Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Open Space in US Urban Areas: Where Might There Be Too Much or Too Little of a Good Thing?

The considerable variations in the share of open space across US cities raise two questions: What determines the optimal amount of open space in an urban area? Is the existing amount socially optimal? To address these questions, we first process data to measure the amount of natural, preserved, and developable open space in US metropolitan areas. We then develop a framework to characterize the optimal amount of open space in an urban area. This framework reveals that the geography-imposed land scarcity, price elasticities of housing demand and supply, economies of scale in municipal services provision, and marginal benefits from open-space conservation are the key parameters that determine the optimal amount of open space. By implementing the framework empirically, we find that most US metropolitan areas—97.39% according to our preferred model—have insufficient open space in their developed areas and additional open-space conservation in those areas will improve social welfare.
An Area‐Efficient Resistor‐less On‐Chip Frequency Reference for Ultra‐Low Power Real‐Time Clock Application

In this paper, we propose a fully integrated and area‐efficient resistor‐less relaxation oscillator (ROSC) for ultra‐low power real‐time clock (RTC) applications. The proposed ROSC is based on a conventional current‐mode ROSC and is modified to be an area‐efficient circuit configuration without using resistors. The proposed ROSC consists of a temperature‐compensated bias current generator (BCG), proportional to absolute temperature (PTAT) voltage source, current‐mode ROSC, shunt regulator, and output logic circuit. The BCG, PTAT voltage source, and shunt regulator are used to compensate for the temperature characteristics of the ROSC. The area of our proposed ROSC was extremely small, 0.022 mm2. Simulated results demonstrated that our proposed ROSC generates a 32.5 kHz clock frequency and achieves ultra‐low power dissipation of 271 nW. The temperature and voltage dependence of the oscillation frequency were 138 ppm/°C and 13.9 ppm/mV, respectively. Monte Carlo statistical simulations showed that the mean, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation are 32.3, 0.6 kHz, and 1.9%, respectively. © 2018 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Design of Dual Band-Reject Filter based on Short-Circuited Parallel Coupled Lines Structure at S-Band

This paper presents a simple design of dual-band reject filter based on parallel coupled lines structure. Parallel coupled lines structure is a four-port network. A dual-band shunt resonator using this structure is obtained by short-circuiting two opposite ports to ground and connecting one of the two remaining ports to a transmission line in shunt. The fourth port is an open circuit. This modified parallel coupled lines structure has been connected with a high impedance transmission line to obtain the narrow dual band reject filter. Theoretical analysis has been performed in order to obtain the resonant frequencies. The numerical simulations have been performed and these results have been verified by the full-wave electromagnetic simulations for an S-band dual band reject filter with rejecting frequencies at 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz. The control over the band rejection frequencies is obtained by selecting the parameters of the parallel coupled lines in terms of gaps, widths, and lengths.
Gas turbine compressor fouling and washing in power and aerospace propulsion

This paper presents a well-researched subject area within academia, with a high degree of application in industry. Compressor fouling effect is one of the commonest degradations associated with gas turbine operations. The aim of this review is to broadly communicate some of the current knowledge while identifying some gaps in understanding, in an effort to present some industry/operational interest for academic research. Likewise, highlight some studies from academia that present the current state of research, with their corresponding methods (experimental, numerical, actual operations and analytical methods). The merits and limitations of the individual method and their approaches are discussed, thereby providing industry practitioners with a view to appreciating academic research outputs. The review shows opportunities for improving compressor washing effectiveness through computational fluid dynamics. This is presented in the form of addressing the factors influencing compressor washing efficiency. Pertinent questions from academic research and operational experiences are posed, on the basis of this review.
Phenotypic, genotypic, and technological characterization of new lactic acid bacterium isolated from traditional dairy product in Djelfa, Algeria

A total of 33 lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from 5 samples of traditional dairy product (Jben) collected from various livestock farms in Oued El Malha, Djelfa, the Ouled Naïl Range of north-central Algeria. The taxonomic study of the strain B04 using a multiphase approach based on morphology, physiology, molecular (16S rRNA) and phylogenetic analyses allowed correlating this strain to Enterococcaceae. The difference of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of the isolate toward the most closely related genus Enterococcus was more than 6 % suggesting that the strain B04 represents a new genus. The results of the evaluation of some physiological tests indicated that B04 exhibited good biological activities including acidifying, proteolytic and bacterial inhibition. The strain B04 was antagonistic toward Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, and Bacillus cereus ATCC 10876.
Landslide susceptibility modelling using different advanced decision trees methods

ABSTRACT In this paper, decision trees machine learning algorithms, namely Random Forest (RF), Alternating Decision Tree (ADT), and Logistic Model Tree (LMT), were applied for modelling of susceptibility of landslides at the Luc Yen district, Northern Vietnam. These methods were evaluated to compare the performance of models and for selection of the best model for landslide susceptibility mapping and prediction. In this study, data of 95 landslides events were analysed with 10 landslide affecting factors using the Correlation-Based Feature Selection (CFS). These factors are land use, elevation, slope, distance to roads, aspect, curvature, distance to faults, rainfall, lithology, and distance to rivers. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve, statistical indices (sensitivity, specificity, and kappa), and Chi-square test were utilised for validating and comparing the models performance. The modelling results show that the performance of RF model (AUC = 0.839) is the best with the data at hand compared to the ADT model (0.827) and the LMT (0.809) model. The RF should be applied for the better landslide susceptibility mapping and management.
Is capital structure important for the value of agro-food corporations in Serbia?

The research aims to consider the nature of the influence of capital structure on the value of the corporations from the agro-food sector in Serbia. A panel regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. The research covered the period from 2011 to 2018, and the sample consisted of 14 agro-food corporations whose shares are on the regulated market of the Belgrade Stock Exchange. The obtained results indicate that the capital structure has a statistically significant impact on the value of agro-food corporations and that the profitability of investment projects determines the nature of that impact. Consequently, the financial managers of agro-food corporations must consider the decision on the choice of capital structure as one of the key issues in the process of generating and increasing the corporation value.
NON-FUNCTIONAL TESTING IN AGILE DEVELOPMENT

- Non-functional requirements define the overall qualities or attributes of a system. Although important, they are often neglected for many reasons, such as pressure of time and budget. In agile software development, there is a focus on the feature implementation and delivery of value to the customer and, as such, non-functional aspects of a system should also be of attention. Non-functional requirements testing is challenging due its cross-functional aspects and lack of clarity of their needs by business in the most part of projects. The goal of this paper is to empirically investigate how do agile team members handle non-functional testing in their projects, aiming to identify preliminary factors influencing the testing of non-functional requirements, specifically performance and security in agile development. Also, work with the high-quality perception is crucial in accordance the participants.
Inland waterway ship test case for resistance and propulsion prediction in shallow water

ABSTRACT A novel test case representative of modern inland waterway ships is established for provision of reference data for benchmarking of numerical methods. Hull geometry, main particulars and appendages for propulsion and manoeuvring are introduced. Results of resistance and propulsion model tests in shallow water condition are described and discussed. Design peculiarities, challenges for model experiments and computations are addressed.
Performance, nutrient digestibility, and muscular evaluation of female broiler chickens fed different dietary protein levels and slaughtered at 38 or 46 days

- This study evaluated the effects of two protein levels and types of formulation on performance, nutrient metabolization, and myopathies of 390 female broilers from 21 to 46 days old distributed in a completely randomized design, with five treatments and six replicates of 13 broilers each. Treatments were two levels of protein (19.0 and 21.0%) in diets using only commercially available ingredients and three experimental formulations designed to keep similar the main nutrients that could influence nutritional performance (starch, fiber, ether extract), using unusual ingredients, with 19.0% (19E) or 21.0% (21E) crude protein and the third with 19.0% crude protein with amino acid levels similar to treatment 21P (19E+Aa). We studied broiler performance, nutrient digestibility, macroscopic muscular evaluation, and histological muscular evaluation. The design for the performance and myopathy assessment was a 5 × 2 factorial scheme, five diets × two ages (38 or 46 days). The worst feed conversion ratio was observed for the 19P treatment. Neither diet nor age had an effect on myopathies, however, older slaughter age increased the intensity of microscopic lesions. The diet 19P should be avoided and increased inclusion of lipids in diets improves nutrient utilization and, consequently, performance.
Higher Levels of Serum Uric Acid Have a Significant Association with Lower Incidence of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Healthy Korean Men

Gout has been correlated with the risk of incident benign prostatic hyperplasia. In line with increasing prevalence of hyperuricemia, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between serum uric acid (SUA) level and the incidence of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) among clinically healthy middle-aged men. We performed a cohort study in 101,091 Korean men without LUTS at baseline who completed health checkups between 2011 and 2016. LUTS were evaluated using the International Prostate Symptom Score, where a score ≥ 8 was defined as significant LUTS. Men were divided into six groups according to their SUA levels in mg/dL (<5.5, 5.5–6.4, 6.5–7.4, 7.5–8.4, 8.5–9.4, and ≥9.5). Throughout the follow-up—encompassing a total of 358,982.6 person years—13,424 people had significant LUTS (37.3 per 1000 person years for incidence rate). The multivariable models demonstrated that the highest level of SUA (≥9.5 mg/dL) was related to the lowest risk of significant LUTS compared with the reference category (<5.5 mg/dL) (0.77 (95% CI 0.59–0.99) for adjusted HR). In this large cohort composed of middle-aged men, higher SUA levels were related to a reduced risk of LUTS. This result suggests another potential role of SUA in restraining LUTS. Additional studies are needed to explain the underlying biological mechanisms of this phenomenological relationship.
Wound-Healing Promotion and Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Carvacrol Prodrugs/Hyaluronic Acid Formulations

Background. Wound healing (WH) is a complex process involving several stages, such as hemostasis, inflammation, re-epithelialization, and remodeling. Many factors can impair WH, and different pharmacological approaches were studied to date, but the increase in antibiotic resistance, invasiveness, treatment duration, and high cost, have often hampered the resolution of the wound. In this study, we investigated the possible application of water-soluble carvacrol prodrugs (WSCPs) and hyaluronic acid (HA) and their formulations (WSCPs/HA) to improve WH and regulate the inflammatory response. Materials and methods. Firstly, the cytotoxicity of 0.1, 1 and 10 µg/mL of HA, WSCPs and WSCPs/HA formulations were evaluated on HaCaT cells and THP-1 cell lines. The ability of WSCPs/HA formulations to modulate wound repair was evaluated in an in vitro model of WH, using HaCaT cells at 6, 18, and 24 h. The expression of WH mediators, after wound closure was determined by qRT-PCR. Following, we polarized THP-1 cells in M1/M2-like macrophages and tested the anti-inflammatory properties of WSCPs/HA formulations. After, we tested the in vitro WH model for the effects of conditioned medium (CM) from M1/M2-like cells cultured in the presence of WSCPs/HA. Results. Results showed that WSCPs/HA formulations were able to significantly raise the wound closure rate, compared to the single constituents, promoting a complete wound closure after 18 h for WSCP1/HA (10 µg/mL) and after 24 h for WSCP2/HA (10 µg/mL), modulating the MMPs, TGFβ, and COX-2 gene expression. The effects of CM derived from M1/M2 polarized cells cultured in the presence of WSCPs/HA determined WH regulation, with a better ability of the WSCP2/HA formulation to modulate the time-dependent expression of reparative and inflammatory mediators. Conclusion. Our data underline the possible application of WSCPs/HA formulations as bioactive agents for the regulation of the wound repair process by the modulation of inflammatory and remodeling phases, affecting the activity of immune cells.
Sleep Quality and Insomnia Severity among Italian University Students: A Latent Profile Analysis

Insomnia is a widespread sleep disorder associated with physical and mental health conditions. Although the heterogeneity of insomnia presentations has been acknowledged, research investigating clinically meaningful insomnia subtypes is still ongoing. This study aimed at exploring insomnia subtypes according to widely-used measures of symptoms severity and sleep quality among Italian university students using a latent profile analysis. Data were collected from 490 students reporting relevant insomnia symptoms through an online cross-sectional survey comprising the Insomnia Severity Index, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, and the Short Form-12. Latent profile analysis identified five insomnia subtypes. The severe insomnia (8.8%) group showed the highest insomnia severity, with diverse complaints concerning sleep quality and daytime functioning. Moderate insomnia with sleep duration complaints (8.4%) and moderate insomnia with medication use (15.9%) subgroups were characterized by middle range insomnia severity, with problems of sleep continuity and sleep medication use, respectively. Subthreshold insomnia with sleep latency complaints (20.4%) and subthreshold insomnia (46.5%) groups showed attenuated insomnia symptoms. Higher psychological complaints and worse quality of life were associated with greater sleep complaints. Overall, these findings highlight the relevance of sleep quality domains in identifying insomnia subtypes and might help optimize insomnia treatments.
Utility of cardiac magnetic resonance feature tracking strain assessment in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension for prediction of REVEAL 2.0 high risk status

Abstract Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension may be cured by pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA). Thromboembolic disease distribution/PEA success primarily determines prognosis but risk scoring criteria may be adjunctive. Right ventriculoarterial (RV‐PA) and ventriculoatrial (RV‐right atrium [RA]) coupling may be evaluated by cardiac MRI (CMR) feature tracking deformation/strain assessment. We characterized biatrial and biventricular CMR feature tracking (FT) strain parameters following PEA and tested the ability of CMR FT to identify REVEAL 2.0 high‐risk status. We undertook a retrospective single‐center cross‐sectional study of patients (n = 57) who underwent PEA (2015–2020). All underwent pre and postoperative catheterization and CMR. Pulmonary arterial hypertension validated risk scores were calculated. Significant postoperative improvements were observed in mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) (pre‐op 45 ± 11 mmHg vs. post‐op 26 ± 11 mmHg; p < 0.001) and PVR however a large proportion had residual pulmonary hypertension (45%; mPAP ≥25 mmHg). PEA augmented left heart filling with left ventricular end diastolic volume index and left atrial volume index increment. Left ventricular ejection fraction was unchanged postoperatively but LV global longitudinal strain improved (pre‐op median −14.2% vs. post‐op −16.0%; p < 0.001). Right ventricular (RV) geometry and function also improved with reduction in RV mass. Most had uncoupled RV‐PA relationships which recovered (pre‐op right ventricular free wall longitudinal strain −13.2 ± 4.8%, RV stroke volume/right ventricular end systolic volume ratio 0.78 ± 0.53 vs. post‐op −16.8 ± 4.2%, 1.32 ± 0.55; both p < 0.001). Postoperatively, there were six REVEAL 2.0 high‐risk patients, best predicted by impaired RA strain which was superior to traditional volumetric parameters (area under the curve [AUC] 0.99 vs. RVEF AUC 0.88). CMR deformation/strain evaluation can offer insights into coupling recovery; RA strain may be an expeditious surrogate for the more laborious REVEAL 2.0 score.
Neutrophil Extracellular Traps and Neutrophil-Derived Extracellular Vesicles: Common Players in Neutrophil Effector Functions

Neutrophil granulocytes are a central component of the innate immune system. In recent years, they have gained considerable attention due to newly discovered biological effector functions and their involvement in various pathological conditions. They have been shown to trigger mechanisms that can either promote or inhibit the development of autoimmunity, thrombosis, and cancer. One mechanism for their modulatory effect is the release of extracellular vesicles (EVs), that trigger appropriate signaling pathways in immune cells and other target cells. In addition, activated neutrophils can release bactericidal DNA fibers decorated with proteins from neutrophil granules (neutrophil extracellular traps, NETs). While NETs are very effective in limiting pathogens, they can also cause severe damage if released in excess or cleared inefficiently. Since NETs and EVs share a variety of neutrophil molecules and initially act in the same microenvironment, differential biochemical and functional analysis is particularly challenging. This review focuses on the biochemical and functional parallels and the extent to which the overlapping spectrum of effector molecules has an impact on biological and pathological effects.
Weighing exo-atmospheres: a novel mid-resolution spectral mode for SCALES

SCALES (Slicer Combined with an Array of Lenslets for Exoplanet Spectroscopy) is a 2 - 5 micron high-contrast lenslet-based integral field spectrograph (IFS) designed to characterize exoplanets and their atmospheres. Like other lenslet-based IFSs, SCALES produces a short micro-spectrum of each lenslet’s micro-pupil. We have developed an image slicer that sits behind the lenslet array & dissects and rearranges a subset of micro-pupils into a pseudo-slit. The combination lenslet array and slicer (or slenslit) allows SCALES to produce much longer spectra, thereby increasing the spectral resolution by over an order of magnitude and allowing for comparisons to atmospheric modeling at unprecedented resolution. This proceeding describes the design and performance of the slenslit.
Illicit and prescription drug use and psychotic experiences among university students in the United States

ABSTRACT Background Substance use has been strongly liked to psychosis, though less is known about illicit/prescription drug use and its relation to psychotic experiences among college students. Methods We analyzed data from the 2020-2021 Cohort of the Healthy Minds Study (September 2020 – June 2021), which was an online survey administered across 140 college campuses in the United States. Multivariable logistic regression models showed the associations between each illicit/prescription drug and 12-month psychotic experiences, adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics, as well as alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use. Results Nearly one-in-six of the sample reported psychotic experiences over the past year, and approximately 4% reported misusing any illicit or prescription drug over the past month. Separate multivariable logistic regression models showed that each drug was associated with greater odds of having psychotic experiences. The associations between drug use and psychotic experiences persisted even after adjustment for alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use, though the relationships with heroin and methamphetamine use were statistically insignificant. The count of substances was associated with increased odds of psychotic experiences in a dose-response relation. Conclusion Use of several illicit and prescription drugs was associated with psychotic experiences, even when accounting for alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use.
Lung and Plasma Metabolome in HIV-Associated Obstructive Lung Disease

Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text. Background: HIV is a risk factor for obstructive lung disease (OLD), independent of smoking. We used mass spectrometry (MS) approaches to identify metabolomic biomarkers that inform mechanistic pathogenesis of OLD in persons with HIV (PWH). Methods: We obtained bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples from 52 PWH, in case:control (+OLD/−OLD) pairs matched on age, smoking status, and antiretroviral treatment. Four hundred nine metabolites from 8 families were measured on BALF and plasma samples using a MS-based Biocrates platform. After filtering metabolites with a high proportion of missing values and values below the level of detection, we performed univariate testing using paired t tests followed by false discovery rate corrections. We used distance-weighted discrimination (DWD) to test for an overall difference in the metabolite profile between cases and controls. Results: After filtering, there were 252 BALF metabolites for analysis from 8 metabolite families. DWD testing found that collectively, BALF metabolites differentiated cases from controls, whereas plasma metabolites did not. In BALF samples, we identified 3 metabolites that correlated with OLD at the false discovery rate of 10%; all were in the phosphatidylcholine family. We identified additional BALF metabolites when analyzing lung function as a continuous variable, and these included acylcarnitines, triglycerides, and a cholesterol ester. Conclusions: Collectively, BALF metabolites differentiate PWH with and without OLD. These included several BALF lipid metabolites. These findings were limited to BALF and were not found in plasma from the same individuals. Phosphatidylcholine, the most common lipid component of surfactant, was the predominant lipid metabolite differentially expressed.