Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Successful endovascular removal of a chondroblastic osteosarcoma embolus within the left middle cerebral artery

Abstract A 57-year-old woman with metastatic chondroblastic osteosarcoma developed sudden-onset right-sided weakness and aphasia. She was found to have an occluded left middle cerebral artery (M1 segment) and underwent endovascular stroke intervention with return to a normal neurological exam within 24 h. Histologic analysis of the embolus was consistent with chondroblastic osteosarcoma.
Walking through a 'phoenix landscape': hiker surveys reveal nuanced perceptions of wildfire effects

Public opinion of wildfire is often perceived to be negative and in support of fire suppression, even though research suggests public opinions have become more positive over the past few decades. However, most prior work on this topic has focused on homeowners in forested regions. In this study, we shift the lens to hikers in a chaparral- and oak-savannah-dominated landscape that burned at high severity in 2015. We surveyed hikers before and after their hike about their familiarity and perceptions of local fire, and wildfire in the nation at large. We found hikers were familiar with topics such as prescribed fire and basic fire ecology, but knew little about local ecology or fire regimes. Post-hike perceptions of fire and feelings about wildfire in the USA were complex and heterogeneous, not predominantly negative. Contrary to frequent media descriptions of post-fire landscapes as ‘devastated’ or ‘moonscapes,’ many participants described the burned landscape with awe and admiration. These results suggest that residents of fire-prone landscapes may benefit from programming that emphasises benefits and challenges of fire in the local landscape and incorporates visits to local burned sites throughout the recovery period.
The Peace Level of Nations: An Empirical Investigation into the Determining Factors

ABSTRACT The escalated violent conflicts and political upheavals in many developing countries have emphasized the pertinence of examining the multifaceted nature of conflict, and the various strategies that bring about reasonable degrees of peace. This paper examines the effects of national economic and socio-economic factors on national peace level, and on the corresponding elementary indicators. The empirical analysis is implemented through a panel dataset, using different econometric methodologies. The basic results underline that countries characterized by higher economic development levels, open trade systems, more educated population, and democratic systems rest on higher national peace levels. Meanwhile, countries that experience higher levels of income inequality and that are endowed with natural resources tend to be less peaceful. Also, the positive impacts of international alliances/regional blocs on national peace are mainly expressed through their promoting economic effects rather than through their aggression-deterrence properties. The empirical analysis shows that the effects of national economic and socio-economic factors on the elementary indicators exhibit considerable variations in magnitude and significance. Hence, an exclusive examination of the effects of these variables on the overall peace index would conceal significant differences across the elementary indicators, which should be accounted for when analyzing national peace and developing peace-promoting strategies.
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Mitigate Nitrogen Leaching under Poplar Seedlings

The leaching of soil nitrogen (N) has become one of the most concerning environmental threats to ecosystems. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi have important ecological functions, however, their influence on soil N leaching and the mechanism of action remain unclear. We conducted a two-factor (N application level × AM inoculation) experiment on poplar, and for the first time, comprehensively analyzed the mechanism by which AM fungi influence soil N leaching. The results showed that, under optimum (7.5 mM) and high (20 mM) N levels, the nitrate (NO3−) and ammonium (NH4+) concentrations of leachate in the AM inoculated treatment (+AM) were lower than in the non-inoculated treatment (−AM), with significant reductions of 20.0% and 67.5%, respectively, under high N level, indicating that AM inoculation can reduce soil N leaching and that it is more effective for NH4+. The arbuscular and total colonization rates gradually increased, and the morphology of spores and vesicles changed as the N level increased. Under optimum and high N levels, +AM treatment increased the root N concentration by 11.7% and 50.7%, respectively; the increase was significant (p < 0.05) at the high N level, which was associated with slightly increased transpiration and root activity despite reductions in root surface area and root length. Additionally, the +AM treatment increased soil cation exchange capacity (CEC), soil organic carbon (SOC), and significantly (p < 0.05) increased the proportions of macroaggregates (but without significant change in microaggregates), causing soil total nitrogen (TN) to increase by 7.2% and 4.7% under optimum and high N levels, respectively. As the N levels increased, the relative contributions of AM inoculation on N leaching increased, however, the contributions of plant physiological and soil variables decreased. Among all of the variables, SOC had important contributions to NH4+ and total N in the leachate, while root N concentration had a higher contribution to NO3−. In conclusion, AM fungi can mitigate soil N leaching and lower the risk of environmental pollution via enhancing N interception by the inoculated fungi, increasing N sequestration in plant roots, and by improving soil N retention.
3-D Printed Swastika-Shaped Ultrabroadband Water-Based Microwave Absorber

In this letter, a swastika-shaped ultrabroadband metamaterials absorber is proposed. The designed absorber can be fabricated with the polylactic acid by 3-D printing, and packaged after filling with water. The absorber can achieve greater than 90% absorption in the frequency band of 9.3–49.0 GHz, with a relative bandwidth of 136%, which has been well demonstrated in the microwave experiment. Moreover, it also performs well at wide angles of incidence and the absorption efficiency has almost no obvious changes over the water temperature range of 0 °C–100 °C. The absorber proposed in this letter benefits from ultrawideband absorption, low cost and environment-friendly materials, it can be applied in the fields of electromagnetic (EM) stealth and EM energy harvesting.
Optimal Voltage Regulator for Inverter Interfaced Distributed Generation Units Part II: Application

The inverter-interfaced distributed generation (IIDG) units are operated either in grid-forming or grid-feeding modes. To this end, the inner control loops are embedded into the inverters’ control system to achieve the control objectives. However, the dynamic performance of IIDG units are greatly affected by their control system and also by the grid's impedance characteristics. Optimal voltage regulator (OVR) previously has been proposed where the conventional inner loops have been replaced by the state feedback loop to compensate for the LC filter dynamics in order to achieve the desired dynamic performance. Utilizing the OVR, a universal model is proposed in this article which is useful for both grid-feeding and grid-forming modes. Each mode of operation is achieved through impedance shaping as a feedback gain adjustment. To this end, the optimal impedance shaping for the universal model is determined based on the desired dynamic performance, control objectives and grid's impedance characteristics. Eigenvalue-analysis and simulation results prove the effectiveness of the universal model in the grid-feeding and grid-forming modes, in unbalanced and harmonic conditions as well as being able to suppress circulating, transient and fault currents in autonomous networked MGs.
Investigating a Mixed-Initiative Workflow for Digital Mind-Mapping

In this paper, we report on our investigation of human-AI collaboration for mind-mapping. We specifically focus on problem exploration in pre-conceptualization stages of early design. Our approach leverages the notion of query expansion—the process of refining a given search query for improving information retrieval. Assuming a mind-map as a network of nodes, we reformulate its construction process as a sequential interaction workflow wherein a human user and an intelligent agent take turns to add one node to the network at a time. Our contribution is the design, implementation, and evaluation of algorithm that powers the intelligent agent (IA). This paper is an extension of our prior work (Chen et al., 2019, “Mini-Map: Mixed-Initiative Mind-Mapping Via Contextual Query Expansion,” AIAA Scitech 2020 Forum, p. 2347) wherein we developed this algorithm, dubbed Mini-Map, and implemented a web-based workflow enabled by ConceptNet (a large graph-based representation of “commonsense” knowledge). In this paper, we extend our prior work through a comprehensive comparison between human-AI collaboration and human-human collaboration for mind-mapping. We specifically extend our prior work by: (a) expanding on our previous quantitative analysis using established metrics and semantic studies, (b) presenting a new detailed video protocol analysis of the mind-mapping process, and (c) providing design implications for digital mind-mapping tools.
A Half-Cycle Fast Discrete Orthonormal S-Transform-Based Protection-Class μPMU

This article proposes a novel, fast discrete orthonormal Stockwell transform (FDOST)-based protection-class microphasor measurement unit (P-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu $ </tex-math></inline-formula>PMU) algorithm. The proposed algorithm provides very fast and high-resolution measurements of the system state, which are then expected to serve various active distribution networks (ADNs) protection applications, e.g., islanding detection and fault detection. The phasors are estimated from FDOST, utilizing the half-cycle discrete Fourier transform (DFT). The two major concerns of the half-cycle FDOST with respect to the response in the presence of even harmonics and off-nominal frequency are handled using the even harmonics filtration (EHF) and half-cycle sample value adjustment (HC-SVA), respectively. Since both of these techniques, namely, EHF and HC-SVA, require system frequency as the input, a new peak and zero-crossing-based hybrid frequency estimator (PZC-HF<sub>E</sub>) is also proposed in this article. The performance of the proposed methodology is evaluated for various simulated scenarios as per the IEEE Std. C37.118. 1a-2014, as well as in the hardware setup. The results of the proposed P-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu $ </tex-math></inline-formula>PMU algorithm are also compared with two other methodologies, i.e., the Hilbert transform and convolution based PMU (HTC-PMU) and two-cycle interpolated discrete Fourier transform-based PMU (IpDFT-PMU) using the hardware setup. The test results reveal the superiority of the proposed P-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu $ </tex-math></inline-formula>PMU algorithm over the compared methods in terms of response time and the estimation accuracy.
IMMOBILIZATION OF Bacillus subtilis E6-5 PROTEASE AND COMMERCIAL PROTEASE IN NANOFIBRILS CONTAINING DIFFERENT AMINO ACIDS

Bu calismada, elektrospin yontemiyle yuksek yuzey alanina sahip, glisin, tirozin ve glutamik asit aminoasitleri ile olusturulmus poliamid 6 polimer yuzeyler uretilmis ve liyofilize Bacillus subtilis E6-5 proteaz ve ticari proteaz enzimleri nanofibriller uzerinde immobilize edilmistir. Enzimlerin yeniden kullanilabilirligi arastirildi. Enzimlerin immobilizasyon verimlilikleri yaklasik olarak % 50-55 arasindaydi. Liyofilize Bacillus proteazi ile yapilan calismalarda glutaraldehitle aktiflestirilmis PA6 nanolifler ve glutaraldehitle aktiflestirilmeyen PA6 nanoliflerde glutamik asit aminoasidi varliginda immobilizasyonun daha basarili oldugu saptanmistir. Glutaraldehit ile aktiflestirilmemis ve aktiflestirilmis yuzeylerde immobilize edilen liyofilize proteaz enziminin 4 kez kullanimi olmasina ragmen, en iyi islevsel stabilite 2 kez kullanim ile elde edilmistir. Saf PA6/glutamik asit nanoliflerinde iki tekrarli kullanim sonucu enzimin immobilizasyon verimi % 38 olarak bulunmustur. Glutaraldehitle aktiflestirilmis PA6 nanoliflerde de PA6/glutamik asit nanolif yuzeyleri iki tekrarli kullanim sonucu enzimin immobilizasyon verimi % 65 olarak bulunmustur. Nanoliflerin glutaraldehitle aktiflestirmesi sonucu enzim immobilizasyon verimi iki kat arttirilmistir. Ticari proteaz ile yapilan calismalarda ise glutaraldehitle aktiflestirilmemis nanolif yuzeylerde enzimin 6 kez kullanimi olmasina ragmen en islevsel stabilite 3 tekrarli kullanimda elde edilmistir. En basarili immobilizasyon verimi PA6 nanoliflerde % 58 olarak bulunmustur. Glutaraldehitle aktiflestirilmis PA6 nanoliflerde de enzim 6 kez kullanim bulmus fakat islevsel stabilite 4 tekrarli kullanima kadar korunmustur.
Regulation of Alginate Production of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P.a.) is a major threat to the health and well being of a person living with cystic fibrosis (CF). P.a. is capable of conversion to mucoidy or alginate overproducing phenotype. Mucoidy facilitates the chronic infection of P.a. infection in the CF lung. Mutations in the anti-sigma factor mucA, result in activation of the sigma factor AlgU which promotes expression of alginate through the alginate biosynthetic operon. However, P.a. can produce alginate independent of mucA mutation via a mechanism known as regulated proteolysis. Proteases AlgW and MucP can degrade MucA to liberate and activate AlgU. In this dissertation, two pathways to alginate production will be characterized through investigation of two negative regulators of alginate production: KinB and MucD. KinB is a histidine kinase which controls alginate production through two transcription factors: AlgB and RpoN along with the MucA protease AlgW. In the absence of KinB, the degradation rate of MucA is elevated which results in alginate production. MucD is a periplasmic protease that is presumed to degrade protein signals in the periplasm. It is hypothesized that if MucD does not degrade certain protein signals then they will accumulate and activate alginate production. Here, it is presented that in the absence of MucD, the intramembrane protease MucP activates degradation of MucA. To further characterize MucD, the roles of the PDZ domains in suppression of alginate production were probed. PDZ domains are conserved protein domains that function in protein to protein interaction. The PDZ domains of MucD were found to be dispensable for suppression of alginate production but required for the stability of MucD. When regulated proteolysis is activated, AlgU promotes expression of many genes. One such gene is LptF or Lipotoxin F. Here it is shown that in the absence of kinB, LptF is highly expressed. LptF was shown to be an outer membrane protein, but it is not involved in production of alginate. However, LptF mediates adhesion to lung epithelia and resistance to reactive oxygen species. P.a. is capable of activating AlgU through MucA proteolysis by several mechanisms that are characterized in this dissertation. Through elucidation of these pathways, we will be more prepared to combat alginate production and P.a. infection of the CF lung.
Adaptive boosting in ensembles for outlier detection: Base learner selection and fusion via local domain competence

Unusual data patterns or outliers can be generated because of human errors, incorrect measurements, or malicious activities. Detecting outliers is a difficult task that requires complex ensembles. An ideal outlier detection ensemble should consider the strengths of individual base detectors while carefully combining their outputs to create a strong overall ensemble and achieve unbiased accuracy with minimal variance. Selecting and combining the outputs of dissimilar base learners is a challenging task. This paper proposes a model that utilizes heterogeneous base learners. It adaptively boosts the outcomes of preceding learners in the first phase by assigning weights and identifying high‐performing learners based on their local domains, and then carefully fuses their outcomes in the second phase to improve overall accuracy. Experimental results from 10 benchmark datasets are used to train and test the proposed model. To investigate its accuracy in terms of separating outliers from inliers, the proposed model is tested and evaluated using accuracy metrics. The analyzed data are presented as crosstabs and percentages, followed by a descriptive method for synthesis and interpretation.
Modern UVC stereovision camera’s calibration and disparity maps generation: mathematical basis, algorithms and implementations

This paper presents a complete and up-to-date introduction to problems of stereo camera calibration with crucial mathematical models, description of calibration procedure and proposition of evaluation of overall calibration quality. This last step is our original contribution to this subject. To practically demonstrate how the calibration procedure works, we have perform calibration of USB / UVC camera module that can be reproduce and nearly directly applied to other hardware of this type. Our visual data and source codes can be downloaded from digital repository. The subject of this article might be especially interesting to employees of research units, students, doctoral students and electrical engineers who want to get familiar with up-to-date stereovision calibration and processing procedures and who want to perform those actions on their own on popular and available hardware. Streszczenie. W tym artykule przedstawiono pełne i aktualne wprowadzenie do problematyki kalibracji kamery stereo z uwzględnieniem kluczowych modeli matematycznych, opisu procedury kalibracji i propozycji ogólnej oceny jakości kalibracji. Ostatni krok to nasz oryginalny wkład w ten temat. Aby praktycznie przedstawić proces kalibracji, przeprowadziliśmy kalibrację modelu kamery USB / UVC, który można powielić i niemal bezpośrednio zastosować w sprzęcie podobnego typu. Zarówno dane jak i kody źródłowe które użyliśmy przy tworzeniu niniejszego artykułu dostępne są w repozytorium online. Temat poruszany w artykule może być szczególnie interesujący dla pracowników jednostek badawczych, studentów, doktorantów i inżynierów, którzy chcą zapoznać się z aktualnymi procedurami kalibracji i przetwarzania stereowizji oraz którzy chcieliby wykorzystać te mechanizmy na popularnym i dostępnym sprzęcie. (Kalibracja i generowanie map rozbieżności w nowoczesnej kamerze stereowizyjnej UVC: podstawy matematyczne, algorytmy i implementacja)
CsPbBr3 Thin Films on LYSO:Ce Substrates

We fabricate thin films of lead halide perovskite nanocrystals on glass substrates and cerium-doped LYSO substrates (lutetium-yttrium oxyorthosilicate, LuxY2-xSiO5:Ce) using spin-coating and drop-casting methods, respectively. We study their structural and optical properties. The luminescence and scintillation are monitored in both steady-state and time-resolved regimes. We focus on the possibility to exploit these structures in designing a detection system with ultrafast time resolution.
Indigenous Perspectives on Water Security in Saskatchewan, Canada

The term “water security” continues to gain traction in water resources literature with broad application to human health, water quality, and sustainability of water supply. These western science applications focus almost exclusively on the material value of water for human uses and activities. This paper offers voice to other interpretations of water security based on semi-structured interviews with Indigenous participants representing varied backgrounds and communities from Saskatchewan, a Canadian prairie province. The results indicate that water security from an Indigenous perspective embraces much more than the material value of water. Five themes emerged from this research that speak to a more holistic framing of water security to include water as a life form, water and the spirit world, women as water-keepers, water and human ethics, and water in Indigenous culture. This broader interpretation provides a more nuanced understanding of water security, which serves to enrich the water security narrative while educating western science.
Study of SO 2 Pollution in the Middle East Using MERRA‐2, CAMS Data Assimilation Products, and High‐Resolution WRF‐Chem Simulations

Oil recovery, power generation, water desalination, gas flaring, and traffic are the main contributors to SO 2 emissions in the Middle East (ME). Satellite observations suggest that the traditional emission inventories do not account for multiple SO 2 emission sources in the ME. This study aims to evaluate the most frequently used SO 2 emission data sets over the ME by comparing high‐resolution regional model simulations and meteorology/chemistry assimilation products, MERRA‐2 and CAMS, with satellite and available ground‐based air‐quality observations. Here, we employ the WRF‐Chem‐3.7. 1 regional meteorology‐chemistry model and conduct simulations for the period 2015–2016 with 10 km grid spacing using HTAP‐2.2 emission data sets and the new OMI‐HTAP data, which is based on the combination of the near‐surface SO 2 emissions taken from the HTAP‐2.2 inventory with strong (>30 kt/year) SO 2 point sources obtained from the satellite Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) observations. We find that conventional emission inventories (EDGAR‐4.2, MACCity, and HTAP‐2.2) have uncertainties in the location and magnitude of SO 2 sources in the ME and significantly underestimate SO 2 emissions in the Arabian Gulf. The WRF‐Chem, run in conjunction with the new OMI‐HTAP emissions, improves comparisons between the satellite and ground‐based SO 2 observations. Our simulations show that SO 2 surface concentrations in Jeddah and Riyadh frequently exceed European air‐quality limits. The ME generates about 10% of global anthropogenic SO 2 emissions, on par with India. Therefore, the development of effective emission controls and improvement of air‐quality monitoring in the ME are urgently needed.
Building scientific apparatus : a practical guide to design and construction

Mechanical Design Tools and Shop Presses Materials Joining Materials Mechanical Drawing Physical Principles of Mechanical Design Constrained Motion Working With Glass Properties of Glasses Laboratory Components Available in Glass Laboratory Glassblowing Skills Vacuum Technology Gases Gas Flow Pressure Measurement Vacuum Pumps Vacuum Hardware Vacuum-System Design and Construction Optics Optical Terminology Analysis of Optical Systems Optical Components Optical Materials Optical Sources Lasers Optical Dispersing Instruments Detectors Charged-Particle Optics Basic Concepts of Charged-Particle Optics Electrostat Lenses Charged Particle-Sources Energy Analyzers Mass Analyzers Electron- and Ion-Beam Devices: Construction Electronics Preliminaries Passive Components Active Components Amplifiers and Pulse Electronics Power-Supplies Digital Electronics Data Acquisition Extraction of Signal from Noise Grounds and Grounding Hardware and Construction Troubleshooting Measurement and Control of Temperature The Measurement of Temperature The Control of Temperature.