Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DoD Acquisition and Logistics Excellence Week Kickoff--Bureaucracy to Battlefield

The topic today is an adversary that poses a threat, a serious threat, to the security of the United States of America. This adversary is one of the world's last bastions of central planning. It governs by dictating five-year plans. From a single capital, it attempts to impose its demands across time zones, continents, oceans and beyond. With brutal consistency, it stifles free thought and crushes new ideas. It disrupts the defense of the United States and places the lives of men and women in uniform at risk.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease - opportunities for personalized treatment and drug development

ABSTRACT Introduction Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) constitutes a highly prevalent liver disorder whose rise in prevalence is closely connected to the growing rates of obesity, dyslipidemia, and type 2 diabetes. Importantly, kinetics and likelihood of NAFLD onset and its progression to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and fibrosis differs considerably between individuals. In recent years, the understanding of NAFLD pathogenesis has increased substantially and a multitude of factors, genetic predispositions, molecular signatures or NAFLD-related liver injury and comorbidities have been identified. Areas Covered This article summarizes inter-individual differences in NAFLD, including genetic variations, epigenetic and metabolic alterations and differences in the microbiome. We also discuss how these features might be leveraged for treatment personalization. Expert opinion The complexity and heterogeneity of NAFLD provides considerable challenges for drug developers and has resulted in numerous costly project failures. We expect that increased knowledge and appreciation of patient-specific factors will facilitate better patient stratification and identification of those individuals that benefit most from a given therapeutic strategy. Furthermore, we anticipate that pathophysiologically relevant in vivo and ex vivo disease models as well as large-scale chemogenomic projects hold promise to drastically improve NAFLD drug development to complement lifestyle and surgical interventions with pharmacological approaches.
Synergistic Antibacterial Effect of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles and Polymorphonuclear Neutrophils

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) are inorganic nano-biomaterials with excellent antimicrobial properties. However, their effects on the anti-infection ability of the innate immune system remains poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to explore the potential immunomodulatory effects of ZnONPs on the innate immune system, represented by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs), and determine whether they can act synergistically to resist pathogen infections. In vitro experiment showed that ZnONPs not only exhibit obvious antibacterial activity at biocompatible concentrations but also enhance the antibacterial property of PMNs. In vivo experiments demonstrated the antibacterial effect of ZnONPs, accompanied by more infiltration of subcutaneous immune cells. Further ex vivo and in vitro experiments revealed that ZnONPs enhanced the migration of PMNs, promoted their bacterial phagocytosis efficiency, proinflammatory cytokine (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) expression, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. In summary, this study revealed potential synergistic effects of ZnONPs on PMNs to resist pathogen infection and the underlying mechanisms. The findings suggest that attempts should be made to fabricate and apply biomaterials in order to maximize their synergy with the innate immune system, thus promoting the host’s resistance to pathogen invasion.
Metabolic Responses of Dietary Fiber during Heat Stress: Effects on Reproductive Performance and Stress Level of Gestating Sows

Heat stress is an important issue, and the addition of fiber to the diet is an option in modifying intestinal health. This study evaluated the effect of acid detergent fiber (ADF) levels on reproductive performance, intestinal integrity, and metabolism of gestating sows, and its carry-over effect on the lactation period during heat stress. The diets included 4.3% (Low fiber; LF), 5.4% (Medium fiber; MF), and 6.5% (High fiber; HF) ADF. Sows fed the HF diet showed a lower respiratory rate, hair cortisol concentration, and farrowing duration compared with the LF treatment. The HF diet increased the pyruvate, citrate cycle, glyoxylate, dicarboxylate, and thiamine metabolism compared with the MF. The concentration of acetate and total short-chain fatty acids were increased in the sows fed the HF diet. The gene expression of glucose transporter 3 and glucose transporter 4 was increased in the HF treatment. The gene expression of heat shock protein 70 was decreased in the HF treatment. The HF diet during gestation increased feed intake, constipation index, piglet weight, and litter weight compared with the LF. Sows in the LF treatment showed the greatest digestibility of crude protein and the lowest digestibility of ADF. In conclusion, a 6.5% ADF level is recommended for gestating sows during heat stress.
Sevoflurane Preconditioning Increases Stress Resistance via IMB-2/DAF-16 in Caenorhabditis Elegans

Sevoflurane preconditioning has been proved to possess therapeutic effects on stress. However, the mechanism by which sevoflurane preconditioning protects against stress remains unclear. In this study, an acute model of heat stress in C.eleans was established. We investigated the dose-response of sevoflurane exposure on coordinated movement in C.elegans and time course for protection against heat stress of sevoflurane preconditioning to determine the optimal concentration and time point in the following experiments. EC99 of sevoflurane is 1.7% (1.3EC50) and sevoflurane preconditioning exerts the maximal protection at 6 hours after incubation, and these 2 parameters were used in our following experiments. We found that sevoflurane preconditioning increased DAF-16 nuclear translocation and enhanced the expression of DAF-16 during heat stress in N2 strain of C.elegans. DAF-16 mutation abolished the sevoflurane preconditioning-induced protection for heat stress. Furthermore, suppression of IMB-2 by RNAi prevented the upregulation of DAF-16 and enhancement of stress resistance caused by sevoflurane preconditioning. Overall, this work reveals that sevoflurane preconditioning increases the expression of DAF-16 via IMB-2 to enhance the stress resistance of C.elegans.
A Pan-Cancer Analysis on the Systematic Correlation of MutS Homolog 2 (MSH2) to a Malignant Tumor

MutS homolog 2 (MSH2) is a crucial participant in human DNA repair, and lots of the studies functionally associated with it were begun with hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC). MSH2 has also been reported to take part in the progresses of various tumors' formation. With the help of GTEx, CCLE, and TCGA pan-cancer databases, the analysis of MSH2 gene distribution in both tumor tissues and normal control tissues was carried out. Kaplan-Meyer survival plots and COX regression analysis were conducted for the assessment into the MSH2's impact on tumor patients' clinical prognosis. In an investigation to the association of MSH2 expression with immune infiltration level of various tumors and a similar study on tumor immune neoantigens, microsatellite instability was subsequently taken. It was found that high expression of MSH2 is prevalent in most cancers. MSH2's efficacy on clinical prognosis as well as immune infiltration in tumor patients revealed a fact that expression of MSH2 in prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD), brain lower-grade glioma (LGG), breast-invasive carcinoma (BRCA), and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC) posed a significant correlation with the immune cell infiltration level of patients. Likewise as above, MSH2's expression comes in a similar trend with tumor immune neoantigens and microsatellite instability. MSH2's expression in the majority of tumors is a direct factor to the activation of tumor-associated pathways as well as immune-associated pathways. MSH2's early screening or even therapeutic target role for sarcoma (SARC) diagnosis is contributing to the efficiency of early screening and overall survival in SARC patients.
Monitoring carbon monoxide emission in the air using wireless application

In 2008 a total of 22,971 industrial sources were identified to be subjected to Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulations, 1978. The highest number of stationary pollution sources was in Johor (8,141: 35.4%) followed by Selangor (4,127: 18.0%) and Perak (2,956: 12.9%). As for the past years, motor vehicles remain the major contributor of air pollution especially in urban areas [1]. It is estimated that in 2008 the combined air pollutant emission load was 1,451,746 metric tonnes of carbon monoxide (CO); 409,972 metric tones of nitrogen oxides (NOx); 161,913 metric tones of sulphur dioxide (SO2) and 31,672 metric tones of particulate matter (PM) [1]. Concerning due to very high load of carbon monoxide emission in the air, this study is to monitor the CO emission load via wireless application. Earlier research done showed that the Potential Health Hazards of Air Pollution especially carbon monoxide (CO) give various unhealthy effects. At low concentrations, it can fatigue in healthy people and chest pain in people with heart disease. While at higher concentrations, it can impair vision and coordination; headaches; dizziness; confusion; nausea also can cause flu-like symptoms and the worst effect is fatal at very high concentrations.
Technology Roadmap for Hawaii Resiliency: Resiliency and Sustainability through Advanced Analytics

The state of Hawaii faces numerous challenges that threaten its survival. Tsunamis, weather-induced mud-slides, and global climate change impacts are just a few of the threats that could cripple Hawaii. The state is increasingly vulnerable because of aging infrastructure and the fact that its economy is highly dependent on tourism and construction, military, or government projects. To improve Hawaii's resilience, this effort proposes steps that will enable analytics based decision support to combat the major threats. In this paper, we describe a technology roadmap that will guide Hawaii to pioneer a sound resiliency approach, facilitate implementation of a resiliency plan, develop the required resiliency technologies, deploy the resiliency technology and improve Hawaii's infrastructure, and foster growth of a technology-based resiliency industry that will sustain Hawaii's resilience. As a successful pathfinder for resiliency, Hawaii will be positioned to lead the way for many other cities, states, nations, and even regions of the world that face similar threats. Keywords—resiliency; sustainability; technology roadmap; analytics; decision support; high performance computing; hyper-local weather forecasting.
{peacesciencer}: An R package for quantitative peace science research

This article introduces {peacesciencer}, an R package that contains a litany of tools for creating data of widespread interest to the peace science community. The package is cross-platform, assuming only a somewhat recent installation of the R programming language with some of the enhanced functionality of the broadly popular {tidvyerse} packages. Peace science researchers can use this package to greatly reduce the time needed to perfectly recreate common types of data from scratch and to merge in ubiquitous indicators included in almost every analysis (e.g. democracy data, contiguity data). The software is freely available on CRAN and maintains an active website documenting its features at http://svmiller.com/peacesciencer.
Multiscale Porous Poly (Ether-Ether-Ketone) Structures Manufactured by Powder Bed Fusion Process

The aim of the study is to create a multiscale highly porous poly (ether-ether-ketone) (PEEK) structure while maintaining mechanical performance; the distribution of pores being generated by the manufacturing process combined with a porogen leaching operation. Salt at 70 wt% concentration was used as a porogen in a dry blend with PEEK powder sintered in the powder bed fusion process. The printed porous PEEK structures were examined and evaluated by scanning electron microscopy, microcomputed tomography, and mechanical testing. The PEEK structures incorporating 70 wt% salt achieved 79–86% porosity, a compressive yield strength of 4.1 MPa, and a yield strain of ∼60%. Due to the salt leaching process, the PEEK porous frameworks were fabricated without the need to drastically reduce the process parameters (defined by the energy density [ED]), hence maintaining the structural integrity and good mechanical performance. The compression results highlighted that the performance is influenced by the printing orientation, level of the PEEK particle coalescence (controlled here by the ED), pore/cell wall thickness, and subsequently, the overall porosity framework. The porous printed PEEK structures could find potential uses in a wide range of applications from tissue engineering, filtration and separation to catalysts, drug release, and gas storage.
Adverse Reaction to COVID-19 mRNA Vaccination in a Patient With VEXAS Syndrome

VEXAS (vacuoles, E1 enzyme, X-linked, autoinflammatory, somatic) syndrome is a rare genetic disorder originating from a somatic mutation in the hematopoietic stem cells. This syndrome was first described in 2020 and carries many clinical features that other conditions cannot explain. Widespread autoinflammation is the primary process the disease presents, with high morbidity and mortality in those who show signs of bone marrow failure. Treatment is complex, and response to current therapies is poor. Long-term prognosis carries a mortality of 50%. In addition, the advancement of new-generation messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines raises concerns about their safety in this population since it could trigger a vaccine-related autoimmune response. This case describes the hospital course of a male in his 50s exhibiting an unexplained cutaneous reaction to an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. He was later diagnosed with VEXAS syndrome based on symptoms presentation and diagnostic workup.
Effects of cover crops on soil hydraulic properties during commodity crop growing season

Cover crops (CCs) can improve soil hydraulic properties prior to termination, but their effects on soil hydraulic properties during the growing season are less known. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of no‐till CC on the soil hydraulic properties during the commodity crop growing season in Murfreesboro, USA. The CCs included hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth.), crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.), winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), winter peas (Lathyrus hirsutus L.), oats (Avena sativa), triticale (Triticale hexaploide Lart.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and flax (Linum usitatissimum L.). The cash crop grown was corn (Zea mays). Soil samples were collected using a cylindrical core (55 mm inside diameter, 60 mm long) at 0–10, 10–20, and 20–30 cm depths during April (prior to CC termination), May, June and July. Results showed that soil bulk density (Db) was 23%, 12%, 11% and 10% higher under no cover crop (NCC) compared with CC management during April – July, respectively. This suggests a lower rate of soil consolidation under CC management even after several rainfall events. Four months after CC termination, macroporosity and total porosity were 306 and 50% higher, respectively, under CC compared with NCC management. Therefore, saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) during July was two times higher under CC management compared with NCC management and this can affect increase water infiltration and conservation during the growing season. Due to CC root‐induced improvement in macroporosity, CCs had 64% higher volumetric water content (θ) at saturation during July compared with NCC management. Cover crops can improve soil hydraulic properties and these benefits can persist for up to four months after termination.
Performance Comparison of High-Speed Motors for Electric Vehicle

It is predicted that the maximum speed of EV traction motors will increase in the future due to reductions in size and weight. The high-speed motors are required to have high mechanical strength of the rotor for high-speed rotation, in addition to satisfying the required output and high efficiency in the wide operation area. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of motors in terms of both electrical and mechanical points of view. In this research, three motor types, PMSM, SRM, and IM, which targeted the output power of 85 kW and the maximum speed of 52,000 min−1, are designed for use with EV traction motors, and the study clarifies which the type of motor is most suitable for application in high-speed motors of EVs in terms of their mechanical and electrical characteristics.
Adjacent Segment Degeneration after Short-Segment Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion (LLIF)

Purpose To investigate the influence on the adjacent segment degeneration (ASD) of short-segment lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF) at 2 years postoperatively. Methods Ninety-seven consecutive patients who underwent one- or two-level LLIF were included from two institutions. We diagnosed radiographical adjacent segment degeneration with the appearance of adjacent spondylolisthesis (>3 mm) or deterioration of adjacent disk height (>3 mm) on plain radiographs or decrease of the intervertebral angle (>5 degrees). The differences between the two groups with and without radiographical ASD were investigated using univariate and multivariate analyses to determine the risk factors for ASD. The variables included extent of adjacent decompression, posterior fixation method (open method or percutaneous method), and facet violation on postoperative CT. Results In total, 19 patients (19.6%) were diagnosed as radiographical ASD 2 years after surgery. Univariate analysis showed that the ASD (+) group had a high frequency of adjacent decompression (21.1 vs. 3.8%, p = 0.035) compared with the ASD (-) group. There were no differences between the two groups in posterior fusion method (percutaneous method 42.1 vs. 57.7%, p = 0.221) or facet joint violation (15.8 vs. 14.1%, p = 0.860). The multivariate analysis found adjacent intervertebral decompression to be a risk factor for ASD 2 years after surgery (odds ratio: 9.95; 95% confidence interval: 1.2–82.1). Conclusions Adjacent intervertebral decompression was considered to be a potential risk factor for the development of ASD after spinal fusion with LLIF.
A Distributed Fault Diagnosis and Cooperative Fault-Tolerant Control Design Framework for Distributed Interconnected Systems

This paper investigates a design framework for a class of distributed interconnected systems, where a fault diagnosis scheme and a cooperative fault-tolerant control scheme are included. First of all, fault detection observers are designed for the interconnected subsystems, and the detection results will be spread to all subsystems in the form of a broadcast. Then, to locate the faulty subsystem accurately, fault isolation observers are further designed for the alarming subsystems in turn with the aid of an adaptive fault estimation technique. Based on this, the fault estimation information is used to compensate for the residuals, and then isolation decision logic is conducted. Moreover, the cooperative fault-tolerant control unit, where state feedback and cooperative compensation are both utilized, is introduced to ensure the stability of the whole system. Finally, the simulation of intelligent unmanned vehicle platooning is adopted to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed design framework.
Modified Hybrid Modeling Technique for Flexible Spin-Stabilized Spacecraft Applied to NASA's Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) Mission TableSat Generation IC (TableSat IC)

MODIFIED HYBRID MODELING TECHNIQUE FOR FLEXIBLE SPIN-STABILIZED SPACECRAFT APPLIED TO NASA’S MAGNETOSPHERIC MULTISCALE (MMS) MISSION TABLESAT GENERATION IC (TABLESAT IC) by Christopher P. Hashem University of New Hampshire, September 2016 This continued research uses a hybrid dynamic algorithm to mathematically model the attitude dynamics of a flexible spacecraft. While a full finite element model would be the most accurate model, it also would be a huge computational burden on MMS. This method is meant to be an accurate approximation while still being computationally reasonable for on-board, real-time calculations. The algorithm uses Euler’s Moment Equations to propagate the dynamics of the spacecraft hub while finite element analysis is used to calculate the flexible boom displacements and update the systems mass moment of inertia tensor. This algorithm is iterative and the FEM runs a user-defined number of times within each iteration. Experimental results show that the algorithm is reasonably accurate and can provide a viable approximation for flexible, spin-stabilized spacecraft. Lastly, comparison of controller performance shows Sliding Mode Control to be the most expensive yet most robust control method for this application.
The Michigan Lecturer Competition: Using A Multi Tiered Class Competition To Increase Student Collaboration And Comprehension

Student life outside the classroom now includes many different types of activities that symbolize a transition of a student’s time online and this is particularly the case with first year students who are leading increasingly digital lives. Social networking websites have rapidly become an important form of interaction and often replace other forms of communication such as email and even face-to-face contact. While there are many critiques of this phenomenon, it nonetheless represents a dramatic shift in the life of a student and offers new opportunities to increase active learning both inside and outside the classroom. This paper makes use of these types of social networking interactions by creating a multi-level class competition that increases student involvement and understanding of the course material.
Monitoring Stimulated Darkening from UV-C Light on Different Bean Genotypes by NMR Spectroscopy

The use of UV-C cool white light on bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) seeds significantly increases the biochemical seed coat post-harvest darkening process, whilst preserving seed germination. The aim of this work consists in monitoring the effect caused by the incidence of UV-C light on different bean genotypes using NMR spectroscopy. The genotype samples named IAC Alvorada; TAA Dama; BRS Estilo and BRS Pérola from the Agronomic Institute (IAC; Campinas; SP; Brazil) were evaluated. The following two methodologies were used: a prolonged darkening, in which the grain is placed in a room at a controlled temperature (298 K) and humidity for 90 days, simulating the supermarket shelf; an accelerated darkening, where the grains are exposed to UV-C light (254 nm) for 96 h. The experiments were performed using the following innovative time-domain (TD) NMR approaches: the RK-ROSE pulse sequence; one- and two-dimensional high resolution (HR) NMR experiments (1H; 1H-1H COSY and 1H-13C HSQC); chemometrics tools, such as PLS-DA and heat plots. The results suggest that the observed darkening occurs on the tegument after prolonged (90 days) and accelerated (96 h) conditions. In addition, the results indicate that phenylalanine is the relevant metabolite within this context, being able to participate in the chemical reactions accounted for by the darkening processes. Additionally, it is possible to confirm that a UV-C lamp accelerates oxidative enzymatic reactions and that the NMR methods used were a trustworthy approach to monitor and understand the darkening in bean seeds at metabolite level.