Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vortex ring and bubble interaction: Effects of bubble size on vorticity dynamics and bubble dynamics

Bubbly turbulent flows involve complex interactions between bubbles and vortices, in which their size ratio plays a critical role. The present work investigates an idealization, namely, the interaction of a single air bubble with a (water) vortex ring, with the focus being on the effects of the bubble-to-vortex core size ratio (Db/Dc,o) on the bubble and ring dynamics (Db = bubble diameter and Dc,o = initial vortex core diameter). The interaction is studied for size ratio, Db/Dc,o, of 0.6–1.7, over a large Weber number range from 10 to 500 [We=0. 87ρ(Γ/πDc,o)2/(σ/Db), Γ = circulation]. On the bubble dynamics side, in the initial stages of the interaction after the bubble's capture by the ring, the bubble's radial equilibrium position, its azimuthal elongation, and breakup pattern are influenced by both Db/Dc,o and We. However, at longer times, the results show that the We alone decides the broken bubbles to Db ratio and scales as We−0.13, which can be contrasted with the scaling of We−0.6 in isotropic turbulence [R. Shinnar, J. Fluid Mech. 10, 259–275 (1961)]. On the ring dynamics side, increasing Db/Dc,o leads to larger deformation of the vortex ring core at low We, and these effects are significant above a critical Db/Dc,o of about 1.2. Under these conditions, the vortex core can fragment, leading to large reductions in the ring's measured convection speed and axial enstrophy, both of which follow a similar scaling, (Db/Dc,o)2/We; the reduction in enstrophy being reminiscent of bubbly turbulent flows. These results and scalings should help us to better understand and model bubble–turbulence interactions.
Conservation assessment for inland cutthroat trout

This document focuses on the state of the science for five subspecies of cutthroat trout found largely on public lands in the Rocky Mountain and Intermountain West. These subspecies are restricted to a fragment of their former range, and primarily occupy small, high-elevation streams. Little is known about the three rarest subspecies (Bonneville, Colorado River, and Rio Grande cutthroat trout), and the data on the more abundant subspecies (westslope and Yellowstone cutthroat trout) were obtained from relatively few areas. The historic diversity of life history strategies has been reduced. All subspecies have suffered from introductions of nonnative fishes, habitat degradation and fragmentation, and overfishing. Current management often centers on restrictive angling regulations, barricading streams to prevent invasion by nonnative fishes, and reintroductions into streams with existing barriers.
Knowledge Production on Congenital Chagas Disease across Time, Borders and Disciplines: A Comprehensive Scoping Review

Congenital transmission is a key route of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in Latin America and globally, contributing significantly to the burden of Chagas disease. The interruption of transmission from mother to child has recently become a focus issue. However, the research landscape on congenital Chagas disease remains largely unexplored. The purpose of this scoping review is to assess the production of knowledge on congenital Chagas disease (CCD), aiming to identify research trends and potential gaps. Our initial hypothesis was that the CCD literature overly represents the medical sciences and that there is a need for socio-cultural research on the subject. We conducted a systematic search of publications focusing on congenital Chagas disease in six languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German and Italian). This comprehensive literature search identified 876 studies that met the inclusion criteria, out of a total of 8893 sources. The relevant literature was analyzed by language, year of publication, discipline, source type and research location. The main outcome of this study has been to prove our hypothesis that there is a scarcity of knowledge produced within the non-biomedical sciences on CCD. This underscores the need for further exploration into the social and structural issues surrounding this disease. Visually clear data concerning congenital Chagas disease produced by this study can contribute to hone in future research efforts and support funding applications. Additionally, this article provides a reference list that other researchers can consult for their own studies.
Introducing Fuzzy Cognitive Maps for decision making in precision agriculture.

A Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs) is a modelling methodology based on exploiting knowledge and experience. It comprises the main advantages of fuzzy logic and neural networks, representing a graphical model that consists of nodes-concepts (describing elements of the system) which are connected with weighted edges (representing the cause and effect relationships among the concepts). FCMs have proved to be a promising modeling methodology with many successful applications in different areas especially for simulating system design, modeling and control. In this work, FCMs are introduced to model a decision support system for precision agriculture (PA). The FCM model developed consists of nodes which describe soil properties and cotton yield and of the weighted relationships between these nodes. The nodes of the FCM model represent the main factors influencing cotton crop production i.e. essential soil properties such as texture, pH, OM, K, and P. The proposed FCM model addresses the problem of crop development and spatial variability of cotton yield, taking into consideration the spatial distribution of all the important factors affecting yield. The first results of the study are very promising; our model achieves a 70% average success rate on yield class prediction between two possible categories (low and high) for three different years. This model will be further investigated to achieve better results by introducing learning algorithms into FCMs.
Detection of Antibodies against Endemic and SARS-CoV-2 Coronaviruses with Short Peptide Epitopes

(1) Background: Coronavirus proteins are quite conserved amongst endemic strains (eCoV) and SARS-CoV-2. We aimed to evaluate whether peptide epitopes might serve as useful diagnostic biomarkers to stratify previous infections and COVID-19. (2) Methods: Peptide epitopes were identified at an amino acid resolution that applied a novel statistical approach to generate data sets of potential antibody binding peptides. (3) Results: Data sets from more than 120 COVID-19 or eCoV-infected patients, as well as vaccinated persons, have been used to generate data sets that have been used to search in silico for potential epitopes in proteins of SARS-CoV-2 and eCoV. Peptide epitopes were validated with >300 serum samples in synthetic peptide micro arrays and epitopes specific for different viruses, in addition to the identified cross reactive epitopes. (4) Conclusions: Most patients develop antibodies against non-structural proteins, which are useful general markers for recent infections. However, there are differences in the epitope patterns of COVID-19, and eCoV, and the S-protein vaccine, which can only be explained by a high degree of cross-reactivity between the viruses, a pre-existing immune response against some epitopes, and even an alternate processing of the vaccine proteins.
Etude de la spéciation et du devenir du mercure dans les eaux côtières

Le mercure (Hg) est un element metallique naturellement present dans l'environnement qui connait aussi un cycle d’emission anthropique. Le Hg est present sous differentes formes inorganiques (mercure elementaire Hg°; mercure ionique Hg2+) et organiques (e.g. methylmercure MeHg). Le Hg peut etre methyle dans l'eau et les sediments par le metabolisme des bacteries pour former du MeHg, la forme chimique la plus toxique qui est de plus bioamplifiee dans la chaine alimentaire aquatique. Le travail effectue dans cette these « Etude de la speciation et du devenir du mercure dans les eaux cotieres » a repondu a trois objectifs: - Determiner les formes chimiques du Hg dans les eaux cotieres a des concentrations inferieures au ng/L (10-9 g/L). - Etudier les transformations du Hg (Methylation, Demethylation et Reduction) dans les eaux estuariennes et cotieres et leur influence sur le cycle du Hg dans la zone littorale (panache turbide de l’Adour). Evaluer les emissions du Hg gazeux (Hg°) dans les zones estuariennes et cotieres par l’utilisation des modeles semi-empirique d’echange gazeux a l’interface eau-atmosphere.
Structure and emplacement of leucogranites along the Manaslu - Himalchuli Himalaya, Nepal

New field mapping data show that the Manaslu leucogranite (Qtz + Plag + Kfs + Ms + Tur ± Bt ± Grt) in Nepal is a composite intrusion derived from a heterogeneous migmatite melt source at depth, and made up of numerous sills parallel to the main foliation, and dipping shallowly to the north. Crustal thickening led to partial melting and formation of leucogranite melts along the top of the GHS, from earlier muscovite dehydration to later biotite dehydration melting with time. The granite was not a diapiric intrusion and does not intrude across the STD low-angle normal fault. A low-angle, north-dipping normal fault, the ductile-brittle Nar-Phu detachment wraps around the top of the Manaslu leucogranite and truncates all leucogranites in the footwall. The detachment formed the roof fault during exhumation of footwall rocks (channel flow) along the upper GHS during the early-middle Miocene. Metamorphism is also entirely regional and not contact metamorphism. U-Th/Pb monazite ages from metapelites show semi-continuous metamorphism across the GHS from ~35-15 Ma. The leucogranites were emplaced as layer-parallel sills entirely within the GHS between ~25-18.5 Ma. U-Th/Pb monazite dates from the Manaslu leucogranites suggest two major intrusion phases at 22.5 Ma (Larke-la phase) and 19.5 Ma (Bimtang phase). The sheeted sill complex was emplaced by progressive underplating with the oldest intrusions structurally above the younger ones. The migmatite melt source was likely buried further to the north. GHS rocks structurally beneath the Manaslu granite show few leucogranite dykes. Heat for granite melting was entirely internally derived radioactive heating from crustal thickening, and had no frictional heat input from the Main Central thrust >10-15 km structurally below the base of the leucogranite sheeted sill complex.
Stability of the Stochastic θ-Method for Super-Linear Stochastic Differential Equations with Unbounded Delay

This paper deals with numerical stability properties of super-linear stochastic differential equations with unbounded delay. Sufficient conditions for mean square and almost sure decay stability of the above system and its stochastic θ-method approximation are investigated in this paper. The author establishes numerical stability under a monotone-type condition in unbounded delay setting. An example is presented to illustrate the result. Mathematics subject classification: 60H10, 65C20, 65L20
Knock-out of vasotocin reduces reproductive success in female zebrafish, Danio rerio

The vertebrate nonapeptide vasotocin/vasopressin is evolutionarily highly conserved and acts as neuromodulator and endocrine/paracrine signaling molecule. Circumstantial and mechanistic evidence from pharmacological manipulations of the vasotocin system in several teleost fishes suggest sex- and species-specific reproductive roles of vasotocin. While effects of vasotocin on teleost reproductive physiology involve both courtship behaviors and the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axes, comprehensive studies investigating behavioral and physiological reproductive consequences of genetic ablation of vasotocin in a genetically tractable fish model, such as the zebrafish, are currently lacking. Here, we report the generation of homozygous CRISPR/Cas9-based vasotocin gene knock-out zebrafish. Breeding pairs of vasotocin knock-out fish produce significantly fewer fertilized eggs per clutch compared to wildtype fish, an effect coincident with reduced female quivering courtship behavior. Crossbreeding experiments reveal that this reproductive phenotype is entirely female-dependent, as vasotocin-deficient males reproduce normally when paired with female wild-type fish. Histological analyses of vasotocin knock-out ovaries revealed an overall reduction in oocytes and differential distribution of oocyte maturation stages, demonstrating that the reproductive phenotype is linked to oocyte maturation and release. Ovarian hormone quantification and gene expression analysis in mutant fish indicated reduced synthesis of Prostaglandin F2α, a hormone involved in ovarian maturation, egg release and regulation of female courtship behavior in some cyprinids. However, acute injection of vasotocin did not rescue the female mutant reproductive phenotype, suggesting a contribution of organizational effects of vasotocin. Together, this study provides further support for emerging roles of vasotocin in female teleost reproduction in an important teleost model species.
Physical and chemical weathering

Physical and chemical weathering processes that might be important on Mars are reviewed, and the limited observations, including relevant Viking results and laboratory simulations, are summarized. Physical weathering may have included rock splitting through growth of ice, salt or secondary silicate crystals in voids. Chemical weathering probably involved reactions of minerals with water, oxygen, and carbon dioxide, although predicted products vary sensitively with the abundance and physical form postulated for the water. On the basis of kinetics data for hydration of rock glass on earth, the fate of weathering-rind formation on glass-bearing Martian volcanic rocks is tentatively estimated to have been on the order of 0.1 to 4.5 cm/Gyr; lower rates would be expected for crystalline rocks.
Relative coherent modules and semihereditary modules

Abstract Given a positive integer n, a left R-module M is called n-coherent (resp. n-semihereditary) if every n-generated submodule of M is finitely presented (resp. projective). We investigate the properties of n-coherent modules and n-semihereditary modules. Various results are developed, many extending known results.
Event-Based ADP Tracking Control of Complex-Valued Nonlinear Systems

This paper addresses the tracking control problem of a complex-valued nonlinear system. First, an augmented complex-valued tracking error system is constructed. By separating the real part and the imaginary part, the augmented complex-valued system is translated into a real-valued augmented system. The tracking control problem of a complex-valued system is converted into an optimal regulation of the real-valued augmented system. An event-based controller is proposed to solve the optimal regulation of the augmented system. Then, an ADP-based framework is used to realize the controller, which is composed of an action network and a critic network. The action network is specially formulated for obtaining control input and the critic network is specially formulated for generating performance value. Both two networks are complex-valued neural networks. Through well-designed event-triggered conditions, the tracking error is proved to be uniformly ultimately bounded (UUB) and the Zeno behaviors are excluded. The algorithm is applied to complex-valued signal tracking to demonstrate its effectiveness.
Influence of Diameter and Cyclic Mechanical Stimulation on the Beating Frequency of Myocardial Cell-Laden Fibers

Atrioventricular block (AVB) is a severe disease for pediatric patients. The repetitive operations needed in the case of the pacemaker implantation to maintain the electrical signal at the atrioventricular node (AVN) affect the patient’s life quality. In this study, we present a method of biofabrication of multi-cell-laden cylindrical fibrin-based fibers that can restore the electrical signal at the AVN. We used human umbilical vein smooth muscle cells (HUVSMCs), human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and induced pluripotent stem cell cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) cultivated either statically or dynamically to mimic the native AVN. We investigated the influence of cell composition, construct diameter and cyclic stretch on the function of the fibrin hydrogels in vitro. Immunohistochemistry analyses showed the maturity of the iPSC-CMs in the constructs through the expression of sarcomeric alpha actinin (SAA) and electrical coupling through Connexin 43 (Cx43) signal. Simultaneously, the beating frequency of the fibrin hydrogels was higher and easy to maintain whereas the concentration of iPSC-CMs was higher compared with the other types of cylindrical constructs. In total, our study highlights that the combination of fibrin with the cell mixture and geometry is offering a feasible biofabrication method for tissue engineering approaches for the treatment of AVB.
Regular ArticleThe Fast Multipole Method: Numerical Implementation

We study integral methods applied to the resolution of the Maxwell equations where the linear system is solved using an iterative method which requires only matrix–vector products. The fast multipole method (FMM) is one of the most efficient methods used to perform matrix–vector products and accelerate the resolution of the linear system. A problem involving N degrees of freedom may be solved in CNiterNlogN floating operations, where C is a constant depending on the implementation of the method. In this article several techniques allowing one to reduce the constant C are analyzed. This reduction implies a lower total CPU time and a larger range of application of the FMM. In particular, new interpolation and anterpolation schemes are proposed which greatly improve on previous algorithms. Several numerical tests are also described. These confirm the efficiency and the theoretical complexity of the FMM.
Solutions Network Formulation Report. Visible/Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer Data Products for National Drought Monitor Decision Support

Drought effects are either direct or indirect depending on location, population, and regional economic vitality. Common direct effects of drought are reduced crop, rangeland, and forest productivity; increased fire hazard; reduced water levels; increased livestock and wildlife mortality rates; and damage to wildlife and fish habitat. Indirect impacts follow on the heels of direct impacts. For example, a reduction in crop, rangeland, and forest productivity may result in reduced income for farmers and agribusiness, increased prices for food and timber, unemployment, reduced tax revenues, increased crime, foreclosures on bank loans to farmers and businesses, migration, and disaster relief programs. In the United States alone, drought is estimated to result in annual losses of between $6 - 8 billion. Recent sustained drought in the United States has made decision-makers aware of the impacts of climate change on society and environment. The eight major droughts that occurred in the United States between 1980 and 1999 accounted for the largest percentage of weather-related monetary losses. Monitoring drought and its impact that occurs at a variety of scales is an important government activity -- not only nationally but internationally as well. The NDMC (National Drought Mitigation Center) and the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) RMA (Risk Management Agency) have partnered together to develop a DM-DSS (Drought Monitoring Decision Support System). This monitoring system will be an interactive portal that will provide users the ability to visualize and assess drought at all levels. This candidate solution incorporates atmospherically corrected VIIRS data products, such as NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and Ocean SST (sea surface temperature), and AMSR-E soil moisture data products into two NDMC vegetation indices -- VegDRI (Vegetation Drought Response Index) and VegOUT (Vegetation Outlook) -- which are then input into the DM-DSS.
Effects of Dietary Supplementation of Lacticaseibacillus Chiayiensis AACE3 on Hepatic Antioxidant Capacity, Immune Factors and Gut Microbiology in Nandan Yao Chicks

The growing issue of antibiotic resistance has restrained the utilization of antibiotics as growth enhancers in the poultry industry. Probiotics are candidates for replacing antibiotics in the poultry industry. However, probiotics are strain-specific and their efficacy needs to be investigated before applying them. The aim of this study was to assess the positive effects of Lacticaseibacillus chiayiensis AACE3 on the health and gut microbiota of Nandan Yao chicks. The results showed that compared with the blank control (NC) and aureomycin (PC) groups, L. chiayiensis AACE3 increased final body weight (BW), villus height and improved the ratio of villus height to crypt depth in chicken jejunal tissues. L. chiayiensis AACE3 also increased the activity of hepatic antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT and T-AOC) and reduced hepatic oxidative damage (MDA). Furthermore, compared to NC, L. chiayiensis AACE3, the activity of intestinal digestive enzymes (i.e., α-amylase, lipase and trypsin) was increased. L. chiayiensis AACE3 upregulated the production of IgA and IgG and downregulated the production of IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α in chicken serum. Moreover, supplementation of L. chiayiensis AACE3 enhances the diversity of gut microbes. At the phylum level, the abundance of Actinobacteriota and Proteobacteria decreased with L. chiayiensis AACE3 supplementation, while the abundance of Verrucomicrobiota and Bacteroidetes increased. At the genus level, there was an increase in the abundance of potential probiotics Akkermansia, Romboutsia, Subdoligranulum, and Lactobacillus. This study confirms that L. chiayiensis AACE3 is an excellent feed additive as an alternative to aureomycin and offers various advantages for the healthy growth of chickens during the brooding period by positively affecting their gut microbiome.
The determination of the rolling resistance coefficient of a passenger vehicle with the use of selected road tests methods

Wide range of laboratory and road methods of determining the rolling resistance coefficient impose the need to find an effective way of its estimation. The obtained values of this coefficient differ depending from the assumed calculation model and influence the quality and quantity assessment of cooperation processes between tire and surface. The article presents two experimental methods of determining the rolling resistance coefficient. Road tests were carried out with the use of coast-down and free-rolling method. For each of the road methods the value of the rolling resistance coefficient was determined in three ways. It allowed to compare the selected research methods and calculation methods with the values available in literature.
Energy Efficiency Optimization in Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface Aided Hybrid Multiuser mmWave MIMO Systems

The energy efficiency (EE) of the reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) aided multiuser (MU) millimeterwave (mmWave) multi-input multi-output (MIMO) downlink is maximized by jointly optimizing the transmit power and number of active radio frequency (RF) chains. The base band (BB) transmit precoder (TPC) of this system is derived first by using the zero-forcing (ZF) technique for a given RF TPC and combiner at the base station (BS) as well as the phase shift matrix at the RIS. Furthermore, the ergodic sum-rate of the system is derived assuming a large number of antennas at the BS and users, followed by formulating the EE maximization problem subject to specific constraints imposed on the transmit power and on the number of RF chains. Then a low complexity sequential method is proposed for solving the above optimization problem, thus determining both the optimal transmit power and the number of active RF chains. Finally, simulation results are presented for demonstrating the improved EE performance of an RIS-aided mmWave MIMO system for a limited number of RF chains and transmit power at the BS.