Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Failure of brittle heterogeneous materials: Intermittency, Crackling and Seismicity

The problem of the solid fracture has occupied scientists and engineers for centuries. This phenomenon is classically addressed within the framework of continuum mechanics. Still, stress enhancement at crack tips makes the failure behavior observed at the continuum-level scale extremely dependent on the presence of microstructure inhomogeneities down to very small scales. This yields statistical aspects which, by essence, cannot be addressed using the conventional engineering continuum approaches. I addressed this problem from two different points. First, I designed an experimental setup that allows growing well-controlled tensile cracks in brittle heterogeneous solids of tunable microstructure, over a wide range of loading speed. The crack dynamics and the evolution of stored and released mechanical energy are monitored in real time. In parallel, the acoustic emission going along with crack growth is recorded via a series of acoustic transducers, and analyzed in a way similar to that develop by geophysicists to process seismic signals. The experiments allowed me to characterize quantitatively the crackling dynamics of cracks, also to evidence intriguing statistical similarities between the seismicity associated with this simple situation of a single running crack under tension and the much more complex situation of multicracking in compressive fracture and in earthquakes. In parallel, I addressed the problem numerically. The simulations invoke a recent statistical modelmapping heterogeneous fracture with the depinning transition of an elastic manifold in a random potential. The numerical exploration of the parameter space allowed me to unravel when (i.e. which loading conditions, microstructure material parameters, material constants.) regular dynamics compatible with continuum approaches are expected to be observed, and when crackling dynamics calling for statistical approaches are observed. In this latter case, we have characterized quantitatively the dynamics statistic and its variations as a function of the input parameters.
A Novel Control Method of Enterococcus faecalis by Co-Treatment with Protamine and Calcium Hydroxide

Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis), a gram-positive facultative anaerobic bacterium, is likely to survive root canal treatment because of its extremely high alkaline tolerance, which may contribute to the refractory nature of apical periodontitis (AP). In this study, protamine was combined with calcium hydroxide to evaluate its efficacy in killing E. faecalis. First, the antibacterial activity of protamine against E. faecalis was investigated. Protamine reduced the E. faecalis growth rate at concentrations above the MIC (250 μg/mL), but was not bactericidal at any of the concentrations tested. Next, we investigated the calcium hydroxide tolerance of E. faecalis, using a 10% 310 medium, adjusted for pH by adding a calcium hydroxide solution. The results showed that E. faecalis could survive and proliferate in alkaline environments up to pH 10. However, the complete killing of E. faecalis was observed when protamine (250 μg/mL) was added. In addition, compared with treatment with protamine and calcium hydroxide alone, membrane damage and internalization of protamine into the cytoplasm of E. faecalis were enhanced. Therefore, the synergistic increase in antibacterial activity may be related to the action of both antimicrobial agents on the cell membrane. In conclusion, co-treatment with protamine and calcium hydroxide seems to be very effective in sterilizing E. faecalis, and has the potential to provide a novel control method against E. faecalis for root canal treatment.
Unification of General Relativity with Quantum Field Theory

In the frame of quantum field theory, instead of using the action principle, we deduce the Einstein equation from purely the general covariant principle and the homogeneity of spacetime. The Einstein equation is shown to be the gauge equation to guarantee the local symmetry of spacetime translation. Gravity is an apparent force due to the curvature of spacetime resulted from the conservation of energy-momentum. In the action of quantum field theory, only electroweak-strong interactions should be considered with the curved spacetime metric determined by the Einstein equation.
Personalized Multimedia Recommendation Systems Using Higher-Order Tensor Singular-Value-Decomposition

Because of rapid growth of multimedia data over the Internet, the infobesity has been emerging in recent years. Many recommender systems (RSs) have been proposed using a variety of techniques, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistical analysis, and data mining. Nowadays, E-commerce companies such as Amazon, eBay, Netflix, etc. have applied RSs conveniently to provide better customer services than before by enabling customized multimedia-content recommendations. It is well known that classical RSs are almost all based on the user-item attribute matrices. However, this two-fold user-item relationship should be extended to the emerging many-fold relationship among an arbitrary number of attribute groups so that the corresponding new RSs may lead to better performances. Therefore, in this paper, we introduce a novel personalized multimedia recommender system (PMRS) according to our proposed new parallel higher-order tensor singular-value-decomposition (PHOTSVD) algorithm. This PHOTSVD algorithm is capable of accommodating an arbitrary number of entities such as social-media channels, users, queries, webpages, etc. in a robust RS. Furthermore, we also investigate the cold start and data bias problems critical to RSs. Finally, we compare the performances of our proposed new PMRS and three other existing tensor-based RSs over realworld data with respect to the well-adopted metric, namely normalized root-mean-square error (NRMSE). Our proposed new PMRS greatly outperforms the other three existing tensor-based RSs in terms of NRMSE.
Infrared characterization of spike protein of MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 and its variants: first steps toward an optical biosensing device

In this work we introduce the first step toward the development of an Infrared (IR) sensoristic platform aiming to the detection and discrimination of airborne pathogens. SARS-CoV-2 Spike glycoprotein (S) is considered as a biomarker for virus recognition. A comparative spectroscopic analysis is illustrated, studying Spike glycoprotein subunit S1 from three different viruses, MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, SARS-CoV-2 variants are also investigated. The IR characterization of their S1 secondary conformation was carried out through Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR), analyzing the Amide I absorption band. In addition, pH-dependent conformational changes of SARS-CoV-2 S1 were investigated, too
Risk Factors and Treatments of Non-specific Low Back Pain

Non-specific low back pain (NSLBP) is one kind of low back pain (LBP) that most commonly happened and causes a great amount of disability and recurrence, putting a heavy burden on the medical system. However, research about mechanisms, risk factors, and treatment of NSLBP is still limited. This study discusses the mechanism and risk factors of LBP in detail and analyzes physical, biopsychosocial, invasive, and pharmacological treatments of NLBP. Results show that many intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence NLBP. Age, gender, and obesity degree are intrinsic factors. A sedentary lifestyle, smoking, heavy lifting, long-time driving, stress, and fear-avoidance beliefs are extrinsic factors. Effective physical treatments include pilates, core stability, and hip muscle strengthening exercises. Biopsychosocial treatments such as psychologically informed practice, are also considered an evolutionary treatment method. Surgery, radiofrequency denervation, and acupuncture are also should be considered if other invasive therapies are ineffective. Muscle relaxants and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are strongly recommended for acute or sub-acute LBP.
The Impact of Frequent Glucose Monitoring on the Prevalence of Complications Among Patients With Diabetes in Saudi Arabia

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM), including type 1 diabetes (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D), affects the absorption of glucose from the blood. DM has serious complications that can be prevented by adequate knowledge of the disease and its complications, a healthy lifestyle, a modified diet, and regular glucose monitoring. Hence, this study aimed to assess the effects of frequent glucose monitoring on the occurrence of DM complications. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed at King Abdulaziz University Hospital between June and December 2022 and included patients with T1D or T2D. After consent, participants who agreed to join filled out an online questionnaire that was used to acquire information, such as demographic data, type of diabetes, blood glucose monitoring, and diabetic complications. Results: A total of 206 diabetic patients participated in this study, with a mean age of 41.2±19.37, with 53.4% having T1D. Most participants monitored their glucose levels (85.4%), and the majority (65.3%) monitored them once or more daily. Patients who monitored their glucose levels more frequently had significantly fewer complications (p = 0.002). Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) was the best monitoring method, as it demonstrated the lowest rate of complications compared to other methods (p = 0.002). Conclusions: Frequent glucose monitoring and the use of CGM devices were associated with a decreased number of DM complications. Thus, we recommend that physicians encourage patients to perform CGM as it helps increase the frequency of monitoring.
Selected Advances of Quantum Biophotonics – a Short Review

— This article discusses four fields of study with the potential to revolutionize our understanding and interaction with biological systems: quantum biophotonics, molecular and supramolecular bioelectronics, quantum-based approaches in gaming, and nano-biophotonics. Quantum biophotonics uses photonics, biochemistry, biophysics, and quantum information technologies to study biological systems at the sub-nanoscale level. Molecular and supramolecular bioelectronics aim to develop biosensors for medical diagnosis, environmental monitoring, and food safety by designing materials and devices that interface with biological systems at the molecular level. Quantum-based approaches in gaming improve modeling of complex systems, while nanomedicine enhances disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention using nanoscale devices and sensors developed with quantum biophotonics. Lastly, nano-biophotonics studies cellular structures and functions with unprecedented resolution.
Inside the Black Hole

In my previous publication [1], I have shown if the Higgs field is static and all pervading in the universe then the entire universe will be collapsed. In fact the Universe is expanding and it is in a continuous rate. This expansion is done by dark energy. This dark energy is created from some universe space which is known as Black hole. This black hole absorbs mass and energy and supplies dark energy to the rest of the Universe and is termed as “Energy stabilizer of the Universe”. Here the author has introduced the concept of Energy Condensation state called “Enmass” and conversion of mass to energy called “Demass” within the Blackhole.
Morphological and Physiological Response of Tomato to Sole and Combined Application of Vermicompost and Chemical Fertilizers

Chemical fertilizers are commonly used to meet the nutritional demands of crops and boost their yields. However, their high costs and excessive application in soils increase the cost of production and have negative effects on the soil and environmental health. Vermicompost is an organic amendment that can potentially lessen the dependence on chemical fertilizers, with the additional advantages of sustainable nutrient supply to crops and maintaining soil health. To evaluate the potential of the two diverse vermicompost, the sole and combined applications of these vermicompost with reduced rates of chemical fertilizers were used for tomato cultivation in a field study. The results indicated that vermicompost produced from cattle manure combined with chemical fertilizers was more effective in improving tomato growth, physiology, yield, and nutritional attributes. Compared to the control treatment (NP applied), the combined application of vermicompost and chemical fertilizer significantly improved the root length (21.6%), plant height (167%), SPAD value (13.5%), chlorophyll ‘a’ (96%), chlorophyll ‘b’ (161%), relative water content (16%), membrane stability index (18%), carotenoid (87%), yield (82%), photosynthetic rate (148%), fruit diameter (83%), protein (89%), fat (27.5%), fiber (12%), vitamin C (52%), calcium (54%), magnesium (117%), phosphorus (38%) and potassium (128%). In addition, significant improvements in different soil physicochemical properties were also pragmatic. The results suggest that vermicompost application with reduced doses of chemical fertilizers can be used to improve crop yield and soil physico-chemical properties.
Meromorphic Kazhdan-Lusztig equivalence for Yangians and quantum loop algebras

Let ${\mathfrak g}$ be a complex semisimple Lie algebra, and $Y_h({\mathfrak g})$, $U_q(L{\mathfrak g})$ the corresponding Yangian and quantum loop algebra, with deformation parameters related by $q=\exp(\pi i h)$. When $h$ is not a rational number, we constructed in arXiv:1310.7318 a faithful functor $\Gamma$ from the category of finite-dimensional representations of $Y_h({\mathfrak g})$ to those of $U_q(L{\mathfrak g})$. The functor $\Gamma$ is governed by the additive difference equations defined by the commuting fields of the Yangian, and restricts to an equivalence on a subcategory of $Y_h({\mathfrak g})$ defined by choosing a branch of the logarithm. In this paper, we construct a tensor structure on $\Gamma$ and show that, if $|q|\neq 1$, it yields an equivalence of meromorphic braided tensor categories, when $Y_h({\mathfrak g})$ and $U_q(L{\mathfrak g})$ are endowed with the deformed Drinfeld coproducts and the commutative part of the universal $R$-matrix. This proves in particular the Kohno-Drinfeld theorem for the abelian $q$KZ equations defined by $Y_h({\mathfrak g})$, and may be regarded as a meromorphic version of the Kazhdan-Lusztig equivalence between category ${\mathcal O}$ representations of the affine algebra $\hat{\mathfrak g}$ and finite-dimensional representations of the quantum group $U_q{\mathfrak g}$. The tensor structure arises from the abelian $q$KZ equations defined by a appropriate regularisation of the commutative $R$-matrix of $Y_h({\mathfrak g})$.
The Loss of Structural Integrity of 3D Chitin Scaffolds from Aplysina aerophoba Marine Demosponge after Treatment with LiOH

Aminopolysaccharide chitin is one of the main structural biopolymers in sponges that is responsible for the mechanical stability of their unique 3D-structured microfibrous and porous skeletons. Chitin in representatives of exclusively marine Verongiida demosponges exists in the form of biocomposite-based scaffolds chemically bounded with biominerals, lipids, proteins, and bromotyrosines. Treatment with alkalis remains one of the classical approaches to isolate pure chitin from the sponge skeleton. For the first time, we carried out extraction of multilayered, tube-like chitin from skeletons of cultivated Aplysina aerophoba demosponge using 1% LiOH solution at 65 °C following sonication. Surprisingly, this approach leads not only to the isolation of chitinous scaffolds but also to their dissolution and the formation of amorphous-like matter. Simultaneously, isofistularin-containing extracts have been obtained. Due to the absence of any changes between the chitin standard derived from arthropods and the sponge-derived chitin treated with LiOH under the same experimental conditions, we suggest that bromotyrosines in A. aerophoba sponge represent the target for lithium ion activity with respect to the formation of LiBr. This compound, however, is a well-recognized solubilizing reagent of diverse biopolymers including cellulose and chitosan. We propose a possible dissolution mechanism of this very special kind of sponge chitin.
Gamma radiation-induced blue shift of resonance peaks of Bragg gratings in pure silica fibres

We report the first observation of a significant gamma radiation-induced blue shift of the reflection/transmission peak of fibre Bragg gratings inscribed into pure-silica core fibres via multiphoton absorption of femtosecond pulses. At a total dose of , the shift is . The observed effect is attributable to the ionising radiation-induced decrease in the density of the silica glass when the rate of colour centre formation is slow. We present results of experimental measurements that provide the key parameters of the dynamics of the gratings for remote dosimetry and temperature sensing.
Immunocompromised Children and Young Patients Living with Pets: Gaps in Knowledge to Avoid Zoonosis

Background and Objectives. Although pets are known to be beneficial for children, they could also imply risks for immunocompromised ones. We report the prevalence of children and young patients living with pets in a cohort of immunosuppressed pediatric patients and describe risk behaviors for acquiring zoonosis and compliance with veterinary recommendations. Methods. A cross-sectional, observational study was performed in a large tertiary hospital in Madrid, including immunosuppressed patients from different regions of Spain. The participants were asked to complete an online questionnaire. Results. Two hundred and eighty-four responses were received: 62.3% solid organ transplantation (177/284), 22.8% hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (65/284), and 14.8% inborn errors of immunity (42/284). The median age was 11 years (interquartile range 5.9–15.4), and 55% were boys (156/284). Up to 45% (130/284) of the respondents lived with 201 pets (74% of them dogs and cats). Half of the patients owning dogs or cats did not comply with at least one of the recommendations regarding vaccination, deworming, feeding, and/or veterinarian recommended controls. The poorest findings were related to deworming regimens. Only 42.8% (117/273) of the participants received specific recommendations from their healthcare professionals about companion animals. However, up to 97% of the families considering acquiring a pet did so when the professional did not contraindicate it (31/32), while 72% of the families having pets got rid of their pets when they were advised against animals (8/11). Conclusions. Pet ownership is frequent among immunocompromised children. They presented risky exposures for acquiring zoonoses, and basic veterinary recommendations were not frequently followed. The opinion of professionals significantly influenced the decision to acquire pets, but less than half of the families received recommendations in this regard.
Study On Two Phase Linear Regression Model: A Bayesian Approach

In this research paper, we have studied the two phase linear regression model with a Bayesian approach. We havetaken an assumption that at some point of time say ‘m’, the co-efficient of regression changes from β 1 to β 2 . Here we shall apply Gibbs sampling technique and MHRW (Metropolis Hasting Random Walk) algorithm for Bayes estimation of m, β 1 , β 2 and 1/s 2 . We have also discussed about the effects of prior information on the Bayes estimates.
Individual Responses versus Aggregate Group-Level Results: Examining the Strength of Evidence for Growth Mindset Interventions on Academic Performance

Mindset theory assumes that students’ beliefs about their intelligence—whether these are fixed or can grow—affects students’ academic performance. Based on this assumption, mindset theorists have developed growth mindset interventions to teach students that their intelligence or another attribute can be developed, with the goal of improving academic outcomes. Though many papers have reported benefits from growth mindset interventions, others have reported no effects or even detrimental effects. Recently, proponents of mindset theory have called for a “heterogeneity revolution” to understand when growth mindset interventions are effective and when—and for whom—they are not. We sought to examine the whole picture of heterogeneity of treatment effects, including benefits, lack of impacts, and potential detriments of growth mindset interventions on academic performance. We used a recently proposed approach that considers persons as effect sizes; this approach can reveal individual-level heterogeneity often lost in aggregate data analyses. Across three papers, we find that this approach reveals substantial individual-level heterogeneity unobservable at the group level, with many students and teachers exhibiting mindset and performance outcomes that run counter to the authors’ claims. Understanding and reporting heterogeneity, including benefits, null effects, and detriments, will lead to better guidance for educators and policymakers considering the role of growth mindset interventions in schools.
Adaptability and Stability Analyses of Improved Strawberry Genotypes for Tropical Climate

Strawberries are grown worldwide, and the fruit is known for its flavor, pleasant aroma, and the presence of important nutraceutical compounds. Under temperate conditions, the species is octaploid and presents a complex inheritance. Exploring polyploidy in varietal crosses is the main alternative to developing genotypes of high-temperature regions; thus, breeding programs must evaluate the interaction based on parameters, such as the heritability, stability, easy propagation, and adaptability to different soil and climate variations. To estimate the stability and temporal adaptability of pre-selected triple hybrids of day-neutral strawberries, thirty-six experimental genotypes, three commercial genotypes (‘Albion,’ ‘Monterey,’ and ‘Dover’), and four single hybrids (‘RVFS07,’ ‘RVFS06,’ ‘RVDA11,’ and ‘RVCA16’) were evaluated in a protected cultivation from August to February under tropical climate conditions (southern hemisphere) using the mixed linear model (MLM). The genotypes RVFS07M-34, RVFS07M-24, RCDA11M-04, RVFS07M-154, RVFS07M-36, RVFS07M-33, RVFS07M-80, RVFS07M-10, RVDA11M-21, RVDA11M-13, and RVFS06AL-132 had the highest values of total fruit mass, adaptability, and stability. The mean predicted genotypic values of the selected genotypes was 138% higher than the mean of the controls. Therefore, these genotypes have the potential to be released as cultivars.
Developing entrepreneurial skills for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SME’s)

Entrepreneurship devoid of valuable skills is catastrophic because entrepreneurial skills are deemed to be the lifeline for small and medium enterprises (SME’s). The study aims to bring to the lime light an ample comprehension and relevance of entrepreneurial skills crucial for SME’s. Exhaustively, the study dissects the fundamental entrepreneurial skills, factors inhibiting development of entrepreneurial skills and elements that instigates entrepreneurial skills for SME’s. Conclusively, it was disclosed that for whatever reason one takes up an entrepreneurial venture, it is crucial to develop entrepreneurial skill as the it enables business operations to be executed effortlessly. Suggestively, entrepreneurs both prospective and those already in business are beckoned to continually advance their entrepreneurial skills to soothe expanding entrepreneurial operations.