Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bootstrap tests for unit root AR(1) models

In this paper, we propose bootstrap tests for unit roots in first-order autoregressive models. We provide the bootstrap functional limit theory needed to prove the asymptotic validity of these tests both for independent and autoregressive errors; in this case, the usual corrections due to innovations dependence can be avoided. We also present a power empirical study comparing these tests with existing alternative methods.
Temporary Anti-Corrosive Double Layer on Zinc Substrate Based on Chitosan Hydrogel and Epoxy Resin

In practice, metal structures are frequently transported or stored before being used. Even in such circumstances, the corrosion process caused by environmental factors (moisture, salty air, etc.) can occur quite easily. To avoid this, metal surfaces can be protected with temporary coatings. The objective of this research was to develop coatings that exhibit effective protective characteristics while also allowing for easy removal, if required. Novel, chitosan/epoxy double layers were prepared on zinc by dip-coating to obtain temporary tailor-made and peelable-on-demand, anti-corrosive coatings. Chitosan hydrogel fulfills the role of a primer that acts as an intermediary between the zinc substrate and the epoxy film to obtain better adhesion and specialization. The resulting coatings were characterized using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, contact angle measurements, Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The impedance of the bare zinc was increased by three orders of magnitude when the protective coatings were applied, proving efficient anti-corrosive protection. The chitosan sublayer improved the adhesion of the protective epoxy coating. The structural integrity and absolute impedance of the protective layers were conserved in both basic and neutral environments. However, after fulfilling its lifespan, the chitosan/epoxy double-layered coating could be removed after treatment with a mild acid without damaging the substrate. This was because of the hydrophilic properties of the epoxy layer, as well as the tendency of chitosan to swell in acidic conditions.
Traditional kite game as an effort to overcome stress for elementary school students during the covid-19 pandemic

The purpose of this research is to carry out a traditional game, especially a kite, as an effort to overcome stress in elementary school students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Quantitative research with the type of survey research is carried out in this study. The sample in this study amounted to 10 students. The sample was selected based on being domiciled in a block whose houses were not far apart so that it was easy to condition them. The distribution of questionnaires and performing organized interviews with parents and kids make up the data collection process. In this study, the Lovibond and Lovibond DASS (Depression Anxiety Stress Scale) questionnaire 42 was utilized. Both quantitative and qualitative descriptive methodologies were used to analyze the data. The findings demonstrated that the scores obtained were based on DASS 42 from the circumstances before the test to overcome stress with kite flying and after. Before the trial, the stress value was 31.7, then after that, there was a decrease of around 16.7, which is in the range of 15. Thus, overcoming stress through the traditional kite game is considered quite successful for elementary school students during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are limitations in this study because it is not able to describe the situations of students with a larger scope, different cultures, physical conditions, and urban play environments. Recommendations for further researchers to conduct research for students in overcoming stress against high pressure in the learning process through the form of methods, strategies, and other games.
The influence of fossils in macroevolutionary analyses of 3D geometric morphometric data: A case study of galloanseran quadrates

In birds and other reptiles, the quadrate acts as a hinge between the lower jaw and the skull and plays an important role in avian cranial kinesis. Though previous studies have qualitatively described substantial variation in quadrate morphology among birds, none have attempted to quantify evolutionary changes in quadrate shape. Here, we investigate geometric evolution of the quadrate in Galloanserae, a major clade of extant birds uniting chicken‐like (Galliformes) and duck‐like (Anseriformes) fowl. We quantified morphological variation in the quadrate across 50 extant galloanseran species covering all major extant subclades using three‐dimensional geometric morphometrics, and performed ancestral shape reconstructions in the context of an up‐to‐date neornithine phylogeny. We find that our results based only on extant quadrates may overlook plesiomorphic features captured by fossil taxa, resulting in an ancestral state reconstruction for Galloanserae that is seemingly an approximation of the average shape of the extant data set. By contrast, analyses incorporating early fossil galloanseran quadrates (from taxa such as Asteriornis, Presbyornis, and Conflicto) result in ancestral geometric reconstructions more similar to the morphology of extant galliforms, indicating that the quadrate of the last common ancestor of galloanserans may have been more morphologically and functionally similar to those of extant galliforms than to extant anseriforms. These results generally corroborate previous inferences of galloanseran quadrate plesiomorphies and identify several additional plesiomorphic features of the galloanseran quadrate for the first time. Our results illustrate the importance of incorporating fossil taxa into ancestral shape reconstructions and help elucidate important aspects of the morphology and function of the avian feeding apparatus early in crown bird evolutionary history.
Mathematical Models of Abstract Systems: Knowing abstract geometric forms

Scientists use models to know the world. It is usually assumed that mathematicians doing pure mathematics do not. Mathe- maticians doing pure mathematics prove theorems about mathematical entities like sets, numbers, geometric figures, spaces, etc., they compute various functions and solve equations. In this paper, I want to exhibit models build by mathematicians to study the fundamental components of spaces and, more generally, of mathematical forms. I focus on one area of mathematics where models occupy a central role, namely homotopy theory. I argue that mathematicians introduce genuine models and I offer a rough classification of these models.
A systematic optimization of design parameters in strained silicon waveguides to further enhance the linear electro-optic effect

The electro-optic Pockels effect may be generated in silicon photonics structures by breaking the crystal symmetry by means of a highly stressing cladding layer (typically silicon nitride, SiN) deposited on top of the silicon waveguide. In this work, the influence of the waveguide parameters on the strain distribution and its overlap with the optical mode to enhance the Pockels effect has been analyzed. The optimum waveguide structure have been designed based on the definition and quantification of a figure of merit. The fabrication of highly stressing SiN layers by PECVD has also been optimized to characterize the designed structures. The residual stress has been controlled during the growth process by analyzing the influence of the main deposition parameters. Therefore, two identical samples with low and high stress conditions were fabricated and electro-optically characterized to test the induced Pockels effect and the influence of carrier effects. Electro-optical modulation was only measured in the sample with the high stressing SiN layer that could be attributed to the Pockels effect. Nevertheless, the influence of carriers were also observed thus making necessary additional experiments to decouple both effects.
The Doors of Perception: Theory and Evidence of Frame-Dependent Rationalizability

We investigate how strategic behavior is affected by the set of notions (frames) used when thinking about the game. In our games the action set consists of visual objects: each player must privately choose one, trying to match the counterpart’s choice. We propose a model where different player-types are aware of different attributes of the action set (hence, different frames). One of the novelties is an epistemic structure that allows players to think about new frames, after initial unawareness of some attributes. To test the model, our experimental design brings about multiple frames by varying subjects’ awareness of several attributes. (JEL C72, C78, C91, D83)
TOPSIS Methods for Probabilistic Hesitant Fuzzy MAGDM and Application to Performance Evaluation of Public Charging Service Quality

The performance evaluation of public charging service quality is frequently viewed as the multiple attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) issue. In this paper, an extended TOPSIS model is established to provide new means to solve the performance evaluation of public charging service quality. The TOPSIS method integrated with FUCOM method in probabilistic hesitant fuzzy circumstance is applied to rank the optional alternatives and a numerical example for performance evaluation of public charging service quality is used to test the newly proposed method’s practicability in comparison with other methods. The results display that the approach is uncomplicated, valid and simple to compute. The main results of this paper: (1) a novel PHF-TOPSIS method is proposed; (2) the extended TOPSIS method is developed in the probabilistic hesitant fuzzy environment; (3) the FUCOM method is used to obtain the attribute weight; (4) the normalization process of the original data has adapted the latest method to verify the precision; (5) The built models and methods are useful for other selection issues and evaluation issues.
Current HIV/SIV Reservoir Assays for Preclinical and Clinical Applications: Recommendations from the Experts 2022 NIAID Workshop Summary.

Since the first HIV-cured person was reported in 2009, a strong interest in developing highly sensitive HIV and SIV reservoir assays has emerged. In particular, the question arose about the comparative value of state-of-the-art assays to measure and characterize the HIV reservoir, and how these assays can be applied to accurately detect changes in the reservoir during efforts to develop a cure for HIV infection. Secondly, it is important to consider the impact on the outcome of clinical trials if these relatively new HIV reservoir assays are incorporated into clinical trial endpoints and/or used for clinical decision-making. To understand the advantages and limitations and the regulatory implications of HIV reservoir assays, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) sponsored and convened a meeting on September 16, 2022, to discuss the state of knowledge concerning these questions and best practices for selecting HIV reservoir assays for a particular research question or clinical trial protocol.
Limiting Factors in Treatment Success of Biofilm-Forming Streptococci in the Case of Canine Infective Endocarditis Caused by Streptococcus canis

Simple Summary Endocarditis in dogs is a rare but severe disease with a bad prognosis. Early diagnosis and improved treatment plans could be beneficial to the outcome of the treatment. However, diagnosis is difficult because of the nondiscriminatory symptoms of the disease. In this report, we describe a case of endocarditis in an 8-year-old male dog caused by Streptococcus canis, a bacterium that is part of the normal microbiota of a dog’s skin and mucous membranes. The treatment that he received was unfortunately unsuccessful. We decided to investigate the infected heart valve and the bacterium to understand his disease better. We discovered a biofilm on the heart valve, which explains the difficulty of treating the infection, because bacteria in biofilms are more resistant to antibiotics. We propose more research towards better treatment of bacteria in biofilms, especially in the case of endocarditis, which is such a lethal disease without a prompt and effective treatment. Abstract An 8-year-old male Rhodesian Ridgeback was presented with fever and severe thrombocytopenia. Clinical and laboratory examination, echocardiography, blood culture, and pathohistology revealed evidence of infective endocarditis, ischemic renal infarcts, and septic encephalitis. Treatment was started immediately but the dog’s condition worsened, and the dog had to be euthanized. The causative Streptococcus canis strain was detected by blood culture and MALDI-TOF MS and analyzed using whole-genome sequencing and multilocus sequence typing. Antibiotic susceptibility testing did not detect any resistance. The affected heart valve was analyzed using FISH imaging, which showed a streptococcal biofilm on the heart valve. Bacteria in biofilms are recalcitrant to antibiotic treatment. Early diagnosis could be beneficial to treatment outcome. Treatment of endocarditis could be improved by researching the optimal dosage of antibiotics in conjunction with the use of biofilm-active drugs.
Cleaning of Pesticide-Contaminated Water Using Natural Clays

The primary purpose of this research was the study of two natural clays Dardha (Korçë), which is located at 40°31′16.59′′ N and 20°49′33.69′′ E and the clay of Brari (Tirana), 41°21′14.49′′ N and 19°50′17.74′′ E for the removal of dimethoate, in order to clean the waters polluted with this pesticide. During the Clay-water+dimethoate contact time from 0 to 24 hours, there was spontaneous hydrolysis of dimethoate, which also theoretical data accurately explains this phenomenon. Clay-water+dimethoate contact time longer than 120 hours are not of interest for this study, because after this time there is no adsorption of dimethoate. Our experimental study focused on contact times from 24 to 120 hours. The adsorption process of dimethoate with concentrations of 0.2 mg/mL was studied; 0.3 mg/mL and 0.5 mg/mL in the natural clays of Dardhe and Brari. The desorption process of dimethoate from these clays was also studied. The desorption process was fast, where in the first two hours of contact 80 to 95% dimethoate was desorbed.
Challenges and solutions for automated avian recognition in aerial imagery

Remote aerial sensing provides a non‐invasive, large geographical‐scale technology for avian monitoring, but the manual processing of images limits its development and applications. Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods can be used to mitigate this manual image processing requirement. The implementation of AI methods, however, has several challenges: (1) imbalanced (i.e., long‐tailed) data distribution, (2) annotation uncertainty in categorization, and (3) dataset discrepancies across different study sites. Here we use aerial imagery data of waterbirds around Cape Cod and Lake Michigan in the United States to examine how these challenges limit avian recognition performance. We review existing solutions and demonstrate as use cases how methods like Label Distribution Aware Marginal Loss with Deferred Re‐Weighting, hierarchical classification, and FixMatch address the three challenges. We also present a new approach to tackle the annotation uncertainty challenge using a Soft‐fine Pseudo‐Label methodology. Finally, we aim with this paper to increase awareness in the ecological remote sensing community of these challenges and bridge the gap between ecological applications and state‐of‐the‐art computer science, thereby opening new doors to future research.
Grounding evidence-based prevention within cultural context: promising effects of substance use prevention adapted for American Indian families

Abstract Background: Effective substance use prevention strategies are needed for American Indian (AI) youth, who face disproportionate risk for early substance use and consequently bear a disproportionate burden of health and developmental disparities related to early use. With few exceptions, significant advances in prevention science have largely excluded this population, leaving gaps in the evidence of effective practice. This paper builds on emerging efforts to address this gap, reporting first outcome findings from an evidence-based early substance use prevention program culturally adapted for young adolescents on a Northern Plains reservation. Methods: Using a community-based participatory approach, the Thiwáhe Gluwáš’akapi Program (TG, sacred home in which family is made strong) was developed by embedding cultural kinship teachings within the Strengthening Families Program for Parents and Youth 10-14 and aligning other elements of program content with local culture and context. Results: Results of pre and post comparisons of proximal program outcomes showed that youth reported significant improvements in parental communication about substance use, substance use resistance skills, stress management, family cohesion, and overall well-being. Adults reported improvements in a wide array of parenting behaviors and indicators of family dynamics. Conclusions: These findings provide an initial glimpse into the potential effects of the TG program and suggest that it holds promise for helping AI families address risks for youth substance use through positive impacts on modifiable risk and protective factors documented to influence early substance use.
The allergen specificity of allergen immunotherapy—doubt no more

The ARIA-GA2LEN collaboration published a guide for the design and evaluation of randomised controlled trials of allergen immunotherapy for allergic rhinitis. Several problems in were identified. For example, the severity/persistence of seasonal symptoms in subjects during allergen immunotherapy was noted to be much lower than in trials of pharmacotherapy. The drop-out rates were higher. Seasonal pollen counts varied markedly between study centres and year-on-year during long-term trials thereby confounding the ability to detect treatment effects during 'low' pollen seasons. Placebo unmasking occurred due to the local side effects of allergen immunotherapy in actively treated participants. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
A Systematic Review of Methods to Incorporate External Evidence into Trial-Based Survival Extrapolations for Health Technology Assessment

Background External evidence is commonly used to inform survival modeling for health technology assessment (HTA). While there are a range of methodological approaches that have been proposed, it is unclear which methods could be used and how they compare. Purpose This review aims to identify, describe, and categorize established methods to incorporate external evidence into survival extrapolation for HTA. Data Sources Embase, MEDLINE, EconLit, and Web of Science databases were searched to identify published methodological studies, supplemented by hand searching and citation tracking. Study Selection Eligible studies were required to present a novel extrapolation approach incorporating external evidence (i.e., data or information) within survival model estimation. Data Extraction Studies were classified according to how the external evidence was integrated as a part of model fitting. Information was extracted concerning the model-fitting process, key requirements, assumptions, software, application contexts, and presentation of comparisons with, or validation against, other methods. Data Synthesis Across 18 methods identified from 22 studies, themes included use of informative prior(s) (n = 5), piecewise (n = 7), and general population adjustment (n = 9), plus a variety of “other” (n = 8) approaches. Most methods were applied in cancer populations (n = 13). No studies compared or validated their method against another method that also incorporated external evidence. Limitations As only studies with a specific methodological objective were included, methods proposed as part of another study type (e.g., an economic evaluation) were excluded from this review. Conclusions Several methods were identified in this review, with common themes based on typical data sources and analytical approaches. Of note, no evidence was found comparing the identified methods to one another, and so an assessment of different methods would be a useful area for further research. Highlights This review aims to identify methods that have been used to incorporate external evidence into survival extrapolations, focusing on those that may be used to inform health technology assessment. We found a range of different approaches, including piecewise methods, Bayesian methods using informative priors, and general population adjustment methods, as well as a variety of “other” approaches. No studies attempted to compare the performance of alternative methods for incorporating external evidence with respect to the accuracy of survival predictions. Further research investigating this would be valuable.
Improving ICESat‐2‐based boreal forest height estimation by a multivariate sample quality control approach

Boreal forest heights are associated with global carbon stocks and energy budgets. The launch of the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) onboard the NASA's Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat‐2) enables canopy vertical structure measurement at a global scale. However, with a photon‐counting laser system, ICESat‐2 contains high uncertainties in the estimated canopy heights, requiring appropriate quality control before being applied to canopy height modelling. We adopted a multivariate quality control approach (i.e. the Cook's distance) to improve the quality of ICESat‐2 samples. The controlled ICESat‐2 data were then input as the response variable for predicting boreal forest heights based on spatially continuous satellite data and machine learning (ML) regression models. The examined ML regressors include artificial neural networks (ANN), gradient boosting machine (GBM), random forest (RF) and support vector regression (SVR). The proposed quality control effectively removes low‐quality ICESat‐2 samples and enhances the correlations between ICESat‐2 and airborne laser scanning (ALS) observations. Moreover, the controlled ICESat‐2 samples help achieve a trade‐off between sample quality and quantity for all ML regressors, generating close canopy heights to ALS‐derived counterparts. Overall, RF and GBM make better canopy height predictions than ANN and SVR. Of all explanatory variables, the normalized difference vegetation index calculated based on the first red edge band of Sentinel‐2 (NDVIredEdge1) is considered the most important. The proposed quality control on ICESat‐2 sample selection and canopy height model (CHM) development workflow will greatly benefit forest structure investigations in the Arctic community.
High-quality electron beams generation in a linear upramp density target

A key issue of laser-plasma accelerator is to improve the accelerated electrons qualities. Here, we present a regime based on controlling bubble velocity, which allows us to obtain a high-quality electron bunch having both a high energy (multi-GeV) and an ultra-low energy spread (0.3%), while retaining an ultra-low emittance and an high charge at the same time. As an electron bubble propagating in inhomogenous plasma, its velocity will change with the local plasma density. The achievement of this scheme is ascribed to the bubble velocity first above, then below the light speed by tailoring longitudinal plasma density to be a linear upramp. We also specify the range of the parameters in which the regime can be realized in a linear density upramp.