Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A comparison of Epidural Butorphanol and Tramadol for Postoperative Analgesia Using CSEA Technique

Background: Post operative analgesia in patients undergoing lower limb surgery is very essential for immediate postoperative pain relief which can be provided by oral or parentral medication, epidural analgesia, local blocks etc.The study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of epidural butorphanol and tramadol for postoperative pain relief. Patients & Methods: This was randomized, prospective, double blind study was conducted on 60 patients, ASA grade I&II, age 18-60 undergoing lower limb surgeries after approval from hospital ethics committee. Group allocation - Group I I (n=30) received 2 mg butorphanol as bolus epidurally, 1 mg for top up dose. Group II (n=30) received 100mg tramadol as bolus, 50 mg for top up. All the drugs were diluted to 10 ml normal saline & the observer was blinded to the drugs given. Postoperatively VAS, sedation score, vitals & side effects were observed. Top ups were given on achieving VAS>4. Diclofenac 75mg was given as rescue analgesia. Results: Duration of analgesia was 5.35±0.29 hr and 6.25±1.58 hrs in Butorphanol and Tramadol groups respectively and the difference was found to be statistically significant. Pain scores were also significantly lower statistically in Group I as compared to Group II. Sedation scores were significantly higher in butorphanol group, whereas nausea vomiting was seen in tramadol group only (4 patients). No other side effects were observed. Conclusions: Both butorphanol and tramadol were effective for relieving postoperative pain, however quality of analgesia & patient satisfaction was more with butorphanol.
Toxicity and Growth Assessments of Three Thermophilic Benthic Dinoflagellates (Ostreopsis cf. ovata, Prorocentrum lima and Coolia monotis) Developing in the Southern Mediterranean Basin

Harmful benthic dinoflagellates, usually developing in tropical areas, are expanding to temperate ecosystems facing water warming. Reports on harmful benthic species are particularly scarce in the Southern Mediterranean Sea. For the first time, three thermophilic benthic dinoflagellates (Ostreopsis cf. ovata, Prorocentrum lima and Coolia monotis) were isolated from Bizerte Bay (Tunisia, Mediterranean) and monoclonal cultures established. The ribotyping confirmed the morphological identification of the three species. Maximum growth rates were 0.59 ± 0.08 d−1 for O. cf. ovata, 0.35 ± 0.01 d−1 for C. monotis and 0.33 ± 0.04 d−1 for P. lima. Toxin analyses revealed the presence of ovatoxin-a and ovatoxin-b in O. cf. ovata cells. Okadaic acid and dinophysistoxin-1 were detected in P. lima cultures. For C. monotis, a chromatographic peak at 5.6 min with a mass m/z = 1061.768 was observed, but did not correspond to a mono-sulfated analogue of the yessotoxin. A comparison of the toxicity and growth characteristics of these dinoflagellates, distributed worldwide, is proposed.
Multifunctional SPIONs for Theranostics in Cancer

Due to their magnetic properties, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) offer a large variety of possibilities for medical applications. In Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) to date SPIONs are the only tracers or imaging agents so far. It is proposed that the optimal tracer for MPI is a single core SPION with a core diameter of around 30 nm. However, such particles seem not to be optimal for magnetically enhanced drug delivery. On the other hand, there are multicore particles equipped with a high loading capacity for drugs, which can be accumulated e.g. in a tumor by a static magnetic field and additionally be heated by an alternating magnetic field. Here we show that such particles cannot be only imaged by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) but also do show a MPI-signal. Providing, that the sensitivity of MPI for such particles and therefore also the resolution is high enough, this could be exploited to estimate the SPION-mediated drug load in a tumor after Magnetic Drug Targeting (MDT) as a real theranostic approach. Int. J. Mag. Part. Imag. 4(1), 2018, Article ID: 1808001, DOI: 10.18416/IJMPI.2018. 1808001
Endocytic vesicles from renal papilla which retrieve the vasopressin- sensitive water channel do not contain a functional H+ ATPase

The water permeability of the kidney collecting duct epithelium is regulated by vasopressin (VP)-induced recycling of water channels between an intracellular vesicular compartment and the plasma membrane of principal cells. To test whether the water channels pass through an acidic endosomal compartment during the endocytic portion of this pathway, we measured ATP-dependent acidification of FITC-dextran- labeled endosomes in isolated microsomal fractions from different regions of Brattleboro rat kidneys. Both VP-deficient controls and rat treated with exogenous VP were examined. ATP-dependent acidification was not detectable in endosomes containing water channels from distal papilla (osmotic water permeability Pf = 0.038 +/- 0.004 cm/s). In contrast, the addition of ATP resulted in a strong acidification of renal cortical endosomes (pHmin = 5.8, initial rate = 0.18-0.25 pH U/s). Acidification of cortical endosomes was reversed with nigericin and strongly inhibited by N-ethyl-maleimide. Passive proton permeability was similar and low in both cortical and papillary endosomes from rats treated or not treated with VP. The fraction of labeled endosomes present in microsomal preparations was determined by fluorescence imaging microscopy of microsomes nonspecifically bound to poly-l-lysine-coated coverslips and was 25% in cortical preparations compared to 14% (+VP) and 9% (-VP) in papillary preparations. The fraction of cortical endosomes was enriched 1.5-fold by immunoabsorption to coverslips coated with mAbs against the bovine vacuolar proton pump. In contrast, the fraction of papillary endosomes was depleted more than twofold by immunoabsorption to identical coverslips. Finally, sections of distal papilla stained with antibodies against the lysosomal glycoprotein LGP120 showed that most of the entrapped FITC-dextran did not colocalize with this lysosomal protein. These results demonstrate that vesicles which internalize water channels in kidney collecting duct principal cells lack functional proton pumps, and do not deliver the bulk of their FITC-dextran content to lysosomes. The data suggest that the principal cell contains a specialized nonacidic apical endocytic compartment which functions primarily to recycle membrane components, including water channels, to the plasma membrane.
Pejibaye Fiber-Reinforced Polypropylene Matrix Composites

The use of chopped pejibaye fibers obtained from the residues of pejibaye plantations is presented. These fibers are obtained from the leftover residues after the collection of heart of palm from pejibaye palms. PP-pejibaye composites were manufactured and the mechanical and thermal properties of the composites were compared to the properties of the unreinforced PP matrix. The results obtained show that untreated pejibaye fibers act as filler, not as reinforcement, but do not reduce the mechanical properties of the untreated polymeric matrix. The tensile properties of the composites were suitably modeled using the Turcsányi equation. Also, the incorporation of the fibers does not alter the thermal properties of the untreated matrix. Therefore, the use of this agribusiness residue can present economic advantages since the cost of composite parts can be reduced and their life cycle assessment increased by the use of this lignocellulosic residue, without altering the basic thermal and mechanical properties of the polymeric matrix.
Design of an Integrated Electrostatic Atomic Force Microscope

The need for investigation and characterization of physical, chemical and structural properties of material surfaces at the micro and nano scales led to the invention of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) in 1986 as a successor to the well-known Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) to overcome the main shortcoming of STM, which worked only on conducting or semiconducting materials. In fact, the idea of AFM is predicated on the measurement of inter-atomic interaction forces between the molecules of a sharp stylus at the end of a silicon probe and the molecules of a specimen, when the tip comes to close proximity (less than 100nm) of the sample. It detects the height of the probe hovering above the specimen surface by measuring the tip deflection, or the amplitude and frequency of its vibration. In each case (mode), the interaction forces between the sharp tip and the specimen govern the measured parameter which is detected optically by a laser beam reflected of the probe back side. A piezoelectric actuator drives the probe vibrations and Z-axis motions. Optical detection and piezoelectric actuation contribute significantly to the price and complexity of traditional AFM systems. In this research effort, we use electrostatic actuation and capacitive motion detection of off-shelf AFM probes via electrodes printed on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB), thereby eliminating the optical and piezoelectric components of traditional AFMs, drastically reducing its cost, size and complexity as well as enabling new AFM operating modes. Two configurations for the probe-electrode system were modeled, simulated and demonstrated experimentally. The actuation voltage contains DC and AC components while the actuation frequency is set close to the probe natural frequency. Model and experimental results show that the DC component controls the operating point (static gap between the electrode and the probe) and the AC component controls the sensitivity of the AFM. The detector output current is first amplified using a low-noise transimpedance amplifier. Next, a lock-in amplifier measures the magnitude and phase of the current at the second harmonic of the actuation frequency which is directly related to the tip-sample separation. This detection method overcomes the effect of large parasitic capacitance. It enables us to sketch two-dimensional maps of the current’s magnitude or phase representing the specimen’s topography. To improve sensitivity, the static distance between the probe’s tip and the specimen was set to operate the AFM in intermittent (tapping) mode. A nano-stage was developed for this purpose. It allows us to raster scan the specimen surface. In future work, automatic closed-loop feedback control should be deployed to manage the height of the AFM tip over
Phytoremediation potential of some halophytic species for soil salinity

ABSTRACT Phytoremediation potential of six halophytic species i.e. Suaeda nudiflora, Suaeda fruticosa, Portulaca oleracea, Atriplex lentiformis, Parkinsonia aculeata and Xanthium strumarium was assessed under screen house conditions. Plants were raised at 8.0, 12.0, 16.0, and 20.0 dSm−1 of chloride-dominated salinity. The control plants were irrigated with canal water. Sampling was done at vegetative stage (60–75 DAS). About 95 percent seed germination occurred up to 12 dSm−1 and thereafter declined slightly. Mean plant height and dry weight plant−1 were significantly decreased from 48.71 to 32.44 cm and from 1.73 to 0.61g plant−1 respectively upon salinization. Na+/K+ ratio (0.87 to 2.72), Na+/ Ca2+ + Mg2+ (0.48 to 1.54) and Cl−/SO42– (0.94 to 5.04) ratio showed increasing trend. Salinity susceptibility index was found minimum in Suaeda fruticosa (0.72) and maximum in Parkinsonia aculeata (1.17). Total ionic content also declined and magnitude of decline varied from 8.51 to 18.91% at 8 dSm−1 and 1.85 to 7.12% at 20 dSm−1 of salinity. On the basis of phytoremediation potential Suaeda fruticosa (1170.02 mg plant−1), Atriplex lentiformis (777.87 mg plant−1) were the best salt hyperaccumulator plants whereas Xanthium strumarium (349.61 mg plant−1) and Parkinsonia aculeata (310.59 mg plant−1) were the least hyperaccumulator plants.
Circulating lipids and lipoproteins in glycogen storage disease type I with nocturnal intragastric feeding.

With the advent of nocturnal intragastric feeding which protects against acute metabolic complications and promotes growth, patients with glycogen storage disease type I are attracting less attention. However, several biochemical alterations persist and suggest that the long-term risk of atherosclerotic heart disease remains high. Persisting hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia were found in seven glycogen storage disease type I subjects, six of them following 5-6 yr of nocturnal intragastric feeding. When compared to ten age-matched controls, the patients showed significantly (P less than 0.001) higher low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (247.7 +/- 46.8 vs. 115.3 +/- 5.0 mg/dl) and lower high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (26.4 +/- 3.4 vs. 55.8 +/- 2.9 mg/dl). Triglyceride (TG) enrichment with cholesteryl ester depletion characterized the lipoprotein classes. The diameters of very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) and LDL were larger, while that of HDL was smaller and consistent with the predominance of the HDL3 subclass and a lower apoA-I/apoA-II ratio. The raised levels of TG appeared attributable not only to the well-described lipogenesis, but also to impaired catabolism of fat, as evidenced by the significantly (P less than 0.001) decreased activity of both peripheral lipoprotein lipase (3.17 +/- 0.43 vs. 14.15 +/- 0.50 mumol FFA.ml-1.hr-1) and hepatic lipase (1.88 +/- 0.30 vs. 4.83 +/- 0.90). This may well explain the high concentration of intermediate density lipoprotein (IDL) and the impaired conversion of HDL3 to HDL2. Low apoC-II/apoC-III1 could be related to defective lipoprotein lipase activity. These data suggest that glycogen storage disease type I patients on nocturnal intragastric feeding remain at risk for atherosclerosis and its complications.
Development of microfluidics for sorting of carbon nanotubes

Borovský Ján Development of Microfluidics for Sorting of Carbon Nanotubes Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2018, 199 p. (Research report/Department of Physics, University of Jyväskylä ISSN 0075-465X; 11/2018) ISBN 978-951-39-7634-7 (paper copy) ISBN 978-951-39-7635-4 (e-print) diss. Sorting of carbon nanotubes by their chirality is the current bottleneck in the way to their broad employment based on their exceptional electronic and optical properties. Despite the extensive effort, there is no known method, which would result in really pure chirality ensembles. Previously reported sorting protocols result in enrichment rather than in sorting, alter electronic structure, and suffer from low yield. This is mostly due to the statistical approach, where the nanotubes with mixed chiralities are treated as a set. In this thesis, we propose a new sorting technique based on nanotube-by-nanotube compartmelization, characterization, and sorting in a continuously running droplet-based microfluidic device. A new microfluidic platform for droplet-based experiments in femtoliter scale has been fully developed in this work. We report manufacture of full-glass spectroscopy-friendly microfluidic chips with the characteristic length of channels below 3 μm. A novel procedure for immersed planar metallic electrodes suitable for the harsh glass processing is introduced. Selective treatment of the channels with a hydrophobic self-assembled monolayer is implemented for stable water-in-oil droplet microfluidics. Several unique properties of the system: the size, the unorthodox capacity of low droplet formation frequency, effective trap system, and tailored fluorescence detection system, were developed with the aim of lowering the detection limit down to single nanotube level. The automated processing of fluorescence spectra triggers the dielectrophoretic sorting valve deflecting the nanotube carrying droplets to either the reservoir or to the waste. Besides the primary goal, this microfluidic platform represents a powerful experimental tool to be employed in various fields of research. A method of individualization of carbon nanotubes in an aqueous dispersion based on sonication and centrifugation is systematically addressed in this thesis. The purity, level of individualization, quality of individualized nanotubes, and long-term stability are found to be critically dependent on the sonication parameters, mainly the sonication power. For the purpose of water-in-oil droplet
Vibrotactile feedback in delicate virtual reality operations

Virtual environments are often unsuitable for delicate operations because of the poverty of feedback, particularly tactile and force feedback. However, force feedback done properly requires large, heavy, expensive equipment. We have experimented with a particular form of tactile feedback using vibration as a substitute for force feedback. Substituting vibration for force feedback is intuitively appealing because it is cheap and low cost. But is it effective? Unfortunately, the answer is both “yes” and “no'”. We describe an experiment evaluating the effect of vibrotactile sensory substitution on user performance during a grasping task with delicate virtual objects. We found that adding vibrotactile feedback to visual and audio feedback improved task completion time for novice users, but led to increased grasp pressure over repeated uses of the system.
What is the purpose of a risk assessment?

Living systems exist in hierarchical levels of biological organization, ascending from the basic atomic-molecular level, to the cellular level, the tissue-organ level, and the whole organism. All levels and elements at each level communicate with each other though intricate intraand intercellular signaling through many specified molecular interactions. These regulate homeostasis between the system levels and their individual elements. The probability of a defined effect at the basic atomicmolecular level per impact increment of a toxic agent such as ionizing radiation at that level appears constant at low doses, even if the probability constant may change as a consequence of a previous exposure. Thus, at a given state of the system, the incidence of effect at the atomic-molecular level increases linearly with the number of impact increments in terms of energy deposition events. Primary effects may amplify to damage and there are immediate attempts at repair of damage from an effect. Amplification and propagation of damage at, and from, the basic to higher levels of biological organization meets resistance, the degree of which per impact increment is not constant. It changes with the number of impact increments. This resistance encompasses both physico-chemical and biochemical reactions. The corresponding biochemical reactions express the physiological system’s capacity to respond to perturbations of homeostasis at and between the various levels. Types and degrees of these responses depend on the system and the degree of homeostatic perturbation. At relatively mild to moderate degrees of perturbation, protective responses appear with a delay of hours and may last for months, shield also against endogenous nonradiogenic damage, and in doing so may prevail over radiogenic damage. With increasing degrees of homeostatic perturbation damage eventually overwhelms adaptive protection. Thus, systems do not respond in a linear function of impact increments at the lowest level of biological organization. For assessing probability of radiation damage per absorbed dose, i.e., risk, in complex adaptive systems, both damaging and protecting responses need attention, and to exclude one for the other is scientifically unjustified and misleading.
A Novel Channel Sharing Scheme for Optimizing ODFC in IEEE 802.22 Systems

In this paper, a novel channel sharing scheme for IEEE 802.22 systems is introduced and its performance is investigated. In order to minimizing the number of user to share one channel, the status of backup channels, not occupied by any adjacent users, is checked. In addition, the condition of channels occupied by neighboring users is investigated. Based on these channel statuses, the proposed channel sharing scheme selects the optimal channel, which includes a non-occupied backup channel and the channel shared by least users, in order to change the channel currently in use with other users. The simulation results illustrate that significant performance enhancement is achieved by applying the proposed channel sharing scheme to IEEE 802.22 systems.
Asymptotics of a Slow Manifold

Approximately invariant elliptic slow manifolds are constructed for the Lorenz-Krishnamurthy model of fast-slow interactions in the atmosphere. As is the case for many other two-time-scale systems, the various asymptotic procedures that may be used for this construction diverge, and there are no exactly invariant slow manifolds. Valuable information can however be gained by cap- turing the details of the divergence: this makes it possible to define exponentially accurate slow manifolds, identify one of these as optimal, and predict the amplitude and phase of the fast oscilla- tions that appear for trajectories started on it. We demonstrate this for the Lorenz-Krishnamurthy model by studying the slow manifolds obtained using a power-series expansion procedure. We de- velop two distinct methods to derive the leading-order asymptotics of the late coefficients in this expansion. Borel summation is then used to define a unique slow manifold, regarded as optimal, which is piecewise analytic in the slow variables. This slow manifold is not analytic on a Stokes surface: when slow solutions cross this surface, they switch on exponentially small fast oscillations through a Stokes phenomenon. We show that the form of these oscillations can be recovered from the Borel summation. The approach that we develop for the Lorenz-Krishnamurthy model has a general applicability; we sketch how it generalizes to a broad class of two-time-scale systems.
Paracrine Regulation of the Epithelial Na+ Channel in the Mammalian Collecting Duct by Purinergic P2Y2 Receptor Tone*

Growing evidence implicates a key role for extracellular nucleotides in cellular regulation, including of ion channels and renal function, but the mechanisms for such actions are inadequately defined. We investigated purinergic regulation of the epithelial Na+ channel (ENaC) in mammalian collecting duct. We find that ATP decreases ENaC activity in both mouse and rat collecting duct principal cells. ATP and other nucleotides, including UTP, decrease ENaC activity via apical P2Y2 receptors. ENaC in collecting ducts isolated from mice lacking this receptor have blunted responses to ATP. P2Y2 couples to ENaC via PLC; direct activation of PLC mimics ATP action. Tonic regulation of ENaC in the collecting duct occurs via locally released ATP; scavenging endogenous ATP and inhibiting P2 receptors, in the absence of other stimuli, rapidly increases ENaC activity. Moreover, ENaC has greater resting activity in collecting ducts from P2Y2-/- mice. Loss of collecting duct P2Y2 receptors in the knock-out mouse is the primary defect leading to increased ENaC activity based on the ability of direct PLC stimulation to decrease ENaC activity in collecting ducts from P2Y2-/- mice in a manner similar to ATP in collecting ducts from wild-type mice. These findings demonstrate that locally released ATP acts in an autocrine/paracrine manner to tonically regulate ENaC in mammalian collecting duct. Loss of this intrinsic regulation leads to ENaC hyperactivity and contributes to hypertension that occurs in P2Y2 receptor-/- mice. P2Y2 receptor activation by nucleotides thus provides physiologically important regulation of ENaC and electrolyte handling in mammalian kidney.