Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A simulation study on the influence of ties on uniform scores test for circular data

Uniform scores test is a rank-based method that tests the homogeneity of k-populations in circular data problems. The influence of ties on the uniform scores test has been emphasized by several authors in several articles and books. Moreover, it is suggested that the uniform scores test should be used with caution if ties are present in the data. This paper investigates the influence of ties on the uniform scores test by computing the power of the test using average, randomization, permutation, minimum, and maximum methods to break ties. Monte Carlo simulation is performed to compute the power of the test under several scenarios such as having 5% or 10% of ties and tie group structures in the data. The simulation study shows no significant difference among the methods under the existence of ties but the test loses its power when there are many ties or complicated group structures. Thus, randomization or average methods are equally powerful to break ties when applying uniform scores test. Also, it can be concluded that k-sample uniform scores test can be used safely without sacrificing the power if there are only less than 5% of ties or at most two groups of a few ties.
An Empirical Assessment of Environmental Variable Combinations for Use in Fire Weather Forecasts

AN EMPIRICAL ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLE COMBINATIONS FOR USE IN FIRE WEATHER FORECASTS by Daniel Sunvold Predicting high fire danger conditions is paramount to mitigating the impacts caused by wildfires. Such warning systems as red flag warnings (RFWs) and the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) utilize atmospheric and fuel moisture properties to warn public and government entities about conditions that may lead to the ignition or rapid growth of wildfires. In this study, we use high-resolution reanalysis and wildfire growth data from 2003-2020 in California to test a variety of different variables to determine if a more viable variable combination exists that could be used to create a better warning index which would allow for a better estimate of high fire danger conditions. This is assessed by ranking combinations based on how well they organize daily fire acreage growth values within the heatmaps. It is found that turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) 50 meters above ground level presents a strong case to be used as a fire danger predictor. Sounding profiles are also created to ascertain a clearer picture of the vertical profiles typically seen on dangerous fire weather days, with the highest average daily acreage growth values seen with each combination exhibiting a dry and warm-to-hot environment. Line plots detailing daily average acreage growth rate changes indicate compounding effects of multiple variables being in extreme states at the same time as well as limiting behavior where a single variable being in a non-fire conducive state can shut-off the influence of another variable. We also find that relative humidity and sustained wind speed is the third-ranked variable combination, empirically confirming a previous mostly heuristic result.
A rural revitalization model based on regional livelihood capital: A case study of Diqing, China

Improving livelihood capital is beneficial for implementing China’s rural revitalization strategy (RRS); however, researchers have not focused on the regional attributes of livelihood capital. Thus, this study proposes a new concept of regional livelihood capital to guide RRS implementation. A comprehensive measurement method and official government statistics were used to analyze regional livelihood capital characteristics in Diqing. The results demonstrate that, from 1993 to 2020, Diqing’s regional livelihood capital index increased steadily from 0.058 to 0.356, and its structure continued to diversify; however, its level remains low. The natural capital index fluctuated between 2.044 and 2.284 and always had absolute advantages. The financial capital index increased rapidly from 0.024 to 1.396 and is the core driving force for the growth of regional livelihood capital. The physical capital index increased steadily from 0.056 to 0.456. The growth of the social and human capital index was slow and weak, with an average annual growth rate of only 4.42% and 1.07%, respectively, which represents a weakness in regional livelihood capital. Based on regional livelihood capital characteristics and Diqing’s economic circumstances, a targeted rural revitalization model was developed according to the dynamics of the organic system of regional livelihood capital, in which natural capital is considered the foundation, financial capital is the power, physical capital is the medium, and social capital and human capital are the ultimate goals. The main direction of energy is “natural capital → financial capital → physical, social, and human capital. ” Simultaneously, reverse energy feedback should also be emphasized to promote the sustainable operation of this system. This study provides a new theoretical perspective of regional livelihood capital for the implementation of RRS and guidance for the practice of RRS in Diqing and other similar areas.
Longitudinal home-cage automated assessment of climbing behavior shows sexual dimorphism and aging-related decrease in C57BL/6J healthy mice and allows early detection of motor impairment in the N171-82Q mouse model of Huntington’s disease

Monitoring the activity of mice within their home cage is proving to be a powerful tool for revealing subtle and early-onset phenotypes in mouse models. Video-tracking, in particular, lends itself to automated machine-learning technologies that have the potential to improve the manual annotations carried out by humans. This type of recording and analysis is particularly powerful in objective phenotyping, monitoring behaviors with no experimenter intervention. Automated home-cage testing allows the recording of non-evoked voluntary behaviors, which do not require any contact with the animal or exposure to specialist equipment. By avoiding stress deriving from handling, this approach, on the one hand, increases the welfare of experimental animals and, on the other hand, increases the reliability of results excluding confounding effects of stress on behavior. In this study, we show that the monitoring of climbing on the wire cage lid of a standard individually ventilated cage (IVC) yields reproducible data reflecting complex phenotypes of individual mouse inbred strains and of a widely used model of neurodegeneration, the N171-82Q mouse model of Huntington’s disease (HD). Measurements in the home-cage environment allowed for the collection of comprehensive motor activity data, which revealed sexual dimorphism, daily biphasic changes, and aging-related decrease in healthy C57BL/6J mice. Furthermore, home-cage recording of climbing allowed early detection of motor impairment in the N171-82Q HD mouse model. Integrating cage-floor activity with cage-lid activity (climbing) has the potential to greatly enhance the characterization of mouse strains, detecting early and subtle signs of disease and increasing reproducibility in preclinical studies.
Spreading and Predictable Sampling in Exchangeable Sequences and Processes

Abstract : Rydll-Nardzewski (1957) proved that an infinite sequence of random variables is exchangeable, if every subsequence has the same distribution. This document discusses some restatements and extensions of this result in terms of martingales and stopping times. In the other direction, it is shown that the distribution of a finite or infinite exchangeable sequence is invariant under sampling by means of a.s. distinct (but not necessarily ordered) predictable stopping times. Both types of result generalize to exchangeable processes in continuous time. (Author)
Nutritional Status and the Outcomes of Endoscopic Stenting in Benign and Malignant Diseases of Esophagus

Background. Endoscopic stenting (ES) is a widely known method for palliative dysphagia treatment in esophageal strictures. Esophageal cancer is often associated with advanced malnutrition, which may increase the risk of complications of the procedure. The aim of this study was to evaluate complication rates and the impact of nutritional status on the outcomes of ES. Patients and Methods. A single-center retrospective study was conducted at Copernicus Hospital in Gdańsk, Poland. Adult patients who underwent endoscopic stenting between February 2014 and December 2018 were included. The influence of patient characteristics (age, sex, indications for esophageal stenting, and location of stenosis) and nutritional status (BMI, NRS 2002, GLIM, and dysphagia score) on complication rates and survival were analyzed. Results. Eighty-one patients (69% men) were enrolled in the study. In 69%, the indication for ES was malignancy (mainly esophageal cancer). The median dysphagia score significantly decreased from 2.8 to 0.6 after the procedure (p < 0.001). Complications were observed in 27% (n = 22) of the patients. Early complications were bleeding (2.5%), stent unexpansion (2.5%), and stent migration during the procedure (3.7%). There were no early fatal complications of the procedure. Late complications included: stent migration (6.2%), tissue overgrowth (6.2%), food impaction (2.2%), fistula formation (3.7%), bleeding (3.7%), and stent malposition (1.2%). A total of 76% of the participants scored ≥ 3 points in nutritional screening (NRS2002) and 70% were diagnosed with severe malnutrition (GLIM -stage 2). A stent diameter of < 2.2 cm compared with ≥ 2.2 was associated with a higher rate of migrations (15.5% vs. 2.5%). The median survival time in the malignant group was 90 days. Histopathological diagnosis and patients’ nutritional status (BMI, NRS 2002, GLIM, and dysphagia score) had no significant effect on complication rates and survival after esophageal stent insertion. Conclusions. Endoscopic stenting is a relatively safe procedure for the palliative treatment of esophageal strictures. Severe malnutrition, although common, does not affect the outcomes of the procedure.
Differentiation of Andean and Mesoamerican accessions in a proposed core collection of grain amaranths

Grain amaranths are made up of three New World species of pseudo-cereals with C4 photosynthesis from the dicotyledonous family Amaranthaceae and the genus Amaranthus. They originate in two ecoregions of the Americas, namely, the inter-Andean valleys of South America and the volcanic axis and lowlands of Mexico and Central America. These correspond to two centers of domestications for Andean and Mesoamerican crops, with one cultivated species found in the first region and two found in the latter region. To date, no core collection has been made for the grain amaranths in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) germplasm system. In this study, our objective was to create a core for the 2,899 gene bank accessions with collection site data by town or farm site of which 1,090 have current geo-referencing of latitude and longitude coordinates. We constituted the core with 260 genotypes of Amaranthus, which we evaluated with 90 single-nucleotide polymorphism markers. Our goal was to distinguish between Andean and Mesoamerican gene pools of amaranths, including the cultivated species and three possible progenitor or wild relative ancestors along with two more species in an outgroup. Population structure, clustering, and discriminant analysis for principal components showed that Andean species Amaranthus caudatus and Amaranthus quitensis shared fewer alleles with Mesoamerican species Amaranthus cruentus and Amaranthus hypochondriacus, compared to each group individually. Amaranthus hybridus was a bridge species that shared alleles with both regions. Molecular markers have the advantage over morphological traits at quickly distinguishing the Andean and Mesoamerican cultivars and have the added benefit of being useful for following inter-species crosses and introgression.
Asteroseismic measurement of surface-to-core rotation in a main-sequence star

We have discovered rotationally split core g-mode triplets and surface p-mode triplets and quintuplets in a terminal age main-sequence A star, KIC 11145123, that shows both δ Sct p-mode pulsations and γ Dor g-mode pulsations. This gives the first robust determination of the rotation of the deep core and surface of a main-sequence star, essentially model-independently. We find its rotation to be nearly uniform with a period near 100 d, but we show with high confidence that the surface rotates slightly faster than the core. A strong angular momentum transfer mechanism must be operating to produce the nearly rigid rotation, and a mechanism other than viscosity must be operating to produce a more rapidly rotating surface than core. Our asteroseismic result, along with previous asteroseismic constraints on internal rotation in some B stars, and measurements of internal rotation in some subgiant, giant and white dwarf stars, has made angular momentum transport in stars throughout their lifetimes an observational science.
Asymptotic analysis of imaging in the presence of a sinusoidal phase modulation

When a mirror is produced by numerically controlled diamond turning, its surface may be optically smooth except for a sinusoidal height modulation in the radial direction. If the amplitude of this modulation is small compared with its wavelength and the mirror has no aberrations, the reflected light will be a converging spherical wavefront with a radial, sinusoidal modulation superimposed on it. To determine how such a modulation affects the image produced by the mirror we study the reflected light in the focal region. We show that if the aperture radius is much larger than the modulation wavelength, the focal-plane intensity distribution of the zeroth-order image remains unchanged except for a drop in the peak intensity by a factor J02(2πδ1), where δ1 is the modulation amplitude measured in units of the radiation wavelength. Also we show that higher-order diffracted images appear at equally spaced positions along the optical axis, and that these high-order images give concentric circles of light in the geometrical focal plane.
Indirect Nutrition and Mobility Risks during Hospitalization: An Architectural Perspective on the nutritionDay Study Findings

Nutrition and mobility risks include complex and interrelated physiological, medical, and social factors. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that the built environment can affect patients’ well-being and recovery. Nevertheless, the relationship between the built environment, nutrition, and mobility in general hospitals is largely unexplored. This study examines the implications of the nutritionDay study’s results for the architectural design of hospital wards and nutrition environments. This one-day annual cross-sectional study uses online questionnaires in 31 different languages to collect ward-specific and patient-specific variables. The main findings relevant to the design of hospital wards were: (1) 61.5% of patients (n = 48,700) could walk before hospitalization and (2) this number dropped to 56.8% on nutritionDay (p < 0.0001), while the number of bedridden patients increased from 6.5% to 11.5% (p < 0.0001), (3) patients who needed more assistance had a much longer mean LOS than mobile patients, (4) mobility was associated with changes in eating, and (5) 72% of units (n = 2793) offered additional meals or snacks, but only 30% promoted a positive eating environment. The built environment may indirectly affect hospitalized patients’ mobility, independence, and nutritional intake. Possible future study directions are suggested to further investigate this relationship.
On the circular polarization operation of annular-ring microstrip antennas

Circular polarization (CP) operation of an annular-ring microstrip antenna with a pair of inserted slits at its fundamental TM/sub 11/ mode is proposed and experimentally investigated. Two examples of the proposed antenna fed using a microstrip line at the inner and outer patch boundaries are studied. Results show that the proposed antenna can have good CP performance and, moreover, the required antenna size at a fixed CP operation can be much less than that of a conventional circularly polarized circular microstrip antenna operated at the TM/sub 11/ mode. Details of the proposed antenna for CP operation are described and experimental results of the CP performance are presented and discussed.
Metabolite Formation by Fungal Pathogens of Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) in the Presence of Bioprotective Agents

The potato is a crop of global importance for the food industry. This is why effective protection against pathogens is so important. Fungi as potato pathogens are responsible for plant diseases and a significant reduction in yields, as well as for the formation of mycotoxins. This study focuses on the effect of three natural biocides, yeast Metschnikowia pulcherrima, lactic acid bacteria Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, and aqueous garlic extract, on the improvement of the physiology of planted potato tubers and the reduction in mycotoxin formation. The secondary metabolites produced by the fungal pathogens of genera Fusarium, Alternaria, Colletotrichum, Rhizoctonia, and Phoma in the presence of these biocontrol agents were compared to profiles obtained from contaminated potatoes. Analysis of liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry data showed the presence of 68 secondary metabolites, including the mycotoxins: alternariol, alternariol methyl ether, altertoxin-I, aurofusarin, beauvericin, diacetoxyscirpenol, enniatin B, and sterigmatocystin. The studies showed that the applied biocontrol agents had a positive effect on the physiological parameters of potatoes (including root growth, stem growth, gas exchange, and chlorophyll content index) and on the reduction in the production of mycotoxins and other secondary metabolites by Fusarium, Alternaria, and Phoma.
Comparison between Mean Filter and Median Filter Algorithm in Image Denoising Field

An image denoising method based on spatial filtering is proposed on order to overcoming the shortcomings of traditional denoising methods in this paper. The method combined mean mask algorithm with median filtering technique is able to replace the gray values of noisy image pixel by the mean or median value in its neighborhood mask matrix and highlight the characteristic value of the image. Peak signal to noise ratio and mean square error are used as the evaluation index in this method and comparison between mean filter and median filter is done. The experimental results show that this denoising system makes the images have a high signal to noise ratio and integrity of edge details and take into account real-time, and fast response characteristic of the system.
Polariton laser: thermodynamics and quantum kinetic theory

Cavity exciton–polaritons are considered to be two-dimensional weakly interacting true bosons. We analyse their thermodynamic properties and show that they can exhibit local condensation or Kosterlitz–Thouless phase transition towards superfluidity, so that polariton lasing can be achieved. The dynamical evolution of the condensate in a non-resonantly pumped cavity is described by a quantum kinetic formalism. The distribution function of polaritons is described by a semi-classical Boltzmann equation. A master equation for the ground-state density matrix is derived in the framework of the Born–Markov approximation. The dynamics of the ground-state population and its coherence are deduced.
Successful Prenatal Treatment of Cardiac Rhabdomyoma in a Fetus with Tuberous Sclerosis

Cardiac rhabdomyomas are a possible early manifestation of the Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC). They often regress spontaneously but may grow and cause cardiac dysfunction, threatening the child’s life. Treatment with rapalogs can stop the growth of these cardiac tumors and even make them shrink. Here, we present the case of a successful treatment of a cardiac rhabdomyoma in a fetus with TSC by administering sirolimus to the mother. The child’s father carries a TSC2 mutation and the family already had a child with TSC. After we confirmed the TSC diagnosis and growth of the tumor with impending heart failure, we started treatment at 27 weeks of gestation. Subsequently, the rhabdomyoma shrank and the ventricular function improved. The mother tolerated the treatment very well. Delivery was induced at 39 weeks and 1 day of gestation and proceeded without complications. The length, weight, and head circumference of the newborn were normal for the gestational age. Rapalog treatment was continued with everolimus. Metoprolol and vigabatrin were added because of ventricular preexcitation and epileptic discharges in the EEG, respectively. We provide the follow-up data on the child’s development in her first two years of life and discuss the efficacy and safety of this treatment.
The Importance of the 5Cs of Positive Youth Development to Depressive Symptoms: A Cross-Sectional Study with University Students from Peru and Spain

Background: Prior research has documented the protective role of the 5Cs of Positive Youth Development (PYD) on adjustment problems, such as depressive symptoms. Nonetheless, more research is needed, especially in non-US contexts. The main objective of the present study was to assess associations between the 5Cs and depressive symptoms in Peru and Spain, considering gender differences across contexts. Methods: Cross-sectional data was collected from undergraduate students from Peru [n = 250] and Spain [n = 1044]. Results: The results revealed significant negative associations of Competence, Confidence, Character and Connection with depressive symptoms, while Caring was positively and significantly related to depressive symptoms in both samples. Regarding gender differences, female undergraduates in both samples reported high levels of Caring, while Competence was predominant among males compared to females in both countries. Likewise, higher scores in Competence and Confidence were registered among Peruvian male undergraduates compared to Spanish students, while Caring and Character were more prevalent in Spanish female undergraduates compared to Peruvian students. Conclusions: These findings confirm the importance of targeting the 5Cs of PYD alongside the role of gender and country context in intervention programs, put together to address the mental health of students in Peru and Spain.
A new meta-transfer learning method with freezing operation for few-shot bearing fault diagnosis

Deep learning for bearing fault diagnosis often requires a large quantity of comprehensive data to give support in the field of rotating machinery fault diagnosis. However, large-quantity datasets for model training are difficult to obtain in actual working environments. Therefore, bearing fault diagnosis problems under practical working conditions are often considered few-shot problems. Meta-learning can be adopted to solve these few-shot problems. Traditional meta-learning methods, however, can lead to model overfitting, and shallow neural networks are usually used to avoid overfitting. As a result, the features extracted by the shallow neural network are insufficiently rich to exploit the optimal performance of the model. A few-shot fault diagnosis method based on meta-learning, named meta-transfer learning with freezing operation (MTLFO), is proposed in this study to solve these problems. MTLFO can learn new knowledge rapidly through a small number of samples. The hyperparameter self-regulation ability of meta-learning is adopted by MTLFO, and a freezing operation is used to deal with the neuronal nature of meta-learning to ensure that the neurons from different tasks are transferred by utilizing scaling and shifting. MTLFO avoids the overfitting problem in traditional meta-learning methods and presents more advantages in solving few-shot problems in fault diagnosis compared with other types of methods.