Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Study on hemisphere space laser scattering and polarization characteristics of asphalt pavement

The scattering characteristics of the pavement are the key factors affecting the performance of optical sensors used for the road detection such as LiDAR. Limited by the wavelength of the laser and the roughness of the pavement, the solution of the laser scattering on the asphalt pavements is outside the applicable range of the common analytical approximation models of electromagnetic scattering. Moreover, conventional numerical methods such as the method of moments have problems in computational memory and efficiency for two-dimensional rough surfaces, and these methods cannot deal well with the case of shielding and multiple scattering when the laser is incident at a large angle on a strong rough surface. In order to solve this problem, we propose a 3D hemisphere space scattering model based on ray tracing to describe the scattering and depolarization characteristics of the asphalt pavement. Compared with the 2D plane scattering model, the advantage of the 3D model is that it can solve the polarization information of the scattered lights. The results of the calculation show that the scattering intensity and the depolarization ratio of the asphalt pavement are both related to the roughness of the pavement closely. In general, with the increase of the roughness of the pavement, the backscattering intensity becomes stronger, and the depolarization ratio becomes larger.
‘If You Move in the Same Circles as the Royals, then You’ll Get Stories About Them’: Royal Correspondents, Cultural Intermediaries and Class

This article analyses the cultural politics of the Royal Correspondent: journalists who specialise in reporting news on the British royal family. It draws on in-depth interviews with Royal Correspondents and a broader understanding of royal news production, to position Royal Correspondents as cultural intermediaries. Pierre Bourdieu described cultural intermediaries as ‘taste-makers’ with influence over the construction of, and responses to, forms of culture (1984). This cultural intermediary role is significantly classed, where it is Royal Correspondents who demonstrate the appropriate ‘capital’ (Bourdieu, 1984) who get access to the most exclusive stories. The research finds that, because of the general secrecy around royal news, Royal Correspondents rely heavily upon elite networks and contacts, a practice that produces ‘homophilic’ (Fincham, 2019) tendencies in reporting as well as a hierarchical and nepotistic structure based around those with the most exclusive access. This creates intersectional classed inequalities between those Royal Correspondents who have elite contacts and work for elite institutions, and those who do not. Such exceptionality in access to royal news means that Royal Correspondents are not necessarily disturbing the ideological bases of monarchical power. Rather, they function in service of reproducing the classed power of the monarchical institution.
Addressing Johnson graphs, complete multipartite graphs, odd cycles and other graphs

Graham and Pollak showed that the vertices of any graph $G$ can be addressed with $N$-tuples of three symbols, such that the distance between any two vertices may be easily determined from their addresses. An addressing is optimal if its length $N$ is minimum possible. In this paper, we determine an addressing of length $k(n-k)$ for the Johnson graphs $J(n,k)$ and we show that our addressing is optimal when $k=1$ or when $k=2, n=4,5,6$, but not when $n=6$ and $k=3$. We study the addressing problem as well as a variation of it in which the alphabet used has more than three symbols, for other graphs such as complete multipartite graphs and odd cycles. We also present computations describing the distribution of the minimum length of addressings for connected graphs with up to $10$ vertices. Motivated by these computations we settle a problem of Graham, showing that most graphs on $n$ vertices have an addressing of length at most $n-(2-o(1))\log_2 n$.
Crosstalk between cholesterol and PIP2 in the regulation of Kv7.2/Kv7.3 channels

Abstract The activity of neuronal Kv7.2/Kv7.3 channels is critically dependent on PIP2 and finely modulated by cholesterol. Here, we report the crosstalk between cholesterol and PIP2 in the regulation of Kv7.2/Kv7.3 channels. Our results show that currents passing through Kv7.2/Kv7.3 channels in cholesterol-depleted cells, by acute application of methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MβCD), were less sensitive to PIP2 dephosphorylation strategies than those of control cells, suggesting that cholesterol depletion enhances the Kv7.2/Kv7.3–PIP2 interaction. In contrast, the sensitivity of Kv7.2/Kv7.3 channels to acute membrane cholesterol depletion by MβCD was not altered in mutant channels with different apparent affinities for PIP2.
h*-Polynomials with Roots on the Unit Circle

Abstract For an n-dimensional lattice simplex with vertices given by the standard basis vectors and where has positive entries, we investigate when the Ehrhart -polynomial for factors as a product of geometric series in powers of z. Our motivation is a theorem of Rodriguez-Villegas implying that when the -polynomial of a lattice polytope P has all roots on the unit circle, then the Ehrhart polynomial of P has positive coefficients. We focus on those for which has only two or three distinct entries, providing both theoretical results and conjectures/questions motivated by experimental evidence.
Ambient levels of 24 dissolved metals in US surface and ground waters

This paper presents estimates of the geometric mean and deviation concentrations of 24 dissolved metals in ambient US surface and ground waters. The data were taken from all US Geological Survey, Water Resources Division stations in the US Environmental Protection Agency STORET database. The data represent ambient stations only, so the results presented should be useful in setting background levels and occurrences for studies of water pollution by metals. The calculated statistics were typically based on over 10,000 observations per metal, with over 100,000 in some cases, and were corrected for data censoring due to samples below the limit of detection. Presentation of the results as geometric means and deviations will allow more quantitative and detailed statistical comparisons to water pollution survey data than is presently possible with background data representing only arithmetic means, medians, or ranges. Preliminary results for 20 metals in surface waters are presented. These data represent over 301,000 observations from over 50,000 USGS ambient surface water stations. Very low occurrences were noted for antimony, thallium and tin. Beryllium and silver appear to have bimodal distributions, which may reflect geographic differences in their abundance. The distribution for antimony is severely skewed, even after log transformation.
Study on performance improvement of pure bromide sky blue perovskite light-emitting diodes by modifying PEDOT:PSS

On account of favorable photoelectric properties, Metal Halide Perovskites (MHPs) will provide significant advantages in the next generation of optoelectronic devices, particularly in new displays. Red and green Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes (PELEDs) devices have recently made significant advancements and essentially satisfied the requirements of the display. In comparison to red and green, blue PELEDs still have relatively low brightness and efficiency. The main reasons are the phase separation phenomenon of chlorobromide mixed halogen perovskites at high voltage, which cause spectral instability, and the poor matching between the blue PELEDs hole transport layer material and the emission layer material. In this work, we selected the all-inorganic CsPbBr3 as the precursor solution, reduced its dimension through ligand engineering to change the color to sky blue, and then modified PEDOT: PSS to achieve a highly efficient pure bromo-based sky blue PELEDs. Finally, a high brightness of 2322cd/m2 was achieved at 488 nm.
The Gut Microbiome, a Possible Key to Multidisciplinary Clinical Practice - Literature Review

Abstract Modern medicine tends to evolve towards interdiciplinary collaboration and case management. A strong example in that direction is represented by neurogastroenterology, a field that developed arround the concept of gut-brain axis. Still, research in this field determend the multisystemic role of the gut microbiome, beyond it's regulatory function within the gut-brain axis. The purpose of this review is to focus on the current knowledge in medical literature regarding gut microbiome and its possible invovlvement in medical areas, such as cardiology, rheumatology, pneumology, neurology and psychiatry, bringing these domains closer then ever. We researched Google Scholar, Scopus, PubMed and Wiley Library for articles containing the following key words: “microbiota”, “intestinal bacteria”, “disbiosis”, “probiotics”, “prebiotics”, “rheumatology”, “cardiology”, “diabetes”, “metabolic disease”, “clinical medicine” “cardiology”, “cardiovascular”. Articles were selected by number of acceses, citations, results and by being published between 2015 and 2023. Both animal and clinical studies were considered as well as literature reviews and systematic reviews. Although many studies are still in preclinical phase, and some of them still have uneven results, the road for research has contured theories, especially regarding physiologic and pathophysiologic functions that involve the microbiome and have multisystemic consequences. Conclusions. The gut microbiome may be the key of understanding multi-organic pathophysiologic mechanisms and may have the potential to act as a preventive clinical instrument and raising the effectiveness of therapeutic management in multiple medical fields, not only in gastroenterology and neuropsychiatry.
Analysis of rainfall data for use in design of storm sewer systems

The paper describes a comparison of calculated storm water discharges with two kinds of rainfall data: design rainfalls developed from intensity-duration-frequency relationships or from measured rainfall data and real measured time series of rainfalls or time series generated by statistical methods. These two rainfall approaches have been compared by simulation of the runoff by a runoff model for a 0.154 km2 catchment area, Bergsjon, in Goteborg, Sweden. Data from two years of rainfall-runoff measurements have been analysed. Different types of design rainfalls have been derived and the 40 heaviest real rainfalls have been selected for simulations. The statistical analysis of the simulated peak flows shows that the real rainfalls give the best results. The conclusion is that the use of design rainfalls give a more uneven dimensioning of storm sewer systems. With real rainfalls it is possible to make a design from a statistical point of view and to find out what happens at discharges with frequencies lower than the design frequency.
The Claremont report on database research

In late May, 2008, a group of database researchers, architects, users and pundits met at the Claremont Resort in Berkeley, California to discuss the state of the research field and its impacts on practice. This was the seventh meeting of this sort in twenty years, and was distinguished by a broad consensus that we are at a turning point in the history of the field, due both to an explosion of data and usage scenarios, and to major shifts in computing hardware and platforms. Given these forces, we are at a time of opportunity for research impact, with an unusually large potential for influential results across computing, the sciences and society. This report details that discussion, and highlights the group's consensus view of new focus areas, including new database engine architectures, declarative programming languages, the interplay of structured and unstructured data, cloud data services, and mobile and virtual worlds. We also report on discussions of the community's growth, including suggestions for changes in community processes to move the research agenda forward, and to enhance impact on a broader audience.
An Integrated Platform for in vivo Electrophysiology in Spatial Cognition Experiments

Spatial cognition research requires behavioral paradigms that can distinguish between different navigational elements, such as allocentric (map-like) navigation and egocentric (e.g., body centered) navigation. To fill this need, we developed a flexible experimental platform that can be quickly modified without the need for significant changes to software and hardware. In this paper, we present this inexpensive and flexible behavioral platform paired with software which we are making freely available. Our behavioral platform serves as the foundation for a range of experiments, and though developed for assessing spatial cognition, it also has applications in the non-spatial domain of behavioral testing. There are two components of the software platform, ‘Maze’ and ‘Stim Trigger’. Both programs can work in conjunction with electrophysiology acquisition systems, allowing for precise time stamping of neural events with behavior. The Maze program includes functionality for automatic reward delivery based on user defined zones. ‘Stim Trigger’ permits control of brain stimulation via any equipment that can be paired with an Arduino board. We seek to share our software and leverage the potential by expanding functionality in the future to meet the needs of a larger community of researchers. Significance Statement This paper presents an innovative and cost-effective behavioral platform designed to distinguish between different navigational elements, addressing the crucial need for better spatial cognition research paradigms. The platform’s flexibility allows for quick modifications without major software or hardware changes. Additionally, the freely available software, comprising ‘Maze’ and ‘Stim Trigger’ components, enables precise time stamping of neural events with behavior, while facilitating automatic reward delivery and brain stimulation control. Beyond spatial cognition assessment, the platform’s adaptability extends to non-spatial behavioral testing. By openly sharing this software, the authors aim to foster collaboration and encourage future developments, promoting its application to a broader community of researchers. This platform represents a significant advancement in spatial cognition research and behavioral experimentation methods.
Tumor cell-derived lactic acid inhibits the interaction of PD-L1 protein and PD-L1 antibody in the PD-L1/PD-1 blockade therapy-resistant tumor

Immune checkpoint blockade therapy targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis has shown remarkable clinical impact in multiple cancer types. Nontheless, despite the recent success of PD-1/PD-L1 blockade therapy, such response rates in cancer patients have been limited to tumors encompassing specific tumor microenvironment characteristics. The altered metabolic activity of cancer cells shapes the anti-tumor immune response by affecting the activity of immune cells. However, it remains mostly unknown how the altered metabolic activity of cancer cells impacts their resistance to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade therapy. Here we found that tumor cell-derived lactic acid renders the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in the PD-1/PD-L1 blockade-resistant tumors by inhibiting the interaction between the PD-L1 protein and anti-PD-L1 antibody. Furthermore, we showed that the combination therapy of targeting PD-L1 with our PD-L1 antibody-drug conjugate (PD-L1-ADC) and reducing lactic acid with the MCT-1 inhibitor, AZD3965, can effectively treat the PD-1/PD-L1 blockade resistant tumors. The findings in this study provide a new mechanism of how lactic acid induces an immunosuppressive environment and suggest a potential combination treatment to overcome the PD-1/PD-L1 blockade therapy resistance.
Evaluation of the Ability of AlphaFold to Predict the Three-Dimensional Structures of Antibodies and Epitopes

Being able to accurately predict the three-dimensional structure of an antibody can facilitate fast and precise antibody characterization and epitope prediction, with important diagnostic and clinical implications. In the current study, we evaluate the ability of AlphaFold to predict the structures of 222 recently published, non-redundant, high resolution Fab heavy and light chain structures of antibodies from different species (human, Macaca mulatta, mouse, rabbit, rat) directed against different antigens. Our analysis reveals that while the overall prediction quality of antibody chains is in line with the results available in CASP14, other antibody regions like the complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) of the heavy chain, which are prone to higher genetic variation, generate a less accurate prediction. Moreover, we discovered that AlphaFold often mis-predicts the bending angles between the variable and constant domains within a Fab. To evaluate the ability of AlphaFold to model antibody:antigen interactions based only on sequence, we used AlphaFold-multimer in combination with ZDOCK docking to predict the structures of 26 known antibody:antigen complexes. ZDOCK succeeded in predicting 11, and AlphaFold only two, out of 26 models with medium or high accuracy, with significant deviations in the docking contacts predicted in the rest of the molecules. In summary, our study provides important information about the abilities and limitations of using AlphaFold to predict antibody:antigen interactions and suggests areas for possible improvement. Key Points AlphaFold was used to predict 222 new 3D hi-res atomic structures of Ab chains. Low accuracy was observed in the prediction of HC-CDR3 and the elbow angles. Predicting Ab-Ag complexes and epitope mapping using AlphaFold-Multimer was limited.
KAT8 compound inhibition inhibits the initial steps of PINK1-dependant mitophagy

It has recently been shown that KAT8, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) candidate risk gene for Parkinson’s Disease, is involved in PINK1/Parkin-dependant mitophagy. The KAT8 gene encodes a lysine acetyltransferase and represents the catalytically active subunit of the non-specific lethal (NSL) epigenetic remodelling complex. In the current study, we show that contrary to KAT5 inhibition, dual inhibition of KAT5 and KAT8 via the MG149 compound inhibits the initial steps of the PINK1-dependant mitophagy process. More specifically, our study shows that following mitochondrial depolarisation induced by mitochondrial toxins, MG149 treatment inhibits PINK1-dependant mitophagy initiation by impairing PINK1 activation, and subsequent phosphorylation of Parkin and ubiquitin. While this inhibitory effect of MG149 on PINK1-activation is potent, MG149 treatment in the absence of mitochondrial toxins is sufficient to depolarise the mitochondrial membrane, recruit PINK1 and promote partial downstream recruitment of the autophagy receptor p62, leading to an increase in mitochondrial delivery to the lysosomes. Altogether, our study provides additional support for KAT8 as a regulator of mitophagy and autophagy processes.
Comprehensive Assessment of Isoform Detection Methods for Third-Generation Sequencing Data

The advancement of Third-Generation Sequencing (TGS) techniques has significantly increased the length of sequencing to several kilobases, thereby facilitating the identification of alternative splicing (AS) events and isoform expressions. Recently, numerous computational methods for isoform detection using long-read sequencing data have been developed. However, there is lack of prior comparative studies that systemically evaluates the performance of these software tools, implemented with different algorithms, under various simulations that encompass potential influencing factors. In this study, we conducted a benchmarking analysis of eleven methods implemented in eight computational tools capable of identifying isoform structures from TGS RNA sequencing data. We evaluated their performances using simulated data, which represented diverse sequencing platforms generated by an in-house simulator, as well as experimental data. Our comprehensive results demonstrate the guided mode of StringTie2 and Bambu achieved the best performance in sensitivity and precision, respectively. This study provides valuable guidance for future research on AS analysis and the ongoing improvement of tools for isoform detection using TGS data.
Mejora del ranking de búsquedas en un contexto legal

In this paper, we develop and evaluate three probabilistic algorithms of user click-through behavior that are appropriate for modeling the click-through rate of legal documents. Our algorithms capture contextual factors related to the presentation as well as the underlying relevance for users. We focus on the positional context of the documents and the user’s profile. In this form we want to facilitate to the user the information that he looks for, showing to him documents that have been previously consulted by his colleagues and that probably are of interest for him. A high yield library called Lucene is used for the development in the search of the legal documents. We test our models on real data obtained from studied juridical site during two months.
MHC-B Diversity and Signs of Respiratory Illness in Wild, East African Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii)

Many traits, intrinsic and extrinsic to an organism, contribute to interindividual variation in immunity in wild habitats. The vertebrate Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) includes genes encoding antigen-presenting molecules that are highly variable, and that variation often predicts susceptibility/resistance to and recovery from pathogen infection. I compare MHC-B variation at two long-term chimpanzee research sites, Kibale National Park in Uganda and Gombe National Park in Tanzania. Using decades of respiratory health data available for these chimpanzees, I test hypotheses associated with maintenance of diversity at MHC loci, including heterozygote, divergent allele, and rare allele advantage hypotheses, and predictions for unique function of MHC-B in great apes. I found, despite confirmation of recent shared ancestry between Kibale and Gombe chimpanzees, including an overlapping MHC-B allele repertoire and similar MHC-B phenotype compositions, chimpanzees from the two research sites experienced differences in the occurrence of respiratory signs and had different associations of MHC-B diversity with signs of respiratory illness. Kibale chimpanzees with heterozygous genotypes and different peptide-binding supertypes were observed less often with respiratory signs than those homozygous or possessing the same supertypes, but this same association was not observed among Gombe chimpanzees. Gombe chimpanzees with specific MHC-B phenotypes that enable engagement of Natural Killer (NK) cells were observed more often with respiratory signs than chimpanzees with other phenotypes, but this was not observed at Kanyawara. This study emphasizes local adaptation in shaping genetic and phenotypic traits in different infectious disease contexts, even among close genetic relatives of the same subspecies, and highlights utility for continued and simultaneous tracking of host immune genes and specific pathogens in wild species.