Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using the PageRank Algorithm to Rank Football Players in a Game

There are many methods to rank football players based on their performance in a game or series of games. However, since most methods are subjective, this paper proposes the PageRank algorithm as an objective method to rank players in a football team, where players can be considered as the nodes, and the passes made between them as the edges of a graph. To achieve this, we consider weighting functions, which are based on parameters which consider the number and quality of passes as well as the actions of individual players in the game. In this paper, the game chosen for implementing the rankings is the 2018 World Cup Final between France and Croatia. The weighting functions are then combined in multiple ways to create different models, which hare implemented in Python to compute the rankings. The models are compared with the official rankings of players during the game with the help of the Kendall's Tau Correlation Coefficient in order to find the distance between the two ranking vectors. While the results may not be highly accurate for the models tested in this paper, a number of additional factors influencing player performance, which official rankings account for, can be considered through more weighting functions. This would lead to more accurate results, thus making the PageRank algorithm a promising and objective tool for ranking football players in a game.
Inhibition of β1-AR/Gαs signaling promotes cardiomyocyte proliferation in juvenile mice through activation of RhoA-YAP axis

The regeneration potential of the mammalian heart is incredibly limited, as cardiomyocyte proliferation ceases shortly after birth. β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) blockade has been shown to improve heart functions in response to injury; however, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we inhibited β-AR signaling in the heart using metoprolol, a cardio-selective β blocker for β1-adrenergic receptor (β1-AR) to examine its role in heart maturation and regeneration in postnatal mice. We found that metoprolol enhanced cardiomyocyte proliferation and promoted cardiac regeneration post myocardial infarction, resulting in reduced scar formation and improved cardiac function. Moreover, the increased cardiomyocyte proliferation was also induced by the genetic deletion of Gnas, the gene encoding G protein alpha subunit (Gαs), a downstream effector of β-AR. Genome wide transcriptome analysis revealed that the Hippo-effector YAP, which is associated with immature cardiomyocyte proliferation, was upregulated in the cardiomyocytes of β-blocker treated and Gnas cKO hearts. Moreover, the increased YAP activity is modulated by RhoA signaling. Our pharmacological and genetic studies reveal that β1-AR-Gαs-YAP signaling axis is involved in regulating postnatal cardiomyocyte proliferation. These results suggest that inhibiting β-AR-Gαs signaling promotes the regenerative capacity and extends the cardiac regenerative window in juvenile mice by activating YAP-mediated transcriptional programs.
Global prevalence and epidemiology of leptospirosis in domestic cats, a systematic review and meta-analysis

Research worldwide describes different prevalences of leptospirosis in domestic cats. The aims of this study were: to perform a systematic review to determine epidemiologic characteristics of published observational studies on leptospirosis, and to obtain pooled measures of the global prevalence of the disease with a meta-analysis for studies using indirect diagnostic tests (M1) and direct diagnostic tests (M2). A bibliographic search to find observational epidemiological studies reporting the prevalence of leptospirosis in cats was performed. The geographic location and decade of publication of the studies, serovars, serogroups and factors associated with Leptospira infection were summarized through a systematic review. Meta-analyses were achieved to obtain the pooled global prevalence (M1 and M2), prevalences according to the continent and origin of the sampled cats. 139 articles were found, and 93 were selected. In 16 articles, Leptospira serogroups were recorded and seropositivity was more frequent for Icterohaemorragiae, Australis, Autumnalis, Pomona. In 59 articles, the serovars were reported, being the most common reactions for Pomona, Grippotyphosa and Canicola. The M1 included 83 articles; the pooled prevalence was 11.09 % (95 % CI = 8.68–13.73). The M2 comprised 23 studies and the pooled prevalence was 9.22 % (95 % CI = 4.30–15.41). A subgroup analysis revealed higher pooled prevalences in Oceania and Europe, shelter, rural and outdoor cats in studies using indirect diagnostic tests and in Asia, stray cats and veterinary hospital patients in studies with direct tests.
The research experience of postgraduate students: a mixed-methods study

ABSTRACT Research experience is widely used in quality assurance exercises to benchmark postgraduate education at the institutional level. However, individual differences in students’ research experience have been largely neglected. Furthermore, little is known about how differences in students’ research experience are associated with skill development and overall satisfaction. This study addressed these gaps using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. Study 1 was a quantitative study that involved surveying 590 research postgraduate students (i.e. 421 PhD and 168 MPhil students). A person-centered approach, specifically latent profile analysis, was used to analyze the data. Our findings revealed that students could be divided into three groups based on their research experience: rewarding, ordinary, and unsatisfactory. Those with a rewarding research experience experienced greater development in their skills and higher levels of satisfaction, while those in the unsatisfactory group demonstrated the worst outcomes. Study 2 was a qualitative study that involved interviews with 10 PhD students. The qualitative findings largely triangulated the quantitative results but also uncovered emerging themes, including the importance of student-supervisor misfit, publication pressure, and the COVID-19 pandemic context. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
Empirical distribution function for mixing random variables. application in nonparametric hazard estimation

Let X be a multivariate random variable and (Xn)N a sequence of realisations of X which are not necessarily assumed to be independent. We derive a generalization of GLIVENKO-CANTELLI theorem under a φ-mixing,condition on the sequence (Xn). This result together with an improvement of the uniform rate of convergence on a compact set of density kernel estimate leads to uniform rate of convergence of hazard kernel estimate. This last result is illustrated by means of Monte Carlo experiments
Dry film holographic grating based on computer-generated mask lithography

This paper presented an alternative technique for fabricating the dry film holographic grating based on a mask generated by computer simulation and experimental results. The mask was generated by a fringe pattern which is created by the mathematical model of two beams interference with various angles. Computer simulation of the fringe pattern was printed on film, i.e., the holographic grating mask. The mask was attached on dry film and then illuminated by UV light, where the lithography technique was applied. According to the lithography technique, the computer-generated holographic grating mask was transferred to dry film. After fabrication, fringe patterns obtained from the grating were observed. Then, the grating period was analyzed and confirmed by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Experimental results show that the method could apply to fabricate the dry film holographic grating.
Kinematic age determinations of planetary nebula central stars

Abstract Central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPN) have a relatively large mass interval, so that it is expected that these stars also have different ages, typically above 1 Gyr. Apart from the properties of the CSPN themselves, the problem of age determination is also important in the context of the chemical evolution of the Galaxy, for instance in the understanding of the time variation of chemical abundance gradients. In this work, we estimated the ages of a sample of CSPN on the basis of some correlations between their kinematic properties and the expected ages. According to these correlations, the observed dispersions in the U, V, W velocities are uniquely defined by the stellar ages. The adopted correlations were derived from the recent Geneva-Copenhagen survey of galactic stars. Preliminary results suggest the most CSPN in the galactic disk have ages under 3 Gyr. These results are also compared with some recent age distributions based on independent correlations involving the nebular chemical abundances.
Association of Body Mass Index With the Safety Profile of Nivolumab With or Without Ipilimumab.

Importance Increased survival with immune checkpoint inhibitors has been reported for patients with obesity vs a normal body mass index (BMI). However, the association of obesity with the safety of immune checkpoint inhibitors warrants study. Objective To investigate associations between BMI and immune-related adverse events (irAEs) among patients with advanced cancers treated with nivolumab monotherapy and nivolumab plus ipilimumab combination therapy. Design, Setting, and Participants This study was a retrospective pooled analysis of 3772 patients from 14 multicenter CheckMate clinical trials across 8 tumor types. Patients with advanced cancers received nivolumab, 3 mg/kg (n = 2746); nivolumab, 3 mg/kg, plus ipilimumab, 1 mg/kg (n = 713); or nivolumab, 1 mg/kg, plus ipilimumab, 3 mg/kg (n = 313). Baseline BMI was categorized as normal weight or underweight (<25), overweight (25 to <30), or obese (≥30) according to World Health Organization criteria. The studies began patient enrollment between February 9, 2012, and May 21, 2015, and patients were followed up to database lock on May 1, 2019. Data analysis was conducted from May 1 to September 1, 2019. Interventions Nivolumab, 3 mg/kg; nivolumab, 3 mg/kg, plus ipilimumab, 1 mg/kg; and nivolumab, 1 mg/kg, plus ipilimumab, 3 mg/kg. Main Outcomes and Measures Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs for incidence of any-grade and grade 3 or 4 irAEs were calculated for patients with obesity vs normal weight or underweight BMI in the overall cohort and in subgroups based on patient and tumor characteristics. Analyses for nivolumab plus ipilimumab cohorts were exploratory. Results A total of 3772 patients were included, 2600 were male (69%), and median age was 61 years (range, 18-90 years). For patients receiving monotherapy with nivolumab, 3 mg/kg (n = 2746), the incidence of any-grade irAEs was higher in patients with obesity (n = 543) vs those with normal weight or underweight BMI (n = 1266; OR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.38-2.11). Incidence of grade 3 or 4 irAEs did not differ between patients with obesity and those with normal weight or underweight BMI (OR, 1.21; 95% CI, 0.92-1.61). Risk of any-grade and grade 3 or 4 irAEs appeared consistent with that in the overall population across all subgroups evaluated except for a higher likelihood of grade 3 or 4 irAEs among female patients with obesity vs normal weight or underweight BMI (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.07-2.79). For patients receiving nivolumab plus ipilimumab, the incidence of irAEs appeared consistent across BMI categories. Conclusions and Relevance Obesity appeared to be associated with an increased incidence of any-grade irAEs among patients treated with nivolumab monotherapy and with grade 3 or 4 irAEs among female patients only. These findings may inform the monitoring of patients at high risk of developing irAEs.
Characteristics of Hailstorms of Western South Dakota

Abstract An extensive observational program has resulted in a description of the typical hailstorm of western South Dakota. The typical storm is cellular with new cells developing on its southwest side. The median hailstorm produces radar echoes to 12.2 km MSL and has a total up-air flux just over 1011 gm sec−1. Mean moisture inflow is around 109 gm sec−1, and precipitation efficiencies vary widely. Air and moisture fluxes in large storms exceed those in the median storm by a factor of 10. Maximum observed equivalent X-band radar reflectivity factor in the median hailstorm is 104.8 mm6 m−3 and occurs at ∼5.5 km MSL. While there is evidence of occasional large steady-state cells characterized by very strong updrafts, hard hail and low precipitation efficiencies, most large storms pulsate as convective cells form and dissipate within them. Numerical models of hail-producing cells in the northern Great Plains should include time-dependent models capable of modeling the brake imposed on the updraft by precipi.
A convergent non-negative deconvolution algorithm with Tikhonov regularization

The main contribution of this paper is to present a convergent and flexible deconvolution algorithm based on the well-known Tikhonov-regularized least squares estimate under non-negativity constraints. The key idea for developing the algorithm is to replace the minimization of the cost function at each iteration by the minimization of a surrogate function, leading to a guaranteed decrease in the cost function. The algorithm derivation can also be interpreted as the expectation maximization process, where the surrogate function may be viewed as the negative conditional expectation, and then the minimization of the surrogate function is equivalent to the maximization of the conditional expectation. The proposed algorithm has some favorable properties, including the monotonic decrease of the cost function, the self-constraining in the feasible region and the absence of a pre-determined step size. This algorithm can be seen as a special case of Lanteri's method, but this paper theoretically proves that the iteration sequence will converge to a global solution. The simulation results confirm similar behaviors of Lanteri's method and the proposed one. The results also demonstrate that the proposed algorithm provides a performance comparable to those of the other commonly used methods as regards restoration ability, convergence speed and computational cost.
Single chloroplast in folio imaging sheds light on photosystem energy redistribution during state transitions

Abstract Oxygenic photosynthesis is driven by light absorption in photosystem I (PSI) and photosystem II (PSII). A balanced excitation pressure between PSI and PSII is required for optimal photosynthetic efficiency. State transitions serve to keep this balance. If PSII is overexcited in plants and green algae, a mobile pool of light-harvesting complex II (LHCII) associates with PSI, increasing its absorption cross-section and restoring the excitation balance. This is called state 2. Upon PSI overexcitation, this LHCII pool moves to PSII, leading to state 1. Whether the association/dissociation of LHCII with the photosystems occurs between thylakoid grana and thylakoid stroma lamellae during state transitions or within the same thylakoid region remains unclear. Furthermore, although state transitions are thought to be accompanied by changes in thylakoid macro-organization, this has never been observed directly in functional leaves. In this work, we used confocal fluorescence lifetime imaging to quantify state transitions in single Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) chloroplasts in folio with sub-micrometer spatial resolution. The change in excitation-energy distribution between PSI and PSII was investigated at a range of excitation wavelengths between 475 and 665 nm. For all excitation wavelengths, the PSI/(PSI + PSII) excitation ratio was higher in state 2 than in state 1. We next imaged the local PSI/(PSI + PSII) excitation ratio for single chloroplasts in both states. The data indicated that LHCII indeed migrates between the grana and stroma lamellae during state transitions. Finally, fluorescence intensity images revealed that thylakoid macro-organization is largely unaffected by state transitions. This single chloroplast in folio imaging method will help in understanding how plants adjust their photosynthetic machinery to ever-changing light conditions.
A Novel Approach to Estimate Electrothermal Aging of Epoxy–Alumina Nanocomposites Using Dielectric Relaxation Current Analysis

In this article, an advanced technique is applied to estimate the aging state of epoxy–alumina nanocomposite insulation. For this purpose, several epoxy–alumina nanocomposite samples are prepared in the laboratory. Samples are undergone into artificial electrothermal aging conditioning up to duration of 600 h. After each 100-h instant, the relaxation current is measured under 1-kV/mm dc stress through the developed experimental setup in the laboratory. From the experimentally measured current data, relaxation frequency distribution (RFD) function of the test samples is computed. Based on the relaxation distribution function, two aging sensitive parameters are evaluated. In order to correlate these two aging sensitive parameters with the aging state of insulation, two empirical relationships are proposed based on the experimental investigation. The effectiveness of these two empirical relationships is validated with the laboratory prepared epoxy nanocomposites (EPNCs) insulation having a definite aging state. The experimental investigation shows that the proposed method can effectively be applied for estimating the aging state of nanocomposites insulation used in real-life high-voltage equipment.
Application of machine learning in low-order manifold representation of chemistry in turbulent flames

The Uniform Conditional State (UCS) and the Multidimensional Flamelet Manifold (MFM) models are methods for the tabulation of chemistry in simulations of turbulent flames. The high-dimensionality of the tables these models generate and many possible combinations of the values for the input variables necessitate the allocation of a considerable size of memory during CFD calculations. This issue becomes even more problematic when adding more conditioning variables to the model. In this study, two Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based approaches referred to as Decision Tree (DT) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) are developed and tested to provide in situ chemistry representation. The goal is to predict four parameters (outputs) accurately with low memory demand and computational cost. The trained AI models are then employed for simulation of a turbulent premixed flame. Comparison of the results from the AI-based approaches to those from the conventional UCS model shows acceptable agreement. The memory and CPU requirements from the different approaches are compared. It is found that the ANN model reduces the size of the chemistry table by around 92%. Conversely, the DT-based model reduces the size of the chemistry model by only 40%. The CPU time for using the DT model during the CFD calculations was around 10% shorter than the conventional approach while it was 8% higher for the ANN model. It was concluded that, based on the particular applications, different AI-based methods can facilitate an efficient representation of the chemistry manifold.
Strong correlation between high-temperature electronic and low-temperature magnetic ordering in La 1 − x Ca x MnO 3 continuous phase diagram

Optical and microwave impedance and magnetic mapping of continuous phase diagram of thin film ${\mathrm{La}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Ca}}_{x}{\mathrm{MnO}}_{3}$ was achieved on a single chip. The optical and microwave impedance images obtained by charge-coupled device camera and scanned evanescent microwave probe showed abrupt variations in visible wavelength reflectance and microwave impedance as functions of composition at room temperature. The low-temperature magnetic order probed by scanning superconducting quantum interference device microscope is directly correlated with the room-temperature electrical impedance variation. Most of these variations may arise from remnant electronic orbital ordering persisting to room temperature in these compounds. We also observed a narrow singular stripe in composition with dramatically increased conductivity.
Screening for Referral of Serious Pathology by Physical Examination Tests in Patients with Back or Chest Pain: A Systematic Review

Objective: To investigate the most common physical examination tests (PET) for the screening for referral of patients with back or chest pain caused by serious pathology. Methods: A systematic review was conducted. Searches were performed on seven electronic databases between June 2020 and December 2021. Only studies evaluating patients with back and/or chest pain with clear reporting of PETs and prompt patient referrals were included. Results: 316 full texts were included, and these studies had a total of 474/492 patients affected by a serious disease. Only 26 studies of them described suspicion of serious disease due to at least one positive PET. Cardiac/pulmonary auscultation and heartbeats/blood pressure measurements were the most frequently reported tests. None of the reported studies included physiotherapists and chiropractors who reported the use of various tests, such as: cardiac and pulmonary auscultation, lung percussion, costovertebral angle tenderness, and lymph node palpation, highlighting a lack of attention in measuring vital parameters. On the contrary, doctors and nurses reported the assessment of the range of motion of the thoracolumbar spine and hip less frequently. Conclusions: Appropriate reporting of PETs is sparse, and their utilization is heterogeneous among different healthcare professionals. Further primary studies are needed to describe PETs results in patients suffering from back and/or chest pain.
FURTHER EXAMINATION TO FUZZY EXPONENTIAL SMOOTHING MODEL

ABSTRACT The fuzzy exponential smoothing model has been used for short-term forecasting with a minimum of collected data or unknown system structure to determine a better extrapolative interval in a fuzzy set for an unknown future trend. In order to enlarge its applications, this model has been investigated and proposed for solving trend datum and seasonal datum. However, two characters in the fuzzy exponential smoothing model have never been clearly discussed. First, the old smoothed values estimated from the grey model GM(1,1) need further discussion and clarification. Second, the meanings of the tolerance values of the fuzzy constraints in the fuzzy exponential smoothing model require further elucidation. Therefore, in this study, in-depth examinations of fuzzy exponential smoothing model are carried out in order to elucidate the above two problems and to enhance the abilities of the fuzzy exponential smoothing model. An example is given for illustration.