, elliptic curves, and Message Authentication Codes (MAC). In contrast to the other schemes, MAC-based schemes provide feasible security solutions having high performance with less overhead. The existing MAC-based authentication schemes are vulnerable to the key disclosure issue along with some security attacks such as side-channel attacks, Distributed Denial of Services (DDoS), etc. Due to the side channel attack, a data leakage problem occurs, which is a serious concern in security and privacy facets. We propose a novel MAC-based authentication scheme (NoMAS) that mitigates the above-discussed challenges and provides all the benefits of MAC-based schemes. The NoMAS scheme offers a solution for key disclosure issues by providing Hard Key and Soft Key Updates (HKU and SKU) and data leakage problems using encryption along with high performance. It reduces the computational overhead maximum to 99.60% and the communication overhead maximum to approximately 81% compared to the existing schemes. In the security analysis, We have provided the formal security proof using BAN logic and the ProVerif tool and verified the correctness of the scheme.
Star Analysts’ Voting in Emerging Market: A Perspective of Analysts’ Optimistic Bias

ABSTRACT We examine the effect of fund managers’ voting on the optimistic bias of sell-side analysts by exploiting the exogenous event of New Fortune Magazine suspending the Sixteenth Star Analyst Contest. Our results show that the disappearance of voting makes analysts face less pressure from funds, which leads to less optimistic bias and lower error in earnings forecasts. Moreover, the effect is more pronounced in the samples of analysts who work in small brokerages and have less star experience. Further, we find that analysts reduce listed firm joint site visits with small fund managers but still conduct single site visits, suggesting analysts are diligent but not catering to small fund managers anymore. In addition, we find the opposite result as the effect of the cancelation reverses. In general, our findings indicate that the voting right of the star analyst ranking has become a self-interest tool for fund managers, driving analysts to provide biased reports and soft services, becoming another source of pressure for analysts.