Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The role of dynamics on the habitability of an Earth-like planet

Abstract From the numerous detected planets outside the Solar System, no terrestrial planet comparable with our Earth has been discovered so far. The search for an Exo-Earth is certainly a big challenge which may require the detections of planetary systems resembling our Solar System in order to find life like on Earth. However, even if we find Solar System analogues, it is not certain that a planet in Earth position will have similar circumstances as those of the Earth. Small changes in the architecture of the giant planets can lead to orbital perturbations which may change the conditions of habitability for a terrestrial planet in the habitable zone (HZ). We present a numerical investigation where we first study the motion of test-planets in a particular Jupiter–Saturn configuration for which we can expect strong gravitational perturbations on the motion at the Earth's position according to a previous work. In this study, we show that these strong perturbations can be reduced significantly by the neighbouring planets of Earth. In the second part of our study, we investigate the motion of test-planets in inclined Jupiter–Saturn systems where we analyse changes in the dynamical behaviour of the inner planetary system. Moderate values of inclination seem to counteract the perturbations in the HZ, while high inclinations induce more chaos in this region. Finally, we carry out a stability study of the actual orbits of Venus, Earth and Mars moving in the inclined Jupiter–Saturn systems for which we used the Solar System parameters. This study shows that the three terrestrial planets will only move in low-eccentric orbits if Saturn's inclination is ≤10°. Therefore, it seems that it is advantageous for the habitability of Earth when all planets move nearly in the same plane.
RRATs: New Discoveries, Timing Solutions & Musings

We describe observations of Rotating RAdio Transients (RRATs) that were discovered in a re-analysis of the Parkes Multi-beam Pulsar Survey (PMPS). The sources have now been monitored for sufficiently long to obtain seven new coherent timing solutions, to make a total of 14 now known. Furthermore we announce the discovery of 7 new transient sources, one of which may be extragalactic in origin (with $z\sim0.1$) and would then be a second example of the so-called `Lorimer burst'. The timing solutions allow us to infer neutron star characteristics such as energy-loss rate, magnetic field strength and evolutionary timescales, as well as facilitating multi-wavelength followup by providing accurate astrometry. All of this enables us to consider the question of whether or not RRATs are in any way special, i.e. a distinct and separate population of neutron stars, as has been previously suggested. We see no reason to consider 'RRAT' as anything other than a detection label, the subject of a selection effect in the parameter space searched. However, single-pulse searches can be utilised to great effect to identify pulsars difficult, or impossible, to find by other means, in particular those with long-periods (half of the PMPS RRATs have periods greater than 4 seconds), high-magnetic field strengths ($B\gtrsim 10^{13}$ G) and pulsars approaching the 'death valley'. The detailed nulling properties of such pulsars are unknown but the mounting evidence suggests a broad range of behaviour in the pulsar population. The group of RRATs fit in to the picture where pulsar magnetospheres switch between stable configurations.
Cosmology with peculiar velocities: observational effects

In this paper we investigate how observational effects could possibly bias cosmological inferences from peculiar velocity measurements. Specifically, we look at how bulk flow measurements are compared with theoretical predictions. Usually bulk flow calculations try to approximate the flow that would occur in a sphere around the observer. Using the Horizon Run 2 simulation we show that the traditional methods for bulk flow estimation can overestimate the magnitude of the bulk flow for two reasons: when the survey geometry is not spherical (the data do not cover the whole sky), and when the observations undersample the velocity distributions. Our results may explain why several bulk flow measurements found bulk flow velocities that seem larger than those expected in standard Λ cold dark matter cosmologies. We recommend a different approach when comparing bulk flows to cosmological models, in which the theoretical prediction for each bulk flow measurement is calculated specifically for the geometry and sampling rate of that survey. This means that bulk flow values will not be comparable between surveys, but instead they are comparable with cosmological models, which is the more important measure.
Effect of Electronic Waste on Atmosphere

Electronic garbage (e-waste), which consists of end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment, has become a serious environmental concern. E-waste recycling, which entails the systematic collecting of e-waste and its treatment for reuse of beneficial materials, is a useful instrument for reducing the growing pile of e-waste, supplementing the scarcity of some primary resources, and bolstering the economy. E-waste, however, can contain toxic substances such as heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants such as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs), Perfluoroalkyl and its substances (PFASs), Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), and Polychlorinated Dibenzofurans (PCDFs) [1-3].
Les Houches Lectures on Constructing String Vacua

These lectures give a detailed introduction to constructing and analyzing string vacua suitable for phenomenological model building, with particular emphasis on F-theory flux vacua. Topics include (1) general challenges and overview of some proposed scenarios, (2) an extensive introduction to F-theory and its relation to M-theory and perturbative IIB string theory, (3) F-theory flux vacua and moduli stabilization scenarios, (4) a practical geometrical toolkit for constructing string vacua from scratch, (5) statistics of flux vacua, and (6) explicit models.
Application of 3D Scene Fusion in Transmission Line Video Monitoring

The operation condition of transmission line determines the power supply quality and reliability of power system. Therefore, it is necessary to make real-time safety monitoring on the operation condition of transmission line. Therefore, based on 3D scene fusion, this paper studies transmission line video monitoring. Firstly, this paper introduces the three-dimensional virtual technology, and expounds the key technologies required in transmission line video monitoring. Finally, the performance of transmission line video monitoring is tested. The test results show that the communication distance of the monitoring points is very stable, basically maintained at 1.8m/s, indicating that the communication performance of video monitoring meets the design requirements and fully meets the communication needs of transmission lines. In terms of video resolution, the video definition is basically above 720 * 480, which also fully meets the demand for clear video monitoring pictures of transmission lines.
Extendable Multiport High Step-Up DC–DC Converter for Photovoltaic-Battery Systems With Reduced Voltage Stress on Switches/Diodes

In the standalone photovoltaic (PV)-battery power system, a multiport converter is more desirable than several single-input converters as it has advantages of the simpler circuit, higher efficiency, and lower cost. In this article, a novel structure based on a nonisolated high step-up multiport converter (MPC) is proposed. The proposed MPC has the capability of providing high voltage gain and low normalized peak inverse voltage across semiconductor devices. Maximum power point tracking algorithm can be applied for each PV input source, which is an effective method to prevent mismatches among PV modules. Different from the existing extendable MPCs, the proposed MPC can extend both unidirectional input ports and bidirectional ports to involve more types of renewable energy sources and energy storage devices. Continuous input currents and modularity are the other profits of the proposed MPC. Various operating modes, steady-state analysis, and design considerations have been discussed. Comparison results verify the above advantage of the proposed MPC. Finally, a 240 W laboratory prototype is designed to validate the performance of the proposed MPC.
Exploring Usability as a Formative Construct through UMUX: A Multi-Language Approach for Turkish Adaptation

Abstract Within the last decade, the Usability Metric for User Experience is translated into many languages. This study aimed to create an adapted version of UMUX into Turkish, based on item translations made from Arabic, Chinese, English, Italian and Slovene versions, which vary for the content of the items as well as their differences in how they are processed by machine translation systems and understood by human translators. Based on different translations, 45 UMUX variants in Turkish language are assessed psychometrically as a formative construct, regarding the criteria based on PLS measurement models for formative constructs and Rasch analysis. The results are benchmarked with the data collected via UMUX, SUS and CSUQ in Arabic and English or Turkish and English concurrently. Results show that all 45 Turkish variants of UMUX reveal strong psychometric qualities as a formative construct, as well as UMUX and Arabic UMUX. While there is evidence that usability can be measured as a formative construct, differences between item sets suggest that UMUX may not be a complete measure that includes all aspects of usability regarding ISO 9241-11. Our results also suggest that UMUX scores are sensitive to the native language of participants since the mean scores were significantly different between the native and English UMUX versions which were responded concurrently to assess the same software.
Filamentary flow and magnetic geometry in evolving cluster-forming molecular cloud clumps

We present an analysis of the relationship between the orientation of magnetic fields and filaments that form in 3D magnetohydrodynamic simulations of cluster-forming, turbulent molecular cloud clumps. We examine simulated cloud clumps with size scales of L ~ 2-4 pc and densities of n ~ 400-1000 cm^-3 with Alfven Mach numbers near unity. We simulated two cloud clumps of different masses, one in virial equilibrium, the other strongly gravitationally bound, but with the same initial turbulent velocity field and similar mass-to-flux ratio. We apply various techniques to analyze the filamentary and magnetic structure of the resulting cloud, including the DisPerSE filament-finding algorithm in 3D. The largest structure that forms is a 1-2 parsec-long filament, with smaller connecting sub-filaments. We find that our simulated clouds, wherein magnetic forces and turbulence are comparable, coherent orientation of the magnetic field depends on the virial parameter. Subvirial clumps undergo strong gravitational collapse and magnetic field lines are dragged with the accretion flow. We see evidence of filament-aligned flow and accretion flow onto the filament in the subvirial cloud. Magnetic fields oriented more parallel in the subvirial cloud and more perpendicular in the denser, marginally bound cloud. Radiative feedback from a 16 Msun star forming in a cluster in one of our simulations ultimately results in the destruction of the main filament, the formation of an HII region, and the sweeping up of magnetic fields within an expanding shell at the edges of the HII region.
Decadal variations of the global atmosphere-ocean system

Decadal and interannual variations in the global atmosphere and ocean are investigated using the global sea surface temperature (SST), sea-level pressure, surface winds, precipitation and Northern Hemisphere 500 hPa geopotential height data for 30 to 50 years. The most dominant interannual variation in the global atmosphere and ocean is associated with El Nino and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomena. Two dominant decadal modes are obtained. The first mode mainly dominates over the entire Pacific Ocean and changed abruptly in the late 1970s. The spatial pattern of the tropical SST after 1978 contains large positive anomalies over most of the tropical ocean, particularly over the eastern Pacific. Negative SST anomalies are found in the mid-latitudes over the North and the South Pacific. The sea-level pressure in the tropics shows negative anomalies in the eastern Pacific, but positive anomalies in the western Pacific and Indian Oceans. There exist westerly anomalies in the equatorial western-central Pacific, indicating the weakening of the tropical Walker circulation. The surface precipitation increased in the tropical central-eastern Pacific where large increases of SST exist. Composite and singular value decomposition (SVD) analyses demonstrate that the Pacific/North American (PNA) pattern was strengthened and associated with this first decadal mode. It is suggested that the enhanced tropical convection due to the increase of SST over the tropical central-eastern Pacific may strengthen the PNA pattern. The second decadal mode has dominant SST anomalies mainly in the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes. The Northern Hemisphere 500 hPa height field associated with this mode shows a dominance of a north-south seesaw between middle latitudes and higher latitudes. A north-south dipole structure in the western Atlantic is especially noticeable. Large positive anomalies extending from East Asia to the North Pacific are also significant. The second mode has a time scale of about 15 years and changed its sign from negative to positive around 1987. Linear trends for SST, sea-level pressure, surface winds and 500 hPa height are also investigated. Significant positive trends of SST are found over the most tropical regions and negative SST trends exist in the North Pacific. There exist large trends of sea-level pressure and surface winds over the North Atlantic. Easterlies are strengthened over most of the tropics. The PNA pattern in the 500 hPa height field has tended to intensify during the last 50 years.
Reasoning about qualitative temporal information

Representing and reasoning about incomplete and indefinite qualitative temporal information is an essential part of many artificial intelligence tasks. An interval-based framework and a point-based framework have been proposed for representing such temporal information. In this paper, we address two fundamental reasoning tasks that arise in applications of these frameworks: Given possibly indefinite and incomplete knowledge of the relationships between some intervals or points, (i) find a scenario that is consistent with the information provided, and (ii) find the feasible relations between all pairs of intervals or points. For the point-based framework and a restricted version of the interval-based framework, we give computationally efficient procedures for finding a consistent scenario and for finding the feasible relations. Our algorithms are marked improvements over the previously known algorithms. In particular, we develop an O(n2)-time algorithm for finding one consistent scenario that is an 0(n) improvement over the previously known algorithm, where n is the number of intervals or points, and we develop an algorithm for finding all the feasible relations that is of far more practical use than the previously known algorithm. For the unrestricted version of the interval-based framework, finding a consistent scenario and finding the feasible relations have been shown to be NP-complete. We show how the results for the point algebra aid in the design of a backtracking algorithm for finding one consistent scenario that is shown to be useful in practice for planning problems.
Comparative Glycemic Control in Adult Patients with Type 2 Diabetes on Herbal and Conventional Glucose-Lowering Agents in Nairobi County, Kenya

Background: Some diabetic patients seek care exclusively from traditional herbal practitioners. It is not known if the care provided by herbalists is effective in maintaining optimal glycemic control. Aim: To compare glycemic control in adult patients with type 2 diabetes on treatment with conventional medicines against those on herbal glucose-lowering therapies. Study Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Patients on conventional treatment were recruited from the Endocrinology and Diabetes Outpatient Centre at Kenyatta National Hospital. The comparative group was enrolled from the New Life Herbal Clinic. The study was carried out between March 2019 and December 2021. Methodology: We recruited 80 patients on treatment with conventional antidiabetic therapies at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) and 37 patients on herbal therapies at New Life Herbal Clinic (NLHC). A structured questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic and clinical data. Consecutive sampling was used to recruit the study participants. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) levels were measured at the time of the patient visit. Patients with HbA1c levels <7% were considered to have achieved adequate glycemic control. Descriptive and inferential data analysis was performed on all the variables and compared across the two study arms. Regression analysis was performed to identify variables associated with glycemic control for each treatment group. Data were entered into and analyzed using SPSS software version 26 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, USA). P-values <0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. Results: Patients on conventional antidiabetic medications had significantly lower mean HbA1c levels (7.40+1.92) % compared to (8.34+1.97) % in the herbal treatment arm (P=0.016). Significant differences in mean HbA1c % were reported in patients on a combination of 5-6 herbs (7.06 +1.54) % compared to those on 3-4 herbs (8.63+1.91) % (P= 0.045). Significant predictors of adequate glycemic control (HbA1c< 7%) were having a past HbA1c check ( (aOR= 3.098 (95% C.I=1.258-7.631) P=. 014), adherence to medications ( (aOR= 6.055 (95% C.I=1.623-22.593) P= . 007), treatment with Launaea cornuta ( (aOR= 7.143 (95% C.I=1.462-34.893) P= 0.015) and being married (aOR=2.870 (95% C.I=1.054-7.818) P=0.039). Conclusion: Patients on treatment with conventional agents reported better glycemic control compared to those on herbal therapies. Regular monitoring of HbA1c, adherence to medications, having a spouse and treatment with Launaea cornuta may enhance blood glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Profiling the Influence of Gene Variants Related to Folate-Mediated One-Carbon Metabolism on the Outcome of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) with Donor Oocytes in Recipients Receiving Folic Acid Fortification

Nutritional status and gene polymorphisms of one-carbon metabolism confer a well-known interaction that in pregnant women may affect embryo viability and the health of the newborn. Folate metabolism directly impacts nucleotide synthesis and methylation, which is of increasing interest in the reproductive medicine field. Studies assessing the genetic influence of folate metabolism on IVF treatments have currently been performed in women using their own oocytes. Most of these patients seeking to have a child or undergoing IVF treatments are advised to preventively intake folate supplies that restore known metabolic imbalances, but the treatments could lead to the promotion of specific enzymes in specific women, depending on their genetic variance. In the present study, we assess the influence of candidate gene variants related to folate metabolism, such as Serine Hydroxymethyltransferase 1 SHMT1 (rs1979276 and rs1979277), Betaine-Homocysteine S-Methyltransferase BHMT (rs3733890), Methionine synthase reductase MTRR (rs1801394), Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase MTHFR (rs1801131 and rs1801133), methionine synthase MTR (rs12749581), ATP Binding Cassette Subfamily B Member 1 ABCB1 (rs1045642) and folate receptor alpha FOLR1 (rs2071010) on the success of IVF treatment performed in women being recipients of donated oocytes. The implication of such gene variants seems to have no direct impact on pregnancy consecution after IVF; however, several gene variants could influence pregnancy loss events or pregnancy maintenance, as consequence of folic acid fortification.
Dual-band Terahertz Complex Amplitude Modulation by Polarization Control via HEMT-Switch 1-bit Coding Microstructure

An electronic dual-band and dual-polarization terahertz 1-bit complex amplitude modulation by a resonant shifting of OOK (on-off-keying) on coplanar HEMT (High Electron Mobility Transistor) array is presented. The effects of the dispersion characteristics of different two-dimensional electron gas concentrations on both phase shift and amplitude characteristics are studied. Under a low switching ratio, a 180° reflection phase shift and an average amplitude of -7.5 dB are achieved in the low-frequency band from 0.268 to 0.313 terahertz by modulation in the x-polarization direction, and a 180° reflected phase shift and an average amplitude of -10 dB are achieved in the high-frequency band from 0.420 to 0.433 terahertz by modulation in the y-polarization direction. Considering the current state of the art, the proposed hybrid microstructure is capable of reprogrammable complex amplitude modulation, which provides insight into the realization of full-duplex for high-speed terahertz communications and the reduction of crosstalk between channels to increase the capacity of communication systems.
Endobronchial Foreign Bodies Presenting as Intermittent Chest Pain and Productive Cough

A 51-year-old male presented with intermittent chest pain for one month and productive cough with yellow sputum for seven days. He had a history of chronic kidney disease stage G3, depression, and polysubstance abuse. His chest X-ray revealed mild hazy opacity in the right lower lobe, followed by a chest computed tomography without contrast that indicated multiple nodular opacities in the left mainstem bronchus with clear lungs. The patient underwent flexible bronchoscopy where the left mainstem bronchus was found to be completely occluded by three clear plastic bags, about 1 x 0.5 cm in size containing whitish content consistent with the appearance of crack cocaine. A high index of suspicion is crucial in patients with suspected foreign body aspiration as prompt extraction of foreign bodies may prevent complications.