Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Structure for Quasars

This paper proposes a simple, empirically derived, unifying structure for the inner regions of quasars. This structure is constructed to explain the broad absorption line regions (BALRs) and the narrow "associated" ultraviolet and X-ray "ionized" absorbers (NALs) and is also found to explain the broad emission line regions (BELRs) and several scattering features, including a substantial fraction of the broad X-ray Fe-K emission line and the biconical extended narrow emission line region (ENLR) structures seen on large kiloparsec scales in Seyfert images. The model proposes that a funnel-shaped thin shell outflow creates all of these features. The wind arises vertically from a narrow range of radii on a disk at BELR velocities. Radiation force then accelerates the flow radially, so that it bends outward to a cone angle of ~60° and has a divergence angle of ~6°, to give a covering factor of ~10%. When the central continuum is viewed from the side, through this wind, narrow high-ionization "associated" ultraviolet absorption lines and the X-ray "ionized absorbers" are seen, as in many low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGNs). When viewed end-on, the full range of velocities is seen in absorption with a large total column density, giving rise to the broad absorption line systems seen in a minority of quasars, the BAL QSOs. The wind is both warm (~106 K) and highly ionized. This warm highly ionized medium (WHIM) has a density of ~109 cm-3, putting it in pressure equilibrium with the BELR clouds; the BELR is then a cool phase embedded in the overall outflow, avoiding cloud destruction through shear. The wind has the correct ionization parameter and filling factor for this. The high- and low-ionization zones of the BELR correspond to the cylindrical and conical regions of the wind, since the former is exposed to the full continuum while the latter receives only the continuum filtered by the former. The warm wind is significantly Thomson thick along the radial flow direction, producing the polarized optical continuum found in BALs, but is only partially ionized, creating a broad fluorescent 6.4 keV Fe-K emission line and greater than 10 keV Compton hump. The conical shell outflow can produce a biconical matter-bounded NELR. Luminosity-dependent changes in the structure, reducing the cylindrical part of the flow or increasing the mean angle to the disk axis and decreasing the wind opening angle, may explain the UV and X-ray Baldwin effects and the greater prevalence of obscuration in low-luminosity AGNs.
Robust image restoration matched with adaptive aperture formation in radar imaging systems with sparse antenna arrays

The paper presents a complex approach to radar imaging system development. The approach consists of two main stages. The first stage is adaptive aperture formation and the second one is robust adaptive image restoration. The use of adaptive aperture formation strategy makes possible to estimate the principle image components in spatial frequency domain and increase the reliability of received data. The robust adaptive image restoration allows to compensate the blurring effect of sparse aperture in the presence of mixed noise (i.e. Gaussian and impulse). The efficiency of the proposed approach is investigated on numerous test examples.
Effects of early nutrition and transport of 1‐day‐old chickens on production performance and fear response

ABSTRACT The importance of optimal early life conditions of broilers to sustain efficient and healthy production of broiler meat is increasingly recognized. Therefore, novel husbandry systems are developed, in which immediate provision of nutrition post hatch is combined with on‐farm hatching. In these novel systems, 1‐day‐old‐chick handling and transport are minimized. To study whether early nutrition and reduced transport are beneficial for broiler performance and behavior, the effects of early or delayed nutrition and post‐hatch handling and transport were tested from hatch until 35 d of age, in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. In total, 960 eggs were hatched in 36 floor pens. After hatch, chicks were given immediate access to water and feed (early nutrition) or after 54 h (delayed nutrition). Eighteen hours after hatch, chicks remained in their pens (non‐transported control), or were subjected to short‐term handling and transport to simulate conventional procedures. Subsequently, chicks returned to their pens. Compared with delayed‐fed chickens, early‐fed chickens had greater body weight up to 21 d of age, but not at slaughter (35 d of age). No effects of transport or its interaction with moment of first nutrition were found on performance. At 3 d post hatch, transported, early‐fed chicks had a greater latency to stand up in a tonic immobility test than transported, delayed‐fed chicks, but only in chicks that were transported. At 30 d post hatch, however, latency was greater in transported, delayed‐fed chickens than in transported, early‐fed chicks. This may indicate long‐term deleterious effects of delayed nutrition on fear response in transported chickens. It is concluded that early nutrition has mainly beneficial effects on performance during the first 2 wk post hatch, but these beneficial effects are less evident in later life. The combination of transport and early nutrition may influence the chicken's strategies to cope with stressful events in early and later life.
Obesity and eating disorders in integrative prevention programmes for adolescents: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction Obesity and eating disorders are public health problems that have lifelong financial and personal costs and common risk factors, for example, body dissatisfaction, weight teasing and disordered eating. Obesity prevention interventions might lead to the development of an eating disorder since focusing on weight may contribute to excessive concern with diet and weight. Therefore, the proposed research will assess whether integrating obesity and eating disorder prevention procedures (‘integrated approach’) do better than single approach interventions in preventing obesity among adolescents, and if integrated approaches influence weight-related outcomes. Methods and analysis Integrated obesity and eating disorder prevention interventions will be identified. Randomised controlled trials and quasi-experimental trials reporting data on adolescents ranging from 10 to 19 years of age from both sexes will be included. Outcomes of interest include body composition, unhealthy weight control behaviours and body satisfaction measurements. MEDLINE/PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science and SciELO will be searched. Data will be extracted independently by two reviewers using a standardised data extraction form. Trial quality will be assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration criteria. The effects of integrated versus single approach intervention studies will be compared using systematic review procedures. If an adequate number of studies report data on integrated interventions among similar populations (k>5), a meta-analysis with random effects will be conducted. Sensitivity analyses and meta-regression will be performed only if between-study heterogeneity is high (I2 ≥75%). Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval will not be required as this is a systematic review of published studies. The findings will be disseminated through conference presentations and peer-reviewed journals.
Some inadequacies of the current human factors certification process of advanced aircraft technologies

Automation related accidents or serious incidents are not limited to advanced technology aircraft. There is a full history of such accidents with conventional technology aircraft. However, this type of occurrence is far from sparing the newest 'glass cockpit' generation, and it even seems to be a growing contributor to its accident rate. Nevertheless, all these aircraft have been properly certificated according to the relevant airworthiness regulations. Therefore, there is a growing concern that with the technological advancement of air transport aircraft cockpits, the current airworthiness regulations addressing cockpit design and human factors may have reached some level of inadequacy. This paper reviews some aspects of the current airworthiness regulations and certification process related to human factors of cockpit design and focuses on questioning their ability to guarantee the intended safety objectives.
Statistical characterization of complex enclosures with distributed ports

A statistical model, the Random Coupling Model, that describes the coupling of radiation into and out of large electrical enclosures is described and generalized. Particular attention is paid to the case in which the ports are electrically large and described by multiple modes (distributed ports). We find a compact expression for a model of the enclosure impedance that can be used to generate probability distributions for fields at the enclosures ports. Results are of interest in the evaluation of power leakage in complex metallic structures and reverberation chambers, and the evaluation of the effectiveness of shielding in the presence of apertures.
Two-point density correlations of quasicondensates in free expansion

We measure the two-point density correlation function of freely expanding quasicondensates in the weakly interacting quasi-one-dimensional (1D) regime. While initially suppressed in the trap, density fluctuations emerge gradually during expansion as a result of initial phase fluctuations present in the trapped quasicondensate. Asymptotically, they are governed by the thermal coherence length of the system. Our measurements take place in an intermediate regime where density correlations are related to near-field diffraction effects and anomalous correlations play an important role. Comparison with a recent theoretical approach described by Imambekov et al. yields good agreement with our experimental results and shows that density correlations can be used for thermometry of quasicondensates.
3D Slicer as a tool for interactive brain tumor segmentation

User interaction is required for reliable segmentation of brain tumors in clinical practice and in clinical research. By incorporating current research tools, 3D Slicer provides a set of interactive, easy to use tools that can be efficiently used for this purpose. One of the modules of 3D Slicer is an interactive editor tool, which contains a variety of interactive segmentation effects. Use of these effects for fast and reproducible segmentation of a single glioblastoma from magnetic resonance imaging data is demonstrated. The innovation in this work lies not in the algorithm, but in the accessibility of the algorithm because of its integration into a software platform that is practical for research in a clinical setting.
Discovery of Novel Bat Coronaviruses in South China That Use the Same Receptor as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus

ABSTRACT Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has represented a human health threat since 2012. Although several MERS-related CoVs that belong to the same species as MERS-CoV have been identified from bats, they do not use the MERS-CoV receptor, dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4). Here, we screened 1,059 bat samples from at least 30 bat species collected in different regions in south China and identified 89 strains of lineage C betacoronaviruses, including Tylonycteris pachypus coronavirus HKU4, Pipistrellus pipistrellus coronavirus HKU5, and MERS-related CoVs. We sequenced the full-length genomes of two positive samples collected from the great evening bat, Ia io, from Guangdong Province. The two genomes were highly similar and exhibited genomic structures identical to those of other lineage C betacoronaviruses. While they exhibited genome-wide nucleotide identities of only 75.3 to 81.2% with other MERS-related CoVs, their gene-coding regions were highly similar to their counterparts, except in the case of the spike proteins. Further protein-protein interaction assays demonstrated that the spike proteins of these MERS-related CoVs bind to the receptor DPP4. Recombination analysis suggested that the newly discovered MERS-related CoVs have acquired their spike genes from a DPP4-recognizing bat coronavirus HKU4. Our study provides further evidence that bats represent the evolutionary origins of MERS-CoV. IMPORTANCE Previous studies suggested that MERS-CoV originated in bats. However, its evolutionary path from bats to humans remains unclear. In this study, we discovered 89 novel lineage C betacoronaviruses in eight bat species. We provide evidence of a MERS-related CoV derived from the great evening bat that uses the same host receptor as human MERS-CoV. This virus also provides evidence for a natural recombination event between the bat MERS-related CoV and another bat coronavirus, HKU4. Our study expands the host ranges of MERS-related CoV and represents an important step toward establishing bats as the natural reservoir of MERS-CoV. These findings may lead to improved epidemiological surveillance of MERS-CoV and the prevention and control of the spread of MERS-CoV to humans.
An improved minimum-cost charging schedule for large-scale penetration of electric vehicles

Plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) have been considered as one of the important facilitators for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. With the growth of EV penetrations, uncoordinated charging scheduling could aggravate the grid load and thus smart charging management is becoming critical. In this paper, an EV charging cost model is first built, which takes into account the electricity rates, EV mobility, and EV battery and charger specifications. Then, the evaluation of the conventional charging schedule associated with minimizing users' cost is presented and two primary issues are illustrated including power surges and aggravated dynamic response for the grid. Furthermore, an improved minimum-cost strategy is proposed to mitigate these two issues and the corresponding algorithm is illustrated. Finally, the simulation results are provided to validate the proposed strategy.
A new training set-based regularization for regression techniques

The paper gives a new regularization criterion for the regression techniques where the overfitting problem may occur. The proposed criterion is not a penalization term calibrated from prior information but a penalization term calculated from the training set. It appears as an extension of the classic Tikhonov regularization constraint. It is shown that the statistical characterization of this penalization is possible. This characterization leads to an optimization criterion which does not depend on any hyperparameter. The method is applied to a parametric regression technique (polynomial regression) and to a nonparametric regression technique (kernel approximation). For the first technique, overfitting is avoided. For the second one, the method gives an estimation of the kernel spread close to the optimal value.
Identification of glia phenotype modulators based on select glial function regulatory signaling pathways

ABSTRACT Introduction: Despite the considerable social and economic burden on the healthcare system worldwide due to neurodegenerative diseases, there are currently few disease-altering treatment options for many of these conditions. Therefore, new approaches for both prevention and intervention for neurodegenerative diseases are urgently required. Microglia-mediated neurotoxicity is one of the pathologic hallmarks common to Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Current therapeutic approaches to target microglia-mediated neurotoxicity are focused on the identification of glia phenotype modulators (GPMs), which can inhibit the ‘classical’ pro-inflammatory and neurotoxic phenotypes of microglia. Areas covered: This article reviews selected microglial molecular targets and pathways involved in either neurotoxicity or neuroprotection and how their identification. Expert opinion: Microglial activation and their signaling pathways have important implications in the neurotoxicity and brain disorders. Pharmacological modulation of microglial activation may serve as a potential therapeutic approach for targeting microglia-mediated neurotoxicity. However, given that microglia change their activation states depending on the timing, stage, and severity of disease, and even aging, the appropriate window should be considered for this approach to be clinically effective. In the future, the identification of unknown extracellular signals and intracellular molecular switches that control phenotypic shifts may facilitate the development of novel therapeutics targeting microglia-mediated neurotoxicity.
Towards Correctness of Program Transformations Through Unification and Critical Pair Computation

Correctness of program transformations in extended lambda calculi with a contextual semantics is usually based on reasoning about the operational semantics which is a rewrite semantics. A successful approach to proving correctness is the combination of a context lemma with the computation of overlaps between program transformations and the reduction rules, and then of so-called complete sets of diagrams. The method is similar to the computation of critical pairs for the completion of term rewriting systems. We explore cases where the computation of these overlaps can be done in a first order way by variants of critical pair computation that use unification algorithms. As a case study we apply the method to a lambda calculus with recursive let-expressions and describe an effective unification algorithm to determine all overlaps of a set of transformations with all reduction rules. The unification algorithm employs many-sorted terms, the equational theory of left-commutativity modelling multi-sets, context variables of different kinds and a mechanism for compactly representing binding chains in recursive let-expressions.
Thermal Conductivity of Nanofluid with Magnetic Nanoparticles

The thermal conductivities of Fe3O4 and Al2O3 nanofluids with the viscous base fluid composed by various fluids are investigated in this study. In order to change the viscosity of mixed fluid, the volumetric fractions between two fluids in the mixed fluid are varied. Measured values of thermal conductivity of nanofluids gradually approach the values predicted by Maxwell equation with increasing the viscosity. Our measured results demonstrate that Brownian motion of suspended magnetic particles could be an important factor that enhances the thermal conductivity of nanofluids, but it has little effect for suspended Al2O3 nanoparticles. It also indicates that the conduction part of prediction model can be obtained from Maxwell prediction.
A review of anatomical and mechanical factors affecting vertebral body integrity

Background: The aetiology of osteoporotic vertebral fracture is multifactorial and may be conceptualised using a systems framework. Previous studies have established several correlates of vertebral fracture including reduced vertebral cross-sectional area, weakness in back extensor muscles, reduced bone mineral density, increasing age, worsening kyphosis and recent vertebral fracture. Alterations in these physical characteristics may influence biomechanical loads and neuromuscular control of the trunk and contribute to changes in subregional bone mineral density of the vertebral bodies. Methods: This review discusses factors that have received less attention in the literature, which may contribute to the development of vertebral fracture. A literature review was conducted using electronic databases including Medline, Cinahl and ISI Web of Science to examine the potential contribution of trabecular architecture, subregional bone mineral density, vertebral geometry, muscle force, muscle strength, neuromuscular control and intervertebral disc integrity to the aetiology of osteoporotic vertebral fracture. Interpretation: A better understanding of factors such as biomechanical loading and neuromuscular control of the trunk may help to explain the high incidence of subsequent vertebral fracture after sustaining an initial vertebral fracture. Consideration of these issues may be important in the development of prevention and management strategies.
Imaging of Endocytosis in Paramecium by Confocal Microscopy

Endocytosis is the general term for internalization of fluid, solutes, macromolecules, plasma membrane components, and particles by the invagination of the plasma membrane and the formation of vesicles and vacuoles through membrane fusion. The means by which food material enters the body is to a great extent dependent on the size of the particles involved [1, 2]. One type of endocytosis is phagocytosis where large (>250 nm) particles are taken up by cells. In protozoa, phagocytosis is a feeding mechanism. Particles are brought into the cell in large endocytic vesicles called phagosomes (food vacuoles). The phagosomes fuse with lysosomes and digestion of the ingested particles occurs. In multicellular organisms, phagocytosis is a behavior seen only in certain specialized cells (for example, macrophages). The process is essentially the same whether it is phagocytosis of particles or other organisms or pinocytosis of molecules. Both endocytic processes are affected identically by inhibitors of aerobic metabolism and by low temperatures.
Deep Modeling through Structural Decomposition

In some applications, traditional metamodeling in two levels gets to its limits when model elements of a domain should be described as instances of other model elements. In architecture description languages, components may be instances of their component types. Although workarounds exist, these require many validation constraints and imply a cumbersome interface. To obtain more elegant metamodels that require less constraints, deep modeling seeks ways to represent non-transitive instantiation chains. However, these concepts often make existing techniques for model transformation and analysis obsolete as these languages have to be adapted. In this paper, we present an approach to realize deep modeling only through structural decomposition, which can be implemented as a non-invasive extension to meta-metamodels similar to Ecore. As a consequence, existing tools need not be adapted. We validate our concept by creating a deep modeling architecture description language and demonstrate its advantages by modeling a synthetic web application.
Plant reproductive systems and evolution during biological invasion

Recent biological invasions provide opportunities to investigate microevolution during contemporary timescales. The tempo and scope of local adaptation will be determined by the intensity of natural selection and the amounts and kinds of genetic variation within populations. In flowering plants, genetic diversity is strongly affected by interactions between reproductive systems and stochastic forces associated with immigration history and range expansion. Here, we explore the significance of reproductive system diversity for contemporary evolution during plant invasion. We focus in particular on how reproductive modes influence the genetic consequences of long‐distance colonization and determine the likelihood of adaptive responses during invasion. In many clonal invaders, strong founder effects and restrictions on sexual reproduction limit opportunities for local adaptation. In contrast, adaptive changes to life‐history traits should be a general expectation in both outbreeding and inbreeding species. We provide evidence that evolutionary modifications to reproductive systems promote the colonizing ability of invading populations and that reproductive timing is an important target of selection during range expansion. Knowledge of the likelihood and speed at which local adaptation evolves in invasive plants will be particularly important for management practices when evolutionary changes enhance ecological opportunities and invasive spread.