Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamics of high-power erbium–ytterbium fiber amplifiers

Dynamic regimes of high-peak-power erbium–ytterbium (Er3+–Yb3+) codoped fiber amplifiers are analyzed for nanosecond-to-microsecond pulses. High-energy pulse generation requires a large-core fiber amplifier to increase energy storage and the threshold of nonlinear effects. A numerical model of large-core Er3+–Yb3+ fiber amplifiers is described. Dynamics of peak powers, amplified spontaneous emission, and population inversion are presented. Influence of radial dependence and reflections at the extremities are studied. Modeling and experimental results are compared for simple-pass and double-pass amplifier configurations. The role of parasitic reflections is highlighted. A semianalytical model is derived for low and high repetition rates.
Prediction of CD3 T cells and CD8 T cells expression levels in non-small cell lung cancer based on radiomic features of CT images

Background In this work, radiomics characteristics based on CT scans were used to build a model for preoperative evaluation of CD3 and CD8 T cells expression levels in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods Two radiomics models for evaluating tumor-infiltrating CD3 and CD8 T cells were created and validated using computed tomography (CT) images and pathology information from NSCLC patients. From January 2020 to December 2021, 105 NSCLC patients with surgical and histological confirmation underwent this retrospective analysis. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to determine CD3 and CD8 T cells expression, and all patients were classified into groups with high and low CD3 T cells expression and high and low CD8 T cells expression. The CT area of interest had 1316 radiomic characteristics that were retrieved. The minimal absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) technique was used to choose components from the IHC data, and two radiomics models based on CD3 and CD8 T cells abundance were created. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC), calibration curve, and decision curve analyses were used to examine the models’ ability to discriminate and their clinical relevance (DCA). Results A CD3 T cells radiomics model with 10 radiological characteristics and a CD8 T cells radiomics model with 6 radiological features that we created both demonstrated strong discrimination in the training and validation cohorts. The CD3 radiomics model has an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.943 (95% CI 0.886-1), sensitivities, specificities, and accuracy of 96%, 89%, and 93%, respectively, in the validation cohort. The AUC of the CD8 radiomics model was 0.837 (95% CI 0.745-0.930) in the validation cohort, with sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy values of 70%, 93%, and 80%, respectively. Patients with high levels of CD3 and CD8 expression had better radiographic results than patients with low levels of expression in both cohorts (p<0.05). Both radiomic models were therapeutically useful, as demonstrated by DCA. Conclusions When making judgments on therapeutic immunotherapy, CT-based radiomic models can be utilized as a non-invasive way to evaluate the expression of tumor-infiltrating CD3 and CD8 T cells in NSCLC patients.
Asymmetric ring currents and the low‐latitude disturbance daily variation

An asymmetric ring current belt consisting of a symmetric ring current and a superimposed partial ring current system is proposed as the explanation for the low-latitude disturbance daily variation. The magnetic effects of the partial ring current system are derived using a scale model together with a small magnetometer as an analog computer. The magnetic field of an asymmetric ring current belt is derived by assigning an amplitude A to the partial ring current function and an amplitude S to the (constant) symmetric ring current function. The span in longitude, the initial position in local time, and the local-time drift rate of the partial ring current are also adjustable parameters in the asymmetric ring current model. Recovery phases for stations with various longitudes are derived by assuming exponential decays for the partial ring current and symmetric ring current. Measured and computed recovery phases are compared for a few magnetic storms. The comparisons show that even this very simple model of the asymmetric ring current can account for most of the low-latitude disturbance daily variation in the recovery phase.
Nonparametric Kernel Estimation for Semiparametric Models

This paper presents a number of consistency results for nonparametric kernel estimators of density and regression functions and their derivatives. These results are particularly useful in semiparametric estimation and testing problems that rely on preliminary nonparametric estimators, as in Andrews (1994, Econometrica 62, 43–72). The results allow for near-epoch dependent, nonidentically distributed random variables, data-dependent bandwidth sequences, preliminary estimation of parameters (e.g., nonparametric regression based on residuals), and nonparametric regression on index functions.
Inferences About Exposure-Disease Associations Using Probability-of-Exposure Information

Unconditional and conditional likelihood methods are proposed for modeling odds and odds ratios relating a binary disease variable and an exposure variable that is only known probabilistically (e.g., via measurement of a Surrogate exposure variable), while adjusting appropriately for a vector of covariables. Assuming nondifferential errors, a probabilistic structure is developed that permits analysis of the marginal relation between disease and the Surrogate while maintaining important properties of the marginal relation between disease and true exposure. In particular, analyses conditioned on marginal totals in surrogate–disease tables remove the same nuisance Parameters as are removed in a conditional analysis of true exposure-disease tables. In addition, a relation between the probability of exposure (POE) in the disease and disease-free groups is derived, permitting the use of information about exposure from populations with structure different from the study population. Examples are presented illustr.
Accretion in stellar clusters and the collisional formation of massive stars

We present results from a numerical simulation of gas accretion in a cluster containing 1000 stars. The accretion forces the cluster to contract, leading to the development of a high-density core with a maximum density 10 5 times the mean stellar density. This density is sufficient for a significant number of stellar collisions to occur, resulting in the most massive stars being formed through a combination of gas accretion and stellar mergers. In the simulation, 19 mergers occur, generally where a binary is forced to merge owing to the interaction with another star in a small-N group. These small-N groups form owing to the self-gravity of the gas and constitute the highest-density regions in the cluster. Binary formation in these groups is common, occurring through dynamical three-body capture. The massive stars are thus generally in binary systems, which can be relatively wide. The self-gravity of the gas also forms significant structure in the vicinity of the cluster core, while continuing infall forms a circumbinary disc around the most massive star. This structure may be the source of collimation for the observed outflows from young massive stars. Finally, the resultant initial mass function from the combination of gas accretion and stellar mergers is indistinguishable from a Salpeter mass function.
White Lupin (Lupinus albus L.), an Alternative Legume for Animal Feeding in the Mediterranean Area

Interest in white lupine has increased in recent years in animal nutrition due to its balanced protein and lipid content, phytochemical compounds, and low alkaloid content. Agronomic traits, nutrients, and antioxidant phenols of six white lupin genotypes grown in a Mediterranean area were explored. Genotypes significantly differed in growth stages and life cycle length (from 172 to 204 days after sowing), plant height (from 36.1 to 97.2 cm), seed yield (from 1.02 to 3.50 Mg ha−1), and yield components. Seed yield was positively correlated with the number of seeds per pod and the thousand-seed weight. Across the average of genotypes, a high protein content (397 g kg−1), a low fiber content (133 g kg−1), and oil content (116 g kg−1) with a high oleic acid (453–509 g kg−1) and low erucic acid content (8–17 g kg−1) were found. The n3/n6 ratio varied from 1:1 to 1:4. Ecotype G showed the highest TPC, DPPH•, and ABTS•+ and Multitalia showed the highest content of Apigenin 1 and 2 derivatives. The lowest alkaloid content was recorded in Volos, Luxor, and Lublanc. Overall, this species can be considered a suitable feed crop and a valuable ingredient in animal nutrition due to its overall nutritional profile. At present, only Volos, Luxor, and Lublanc can be suggested in animal nutrition due to the low alkaloid content. Nonetheless, interesting agronomic and quality traits in Multitalia and the two ecotypes suggest room for breeding to reduce their antinutritional factors.
Observations of 2. mu. m molecular hydrogen emission from NGC 2071, Cepheus A, and GL 961

The infrared emission line at lambda2.12 . mu.m from the v = 1--0 S(1) transition of molecular hydrogen has been detected and partially mapped in the vicinity of the high-velocity molecular flows associated with NGC 2071, Cepheus A, and GL 961. The H/sub 2/ emission regions are extended on a scale of at least 0.2 to 0.3 pc, comparable to or somewhat greater than the size of the Orion H/sub 2/ source. The H/sub 2/ surface brightness, uncorrected for possible extinction, is, however, at least an order of magnitude lower in NGC 2071, Cep A, and GL 961 than in Orion. For sources with CO emission showing spatial displacement of redshifted and blueshifted peaks, there is a tendency for the strongest H/sub 2/ emission to occur in regions where blueshifted CO wings are the most prominent component. Emission at the positions of redshifted CO wings is weaker or absent. The source GL 490 was mapped over a region subtending several arcminutes and does not exhibit S(1) line emission above a flux level of 1 x 10/sup -20/ W cm/sup -2/.
Ionic Liquids as Tools to Incorporate Pharmaceutical Ingredients into Biopolymer-Based Drug Delivery Systems

This mini-review focuses on the various roles that ionic liquids (ILs) play in the development and applications of biopolymer-based drug delivery systems (DDSs). Biopolymers are particularly attractive as drug delivery matrices due to their biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, biodegradability, and strength, whereas ILs can assist the formation of drug delivery systems. In this work, we showcase the different strategies that were explored using ILs in biopolymer-based DDSs, including impregnation of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs)-ILs into biopolymeric materials, employment of the ILs to simplify the process of making the biopolymer-based DDSs, and using the ILs either as dopants or as anchoring agents.
Monte Carlo Approximation of Bootstrap Variances

Abstract It is widely believed that the number of resamples required for bootstrap variance estimation is relatively small An argument based on the unconditional coefficient of variation of the Monte Carlo approximation, suggests that as few as 25 resamples will give reasonable results. In this article we argue that the number of resamples should, in fact, be determined by the conditional coefficient of variation, involving only resampling variability. Our conditional analysis is founded on a belief that Monte Carlo error should not be allowed to determine the conclusions of a statistical analysis and indicates that approximately 800 resamples are required for this purpose. The argument can be generalized to the multivariate setting and a simple formula is given for determining a lower bound on the number of resamples required to approximate an m-dimensional bootstrap variance-covariance matrix.
Nonlinear absorption and Raman scattering in silicon-on-insulator optical waveguides

We study the nonlinearities in silicon-on-insulator (SOI) optical waveguides, which include two-photon absorption (TPA), free-carrier absorption, and spontaneous and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS). We show experimentally that free carriers generated by TPA in the SOI waveguides produce large optical loss at room temperature. The experimental results confirmed the presence of relative optical signal amplification from SRS, but it was found that net gain was hardly achieved because the stimulated Raman gain was less than the induced loss from TPA-generated free carriers at room temperature with continuous-wave pumping source in a SOI rib waveguide. We also experimentally investigated the temperature dependence of Raman scattering in the SOI waveguide and observed the Raman gain to be greater than TPA-generated free-carrier absorption loss at 77 K.
Solution and asymptotic behavior of coupled Riccati equations in jump linear systems

A new necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a positive semidefinite solution of coupled Riccati equations occurring in jump linear systems is derived. By verifying a Riccati inequality it is shown that such a solution exists; in addition two numerical algorithms are given to compute it. An example is given to illustrate the proposed method. >
Real-Time Dense Reconstruction with Binocular Endoscopy Based on StereoNet and ORB-SLAM

Binocular endoscopy is gradually becoming the future of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) thanks to the development of stereo vision. However, some problems still exist, such as the low reconstruction accuracy, small surgical field, and low computational efficiency. To solve these problems, we designed a framework for real-time dense reconstruction in binocular endoscopy scenes. First, we obtained the initial disparity map using an SGBM algorithm and proposed the disparity confidence map as a dataset to provide StereoNet training. Then, based on the depth map predicted by StereoNet, the corresponding left image of each depth map was input into the Oriented Fast and Brief-Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (ORB-SLAM) framework using an RGB-D camera to realize the real-time dense reconstruction of the binocular endoscopy scene. The proposed algorithm was verified in the stomach phantom and a real pig stomach. Compared with the ground truth, the proposed algorithm’s RMSE is 1.620 mm, and the number of effective points in the point cloud is 834,650, which is a significant improvement in the mapping ability compared with binocular SLAM and ensures the real-time performance of the algorithm while performing dense reconstruction. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is verified.
Comparative Study of Cis- and Trans-Priming Effect of PEG and BABA in Cowpea Seedlings on Exposure to PEG-Induced Osmotic Stress

The growth and performance of cowpea seedlings are negatively impacted by climate change and the subsequent occurrence of drought stress. Osmotic stress leads to the formation of reactive oxygen species, causing membrane breakdown, and impairs metabolic activities. The harmful effects of osmotic stress can be reduced by using seed priming techniques. Seeds of cowpea var. Anaswara were treated with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and β-amino butyric acid (BABA) as priming agents. The seedlings emerged from the primed seeds have been found to reduce the lipid peroxidation rates and improve plant water status by accumulating osmolytes such as proline, total free aminoacids, and total soluble sugars, and also enhanced the production of non-enzymatic antioxidants such as total phenolics, ascorbate, and glutathione, as well as increased the activities of enzymatic antioxidants such as catalase, peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase, which effectively scavenge ROS and maintain the homeostasis of the cell. PEG priming (cis-priming) and BABA priming (trans-priming) exhibited differential physiochemical responses in cowpea subjected to PEG stress. The current work investigates the extent of stress tolerance acquired through seed priming, and it will help to make a sensitive variety to a more tolerant one. Physiochemical responses of seedlings emerged from BABA-primed seeds towards PEG stress were better regulated to encounter the PEG-induced osmotic stress than the seedlings emerged from PEG-primed seeds.
Active External Store Flutter Suppression in the YF-17 Flutter Model

A single activated trailing-edge (T.E.) control system (spanning 1% of each wing) is applied to the YF-17 flutter model with the object of suppressing the external store flutter of three different store configurations. The control law is derived by the use of the aerodynamic energy concept and its gains are maintained constant for all three configurations. The results obtained show that the activated T.E. control system leads to very significant increases in the flutter dynamic pressures (QDF) of all three configurations; these increases range between 160240% increase in QDF* These increases in QDF are maintained over a very wide range of flight altitudes and flight velocities.
Survival Benefits of Radiotherapy and Surgery in Lung Cancer Brain Metastases with Poor Prognosis Factors

Background: Radiotherapy and surgery are the standard local treatments for lung cancer brain metastases (BMs). However, limited studies focused on the effects of radiotherapy and surgery in lung cancer BMs with poor prognosis factors. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 714 patients with lung cancer BMs. Analyses of overall survival (OS) and risk factors for OS were assessed by the log-rank test and Cox proportional hazard model. Results: Age ≥ 65 years, a Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) score ≤ 70, anaplastic large-cell lymphoma kinase (ALK)/epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) wild type, and extracranial metastases were related to poor prognosis. Patients were stratified according to these poor prognosis factors. In patients with the ALK/EGFR wild type, whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT), stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), and surgery improved the OS of patients. WBRT and SRS were the independent protective factors for OS. In patients with extracranial metastases, patients who received WBRT plus SRS or WBRT alone had longer OS than those who did not receive radiotherapy. WBRT plus SRS and WBRT were the independent protective factors for OS. Conclusions: Radiotherapy and surgery are associated with improved survival for lung cancer BMs with the ALK/EGFR wild type. Radiotherapy is associated with improved survival in lung cancer BMs with extracranial metastases.
Current state of phoenixin—the implications of the pleiotropic peptide in stress and its potential as a therapeutic target

Phoenixin is a pleiotropic peptide, whose known functions have broadened significantly over the last decade. Initially first described as a reproductive peptide in 2013, phoenixin is now recognized as being implicated in hypertension, neuroinflammation, pruritus, food intake, anxiety as well as stress. Due to its wide field of involvement, an interaction with physiological as well as psychological control loops has been speculated. It has shown to be both able to actively reduce anxiety as well as being influenced by external stressors. Initial rodent models have shown that central administration of phoenixin alters the behavior of the subjects when confronted with stress-inducing situations, proposing an interaction with the perception and processing of stress and anxiety. Although the research on phoenixin is still in its infancy, there are several promising insights into its functionality, which might prove to be of value in the pharmacological treatment of several psychiatric and psychosomatic illnesses such as anorexia nervosa, post-traumatic stress disorder as well as the increasingly prevalent stress-related illnesses of burnout and depression. In this review, we aim to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge of phoenixin, its interactions with physiological processes as well as focus on the recent developments in stress response and the possible novel treatment options this might entail.
Integer pair representation of binary terms and equations

A new format to represent binary terms in a Boolean function, called the Integer Pair Representation (IPR) is proposed. This format uses an ordered pair of integers to compactly represent each cube of a Boolean function written as a sum-of-products in either canonical or non-canonical form. Properties of the representation are discussed and its advantages illustrated in the development of algorithms for minimizing single-output, binary valued Boolean functions.
Larval Therapy and Larval Excretions/Secretions: A Potential Treatment for Biofilm in Chronic Wounds? A Systematic Review

Chronic wounds present a global healthcare challenge and are increasing in prevalence, with bacterial biofilms being the primary roadblock to healing in most cases. A systematic review of the to-date knowledge on larval therapy’s interaction with chronic-wound biofilm is presented here. The findings detail how larval therapy—the controlled application of necrophagous blowfly larvae—acts on biofilms produced by chronic-wound-relevant bacteria through their principle pharmacological mode of action: the secretion and excretion of biologically active substances into the wound bed. A total of 12 inclusion-criteria-meeting publications were identified following the application of a PRISMA-guided methodology for a systematic review. The findings of these publications were qualitatively analyzed to provide a summary of the prevailing understanding of larval therapy’s effects on bacterial biofilm. A further review assessed the quality of the existing evidence to identify knowledge gaps and suggest ways these may be bridged. In summary, larval therapy has a seemingly unarguable ability to inhibit and degrade bacterial biofilms associated with impaired wound healing. However, further research is needed to clarify and standardize the methodological approach in this area of investigation. Such research may lead to the clinical application of larval therapy or derivative treatments for the management of chronic-wound biofilms and improve patient healing outcomes at a time when alternative therapies are desperately needed.