Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Band Together: How College Marching Band Students Perceived Community During the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 mitigations significantly altered college marching band operations during the fall 2020 football season. Modified band operations may have affected students’ sense of community and togetherness. The purpose of this study was to investigate college marching band students’ perceptions of community and other band experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. College marching band students (N = 765) from 10 universities across the United States responded to survey questions related to several aspects of pandemic marching band operations, including (a) mitigation strategies, (b) perceived mitigation effectiveness, (c) band community, (d) perceived band experiences, and (e) the extent to which some aspects of band modifications could continue postpandemic. Results indicated that feelings of community and opportunities for togetherness in marching band were substantially reduced during the pandemic. Implications including the importance of music performance, virtual learning, and monitoring of student physical and mental health are discussed.
Forecasting Charging Demand of Electric Vehicles Using Time-Series Models

This study compared the methods used to forecast increases in power consumption caused by the rising popularity of electric vehicles (EVs). An excellent model for each region was proposed using multiple scaled geographical datasets over two years. EV charging volumes are influenced by various factors, including the condition of a vehicle, the battery’s state-of-charge (SOC), and the distance to the destination. However, power suppliers cannot easily access this information due to privacy issues. Despite a lack of individual information, this study compared various modeling techniques, including trigonometric exponential smoothing state space (i.e., Trigonometric, Box–Cox, Auto-Regressive-Moving-Average (ARMA), Trend, and Seasonality (TBATS)), autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), artificial neural networks (ANN), and long short-term memory (LSTM) modeling, based on past values and exogenous variables. The effect of exogenous variables was evaluated in macro- and micro-scale geographical areas, and the importance of historic data was verified. The basic statistics regarding the number of charging stations and the volume of charging in each region are expected to aid the formulation of a method that can be used by power suppliers.
Microstructural characteristics and mechanical behaviour of aluminium matrix composites reinforced with Si-based refractory compounds derived from rice husk

Abstract The microstructural characteristics and mechanical behaviour of aluminium matrix composites reinforced with Si-based refractory compounds (SRC) derived from rice husk were investigated. The reinforcement materials (SRC) were synthesized using a carbothermal processing technique. The reinforcement was used to prepare a 10 wt. % Al-Mg-Si alloy-based composite using a double stir casting process. The composites produced were characterized using microhardness, tensile properties, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). From the results, A1650, C1650, and A1600 grades of the samples show more resistance to indentation due to the high proportion of hard SRC in the reinforced materials. Superior elongation values were observed for these composites A1650, C1650 and A1600 grades, respectively. The grades A1250, B1250, and C1250 series had the least toughness values within the range of 20–37% as compared to the control sample. For all composites under examination, the percent porosity was noted to be less than 4% and the strain to fracture was within 24–38%. Higher intensity of SiC was observed from the XRD spectrum and the formation of intermetallic materials. The tensile fracture surface morphologies of the composites produced were similar, showing a ductile dimple-like structure. The formation of a micro-crack and micro-void was also observed along the interphase.
Development of a Novel Pipette Tip-Aided Cell Cloning Method for The Effective Isolation of Genome-Edited Porcine Cell

Direct colony cloning of adherent mammalian cells using rings or dilution cloning has been used frequently for obtaining stable transfectants after gene delivery. As an alternative to these methods, successful isolation of the cells in a single colony is possible by placing a trypsin-immersed small paper disk onto the colony and subsequently picking up the paper with the assumption that it carries the trypsinized cells. However, the cloning success using this technique largely relies on the cell type used. In the present study, a novel, simple, and non-invasive technique for the isolation of cells from single colonies using a disposable pipette tip was developed. Using this technique, success was achieved in isolating the clonal populations of genome-edited porcine fibroblastic cells with 100% efficiency after co-transfection with the clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats-CRISPR associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9)-based genome editing components [for targeting the porcine GGTA1 that encodes α-1,3-galactosyltransferase (α-GalT)] and the piggyBac-based gene delivery components [to enable efficient chromosomal integration of the transgene carrying the cDNA of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)]. A toxin-based, drug-free selection system involving saporin (plant toxin)-conjugated BS-I-B4 lectin (IB4SAP) was employed in the present study. Since IB4SAP binds specifically to the cell-surface α-Gal epitope (synthesized by α-GalT), it is supposed that treatment with IB4SAP theoretically eliminates the untransfected or genome-edited porcine cells with a mono-allelic knockout (KO) phenotype, while all the surviving clones have a bi-allelic GGTA1 mutation. A total of 16 clones were isolated in the present study, all of which exhibited loss of the α-Gal epitope (a cell-surface carbohydrate synthesized by α-GalT), suggesting that all the clones had a bi-allelic KO phenotype. Moreover, 75% of these clones expressed EGFP uniformly, while the remainder had mosaic or no EGFP expression. These findings indicate the fidelity of the developed pipette tip-aided cell cloning approach for the efficient isolation of genome-edited porcine fibroblast clones.
The Effects of Coriander Seed Supplementation on Serum Glycemic Indices, Lipid Profile and Parameters of Oxidative Stress in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

Background: This research aimed to study the effect of coriander seed supplementation on serum glycemic indices, lipid profile and oxidative stress parameters in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: In this randomized double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial, eligible 40 T2DM patients aged 30-60 years were recruited from Sina Hospital (Tabriz, Iran) and randomly assigned into two groups to receive either coriander seed powder (1000 mg/day, n=20) or placebo (1000 mg/day, n=20) for 6 weeks. Anthropometric measurements, dietary intake, and biochemical parameters including fasting blood sugar (FBS), serum insulin, Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterols (HDL-C and LDL-C), malondialdehyde (MDA), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were assessed before and after supplementation.Results: Anthropometric measurements were not significantly different between intervention and placebo groups. Coriander seed supplementation led to significant within-group reductions in FBS (156.15±23.19 to 130.30±21.15), serum insulin (17.72±0.47 to 17.12±0.76), HOMA-IR (6.82±0.95 to 5.52±0.99), TC (183.85±55.68 to 145.20±31.36), TG (152.50±37.59 to 130.40 ±27.96), LDL-C (127.35±23.45 to 111.40±25.71), and MDA (1.65±0.15 to 1.49±0.15), whereas there were significant increases observed in serum TAC (1.93±0.12 to 1.97±0.09) (P<0.05). Post-dose comparisons showed significant between-group differences for FBS, serum insulin, HOMA-IR, TC, TG, LDL-C, MDA, and TAC levels after adjusting for baseline values (P<0.05). Conclusions: Coriander seed supplementation was able to improve glycemic indices, lipid profile and oxidative stress status in T2DM and it may be useful complementary treatment in management of these patients.Trial registration: The study protocol was registered on the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials website (IRCT20190224042821N2) on 2019/Oct/11.
Establishing East Africa's First Endocrinology Laboratory to Aid in Wildlife Conservation

Africa’s first endocrinology laboratory to aid in wildlife conservation Maureen W. Kamau* ( ), Janine L. Brown ( ), James M. Hassell ( ), Jamie Gaymer ( ), MacDonald W. Farnham, Mathew Mutinda, Linus Kariuki, Francis Gakuya ( ), Dino J. Martins ( ) & Suzan Murray Global Health Program, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Washington DC 20008, U.S.A. Mpala Research Centre, P.O Box 555-10400, Nanyuki, Kenya Center for Species Survival, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, VA 22630, U.S.A. Ol Jogi Wildlife Conservancy, P.O. Box 259-10400, Nanyuki, Kenya Kenya Wildlife Service P.O. Box 40241 – 00100, Nairobi, Kenya Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, U.S.A.
Synthetic Cofactor-Linked Metabolic Circuits for Selective Energy Transfer

A cellular energy-transfer process can be analogized as the running of an energy carrier (EC)-linked metabolic circuit between an energy-supplying module (ESM) and an energy-utilizing module (EUM). Because natural EC such as the reduced nicotinamide adenosine dinucleotide (NAD) links multiple energy-transfer modules and metabolic circuits, and the formation of natural EC is routinely coupled with the transformation of endogenous substances, it is challenging to transfer energy selectively. Here we devise synthetic cofactor-linked circuits for pathway-selective energy transfer. We engineer phosphite dehydrogenase as ESM to use the synthetic cofactor nicotinamide cytosine dinucleotide (NCD). We construct diverse circuits in vitro by combining different ESM, EUM, and EC, and we demonstrate that an energy-transfer process is controllable by tuning the feature of each component of the circuit. More specifically, we show that it is possible to drive the NCD-linked subsystem while leaving the NAD-linked reaction.
Repurposing Non-invasive prenatal testing data; population study of single nucleotide variants associated with colorectal cancer and Lynch syndrome

PURPOSE: In our previous work, we described genomic data generated through non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) based on low-coverage massively parallel whole-genome sequencing of total plasma DNA of pregnant women in Slovakia as a valuable source of population specific data. In the present study, we used these data to determine the population allele frequency of common risk variants located in genes associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) and Lynch syndrome (LS). METHODS: Allele frequencies of identified variants were compared with six world populations to detect significant differences between populations. Finally, we interpreted variants and searched for functional consequences and clinical significance of variants using publicly available databases.RESULTS: Although we could not identify any pathogenic variants associated with CRC or LS in the Slovak population using NIPT data, we observed significant differences in the allelic frequency of risk CRC variants previously reported in GWAS and common variants located in genes associated with LS. CONCLUSION: As Slovakia is the third country with the highest incidence of CRC per 100 000 population in the world, we highlight a need for studies dedicated to the cause of such a high incidence of CRC in Slovakia. We also assume that extensive cross-country data aggregation of NIPT results would represent an unprecedented source of information about human genome variation, also in cancer research.
Dysfunctional Cognition in Individuals With an Increased Risk for Mania

Background There is still a lack of knowledge about attitudes and cognitions that are related to bipolar disorder. Theoretically, it was proposed that exaggerated beliefs about the self, relationships, the need for excitement, and goal-related activities might lead to mania in vulnerable individuals, however, the few studies that examined this hypothesis provided mixed results. One of the unresolved issues is if such a cognitive style is associated with current mood symptoms or with different stages of the illness, i.e. at-risk versus diagnosed bipolar disorder. Therefore, the present study aimed at evaluating depression and mania-related cognitive style in individuals at-risk for mania. Method In an online survey, we collected data of 255 students of the University of Klagenfurt, Austria. All participants completed the Hypomanic Personality Scale (HPS), the Cognition Checklist for Mania – Revised (CCL-M-R), the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Internal State Scale (ISS). Results In a hierarchical regression, HPS was positively related to scores of all subscales of the CCL-M-R. The HPS did not significantly predict scores of the DAS. Current manic and depressive symptoms significantly contributed to the models. Conclusion The present results suggest that a trait-like risk for mania is associated with mania-related but not depression-related cognitions.
Rietveld Study of the Changes of Phase Composition, Crystal Structure, and Morphology of BiFeO3 by Partial Substitution of Bismuth with Rare-Earth Ions

BiFeO3 is an interesting material due to its multiferroic properties. It attracts attention due to its potential applications in spintronics and in microelectronics for data storage, among others. Single-phase bulk material from BiFeO3 is difficult to synthesize. The kinetics of perovskite phase formation most often leads to the presence of impurity phases. It has been shown that low levels of replacement of Bi with rare earth ions lead to stabilization of the perovskite phase. In the present work, Rietveld refinement of the crystal structure based on powder X-ray diffraction patterns was applied to study the influence of partial substitution of Bi by rare-earth (RE) elements with different ionic radii on structural and morphological properties of the ferrite phase. Substitution by large RE ions was found to preserve the rhombohedral symmetry of BiFeO3, whereas substitution by smaller RE ions led to the coexistence of two polymorphic perovskite phases with rhombohedral R3c and orthorhombic Pnma symmetries. The unit cell parameters as well as the interatomic distances and angles, not only around the A cation but also around the iron ions, were influenced by the substitution. The mean crystallite and particle size decreased with the decrease of ionic radius of substituting RE ion.
Ground state of a cross-cavity quantum Rabi model

We study a cross-cavity quantum Rabi model with ultrastrong coupling, and its analytical ground state is demonstrated to be approximately obtained by using the rotating-transformation method. Our method requires making three unitary transformations to the original Hamiltonian and ignoring the three-party cross interaction. In near-resonance and ultrastrong-coupling regimes, the ground-state fidelity is higher than 99% for a ±20% detuning range. We analytically demonstrate that the entanglement in ground state first quadratically increases with the qubit-oscillator coupling strength, then gets close to the maximum value 1. The oscillator’s nonclassical property in the ground state is well explained by analytically solving the Wigner function.
Effect of temperature on electric‐thermal properties of semi‐conductive shielding layer and insulation layer for high‐voltage cable

Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation, China, Grant/Award Number: ZR2019BEE036; State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co., LTD. Technology Project, Grant/Award Number: 5211DS19002Z; National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant/Award Number: 51907095 Abstract A semi‐conductive shielding layer plays an important role in the uniform electric field for a high‐voltage cable. The electric‐thermal properties of the semi‐conductive layer and insulation layer directly affect the overall insulation performance of the cable. The physicochemical performances of semi‐conductive composites are firstly analysed herein. Furthermore, electric‐thermal properties of the semi‐conductive layer and insulation layer are discussed. The experimental results show that the thermal conductivity of the commercial semi‐conductive layer is about twice that of the insulation layer, owing to the effect of carbon black. The thermal expansion coefficient of the insulation layer rises from 1.86 � 10/K at 25°C to 3.20 � 10/K at 90°C. By contrast, the semi‐ conductive layer begins to slowly decline at a certain temperature, and decreases significantly to 2.25 � 10/K at 80°C, owing to the effect of ethylene‐vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA). The electrical experiments show that the resistivity of semi‐conductive composite gradually rises with an increase in temperature, and gradually declines with an increase in the carbon black content. The dc breakdown strength of the composite structure of the semi‐conductive layer/insulation layer decreases significantly with an increase in temperature, decreasing from 307 kV/mm at 25°C to 203 kV/mm at 90°C. At four typical temperatures, the breakdown strength reaches the maximum value when the carbon black content is 25 phr. It is about 15% and 19% higher than carbon black contents of 20 and 30 phr. These findings have reference significance for high‐voltage cable breakdown fault analysis and material selection in cable design.
Urbanizing Minority Minzu in the PRC: Insights from the Literature on Settler Colonialism

This article provides a synthesis and critical review of the literature on urban minority minzu 民族 in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The vast majority of the Chinese-language literature on minorities in cities adopts a state-centric view through the lens of stability and integration, focusing on how minorities can adapt to urban life for the purpose of creating a “harmonized” society. This statist narrative not only denies the subjectivity of minorities in the city but also constrains the understandings of the dynamics of urban indigeneity. In this article, we draw on the literature of urban Indigenous peoples in settler colonial contexts to suggest new ways of examining the urban experience of minority minzu in the PRC. We suggest that this literature provides useful insights that help center the subjectivities and agency of Indigenous people in the PRC’s cities. Literature on urban minorities in the PRC can be expanded by engaging with the Indigenous urbanization literature to include coverage of three topics: representation (how minority people are shown as belonging to the city), mobilization (the use of urban space by minority people to pursue social, cultural, and political projects), and mobility (movement and interconnectedness between rural homelands and the city).
Clostridia in Insect Processed Animal Proteins—Is an Epidemiological Problem Possible?

The aim of this study was the evaluation of the insect processed animal protein (IPAP) contamination level by Clostridium spp. Particularly, we screened for the occurrence of pathogenic species of Clostridia. The samples of IPAP were derived from yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) and black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) available in the Polish market. The IPAPs were added to experimental feeds for poultry. The differences between the contamination levels of the control (without the addition of IPAP) and experimental (with the addition of IPAP) groups were monitored. The samples were also examined by culture and PCR-based methods to detect 16S rDNA and genes determining botulinum toxin (BoNT) production. Statistical significance was noticed among the feed with the IPAP addition, as well as an increase of contamination by Clostridium spp. In one sample of IPAP, the occurrence of ntnh and bont/D genes determining the production of BoNT/D was noticed. However, a positive result was noticed only at the step of the liquid culture; the Clostridium botulinum type D strain was not isolated. Phenotypically, and according to the 16S rDNA analysis, genetically similar strains to C. botulinum species were isolated. Considering the microbiological safety of IPAP and expanding possibility of its use in livestock animal feed, it seems to be reasonable to provide complex risk assessment on the potential transfer of Clostridia into feed compounds, to assure the safety and sustainable development of insect PAP industry.
Superhydrophobic/Superoleophilic Polyacrylonitrile/Ag Aerogels for the High Efficient Oil/Water Separation and Sensitive Detection of Low‐Concentration Oily Sudan Dyes

The detection of low‐concentration oily pollutants, especially when in oil/water mixtures or real food matrix, still faces great challenges. Integrating adsorption and plasmonic hot‐spot on single material will be an efficient method for ultra‐sensitively detecting oily dyes or contaminants in oil/water mixtures via surface‐enhanced Raman scattering. Herein, the superhydrophobic/superoleophilic polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/Ag aerogels which can quickly absorb and detect low‐concentration oily dyes in oil/water mixtures are successfully fabricated. In order to solve the contradiction that abundant hydrophilic‐Ag nanoparticles are adverse to the superhydrophobicity of substrate but in favor of Raman signals, the superhydrophobic/superoleophilic PAN/Ag aerogels are prepared through two steps: substrate‐seeding and secondary‐growth. The lowest detection concentration of 10−12 m for oil‐soluble Sudan III in oil/water mixtures is achieved by using PAN/overgrown Ag (PAN/O‐Ag) nanofibrous aerogels as absorbent, which is superior to most of reported materials. Moreover, a detection limit of 0.1 ppm of Sudan III spiked in chilli powder is obtained using PAN/O‐Ag aerogels.
Effects of group size and homeopathic product supplement consisting of botanicals and mineral mixture on the performance and production traits of finishing pigs

Abstract: A total of 144 mixed sex pigs [(Landrace × Yorkshire) × Duroc] with an initial average body weight (BW) of 52 kg were used in a 11 wk trial in a 2 × 2 factorial design with the following factors: group size (three pigs per pen vs. five pigs per pen) and 0% or 0.2% homeopathic product supplementation to evaluate growth performance, nutrient digestibility, meat quality, and stress-related hormones. The homeopathic product supplementation resulted in increased (P < 0.05) BW at week 11, average daily gain (ADG) during days 42–63 and 64–77. In addition, an increase (P < 0.05) in ADG and average daily feed intake during overall experiment period and an increase (P < 0.05) in apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter at day 77 were observed in pigs receiving homeopathic product. A trend in increase (P = 0.088) in serum cortisol concentration during day 42 and increase (P > 0.05) during day 77 was observed in pigs with group size of five pigs per pen, and this was reduced when homeopathic product was supplemented to the diet. In conclusion, the variation in number of animals per pen had no effects on performance and production traits, but the animals in bigger group size had higher serum cortisol concentrations which were reduced by the homeopathic product supplementation.