Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of spinal cord injury: Mechanisms, current advances and future challenges

Spinal cord injury (SCI) has considerable impact on patient physical, mental, and financial health. Secondary SCI is associated with inflammation, vascular destruction, and subsequent permanent damage to the nervous system. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have anti-inflammatory properties, promoting vascular regeneration and the release neuro-nutrients, and are a promising strategy for the treatment of SCI. Preclinical studies have shown that MSCs promote sensory and motor function recovery in rats. In clinical trials, MSCs have been reported to improve the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) sensory and motor scores. However, the effectiveness of MSCs in treating patients with SCI remains controversial. MSCs promote tumorigenesis and ensuring the survival of MSCs in the hostile environment of SCI is challenging. In this article we examine the evidence on the pathophysiological changes occurring after SCI. We then review the underlying mechanisms of MSCs in the treatment of SCI and summarize the potential application of MSCs in clinical practice. Finally, we highlight the challenges surrounding the use of MSCs in the treatment of SCI and discuss future applications.
Accurate and efficient algorithms for frequency domain scattering from a thin wire

This paper contains a systematic study of numerical approximations for solving the exact kernel form of Pocklington's integro-differential equation for the current induced on a thin wire by an incident time-harmonic electromagnetic field. We consider various Galerkin (h, p, hp, and adaptive h) and collocation schemes and show that a sensible hp refinement strategy provides a very efficient way to solve the problem. We also describe how the kernel (itself a difficult singular integral) can be evaluated reliably and efficiently.
Analytical investigation of dynamics of inflatable parabolic membrane reflector

An analytical method for computing the dynamic characteristics of a lenticular inflatable parabolic reflector supported by an inflatable torus is presented. The system is modeled by a combined structure consisting of two pressurized paraboloidal membranes with an elastic circular ring support. Equations of motion for the transverse free vibration of the pressurized paraboloidal membrane are derived first by using the nonlinear theory of shallow shells of revolution. Then, the analytic solutions for those equations of motion are formulated. Afterward, according to the force balance and the displacement continuity between the membranes and the circular ring, the displacements of the ring are calculated as boundary conditions of the paraboloidal membranes. As a result, the frequency equation and analytic mode shape functions of the inflatable reflector are obtained, and the influences of support stiffness on the dynamic characteristics of the reflector are analyzed. The validity of these analytical modal sol.
SERIOUS GAMES IN THE TENNIS PLAYERS' MENTAL TRAINING

Today computer games are being developed more than for entertainment of the players. In the field of health and education, serious games aim to improve the level of the cognitive abilities, in a more attractive manner. Among the mental process, the concentration and the relaxation are the basic cognitive abilities in tennis. The timely monitoring and the levels of these abilities are important when the performance enhancement is concerned. Mental preparation of tennis players represents an essential aspect of the modern training process. In order to increase its efficiency, the mental preparation uses more often than before biofeedback systems, able to provide an objective and augumented feedback concerning the capacity to control and to maintain the mental abilities at a certain level, during a task. One of the biofeedback systems is represented by Neuroharmony, an electroencephalographic system, that uses also an educational software able to improve the cognitive abilities of the users, through different serious games. In this paper we present one case study concerning the use of Neuroharmony serious games in the mental training of a 16 years old tennis player, who participated in 12 computer assisted lessons. Each lesson was 30 minutes and was held twice per week, before the practical training lessons. We were focused on the following experimental variables: the games results, the variation of the brain waves in the computer tasks and the constancy of the forehand, in a court test. The results reflect some characteristics of the mental training in tennis and the effect of this approach on the practical training efficiency.
Tapered waveguide with parabolic lens: theory and experiment

Theoretical and experimental work to integrate parabolic intracavity lens into a high-power tapered ridge-waveguide semiconductor laser diode is carried out. A finite difference beam propagation model is used to simulate the laser operation with and without the lens. Focused ion-beam etching is used to integrate the lens with the laser cavity. The lens is designed to compensate for the phase curvature of the incident mode on the output facet. This leads to improved linearity in the light-current characteristics of the device, showing an increase of up to 47% in power slope efficiency, 2-μm broadening in near field pattern, and 1-deg narrowing in the far-field pattern.
Vehicle Optimal Velocity Curves for Minimum-Time Maneuver

A problem in vehicle minimum-time maneuver is the assumption that a vehicle passes through a given path in a minimal amount of time without deviating from the boundary of the given path. Vehicle handling inverse dynamics provides a new perspective to solve such problem. Based on inverse dynamics, this paper transformed the problem of optimal vehicle velocity for minimum-time maneuver into that of optimal control with the objective function of minimum time. The path for minimum vehicle travel time and the optimal control model were established. The optimal velocity curves for three types of paths, namely, monotonically increasing path, monotonically decreasing path, and constant radius path, were analyzed. On this basis, the optimal velocity curves were solved for two kinds of concrete paths: a path of decreasing curvature radius followed by a path of increasing curvature radius and another path of increasing curvature radius followed by a path of decreasing curvature radius. Nine cases of possible optimal velocity curves were acquired. The optimal velocity curve of the given path, that is, a parabola followed by a semicircle, was obtained. Optimal velocity curves can be used as reference for vehicle minimum-time maneuver, which is an important issue for driver safety in fast-moving vehicles.
Flow division at a channel crossing with subcritical or supercritical flow

The passage of an extreme storm over an urban area can lead to the flooding of the streets if the rainfall intensity exceeds the design value and/or the drainage system is not functional. The study of flow distribution in street networks thus is important for the design of flood protection measures. The flow distribution is affected by the junction flow characteristics, inflow discharges and downstream water depths. To reduce the degree of empiricism, a 3D Reynolds‐averaged Navier–Stokes equations model has been implemented in this study to investigate the flow phenomena in a cross junction. The Spalart–Allmaras model is used for turbulence closure. The numerical model utilizes the split‐operator approach, in which the advection, diffusion and pressure propagations are solved separately. The numerical model predicts accurately the flow distribution in a channel crossing under different subcritical flow conditions, for which experimental data are available. Recirculation zones exist at both the downstream channels and the associated contraction coefficient varies linearly with the ratio of the discharges at the two inlets. Secondary currents are apparent for the flow with strong asymmetric outlet conditions. Under supercritical inflow conditions, the model reproduces the hydraulic jump and hydraulic drop phenomena and predicts accurately the relationship between the input power ratio and the outflow discharge ratio of the street crossing. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Modeling 3-D Elastic Wave Propagation in TI Media Using Discontinuous Galerkin Method on Tetrahedral Meshes

Transversely isotropic (TI) medium is a widely studied anisotropic solid medium in seismology. The numerical simulation of seismic wave propagation in TI media is an effective tool to analyze the mechanism of seismic waves in complex anisotropic media. In this study, we introduce a double-weighted Runge–Kutta discontinuous Galerkin (RKDG) method for numerically solving wave propagation problems in 3-D TI media with surface topography. This method incorporates the discontinuous Galerkin spatial discretization with an explicit double-weighted two-step iteration time discretization. The local Lax–Friedrichs flux is used as the numerical flux in the formulations. This method can solve the first-order velocity–stress seismic wave equations, including TI media and more general anisotropic media. Due to the large scale of 3-D problems, parallel technology is adopted. Regions with irregular boundaries are discretized into unstructured tetrahedral meshes. Numerical experiments for various anisotropic media, including the vertical and tilted TI media, are presented. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the double-weighted RKDG method in wavefield simulations in 3-D complicated anisotropic media.
Prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in red deer Gazella subgutturosa in Al–Masad deer protectorate in Al–Rutba city

The study aimed to investigate the gastrointestinal parasites in 50 adult red deer Gazella subgutturosa in Al – Masad protectorate in Al – Rutba city – west of Iraq – during winter. The morbidity rate was reached to 32% , Nematodes seem to be the predominant, where they reported in 14%
The UV dayglow 2, Lyα and Lyβ emissions and the H distribution in the mesosphere and thermosphere

Rocket observations of the Lyman α and Lyman β day airglow are analyzed using a nonisothermal spherical model of the radiation field. This new model provides, for the first time, a method of determining atomic hydrogen densities in the mesosphere and thermosphere. Interpretation of Lyman α data taken between 80 and 260 km is consistent with current mesospheric and thermospheric models, with H density equal to 1.9 × 107 cm−3 at 100 km. Analysis of 1025A data suggests that the emission is dominated by Lyman β with perhaps as much as a 30% contribution from OI 1027.
Evaluation of the High-Resolution MuSyQ LAI Product over Heterogeneous Land Surfaces

In recent years, the retrieval and validation of remotely-sensed leaf area index (LAI) products over complex land surfaces have received much attention due to the high-precision land surface model simulations and applications in global climate change. However, most of these related researches mainly focus on coarse resolution products. This is because few products have been specifically designed for solving the problems derived from complex land surfaces in mountain areas until now. MuSyQ LAI is a new product derived from Gaofen-1 (GF-1) satellite data. This product is characterized with a temporal resolution of 10 days and a spatial resolution of 16 m. As is well known, high-resolution products have less uncertainties because of the homogeneities of sub-pixel. Therefore, to evaluate the precision and uncertainty of MuSyQ LAI, an up-scaling strategy was employed here to validate MuSyQ LAI for three mountain regions in Southwest China. The validation strategy can be divided into three parts. First, a regression model was built by in situ LAI measured by LAI-2200 and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images to obtain a 0.5 m resolution LAI map. Second, an up-scaled LAI map with a spatial resolution consistent with MuSyQ LAI was calculated by the pixel-averaging method from the UAV-based LAI map. Third, the MuSyQ LAI was validated by the up-scaled UAV-based LAI in pixel scale. Simultaneously, the sources of uncertainty were analyzed and compared from the view of data source, retrieval model, and scale effects. The results suggested that MuSyQ LAI in the study areas are significantly underestimated by 53.69% due to the complex terrain and heterogeneous land cover. There are three main reasons for the underestimation. The differences between GF-1 reflectance and UAV-based reflectance employed to estimate LAI are the largest factors for the validation results, even accounting for 61.47% of the total bias. Subsequently, the scale effects led to about 28.44% bias. Last but not least, the models employed to retrieve LAI contributed merely 10.09% uncertainties to the total bias. In conclusion, the accuracy of MuSyQ LAI still has a large space to be improved from the view of reflectance over complex terrain. This study is quite important for applications of MuSyQ LAI products and also provides a reference for the improvement and application of other high-resolution remotely sensed LAI products.
Prograde zircon growth in migmatites

Empirical studies of zircon in migmatites document features compatible with growth during heating at suprasolidus conditions. However, numerical modelling of zircon behaviour suggests that suprasolidus zircon is expected to grow only during cooling and melt crystallization. Here, phase equilibrium modelling coupled with mineral–melt Zr partitioning is used in an attempt to reconcile the observations from migmatites with the predictions of previous numerical models of zircon behaviour in anatectic systems. In general, an equilibrium‐based model that includes Zr partitioning does not allow prograde suprasolidus zircon growth. However, melting of metapelites at temperatures just above the wet solidus may allow limited zircon growth because of the low solubility of zircon in melt coupled with a source of Zr from minor garnet and ilmenite breakdown. Preservation of this zircon requires entrapment in growing peritectic minerals during subsequent heating and further melting. Heating above muscovite exhaustion in metapelites is unlikely to grow zircon because of the progressive increase in zircon solubility as well as an increasing compatibility of Zr in the residual mineral assemblage. The modelled compatibility of Zr in the residue of a metabasite decreases during heating, but an increase in zircon solubility in melt counteracts this; prograde suprasolidus zircon growth in metabasites is unlikely. Infiltration of Zr‐rich melt into a migmatite during open‐system anatexis provides an additional potential mechanism for prograde suprasolidus zircon growth during high‐temperature metamorphism.
Highly Active and Stable NiCuMo Electrocatalyst Supported on 304 Stainless Steel Porous Transport Layer for Hydrogen Evolution in Alkaline Water Electrolyzer

Several functionalized porous transport layers with Pt‐free electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline conditions, based on Ni, Cu, and Mo, are prepared through electrodeposition onto a 304 stainless steel mesh. Morphological characterization confirms the fabrication of electrodes with high electrochemical surface active area due to the formation of hierarchical nanostructures. Mo presence into the electrocatalysts increases the activity toward the hydrogen evolution reaction. The optimization of electrodeposition process leads to the preparation of highly active NiCuMo electrocatalyst that exhibits near zero onset overpotential and overpotentials of 15 and 113 mV at 10 and 100 mA cm−2, respectively, in 1 m KOH electrolyte. Moreover, this electrocatalyst shows superior stability with respect to other Pt‐free electrocatalysts, reaching 100 h of durability with low overpotentials value demonstrating the successful preparation of very promising functionalized porous transport layers for future‐generation alkaline electrolyzers.
A Consensus Combined P-Value Test and the Family-wide Significance of Component Tests

SUMMARY A combined P-value test is described that is specifically designed to test the consensus of a set of independent tests, all of which address the same null hypothesis. It is shown that Fisher's combined probability test is unsuitable in this application. A test based on the arithmetic mean of the normaltransformed P-value is shown to properly balance component tests that support or refute a common null hypothesis. A means of determining the family-wide significance of individual tests, which are part of a collection of conceptually related tests, is also described.
Information Theoretic Approach for Analysing Independence of Attributes in Contingency Tables

Abstract In the present communication an information theoretic dependence measure has been defined using maximum entropy principle, which measures amount of dependence among the attributes in a contingency table. A relation between information theoretic measure of dependence and Chi-square statistic has been discussed. A generalization of this information theoretic dependence measure has been also studied.
Technique for profiling 1H with 2.5‐MeV Van de Graaff accelerators

We describe an elastic recoil detection (ERD) analysis technique for profiling 1H in the near‐surface regions of solids using a 2.5‐MeV Van de Graaff accelerator commonly used for ion‐backscattering analysis. Energy analysis of 1H forward scattered by 2.4‐MeV 4He incident on the target tilted at an angle of ∼75° yields a depth resolution of ≲700 A and a sensitivity of better than 0.1 at. % for 1H to depths of ≲0.6 μm in solids.
Borel isomorphisms at the first level—I

A Borel isomorphism that, together with its inverse, maps ℱ σ -sets to ℱ σ -sets will be said to be a Borel isomorphism at the first level. Such a Borel isomorphism will be called a first level isomorphism , for short. We study such first level isomorphisms between Polish spaces and between their Borel and analytic subsets.
Application of a quadruple probe technique to MPD thruster plume measurements

A new quadruple Langmuir probe diagnostic technique is applied to the plume of a pulsed magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster with argon propellant. The probe permits simultaneous measurement of electron temperature Te, density ne, and ion flow velocity u in the exhaust stream. For distances of 3-25 cm from the thruster face, Te is 8-1.5 eV, ne is 4.8-1.2 x 10 m~, and u is 0.7-1.8 x 10 m/s. The measurements suggest that the plume is well-collimated, and that the ion temperature is significantly higher than the electron temperature, consistent with an ion-conduction model of the thruster.
Mid‐infrared spectroscopy of protoplanetary and planetary nebulae

We present medium-resolution (R ∼600), mid-infrared (7.5-14 μm) spectra of 15 young planetary nebulae. Linestrengths for observed forbidden transitions are presented, and numerous broad emission features from silicates, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and silicon carbide (SiC) are observed.
Blocked 3×2 Cross-Validated t-Test for Comparing Supervised Classification Learning Algorithms

In the research of machine learning algorithms for classification tasks, the comparison of the performances of algorithms is extremely important, and a statistical test of significance for generalization error is often used to perform it in the machine learning literature. In view of the randomness of partitions in cross-validation, a new blocked 3×2 cross-validation is proposed to estimate generalization error in this letter. We then conduct an analysis of variance of the blocked 3×2 cross-validated estimator. A relatively conservative variance estimator that considers the correlation between any two two-fold cross-validations, and was previously neglected in 5×2 cross-validated t and F-tests is put forward. A corresponding test using this variance estimator is presented to compare the performances of algorithms. Simulated results show that the performance of our test is comparable with that of 5×2 cross-validated tests but with less computation complexity.
Quantifying the contributions of climate factors and human activities to variations of net primary productivity in China from 2000 to 2020

Net primary productivity (NPP) plays a vital role in the globe carbon cycle. Quantitative assessment of the effects of climate changes and human activities on net primary productivity dynamics is vital for understanding the driving mechanisms of vegetation change and sustainable development of ecosystems. This study investigates the contributions of climatic factors and human activities to vegetation productivity changes in China from 2000 to 2020 based on the residual trend analysis (RESTREND) method. The results showed that the annual average net primary productivity in China was 325.11 g C/m2/year from 2000 to 2020 and net primary productivity showed a significantly increasing trend (p<0.05) at a rate of 2.32 g C/m2/year. Net primary productivity increased significantly (p<0.05) across 40.90% of China over the study period, while only 1.79% showed a significantly declining trend (p<0.05). The contributions of climatic factors and human activities to net primary productivity increase were 1.169 g C/m2/year and 1.142 g C/m2/year, respectively. Climate factors contributed positively mainly in Sichuan Basin, the Loess Plateau, the Mongolian Plateau, and Northeast China Plain. Positive contributions of human activities to net primary productivity mainly occurred in the Loess Plateau, Central China, and the Greater Khingan Mountains. The effects of climatic factors and human activities on net primary productivity changes varied among sub-regions. In Tropical Monsoon Climate Region and Subtropical Monsoon Climate Region, human activities had greater impacts on net primary productivity increase than climate factors, while climate factors were the dominant factor for net primary productivity recovery in other sub-regions. In addition, during 2000–2020, net primary productivity was dominated by both climate factors and human activities in 49.84% of China, while areas dominated solely by climate factors and human activities accounted for 13.67% and 10.92%, respectively. Compared to changed land cover types, the total net primary productivity as well as the increase of total net primary productivity in China was mostly contributed by unchanged land cover types, which contributed more than 90%.
Predictability of an Advection Fog Event over North China. Part I: Sensitivity to Initial Condition Differences

AbstractThe predictability of a dense advection fog event on 21 February 2007 over north China (NC) is investigated with ensemble simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF). Members with the best and worst simulation are selected from the ensemble, and their initial condition (IC) differences are explored. To test the sensitivity of fog simulation to those differences, the model is initialized with ICs that change linearly from the worst member to the best member, and the changes in simulated results are examined. The improvement in simulations due to the linear improvement of ICs is found to be monotonic. The IC differences at lower levels are of more influence to the simulation than IC differences at higher levels. By removing the IC differences of each meteorological variable individually, it is found that improvements in potential temperature and horizontal wind are more important than that of water vapor mixing ratio in this case. Additionally, the linear improvement in each m.