Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vitamin D deficiency in outpatient department:Eastern Province of KSA experience

ABSTRACT Objective To determine the level of vitamin D3 in patients attending out patient department with aches and pains. Methodology This cross-sectional study was carried out at Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal hospital, National Guard health affairs, Dammam, Eastern Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from August 2008 to July 2009. All the adult patients attending outpatient with aches and pains had their Vitamin D3 blood level done. Results A total of 1000 patients were studied; 766 (76.6%) were females and 244 (24.4%) were males. 744 (97.12%) females and 242 (99.18%) males were found to be deficient in Vitamin D3 in serum. Conclusion There is an increase need for patients and health care professionals to understand the preventive aspects of this vitamin that acts more like a hormone. There is a need for increased vitamin D supplementation across the lifespan. The role of vitamin D3 in aches and pain need more detailed research, until proved otherwise it can be presumed that it has a definite role in aches and pains. (Rawal Med J 2010;35: ). Key words Vitamin D3, aches and pains, vitamin D deficiency. INTRODUCTION There may be a strong relationship between lower rates of vitamin D3 in blood and a variety of chronic diseases.1 An objective review is still necessary for the clinician to separate fact from fiction regarding this specific vitamin.2 Vitamin D deficiency has negative effects across the lifespan.3 Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is metabolized by the body by either sun (ultraviolet light) exposure or dietary intake and its metabolism is well understood.4,5 Both vitamin D from the sun and diet enter the liver and are converted to 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D3] (calcidiol). 5 The calcidiol is the major circulating form of vitamin D and is used to determine vitamin D status. To become biologically active, it requires additional hydroxylation in the kidneys to form active 1, 25-hydroxyvitamin D [1, 25(OH) 2D] (calcitriol); however, 1,25(OH)2D is not used to determine vitamin D status because it circulates at 1000 times less concentration than 25(OH)D3 and it has a half life of 6 hours in comparison to 2 weeks for 25(OH)D3.5 Various factors that can cause vitamin D deficiency.6- 8 Recent studies suggest that the regular intake of vitamin D may increase blood levels greater than weekly or monthly oral intakes of equivalent doses.9 Sunscreen has the ability to block ultraviolet B (UVB) light. However, no clinician should recommend trading one condition for another, and it is a concern that some clinicians advise regular sun exposure several times a week.10 The aim of this study was to determine the level of vitamin D3 in patients attending our out patient department with aches and pains METHODOLOGY This cross-sectional study was carried out at the department of surgery, orthopaedic unit. Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal hospital, National Guard Health Affairs, Dammam, Eastern Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from August
Comparison of the anthocyanins composition of five wine-making grape cultivars cultivated in the Wujiaqu area of Xinjiang, China

Anthocyanins biosynthesis are essentially determined by grape cultivar genotype. However, specific environmental and vine management conditions could alter the accumulation of anthocyanins. This study selected five wine-making grape cultivars cultivated in the Wujiaqu area of the Xinjiang region of China to investigate the profiles of anthocyanins. Results showed that a total of 15 anthocyanins were identified. Marselan contained 15 anthocyanins, whereas only 14 anthocyanins were present in Cabernet-Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Syrah and Petit Verdot were found to only contain 13 anthocyanins. Cabernet-Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc appeared to show the highest and lowest levels of the total anthocyanins, respectively. Cabernet-Sauvignon possessed the highest levels of the total monomeric and acylated anthocyanins, respectively. Malvidin-3-O-glucoside and its acylated derivatives (malvidin-3-O-(6-O-acetyl)-glucoside and malvidin-3-O-(6-O-coumaryl)-glucoside) were the dominant anthocyanins in these grape cultivars. Principal component analysis revealed that the acylated anthocyanins were the major anthocyanins that differentiated these grape cultivars.
Release of Respirable Fibrous Dust from Carbon Fibers Due to Splitting along the Fiber Axis

The aim of this report is to sensitize to the fact that some types of carbon fibers can split along the fiber axis during machining processes, thus becoming a source of respirable fibrous fragments in high concentrations. The risk of releasing respirable fiber dust must be assessed both in terms of carbon fiber materials and handling processes. We present an analysis of fiber concentrations released during mechanical processing of carbon fiber reinforced polymers at two different workplaces together with measurements from abrasion testing in a closed laboratory setup with inherent bulk sample analysis. During workplace measurements of the machining of polymer composites that were reinforced with pitch-based carbon fibers, concentrations of 830,000 WHO-fiber m–3 were observed 15 cm from the source and of 33,000 WHO-fiber m–3 at about 3 m distance. An explanation for such a high release propensity for respirable fibers with diameters below 3 µm is a fiber splitting along the axis of the studied fiber type. Comparative abrasion experiments of pitch and polyacrylonitrile-based carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites revealed that their fracture behavior differs from another. The studied polyacrylonitrile-based carbon fibers broke primarily perpendicular to their axis, whereas the studied pitch-based carbon fibers show fiber splicing and splitting along the fiber axis. In order to predict and manage health risks of the large variety of existing carbon fiber materials, the understanding of the relation between fiber microstructure, fracture morphology and WHO-fiber release propensity must be urgently improved. In the meantime, all handling and processing steps of pitch-based carbon fibers have to be accompanied by precautionary or exposure measurement-controlled safety measures to protect the employees.
The Effect of Business-Cycle Fluctuations on Private-Label Share: What has Marketing Conduct Got to do with it?

The authors investigate whether, and to what extent, marketing conduct varies over the business cycle and how this contributes to the growing popularity of private labels. To address this issue, they examine a unique data set that combines a broad set of seven marketing-mix instruments with private-label share, using two decades' worth of data for 106 consumer packaged goods categories in the United States. The results show that private-label share behaves countercyclically and that part of the boost in private-label share during contractions is permanent. Retailers' observed practice of supporting their own labels in contraction periods while cutting back in expansion periods helps this cyclical sensitivity even further. In addition, national brands' procyclical behavior in terms of (1) major new product introductions, (2) advertising, and (3) their promotional pressure compared with private labels is associated with more pronounced cyclical fluctuations in private-label share and even with permanent private-label market share gains. Although brand managers cannot be held responsible for the occurrence of economic downswings, they can be held accountable for how much contractions help strengthen their fiercest competitor, the store brands owned by their very customers.
Experimental investigation on the performance and durability of hydrogen AEMFC with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

In situ experimental tests and scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations are done to explore the impact of geometry structure and operating conditions on the performance and durability of alkaline electrolyte membrane fuel cell (AEMFC) accompanied by electrochemical diagnosis. The results show that low anode and cathode polarization resistances can be achieved by selecting a proper ionomer mass fraction (IMF) of the catalyst layer (CL). Increasing the IMF can improve the tolerance to inlet gas humidity. The presence of the anode microporous layer (MPL) greatly improves the cell performance, but cathode MPL plays a reverse effect. After the durability test, the homogeneity of CL is seriously deformed, leading to a great increment of anode and cathode polarization resistances, verified by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and SEM results. An enhancement of fuel cell durability is achieved by adding nanoscale polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) into CL. This work can provide some guidance for the structural and operating parameter optimization of the AEMFC researches in the future.
Size-dependent ice nucleation by airborne particles during dust events in the eastern Mediterranean

Abstract. The prediction of cloud ice formation in climate models remains a challenge, partly due to the complexity of ice-related processes. Mineral dust is a prominent aerosol in the troposphere and is an important contributor to ice nucleation in mixed-phase clouds, as dust can initiate ice heterogeneously at relatively low supercooling conditions. We characterized the ice nucleation properties of size-segregated mineral dust sampled during dust events in the eastern Mediterranean. The sampling site allowed us to compare the properties of airborne dust from several sources with diverse mineralogy that passed over different atmospheric paths. We focused on particles with six size classes determined by the Micro-Orifice Uniform Deposit Impactor (MOUDI) cutoff sizes: 5.6, 3.2, 1.8, 1.0, 0.6 and 0.3 µm. Ice nucleation experiments were conducted in the Weizmann Supercooled Droplets Observation on a Microarray (WISDOM) setup, whereby the particles are immersed in nanoliter droplets using a microfluidics technique. We observed that the activity of airborne particles depended on their size class; supermicron and submicron particles had different activities, possibly due to different composition. The concentrations of ice-nucleating particles and the density of active sites (ns) increased with the particle size and particle concentration. The supermicron particles in different dust events showed similar activity, which may indicate that freezing was dominated by common mineralogical components. Combining recent data of airborne mineral dust, we show that current predictions, which are based on surface-sampled natural dust or standard mineral dust, overestimate the activity of airborne dust, especially for the submicron class. Therefore, we suggest including information on particle size in order to increase the accuracy of ice formation modeling and thus weather and climate predictions.
Physiological, Biochemical and Molecular Responses of Barley Seedlings to Aluminum Stress

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the most Aluminum (Al) sensitive cereal species. In this study, the physiological, biochemical, and molecular response of barley seedlings to Al treatment was examined to gain insight into Al response and tolerance mechanisms. The results showed that superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) activity were inhibited to different degrees following Al exposure. The MDA content also significantly increased with increasing Al concentrations. SRAP results indicated significant differences between Al treatments and controls in terms of SRAP profile, and the genomic template stability (GTS) decreased with increasing Al concentration and duration. These integrative results help to elucidate the underlying mechanisms that the barley response to Al toxicity.
The Mobility of Silver Nanoparticles and Silver Ions in the Soil-Plant System

The widespread use of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as a bactericide will ultimately result in their increased concentration in soils. We sought to determine the likely mobility, toxicity, and plant uptake of Ag applied to soil as either AgNPs or Ag+. We measured the solubility, toxicity, and plant uptake of both AgNPs and Ag+ in an immature Pallic soil, a Templeton loamy silt (pH = 5.1), and a granular silt loam (pH = 6.0). The sorption of AgNPs by the test soils was significantly greater than Ag+, and both moieties were more strongly sorbed at lower concentrations and higher pH values. Between pH 4 and 8, distribution coefficient (KD) values increased from <10 up to ? 500 L kg −1 for Ag+, and from 100 to 10,000 L kg−1 for AgNPs. There was strong evidence that our citrate-coated AgNPs were transformed into Ag+ during the course of the plant growth experiments, and plant responses were similar for both the Ag+ and AgNP treatments. Soil concentrations >100 mg kg−1 significantly reduced the biomass of Lolium perenne L. and resulted in foliar concentrations of up to 10 mg kg−1 dry matter. At a soil concentration of 70 mg kg−1, silverbeet [Beta vulgaris L. ssp. maritima (L.) Arcang. ] and spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) accumulated 5 to 10 mg Ag kg−1, which may present a human health risk. Regarding citrate-coated AgNPs, the environmental impact of release is largely determined by the equivalent mass concentration of Ag+, into which they will ultimately transform. Given the widespread interest in AgNPs, there is limited knowledge on the behavior of Ag+ in soil and this should be the subject of future research. The Mobility of Silver Nanoparticles and Silver Ions in the Soil-Plant System
Candida vanderwaltii CMGB-ST1 from Peony Petals – Identification and Biotechnological Potential

Yeasts are an important group of microorganisms with a wide range of biotechnological applications, able to synthetize various enzymes (lipases, proteases) and chemical compounds (pigments, flavor precursors). Many yeast strains are used for biocontrol in agriculture or for biomedical applications due to their ability to inhibit the growth of pathogenic microorganisms isolated from crops or nosocomial infections. Candida vanderwaltii is one of the yeast species isolated from natural environment with multiple, yet unexplored, applications. The present work deals with the identification and characterization of the new yeast strain CMGB-ST1 isolated from peony ( Paeonia lactiflora ) petals from Bucharest Botanical Garden (Romania). The conventional tests (classic, BIOLOG system) and PCR-RFLP analyses of the ITS1-5,8S-ITS2 region showed that CMGB-ST1 belongs to Candida vanderwaltii species. Further tests were performed for determination of lipase production on optimized media with trybutirin as sole carbon source supplemented with Tween 80. The strain C. vanderwaltii CMGB-ST1 showed good lipolytic activity forming clear halos after only three days of incubation. The mechanism of trybutyrin assimilation was studied using two different liquid media containing trybutirin and inorganic nitrogen source and trybutirin-glucose as carbon source and organic nitrogen source. The results showed that lipase synthesis during the first three days of monitoring is mainly influenced by the carbon source because adding glucose increases the growth rate of the yeast cells. C. vanderwaltii CMGB-ST1 had also high antimicrobial activity against pathogenic and industrial Candida strains in presence of low pH values. In conclusion, the newly characterized strain C. vanderwaltii CMGB-G1 isolated from peony petals proved important potential for biotechnological and biomedical applications.
Inhibition of mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase: a proposed mechanism by which melatonin causes cancer cells to overcome cytosolic glycolysis, reduce tumor biomass and reverse insensitivity to chemotherapy

This review presents a hypothesis to explain the role of melatonin in regulating glucose metabolism in cancer cells. Many cancer cells use cytosolic glycolysis (the Warburg effect) to produce energy (ATP). Under these conditions, glucose is primarily converted to lactate which is released into the blood in large quantities. The Warburg effect gives cancer cells advantages in terms of enhanced macromolecule synthesis required for accelerated cellular proliferation, reduced cellular apoptosis which enhances tumor biomass and a greater likelihood of metastasis. Based on available data, high circulating melatonin levels at night serve as a signal for breast cancer cells to switch from cytosolic glycolysis to mitochondrial glucose oxidation and oxidative phosphorylation for ATP production. In this situation, melatonin promotes the synthesis of acetyl-CoA from pyruvate; we speculate that melatonin does this by inhibiting the mitochondrial enzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK) which normally inhibits pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC), the enzyme that controls the pyruvate to acetyl-CoA conversion. Acetyl-CoA has several important functions in the mitochondria; it feeds into the citric acid cycle which improves oxidative phosphorylation and, additionally, it is a necessary co-factor for the rate limiting enzyme, arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase, in mitochondrial melatonin synthesis. When breast cancer cells are using cytosolic glycolysis (during the day) they are of the cancer phenotype; at night when they are using mitochondria to produce ATP via oxidative phosphorylation, they have a normal cell phenotype. If this day:night difference in tumor cell metabolism is common in other cancers, it indicates that these tumor cells are only cancerous part of the time. We also speculate that high nighttime melatonin levels also reverse the insensitivity of tumors to chemotherapy.
Physical activity & behavioral medicine

'Timely and will be of special interest to health service managers and members of primary care groups because the successful promotion of regular physical activity is a challenge contained in the strategy of Our Healthier Nation and is a candidate for incorporation into health improvement programmes and the service framework for coronary heart disease' - Health Service Journal This crisply written and thought-provoking book integrates theories and studies from several disciplines to examine what is known about physical activity and health. The authors use a behavioural epidemiology framework to organize the book and explore such topics as: physical activity and the health of children, adults and the elderly; the impact of physical activity on mental health; health risks of physical activity; how to measure it; how to promote physical activity to individuals; and community-based physical activity interventions. Highlighting some of the best and most important research in physical activity, the book offers studies of diverse populations, including different ethnic backgrounds and nationalities, age and gender groups and socioeconomic levels.Although the health benefits of physical activity are fairly well-known, this book furthers our understanding of how to help people become active enough to enjoy these benefits.
Comparative Study of the Yield of Reducing Sugar from Hydrolysis of XimeniacaffraSeedCoat and Phoenix dactylifera Stone Using Bioalkali Extracted from Plantain Peel

The growing demand for energy, materials and food, depletion of fossil raw material reservoirs and increasing environmental concerns have all increased interest in renewable resources. The quest for sustainable and environmentally friendly energy source has given rise to renewable feedstocks such as biomass which are rich sources of cellulose and hemicellulose. Lignocelluloses mainly consist of cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin which are bonded together by covalent bonding, various intermolecular bridges, and van der Waals’ forces forming a complex structure, making it resistant to enzymatic hydrolysis and insoluble in water. Therefore, an efficient, less energy-intensive and cost-effective pretreatment method is a necessity for producing fermentable sugar at economically viable cost. Pretreatment of biomass is a crucial step to overcome lignocelluloses recalcitrance in the conversion to ethanol.
Photochemical formation of alkyl nitrates and their impacts on ozone production in Hong Kong

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The role of GCP8 in microtubule nucleation and cell cicle progression

Los microtubulos (MTs) regulan una amplia variedad de procesos celulares, incluyendo la division celular, el transporte intracelular y la posicion de los organulos, al formar una red especificamente adaptada. El ensamblaje, mantenimiento y remodelacion de estas redes depende crucialmente de la formacion de nuevos MTs, denominada nucleacion, y de su regulacion en el espacio y tiempo. Este proceso esta mediado por el por el complejo en anillo de γ-­‐tubulina (γTuRC) y defectos en la funcion de este complejo estan directamente asociados con problemas mitoticos. Sin embargo, pese a que la deplecion de la mayoria de las subunidades del γTuRC compromete la progresion de la mitosis, la funcion principal de GCP8/MZT2 parece ser la nucleacion de MTs desde los centrosomas durante la interfase, aunque se desconocen los mecanismos moleculares. GCP8 regula la nucleacion de MTs mediante la union a traves del externo N-­‐terminal de la subunidad GCP2. Mediante tecnicas de inmunoprecipitacion acoplada a espectrometria de masas, identifique la proteina KIF2A, una despolimerizadora de MTs, como un interactor de GCP8. KIF2A es reclutada por GCP8 para inhibir la nucleacion dependiente del γTuRC en los centrosomas y en el aparato de Golgi. Ademas, observe que la deplecion tanto de GCP8 como de KIF2A da lugar a la perdida de la integridad del Golgi. Comparado celulas control, donde el Golgi esta tipicamente organizado como un lazo o “ribbon” proximo al centrosoma, las membranas del Golgi en ausencia de GCP8 o KIF2A estan mas condensadas y estrechamente agrupadas alrededor del centrosoma. Curiosamente, estos defectos dan lugar a la salida del ciclo celular en celulas RPE-­‐1. Esta salida es independiente de la via de senalizacion p53 por lo que es improbable que estos defectos se deban a problemas durante la progresion de la mitosis. Sorprendentemente, la deplecion de GCP8 o KIF2A impide la activacion de la mTOR lo que podria explicar los defectos en la progresion del ciclo celular. En resumen, al analizar la contribucion de GCP8 en la regulacion de la nucleacion de MTs durante la interfase he conseguido describir un inesperado mecanismo que vincula la organizacion de MT dependiente del eje centrosoma-­‐Golgi con la progresion de las fases G1/S del ciclo celular, involucrando a la via de senalizacion de mTOR.