Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Thermodynamic Analysis of Magnetohydrodynamic Third Grade Fluid Flow with Variable Properties

This article aims to computationally study entropy generation in a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) third grade ﬂuid ﬂow in a horizontal channel with impermeable walls. The ﬂuids viscosity and thermal conductivity are assumed to be dependent on temperature. The ﬂow is driven by an applied uniform axial pressure gradient between inﬁnite parallel plates and is considered to be incompressible, steady and fully developed. Adomian decomposition method (ADM) is used to obtain series solutions of the nonlinear governing equations. Thermodynamic analysis is done by computing the entropy generation rate and the irreversibility ratio (Bejan number). The effects of the various pertinent embedded parameters on the velocity ﬁeld, temperature ﬁeld, entropy generation rate and Bejan number are analysed through vivid graphical manipulations. The analysis shows that an appropriate combination of thermophysical parameters efﬁciently achieves entropy generation minimization in the thermomechanical system. The analysis shows that entropy generation minimization is achieved by increasing the magnetic ﬁeld and the third grade material parameters, and therefore designs and processes incorporating MHD third grade ﬂuid ﬂow systems are far more likely to give optimum and efﬁcient performance.
Methods of the Controlled Growth and Post Separation for Chirality-Specific Carbon Nanotubes

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) as a promising candidate in a wide range of applications have shown great potentials in optical, electronic, magnetic and mechanical fields. Precisely due to their excellent characteristics and performances, it has attracted widespread attention, and much progress has been made during recent decades. However, due to the huge challenge in controlled synthesis and purification, obtaining SWCNTs with consistent chirality has seriously limited their high-end industrial applications. In this article, we will review the approaches recently developed in chirality-controlled preparation of SWCNTs. Among them, we will introduce the mechanism of templated growth of SWCNTs from chiral affinities, including cloning and seeds designing strategies. The preparation of SWCNTs catalyzed by noble metal and assisted with weak oxidant have been illustrated as well. Meanwhile, we will also discuss some chirality-selective separation approaches, which pay more attention to post-processing strategies by purifying the chiral SWCNTs with functional reagents. We expect that these strategies in controlling the chirality of CNTs will shed more light on the mechanism and process for atomic structural control of CNTs, and may also be applicable in the controlled synthesis of other nanomaterials.
The Influence of Various Types of Reinforcement of the Concrete Pillars of Precast Walls with an Opening

The subject of the article is a comparison of the precast reinforced concrete pillars with different types of reinforcement. These are the pillars simulating parts of walls that can, for example, form in the precast wall of residential buildings after an opening has been carved. The pillars are variously reinforced: from the simple reinforcement with wire mesh to the reinforcement with standard reinforcement bars. Behavior of the pillars, that have been subjected to two types of experiments in the past, is verified by software for non-linear analysis for concrete structures. Depending on the types of loading, the ultimate limit state, deformation and stress state of the individual pillars are studied.
New class of operators where the distance between the identity operator and the generalized Jordan ∗-derivation range is maximal

Abstract A new class of operators, larger than ∗ \ast -finite operators, named generalized ∗ \ast -finite operators and noted by Gℱ ∗ ( ℋ ) {{\mathcal{G {\mathcal F} }}}^{\ast }\left({\mathcal{ {\mathcal H} }}) is introduced, where: Gℱ ∗ ( ℋ ) = { ( A , B ) ∈ ℬ ( ℋ ) × ℬ ( ℋ ) : ∥ T A − B T ∗ − λ I ∥ ≥ ∣ λ ∣ , ∀ λ ∈ C , ∀ T ∈ ℬ ( ℋ ) } . {{\mathcal{G {\mathcal F} }}}^{\ast }\left({\mathcal{ {\mathcal H} }})=\{(A,B)\in {\mathcal{ {\mathcal B} }}\left({\mathcal{ {\mathcal H} }})\times {\mathcal{ {\mathcal B} }}\left({\mathcal{ {\mathcal H} }}):\parallel TA-B{T}^{\ast }-\lambda I\parallel \ge | \lambda | ,\hspace{0.33em}\forall \lambda \in {\mathbb{C}},\hspace{0.33em}\forall T\in {\mathcal{ {\mathcal B} }}\left({\mathcal{ {\mathcal H} }})\}. Basic properties are given. Some examples are also presented.
Cow milk and its dairy products ameliorate bone toxicity in the Coragen-induced rat model

Abstract Coragen is an insecticide that stimulates calcium release from intracellular stores of muscle cells causing death to sensitive species. The present study aimed to evaluate the bone toxic effect of Coragen and the potential therapeutic effect of cow milk, yogurt, and soft cheese in rats. Toxicity was induced by Coragen administration with different doses of 1/20 or 1/40 LD50 in rats. Groups of rats (n = 6) were treated with either 5 g milk, 5 g yogurt, or 1.5 g cheese. Coragen administration elevated alkaline and acid phosphatases activity and reduced the calcium and phosphorus level in urine and serum of rats administered with Coragen. Femur and tibia length, thickness, weight, and breaking force were decreased by Coragen administration and femur Ca and P contents as well. Bone mineral area (BMA), bone mineral content (BMC), bone mineral density (BMD), protein profile (total, albumin, and globulin), and antioxidant system (TAC, GSH, GPX, GST, and SOD) were decreased by Coragen. All these parameters were improved on the treatment with milk and milk products. The results showed that yogurt treatment was significantly superior to the other treatments in increasing BMD (27%), breaking force (9%), femur Ca (41%), serum Ca (14%), and serum P (16%) and in reducing acid phosphatases (14%) and urine Ca and P by 8 and 10%, respectively. It can be concluded that the treatment with milk and milk products may provide treatment against osteoporosis and toxicity caused by Coragen.
Movement acts in breakdown situations: How a robot's recovery procedure affects participants' opinions

Abstract Recovery procedures are targeted at correcting issues encountered by robots. What are people’s opinions of a robot during these recovery procedures? During an experiment that examined how a mobile robot moved, the robot would unexpectedly pause or rotate itself to recover from a navigation problem. The serendipity of the recovery procedure and people’s understanding of it became a case study to examine how future study designs could consider breakdowns better and look at suggestions for better robot behaviors in such situations. We present the original experiment with the recovery procedure. We then examine the responses from the participants in this experiment qualitatively to see how they interpreted the breakdown situation when it occurred. Responses could be grouped into themes of sentience, competence, and the robot’s forms. The themes indicate that the robot’s movement communicated different information to different participants. This leads us to introduce the concept of movement acts to help examine the explicit and implicit parts of communication in movement. Given that we developed the concept looking at an unexpected breakdown, we suggest that researchers should plan for the possibility of breakdowns in experiments and examine and report people’s experience around a robot breakdown to further explore unintended robot communication.
Slurry Utilization and Impact of Mixing Ratio in Biogas Production

The anaerobic conversion of waste to biogas in a biogas digester is influenced by a number of factors including mixing ratios, type of substrate, temperature, organic loading rate, pH, and carbon/nitrogen ratio. The appropriate mixing ratio of water and animal waste leads to effective biogas yield. Different mixing ratios proposed in literature for various animal waste for improving biogas yield are reviewed. Characterization and application of animal slurry, the choice of animal slurry as suitable feedstock for biogas production, the storage of animal slurry, the agitation process of slurry as well as mixing ratios of animal slurry are evaluated.
Precision Engineering of an Anti-HLA-A2 Chimeric Antigen Receptor in Regulatory T Cells for Transplant Immune Tolerance

Infusion of regulatory T cells (Tregs) engineered with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) targeting donor-derived human leukocyte antigen (HLA) is a promising strategy to promote transplant tolerance. Here, we describe an anti-HLA-A2 CAR (A2-CAR) generated by grafting the complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) of a human monoclonal anti-HLA-A2 antibody into the framework regions of the Herceptin 4D5 single-chain variable fragment and fusing it with a CD28-ζ signaling domain. The CDR-grafted A2-CAR maintained the specificity of the original antibody. We then generated HLA-A2 mono-specific human CAR Tregs either by deleting the endogenous T-cell receptor (TCR) via CRISPR/Cas9 and introducing the A2-CAR using lentiviral transduction or by directly integrating the CAR construct into the TCR alpha constant locus using homology-directed repair. These A2-CAR+TCRdeficient human Tregs maintained both Treg phenotype and function in vitro. Moreover, they selectively accumulated in HLA-A2-expressing islets transplanted from either HLA-A2 transgenic mice or deceased human donors. A2-CAR+TCRdeficient Tregs did not impair the function of these HLA-A2+ islets, whereas similarly engineered A2-CAR+TCRdeficientCD4+ conventional T cells rejected the islets in less than 2 weeks. A2-CAR+TCRdeficient Tregs delayed graft-versus-host disease only in the presence of HLA-A2, expressed either by co-transferred peripheral blood mononuclear cells or by the recipient mice. Altogether, we demonstrate that genome-engineered mono-antigen-specific A2-CAR Tregs localize to HLA-A2-expressing grafts and exhibit antigen-dependent in vivo suppression, independent of TCR expression. These approaches may be applied towards developing precision Treg cell therapies for transplant tolerance.
MTORC2 is a physiological hydrophobic motif kinase of S6 Kinase 1

Ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (S6K1), a major downstream effector molecule of mTORC1, regulates cell growth and proliferation by modulating protein translation and ribosome biogenesis. We have recently identified eIF4E as an intermediate in transducing signals from mTORC1 to S6K1 and further demonstrated that the role of mTORC1 is restricted to inducing eIF4E phosphorylation and interaction with S6K1. This interaction relieves S6K1 auto-inhibition and facilitates its hydrophobic motif (HM) phosphorylation and activation as a consequence. These observations underscore a possible involvement of mTORC1 independent kinase in mediating HM phosphorylation. Here, we report mTORC2 as an in-vivo/physiological HM kinase of S6K1. We show that rapamycin-resistant S6K1 truncation mutant ΔNHΔCT continues to display HM phosphorylation with selective sensitivity toward Torin-1. We also show that HM phosphorylation of wildtype S6K1and ΔNHΔCT depends on the presence of mTORC2 regulatory subunit-rictor. Furthermore, truncation mutagenesis and molecular docking analysis reveal the involvement of a conserved 19 amino acid stretch of S6K1 in mediating interaction with rictor. We finally show that deletion of the 19 amino acid region from wild type S6K1 results in loss of interaction with rictor, with a resultant loss of HM phosphorylation regardless of the presence of functional TOS motif. Our data demonstrate that mTORC2 acts as a physiological HM kinase that can activate S6K1 after its auto-inhibition is overcome by mTORC1. We, therefore, propose a novel mechanism for S6K1 regulation where mTOR complex 1 and 2 act in tandem to activate the enzyme.
A nuclear role for the Argonaute protein AGO2 in mammalian gametogenesis

Argonaute 2 (AGO2) is a ubiquitously expressed protein critical for regulation of mRNA translation and vital to animal development. AGO2 protein is found in both cytoplasmic and nuclear compartments, and while its cytoplasmic role is well studied, the biological relevance of nuclear AGO2 is unclear. Here, we address this problem in vivo, using developing spermatogenic cells as a model. Remarkably, we find that AGO2 acts in the germ cell nucleus to positively regulate protein expression. We show that AGO2 dynamically binds both chromatin and nuclear mRNA transcripts of hundreds of genes required for sperm production, and germline conditional knockout (cKO) of Ago2 causes depletion of the corresponding proteins, along with defects in sperm number and morphology. Nuclear AGO2 partners with splicing, export, and chromatin factors to promote transcript export and protein expression. Together, our data reveal an unexpected role for nuclear AGO2 in enhancing expression of developmentally important genes.
Branched ubiquitin chain binding and deubiquitination by UCH37 facilitate proteasome clearance of stress-induced inclusions

UCH37, also known as UCHL5, is a highly conserved deubiquitinating enzyme (DUB) that associates with the 26S proteasome. Recently it was reported that UCH37 activity is stimulated by branched ubiquitin chain architectures. To understand how UCH37 achieves its unique debranching specificity, we performed biochemical and NMR structural analyses and found that UCH37 is activated by contacts with the hydrophobic patches of both distal ubiquitins that emanate from a branched ubiquitin. In addition, RPN13, which recruits UCH37 to the proteasome, further enhances branched-chain specificity by restricting linear ubiquitin chains from having access to the UCH37 active site. In cultured human cells under conditions of proteolytic stress, we show that substrate clearance by the proteasome is promoted by both binding and deubiquitination of branched polyubiquitin by UCH37. Proteasomes containing UCH37(C88A), which is catalytically inactive, aberrantly retain polyubiquitinated species as well as the RAD23B substrate shuttle factor, suggesting a defect in recycling of the proteasome. These findings provide a foundation to understand how proteasome degradation of substrates modified by a unique ubiquitin chain architecture is aided by a DUB.
Arf6 anchors Cdr2 nodes at the cell cortex to control cell size at division

Fission yeast cells prevent mitotic entry until a threshold cell surface area is reached. The protein kinase Cdr2 contributes to this size control system by forming multiprotein nodes that inhibit Wee1 at the medial cell cortex. Cdr2 node anchoring at the cell cortex is not fully understood. Through a genomic screen, we identified the conserved GTPase Arf6 as a component of Cdr2 signaling. Cells lacking Arf6 failed to divide at a threshold surface area and instead shifted to volume-based divisions at increased overall size. Arf6 stably localized to Cdr2 nodes in its GTP-bound but not GDP-bound state, and its GEF (guanine nucleotide exchange factor) Syt22 was required for both Arf6 node localization and proper size at division. In arf6Δ mutants, Cdr2 nodes detached from the membrane and exhibited increased dynamics. These defects were enhanced when arf6Δ was combined with other node mutants. Our work identifies a regulated anchor for Cdr2 nodes that is required for cells to sense surface area.
Comprehensive Species Sampling and Sophisticated Algorithmic Approaches Refute the Monophyly of Arachnida

Deciphering the evolutionary relationships of Chelicerata (arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and allied taxa) has proven notoriously difficult, due to their ancient rapid radiation and the incidence of elevated evolutionary rates in several lineages. While conflicting hypotheses prevail in morphological and molecular datasets alike, the monophyly of Arachnida is nearly universally accepted. Though a small number of phylotranscriptomic analyses have recovered arachnid monophyly, these did not sample all living chelicerate orders. We generated a dataset of 506 high-quality genomes and transcriptomes, sampling all living orders of Chelicerata with high occupancy and rigorous approaches to orthology inference. Our analyses consistently recovered the nested placement of horseshoe crabs within a paraphyletic Arachnida. This result was insensitive to variation in evolutionary rates of genes, complexity of the substitution models, and alternatives algorithmic approaches to species tree inference. Investigation of systematic bias showed that genes and sites that recover arachnid monophyly are enriched in noise and exhibit low information content. To test the effect of morphological data, we generated a 514-taxon morphological data matrix of extant and fossil Chelicerata, analyzed in tandem with the molecular matrix. Combined analyses recovered the clade Merostomata (the marine orders Xiphosura, Eurypterida, and Chasmataspidida), but nested within Arachnida. Our results suggest that morphological convergence resulting from adaptations to life in terrestrial habitats has driven the historical perception of arachnid monophyly, paralleling the history of numerous other invertebrate terrestrial groups.
Enabling metagenomic surveillance for bacterial tick-borne pathogens using nanopore sequencing with adaptive sampling

Technological and computational advancements in the fields of genomics and bioinformatics are providing exciting new opportunities for pathogen discovery and surveillance. In particular, single-molecule nucleotide sequence data originating from Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) sequencing platforms can be bioinformatically leveraged, in real-time, for enhanced biosurveillance of a vast array of zoonoses. The recently released nanopore adaptive sampling (NAS) pipeline facilitates immediate mapping of individual nucleotide molecules (i.e., DNA, cDNA, and RNA) to a given reference as each molecule is sequenced. User-defined thresholds then allow for the retention or rejection of specific molecules, informed by the real-time reference mapping results, as they are physically passing through a given sequencing nanopore. Here, we show how NAS can be used to selectively sequence entire genomes of bacterial tick-borne pathogens circulating in wild populations of the blacklegged tick vector, Ixodes scapularis. The NAS method provided a two-fold increase in targeted pathogen sequences, successfully enriching for Borrelia (Borreliella) burgdorferi s.s. ; Borrelia (Borrelia) miyamotoi; Anaplasma phagocytophilum; and Ehrlichia muris eauclairensis genomic DNA within our I. scapularis samples. Our results indicate that NAS has strong potential for real-time sequence-based pathogen surveillance.
Complementation cloning identifies the essentials of mammalian Mastl kinase activation

Mastl is a mitotic kinase that is essential for error-free chromosome segregation. It is an atypical member of the AGC kinase family, possessing a unique non-conserved middle region (NCMR). The mechanism of its activation prior to mitosis has been extensively studied in Xenopus egg extracts. These studies found several residues (corresponding to T193 and T206 in the activation loop, and S861 in the C-terminal tail, i.e., C-tail of mouse Mastl) whose phosphorylations are crucial for enzymatic activation. To date, the significance of these phosphosites was not confirmed in live mammalian cells. Here, we utilize a complementation cloning approach to determine the essentials of mammalian Mastl kinase activity. We employed a tamoxifen-inducible conditional knockout system to delete the endogenous Mastl in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) and screened various mutants for their ability to complement its loss. MEFs, ectopically expressing different phosphorylation site mutants, were induced to undergo recombination-mediated knockout in their endogenous Mastl loci. S861A and S861D mutants were able to complement endogenous Mastl loss with proliferation rates comparable to WT. In parallel, we examined the available protein kinase structures having a phosphorylated C-tail. Among the published states, two distinct positionings of the C-tail phosphoresidue were observed. Energetic analysis of these states revealed that only one conformation highly contributes to the C-tail docking. Our in-depth sequence and structure analysis showed that Mastl pS861 does not belong to the conformational state, where the phosphoresidue contributes to the C-tail docking. The C-tail of Mastl is relatively short and it lacks the hydrophobic (HF) motif. In other AGC kinases, the C-tail phosphosite aids the anchoring of this motif over the N-lobe, leading to the final step of kinase activation. Together with the lack of HF motif in Mastl, our results suggest that phosphorylation of the C-tail turn motif phosphosite (S861) is auxiliary and is dispensable for mammalian Mastl kinase function. Furthermore, we demonstrated that complementation cloning is a powerful approach for screening the determinants of an essential protein’s functioning.
“I’m Not Letting Nothing Stop Me This Time”: Transitions Among Adult Learners Using the Tennessee Reconnect Grant

Objective: States increasingly create promise programs to increase college enrollment and degree attainment. The objective of this study was to understand the experiences of adult learners using the Tennessee Reconnect Grant (TN Reconnect) as they transitioned to becoming college students. Methods: Drawing upon interviews with 23 adult learners, this longitudinal qualitative study applied Schlossberg’s Transition Theory to explore the experience of transitioning to college. Results: Findings revealed students who used the TN Reconnect, many of whom were first-generation and low-income students, faced insurmountable barriers that contributed to their decision to initially not enroll in college or drop out of college. Access to TN Reconnect provided an unexpected opportunity for them to return to college. However, participants still faced barriers often associated with adult, first-generation, and low-income students. Contributions: Findings suggest state and institutional policy, and practice must adapt to fit the unique needs of adult learners to maximize degree completion outcomes. As currently structured, promise programs may not provide substantial benefits to student groups who face significant barriers to success, such as adult learners. State policymakers must explore the benefits of adopting a more equitable policy structure and/or implement additional services and resources for adult learners.