Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
All-Dielectric Huygens’ Metasurface Pair for mm-Wave Circularly-Polarized Beam-Forming

A novel all-dielectric Huygens’ metasurface pair capable of circularly-polarized beam-forming is proposed. The proposed structure consists of two layers of dielectric resonators separated by approximately one quarter-wavelength at the design frequency. Each dielectric resonator is symmetrical to allow for the transmission of circularly-polarized waves. In order to physically design the structure, each resonator is connected to neighboring resonators using four symmetrical bridges. The second dielectric layer is added to cancel reflections caused by the bridges, allowing for the achievement of perfect matching. Fullwave simulations are used to demonstrate the full phase range achieved by varying unit cell dimensions. The operation of the proposed metasurface is further demonstrated by obtaining refracted and difference-pattern beams from a circularly-polarized slot array antenna.
Application of Inertial Motion Unit-Based Kinematics to Assess the Effect of Boot Modifications on Ski Jump Landings—A Methodological Study

Biomechanical studies of winter sports are challenging due to environmental conditions which cannot be mimicked in a laboratory. In this study, a methodological approach was developed merging 2D video recordings with sensor-based motion capture to investigate ski jump landings. A reference measurement was carried out in a laboratory, and subsequently, the method was exemplified in a field study by assessing the effect of a ski boot modification on landing kinematics. Landings of four expert skiers were filmed under field conditions in the jump plane, and full body kinematics were measured with an inertial motion unit (IMU) -based motion capture suit. This exemplary study revealed that the combination of video and IMU data is viable. However, only one skier was able to make use of the added boot flexibility, likely due to an extended training time with the modified boot. In this case, maximum knee flexion changed by 36° and maximum ankle flexion by 13°, whereas the other three skiers changed only marginally. The results confirm that 2D video merged with IMU data are suitable for jump analyses in winter sports, and that the modified boot will allow for alterations in landing technique provided that enough time for training is given.
Luminal and Wall Changes in Intracranial Arterial Lesions for Predicting Stroke Occurrence

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background and Purpose: Luminal imaging (degree of stenosis) currently serves as the gold standard to predict stroke recurrence and guide therapeutic strategies in patients with intracranial large artery diseases (ILADs). We comparatively evaluated the importance of vessel wall and luminal changes in predicting stroke occurrence. Methods: Consecutive patients with ILAD in the proximal middle cerebral artery or distal internal carotid artery without proximal sources of embolism from the carotid and heart underwent time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography, high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging, and the ring finger protein 213 (RNF213) gene variant test. Patients were followed up for >3 months. Results: Of the 675 patients, 241 (35.7%) had atherosclerotic ILAD and 434 (64.3%) showed nonatherosclerotic ILAD (315 [46.7%] moyamoya disease cases and 119 [17.6%] dissection cases). The RNF213 variant was detected in 74.9%, 33.6%, and 3.4% patients with moyamoya disease, atherosclerosis, and dissection, respectively. Three hundred (44.4%) patients had asymptomatic ILAD, whereas 375 (55.6%) patients had symptomatic ILAD. Multivariate analysis showed that vessel enhancement and etiological subtypes, not degree of stenosis, determined by high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging and RNF213 gene variant analysis were independently associated with symptomatic ILAD. The presence of the RNF213 variant was also independently associated with recurrent cerebrovascular events. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the prevalence of nonatherosclerotic ILAD in East Asian patients with ILAD. Unlike luminal changes, wall changes determined by high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging and presence of the RNF213 variant could predict stroke occurrence in patients with ILADs.
A Technique for Including Edge Diffraction Effects on RCS Evaluation at Fresnel Region Ranges

The aim of this paper is to propose a simple and low-cost technique to measure the RCS of a complex target in the Fresnel region and in a multipath environment. The diffracted field by the target is calculated using a method based on equivalent currents. The reflected field is computed using the physical optics approach and the tangent plane approximation. The ratio between the analytical expression of the radar cross section in the far-field and Fresnel region results in a field-zone extrapolation factor for the diffracted field. The RCS resulting from the scattering parameters measured at Fresnel region distances is then corrected with that field-zone extrapolation factor. The method was validated by simulations and measurements on a rectangular, metallic target.
Bedeutung der Gerüstsubstanzen in der Schweineernährung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von HCl-behandeltem Strohmehl

The term crude fibre according to the Weend analysis method is insufficient for the nutrition of pigs as it does not comprise pentosanes. During the cooking process they are hydrolysed with diluted acid and do not remain in the crude fibre fraction. As stomach HCl can also hydrolyse pentosane (probably in shorter chains), they are well utilized by the microorganisms in the digestive tract (production of volatile fatty acids). Cereal bran and straw meal contain a particularly high quota of pentosanes in their fibre. The fibre fraction of the plant materials fulfills several functions in the digestive tract: absorption of water at the hydroxyl groups of cellulose and hemicellulose (higher absorption capacity of the digesta and improved passage rate); formation of volatile fatty acids (VFA) by the intestinal bacteria due to the fermentation of pentosanes and cellulose (positive influence of VFA on the mucosa of the intestinal walls); absorption of protein decomposition products (including amines) in the cavities of native plant scaffold substances and absorption of aromatic toxic substances (tyramine, phenol, cresol, tryptamine, indole, skatole, histamine etc.) in the lignin by means of VAN DER WAALS forces and further transport of the toxic substances until they are excreted in faeces. HCl treated straw meal is either a mixture of HCl and straw meal at a ratio of 20 kg half concentrated HCl (17% HCl) and 100 kg straw meal with or without heat treatment (steaming for ca. 30 min). The unsteamed product is called HCl straw meal, the steamed product partly hydrolysed straw meal (PHS). 5-10% HCl--straw meal was successfully used in the rearing of piglets after weaning. In addition to the above-mentioned significance of the scaffold substances for the digestive tract, the HCl improved the pH status in the stomach and the upper region of the small intestine. PHS neutralized with CaCO3 (up to pH 6-7) is suitable for breeding sows, boars, young sows and fattening pigs. PSM contains 25% reducing substances (reducing sugars) in the DM and serves the intestinal bacteria in the production of VFA. In the feeding of breeding sows in the phase of gestation 20-30% of the DM intake could be covered by PSM. The number of viable and rearable piglets was significantly higher than after conventional feeding. HCl--SM and PSM also provide advantages with regard to hygiene. They are not congested by fungi and can well be stored without neutralization.
Alterações na composição florística das algas da Praia de Boa Viagem (Niterói, RJ)

During the past three decades, the Guanabara Bay suffered continuous degradation, leading to severe changes in the surrounding area and environmental damages. Besides significant loss of its natural landscape, the quality of its water decreased with continuous disposal of non-treated domestic organic sewage and industrial effluents. The present study aimed to survey the algal flora of Boa Viagem beach (Niteroi, RJ) and to compare it with information gathered three decades ago. Results showed a decrease of 30 taxa (49%) of the algal species and an increase of 14 species (23%) in comparison with algal flora recorded three decades ago. The actual algal flora is dominated by Ulva fasciata Delile and Enteromorpha compressa (L.) Nees, species indicative of organic pollution. These results elucidate the environmental impacts caused upon the macroalgae community of the Guanabara Bay during throughout the period.
Camouflage through behavior in moths: the role of background matching and disruptive coloration

Camouflage can be attained via mechanisms such as background matching (resembling the general background) and disruptive coloration (hindering the detection of an animal’s outline). However, despite much conceptual work with artificial stimuli there have to date been few studies of how such camouflage types work in real animals in their natural environments. Here, using avian vision models and image analysis, we tested which concealing mechanisms operate to provide camouflage during behavioral choice of a resting position in 2 bark-resting moths, Hypomecis roboraria and Jankowskia fuscaria. Our results suggest that both species reinforced their crypticity in terms of both background matching and disruptive coloration. However, the detailed mechanisms (such as achromatic/chromatic matching or pattern direction matching) that each species exploits differed between the 2 species. Our results demonstrate that an appropriate behavioral choice of background and body orientation is important to improve camouflage against natural predators, and highlight the mechanisms that confer camouflage to cryptic animals in their natural habitats.
Maternal effects and their consequences for offspring fitness in the Yellow Dung Fly

1. Maternal adult diet and body size influence the fecundity of a female and possibly the quality and the performance of her offspring via egg size or egg quality. In laboratory experiments, negative effects in the offspring generation have often been obscured by optimal rearing conditions. 2. To estimate these effects in the Yellow Dung Fly, Scathophaga stercoraria, how maternal body size and adult nutritional status affected her fecundity, longevity and egg size were first investigated. 3. Second, it was investigated how female age and adult nutritional experience, mediated through the effects of egg size or egg quality, influenced the performance of offspring at different larval densities. 4. Maternal size was less important than maternal adult feeding in increasing reproductive output. Without food restriction, large females had larger clutch sizes and higher oviposition rates, whereas under food restriction this advantage was reversed in favour of small females. 5. Offspring from mothers reared under nutritional stress experienced reduced fitness in terms of egg mortality and survival to adult emergence. If the offspring from low-quality eggs survived, the transmitted maternal food deficiency only affected adult male body size under stressful larval environments. 6. Smaller egg sizes due to maternal age only slightly affected the performance of the offspring under all larval conditions.
Invertebrate community patterns in Mediterranean temporary wetlands along hydroperiod and salinity gradients

1. Temporary aquatic habitats often are inhabited by a unique fauna and flora and contribute significantly to regional diversity. Temporary wetlands around the world are disappearing rapidly. The individual and interacting impacts of factors influencing community structure and dynamics in temporary wetlands are not always well known. 2. Camargue wetlands are mainly characterized by variable salinity and hydroperiod. The individual and combined impacts of these local factors, together with regional variables, on invertebrate communities remain unknown. We therefore characterized and sampled invertebrates in 30 temporary wetlands along salinity and hydroperiod gradients in the Camargue (Southern France) 3, 5 and 7 months after inundation. 3. Over the three sampling occasions, a total of 17 cladoceran species and 49 macroinvertebrate taxa were identified. Hydroperiod and salinity were the most important variables explaining variation in taxonomic composition and can be considered key factors shaping the invertebrate communities in Camargue wetlands. The impact on taxon richness was significantly positive for hydroperiod but significantly negative for salinity. Regional factors had no significant effect on the structure of the studied invertebrate communities, suggesting that dispersal was not limiting and that species sorting was the most important structuring process. 4. The results of this study suggest that the combined and interacting effects of salinization and hydrological modification of Mediterranean temporary wetlands (due to water management, climate change, etc.) can result in reduced diversity in large numbers of Mediterranean wetlands and induce a considerable decline in regional diversity of aquatic invertebrates.
Altered brain network topology related to working memory in internet addiction

Abstract Background and aims The working memory (WM) ability of internet addicts and the topology underlying the WM processing in internet addiction (IA) are poorly understood. In this study, we employed a graph theoretical framework to characterize the topological properties of the IA brain network in the source cortical space during WM task. Methods A sample of 24 subjects with IA and 23 matched healthy controls (HCs) performed visual 2-back task. Exact Low Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography was adopted to project the pre-processed EEG signals into source space. Subsequently, Lagged phase synchronization was calculated between all pairs of Brodmann areas, the graph theoretical approaches were then employed to estimate the brain topological properties of all participants during the WM task. Results We found better WM behavioral performance in IA subjects compared with the HCs. Moreover, compared to the HC group, more integrated and hierarchical brain network was revealed in the IA subjects in alpha band. And altered regional centrality was mainly resided in frontal and limbic lobes. In addition, significant relationships between the IA severity and the significant altered graph indices were found. Conclusions In conclusion, these findings provide evidence to support the notion that altered topological configuration may underline changed WM function observed in IA.
Global motion detection and censoring in high‐density diffuse optical tomography

Abstract Motion‐induced artifacts can significantly corrupt optical neuroimaging, as in most neuroimaging modalities. For high‐density diffuse optical tomography (HD‐DOT) with hundreds to thousands of source‐detector pair measurements, motion detection methods are underdeveloped relative to both functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and standard functional near‐infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). This limitation restricts the application of HD‐DOT in many challenging imaging situations and subject populations (e.g., bedside monitoring and children). Here, we evaluated a new motion detection method for multi‐channel optical imaging systems that leverages spatial patterns across measurement channels. Specifically, we introduced a global variance of temporal derivatives (GVTD) metric as a motion detection index. We showed that GVTD strongly correlates with external measures of motion and has high sensitivity and specificity to instructed motion—with an area under the receiver operator characteristic curve of 0.88, calculated based on five different types of instructed motion. Additionally, we showed that applying GVTD‐based motion censoring on both hearing words task and resting state HD‐DOT data with natural head motion results in an improved spatial similarity to fMRI mapping. We then compared the GVTD similarity scores with several commonly used motion correction methods described in the fNIRS literature, including correlation‐based signal improvement (CBSI), temporal derivative distribution repair (TDDR), wavelet filtering, and targeted principal component analysis (tPCA). We find that GVTD motion censoring on HD‐DOT data outperforms other methods and results in spatial maps more similar to those of matched fMRI data.
Switched Beam Lens Antennas Fed with Magneto-Electric Dipoles

Two switched beam antennas fed with Magneto-Electric (ME) dipole elements are introduced. Depending on the arrangement of the feeding elements, beam steering in 1D or 2D can be realized. The ME dipole feed covers a wide bandwidth of 30.8%. Moreover, both lens antennas fully cover the 60 GHz frequency band, from 57 to 64 GHz. It can be used for AR/VR services that require high data rate and ultra-low latency.
16S rRNA gene diversity of attached and unattached bacteria in boreholes along the access tunnel to the Äspö hard rock laboratory, Sweden

Abstract A total of 155 16S rRNA genes that were cloned from unattached and attached bacteria in nine boreholes down to 626 m below ground were partially sequenced. Attached bacteria were examined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The distribution of the 16S rRNA genes found was related to the different types of groundwaters studied. Several of the sequences obtained could be identified on genus level as one of the genera Acinetobacter, Bacillus, Desulfovibrio or Thiomicrospira . The 16S rRNA genes from 20 selected isolates were closely related to the sulphate reducers Desulfomicrobium baculatum or Desulfovibrio sp. , the iron reducer Shewanella putrefaciens , or distantly related to the Gram-positive genus Eubacterium . Viable counts confirmed the presence of sulphate-reducing bacteria.
Antenna Adaptation Circuits For High Data Rate Magneto Inductive Underwater Communications

Environmental and aquaculture monitoring in seawater use standalone and robust underwater sensor networks to properly and regularly harvest useful data. The need of submarine images transmissions in real time require higher data rate. In this paper we introduce an innovative prototype of reliable magneto-induction based wireless submarine communication system adapted to a medium-range underwater telemetry application matching those requirements.
Effect of feeding systems on live-weight, reproductive performance, milk yield and composition, and the growth of lambs in native Spanish Ojalada sheep.

To produce lambs of the Ojalada breed, included within the Protected Geographical Indication “Lechazo de Castilla y Leon”, three feeding systems were compared (40 ewes/treatment): a) IND +CH+ C, ewes kept indoors and fed chopped straw plus concentrate, prepared on location and distributed mechanically (total mixed ration; TMR); b) IND + W+C, ewes kept indoors and fed whole straw in the form of large bales, plus concentrate (TMR); and c) GR + C, free-range grazing plus concentrate (control group). Live-weight, reproductive endpoints, milk production and composition (10 sheep from single lambing/treatment), and growth of lambs up to 35 days were assessed. Live-weight of ewes from the IND + CH + C group were similar to those in the GR + C group ( p > 0.05). Treatments did not differ for fertility or prolificacy, except for fecundity in the IND +W+ C group compared to values for the IND + CH+ C and GR + C groups. The quantity of milk produced through 35 days did not differ (~1,300 mL d–1), with peak production in all three groups in the third week of lactation (~1,500 mL d–1). Milk chemical composition generally did not differ among treatments; only ewes in the IND +CH+C group presented greater protein content in the third week of lactation. Although treatments did not differ in live-weight at birth to 35 days, IND + CH+ C lambs differed in average daily gains, reaching 9 kg of live-weight (minimum weight for slaughter) at ages younger than the other groups whether from simple or double lambing. We can conclude that this type of production, keeping sheep closed and fed a TMR, is possible.
Microfungi associated with surface soil and decaying leaf litter of Quercus serrata in a subtropical natural oak forest and managed plantation in Northeastern India

Fungi play a major role in forest functioning by regulating the process of litter decomposition and nutrient release and are sensitive to management practices. Species richness and abundance of fungi in surface soil and decaying leaf litter of Quercus serratawere compared between a subtropical natural mixed oak forest and a managed oak plantation in the eastern Himalayan region. During 12 months of study a total of 106 fungal species were isolated from soil by dilution plate method and decomposing litter by leaf dilution, washed disk and moist chamber methods. Month of samplings and study sites influenced the species composition of soil and litter fungi. Total species richness of soil fungi was significantly (P < 0.05) lower during different seasons in managed plantation than in the natural forest. Dominant soil colonizers from both sites were: Cladosporium cladosporioides, Clonostachys rosea f. catenulata, Fusarium oxysporum, Penicillium indonesiae, Penicillium turbatum, Trichoderma sp. and Trichoderma koningii. Different soil and litter fungi showed differential seasonal preferences at two study sites. Type of fungal species recovered from leaf litters was influenced by the isolation method. Total number of litter fungi isolated from both sites was broadly similar, whereas the species compositions were different. Litter fungi between the two sites showed the highest similarity index in winter, while the similarity of soil fungi was high during summer. The management practices at plantation site had no significant effect on species richness of litter fungi although soil fungal diversity was significantly reduced indicating the role of intensive management practices on soil fungal population. Key words: Fungal diversity, species richness, soil, litter, natural oak forest, managed plantation, Northeastern India.
Morphological and molecular characterization of a new species of Atlantic stalked barnacle (Scalpelliformes: Pollicipedidae) from the Cape Verde Islands

The taxonomy of pedunculate cirripedes belonging to the genus Pollicipes has essentially remained unchanged since Charles Darwin described them in his exhaustive work on the Cirripedia. This genus includes three species of stalked barnacles: Pollicipes pollicipes in the north-eastern Atlantic, P. polymerus in the north-eastern Pacific and P. elegans in the central-eastern Pacific. However, a population genetics analysis of P. pollicipes suggested the presence of a putative cryptic species collected from the Cape Verde Islands in the central-eastern Atlantic. This study examines the morphology of these genetically divergent specimens and compares them with that of representative Atlantic samples of the biogeographically closely related P. pollicipes and with the poorly described P. elegans. Molecular data, including mitochondrial COX1 and nuclear ribosomal interspaces sequences, were obtained for all species of the genus Pollicipes. Morphological distinctiveness, diagnostic characters, congruent divergence level and monophyletic clustering, at both nuclear and mitochondrial loci support the taxonomic status of this new species, Pollicipes darwini.