Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Water Vapor Diffusion in Relatively Dry Soil: III. Steady-State Experiments

Steady-state water vapor diffusion coefficients were measured for sorption and desorption on Adelanto loam and Pachappa loam at 27°C. The sorption diffusivities for both soil materials increase, and then decrease, with increasing water content. The desorption diffusivities for Adelanto loam are constant throughout the water content range studied, whereas the desorption diffusivities for the Fachappa loam exhibit a maximum similar to the sorption diffusivities. For both soil materials the transient and the steady-state diffusivity-water content curves have nearly the same shape and magnitude. Diffusivities calculated from adsorption isotherm data are similar to the measured diffusivities. Comparison of data from the three methods indicates that liquid diffusion becomes noticeable at water contents corresponding to relative pressures of 0.5 to 0.7 for Adelanto and 0.8 to 0.9 for Pachappa. View complete article To view this complete article, insert Disc 3 then click button8
COVID-19-related acute kidney injury and dialysis: What are the outcomes in South Africa?

Introduction: Acute kidney injury (AKI) in hospitalized patients infected with COVID-19 is associated with an elevated mortality rate compared to non-infected patients (39% versus 24%). This is despite a lower prevalence of AKI in COVID-19-infected patients (17 vs 22%). The reasons are multifactorial and have been well documented in developed countries, whereas in developing countries there are scant data. Methods: This study aimed to document the mortality in COVID-19-infected South African patients who required dialysis for AKI. Exclusion criteria included any chronic kidney replacement therapy (transplantation or dialysis). A REDCap survey of South African nephrologists and nephrology fellows registered with the South African Nephrology Society was conducted. The primary outcome was all-cause in-hospital mortality, while additional points of interest included comorbidities, dialysis modality and intervention required. Univariate analysis of mortality predictors was performed. Results: The COVID-19-related AKI mortality rate was 58.9%. Significant predictors included continuous veno-venous haemodialysis therapy, invasive ventilation, use of inotropes and the presence of shock. Ischaemic heart disease, heart failure and admission to a private healthcare facility were associated with lower mortality. No significant associations were found with ethnicity, sex, hypertension, diabetes, HIV infection or the use of other modes of dialysis. Conclusions: In South African patients, we report similar outcomes in critically ill patients requiring dialysis for AKI, relative to international data. The predictors of mortality most likely reflect the severity of the illness in our patients. The data suggest that continuous veno-venous haemodiafiltration or slow low efficiency dialysis may be the preferred dialysis modalities in these patients.
Hybrid Modified PSO – IC Methods Based MPPT to Overcome Partial Shading

Electrical energy can be generated by using solar panels to convert solar energy. However, it is highly influenced by weather conditions. This often affects the output power of the solar panels not in its optimum condition. During the day shadows could block the surface of the solar panels, a condition called partial shading, where several peak power points appear on the power-voltage (P-V) curve, namely the local maximum power point (LMPP). From several LMPPs, there is one point that produces the most power called the global maximum power point (GMPP). This condition causes the conventional MPPT method trapped in LMPP which hampers the output power optimization of the solar panels. In this paper, the proposed MPPT system combines conventional methods with artificial intelligence, the Modified Particle Swarm Optimization with the Incremental Conductance method, to avoid LMPP and produce maximum solar panel output power. The MPSO method has 98.36% accuracy with 0.5 seconds tracking time. The Incremental conductance has faster tracking time of 0.3 seconds but was trapped in LMPP with only 61.89% accuracy, while the proposed method has higher tracking accuracy average of 99.66% with 0.34 seconds tracking time in average to achieve GMPP.
The Significance of disintegration testing in pharmaceutical development

Disintegration is a physical process related to the mechanical breakdown of a tablet or granulate particle into smaller particles. This review investigates disintegration mechanisms, pharmacopeial use of the disintegration test and scientific studies showing its utility and potential as a pharmaceutical performance test. With a proper dosage form understanding and demonstration/justification of the mechanistic details of drug dissolution from a dosage form, dissolution testing might be replaced by disintegration testing as a performance test. However, more research is needed to make disintegration test results more mechanistically valuable in pharmaceutical development. This might lead to a reliable performance test and potentially an in-vivo predictive disintegration test in the future.
Transcatheter Intracerebral Laser Photobiomodulation Therapy for Treatment of the Consequences of Ischemic Stroke with Distal Atherosclerotic Lesion

The present research is dedicated to the application of intracerebral laser PBMT for the treatment of the consequences of ischemic stroke. The effectiveness of intracerebral laser PBMT is compared to that of the conservative therapy methods. Recent studies have demonstrated a high potential of laser technology PBMT in the treatment of various ischemic lesions of the brain. A total of 836 patients who had experienced ischemic strokes of different degrees of severity in the period ranging from 6 months to 6 years prior to the treatment were included in the research. The age of these patients ranged between 29 and 81 years (average age: 74.9 years). There were 593 men (70.93%) and 243 women (29.07%). The patients were divided into two groups - the Test Group and the Control Group. The Test Group comprised 511 (61.12%) patients with distal lesions of the intracerebral arteries. These patients underwent transcatheter intracerebral laser PBMT. The Control Group comprised 325 (38.88%) patients with similar distal lesions of the intracerebral arteries. These patients, however, received the conservative treatment. The Test Group patients exhibited good clinical results in 259 (87.21%) cases after small focal strokes, in 94 (60.26%) cases after medium focal strokes, and in 12 (20.69%) cases after macro-focal strokes. The Test Group patients exhibited satisfactory clinical results in 33 (11.11%) cases after small focal strokes, - in 39 (25.00%) cases after medium focal strokes, and- in 22 (37.93%) cases after macro-focal strokes. In the Control Group, 51 (21.07%) patients exhibited good clinical results after small focal strokes, while none of the patients exhibited good results after medium focal strokes and macro-focal strokes. In the Control Group, satisfactory clinical results were exhibited by 60 (24.79%) patients after small focal strokes and 8 (19.05%) patients after medium focal strokes, while none of the patients exhibited satisfactory results after macro-focal strokes. Transcatheter intracerebral laser PBMT is an effective, pathogenetically substantiated method for the treatment of the consequences of ischemic stroke. This method enables the restoration of daily-life activities and cognitive and mental functions, thereby enabling the patients to be fully active in their lives again.
Path Following with Deep Reinforcement Learning for Autonomous Cars

: Path-following for autonomous vehicles is a challenging task. Choosing the appropriate controller to apply typical linear/nonlinear control theory methods demands intensive investigation on the dynamics and kinemat-ics of the system. Furthermore, the non-linearity of the system’s dynamics, the complication of its analytical description, disturbances, and the inﬂuence of sensor noise, raise the need for adaptive control methods for reaching optimal performance. In the context of this paper, a Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) approach with Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) is employed for path tracking of an autonomous model vehicle. The RL agent is trained in a 3D simulation environment. It interacts with the unknown environment and accumulates experiences to update the Deep Neural Network. The algorithm learns a policy (sequence of control actions) that solves the designed optimization objective. The agent is trained to calculate heading angles to follow a path with minimal cross-track error. In the ﬁnal evaluation, to prove the trained policy’s dynamic, we analyzed the learned steering policy strength to respond to more extensive and smaller steering values with keeping the cross-track error as small as possible. In conclusion, the agent could drive around the track for several loops without exceeding the maximum tolerated deviation, moreover, with reasonable orientation error.
IL-15 Prevents Renal Fibrosis by Inhibiting Collagen Synthesis: A New Pathway in Chronic Kidney Disease?

Chronic kidney disease (CKD), secondary to renal fibrogenesis, is a public health burden. The activation of interstitial myofibroblasts and excessive production of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins are major events leading to end-stage kidney disease. Recently, interleukin-15 (IL-15) has been implicated in fibrosis protection in several organs, with little evidence in the kidney. Since endogenous IL-15 expression decreased in nephrectomized human allografts evolving toward fibrosis and kidneys in the unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) model, we explored IL-15’s renoprotective role by pharmologically delivering IL-15 coupled or not with its soluble receptor IL-15Rα. Despite the lack of effects on myofibroblast accumulation, both IL-15 treatments prevented tubulointerstitial fibrosis (TIF) in UUO as characterized by reduced collagen and fibronectin deposition. Moreover, IL-15 treatments inhibited collagen and fibronectin secretion by transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)-treated primary myofibroblast cultures, demonstrating that the antifibrotic effect of IL-15 in UUO acts, in part, through a direct inhibition of ECM synthesis by myofibroblasts. In addition, IL-15 treatments resulted in decreased expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) and subsequent macrophage infiltration in UUO. Taken together, our study highlights a major role of IL-15 on myofibroblasts and macrophages, two main effector cells in renal fibrosis, demonstrating that IL-15 may represent a new therapeutic option for CKD.
On the Use of a Twin Screw Extruder for Continuous Solid Feeding and Dissolution for Continuous Flow Processes

The progress from batch to continuous manufacture of pharmaceuticals has highlighted the challenging area of dosing solid material directly, efficiently, and accurately into continuous flow systems for workup in flow chemistry processes. Twin screw extruders (TSEs) have the advantage of decoupling the dry (loss in weight feeder end) from the wet (liquid input) to prevent solids from sticking around the feeder, thereby enabling continuous solid feeding into a flow process. In this study, the feasibility of a 16 mm TSE as a solid feeder is investigated, and efficient dissolution of an example active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) is demonstrated. Paracetamol and an 80:20 mixture of water and isopropyl alcohol are the solute and solvent, respectively. The concentrations of paracetamol during dissolution experiments are monitored using an in-line UV attenuated total reflectance probe connected to a spectrometer, and the dissolution kinetics is extracted. Full dissolution of powder particles is obtained withi.
Phase I test development for a brief assessment of transactional success in aphasia: methods and preliminary findings of main concepts in non-aphasic participants

ABSTRACT Background One obstacle for clinicians and third-party payers embracing a participation-based framework for assessing and treating aphasia is the dearth of clinically convenient instruments for measuring change in functional communication. Traditional assessments often do not capture subtle improvements in communicative success. However, analyzing conversation and other discourse is too labor intensive to be a useful, practical tool in clinical settings. Aims The purpose of this study was to acquire a set of story-retelling normative references from a sample of non-aphasic volunteers, and to develop checklists for the Brief Assessment of Transactional Success in conversation in aphasia (BATS). Methods & Procedures We examined 768 narratives from a sample of 96 healthy, non-aphasic volunteers from three age cohorts. We focus here on one macrolinguistic measure of discourse analysis, main concepts (MCs), that assesses a person’s ability to convey a story’s gist. Forty-eight narratives were elicited from each of 16 short video and/or audio stimuli from four categories that varied in the degree of reliance on auditory comprehension for story gist. Transcripts were analyzed for MCs using the methods of Richardson and Dalton (2016, 2020). Results Our analysis generated checklists, including essential elements of MCs that were produced by at least 33% of the normative sample, along with examples of alternative productions. Reference thresholds were established for “non-normal” scores falling below the 5% quantile in the ratio of an MC composite score to the number of MCs (MCComp/MCs). Similar to earlier studies, a younger third of participants produced narratives that were scored significantly higher in the ratio of MCComp/MCs. Whereas we have hypothesized that the non-verbal video stimuli would ultimately prompt the most accurate and complete narratives in aphasic narrative retells, in the current non-clinical sample, we expected and found that the narrated stimuli were more likely to elicit accurate and complete main concepts. Conclusions The next phase of development will involve testing the stimuli on a large clinical sample to acquire: 1) aphasic narratives; 2) topic-constrained conversations with non-aphasic conversation partners to establish intersubjectivity regarding story gist; and 3) conversation partner narratives. It is hoped that the BATS will become a popular, free, and accessible tool for clinicians and clinical researchers. Utilizing these short, engaging video/audio clips and checklists of MCs will help to narrow the chasm between standardized aphasia batteries and an elusive measure of communicative success.
Use of carbocalk for improvement of soil fertility

Carbocalk is byproduct of sugar factory and is suitable for liming of the acid soils. In the autumn of 2000 two field experiments in four replicates were started with increasing rates of carbocalk application (0, 15, 30, 45 and 60 t ha-1). In these study yields of the field crops and cadmium (Cd) concentrations in the leaves and grains were shown. In the both experiments maize was grown total eight times (four years) and wheat four years. The lowest rate of applied carbocalk was adequate for the considerable both maize and wheat yield increases for 16% and 28%, respectively (maize 6.92 and 8.04 t/ha ; wheat 4.85 t/ha and 6.20 t ha-1). By the higher quantities of the carbocalk the yields were mainly low increased. Sunflower, sugar beet, barley and soybean were grown only one growing season and by liming the yields were increased for 48%, 43%, 30% and 8%, respectively. Cd concentrations in the leaves of tobacco were the considerable higher (mean 2.4 mg Cd kg-1) in comparison with those of maize (0.10 mg Cd kg-1) and soybean (0.15 mg Cd kg-1), while in grain of wheat and barley they were considerably lower (0.02 mg Cd kg-1). In general, liming considerably affected on decreases of Cd uptake by plants as follows: for 45% in tobacco leaves (3.6 and 2.0 mg Cd kg-1, for the control and mean of the carbocalk treatments, respectively, but only in one of two tested years). The correspondingly values for the leaves of maize were 0.16 and 0.08 mg Cd kg-1 (decrease for 52%) and for soybean 0.50 and 0.06 mg Cd kg-1 (decrease for 87%), respectively. In the third experiment, effects of liming with carbocalk were the lower, but considerable improved soil properties (for example, base saturation) as well as P and Ca uptake in maize and wheat.
Endwall Film Cooling Effectiveness for Different Purge Slot Configurations in a Contoured Endwall Nozzle Guide Vane Cascade

The experiments were performed in a linear cascade test rig equipped with four enginelike turbine vanes. The hot gas path condition was set to obtain a MACH number of 0.75 and a REYNOLDS number of 235,000 which are typical for modern gas turbines applications. The adiabatic film cooling effectiveness was determined by using Pressure Sensitive Paint (PSP) technique. Nitrogen and carbon dioxide were used as tracer gases realizing two density ratios DR = 1.0 and 1.6. The investigation was conducted for a broad range of blowing ratios with 0.25 ≤ DR ≤ 1.50. By combining and varying geometric and flow parameters, the measurement campaign included 132 measurements which provided a contribution to the systematic understanding of various parametric effects on cooling efficiency in case of purge flow injection. The results will be discussed based on the areal distribution of film cooling effectiveness ηad, its lateral spanwise and area average. The discussion is supported by selected oil dye visualizations.
Desulphurization of diesel fuels using intermediate Lewis acids loaded on activated charcoal and alumina

Abstract According to Pearson’s hard/soft (Lewis) acids/bases concept, sulfur compounds in diesel will prefer to interact with intermediate or soft Lewis acid sites since they are soft to intermediate bases. In this work, intermediate Lewis metal oxides (MO) acids were loaded on activated carbon (AC) and alumina (Al2O3) to desulfurize diesel using adsorption. For carbon-loaded MO, NiO showed the highest desulfurization activity of 89% and 50% when using both model diesel and conventional diesel, respectively. The activity of Al2O3 and Al2O3 supported MO was approximately four times less than that of AC for model diesel desulphurization. It is suggested that the low activity of Al2O3 is due to lower surface area, pore distribution, and the strong acidity nature of Al2O3 since the adsorbates are soft to intermediate Lewis bases. Lower activity, 2–4 times, was observed when treating conventional diesel compared to model diesel. This lower activity is due to competitive adsorption with compounds such as naphthalene and indole. Despite this difference, the activity trends were generally maintained suggesting that the use of model diesel is not a bad technique for screening adsorbents. Selectivity on AC was observed to decrease in this order: 4-MDBT > 1,4,6-TMDBT > 4,6-DMDBTZ ∼ 4E,6-MDBT ∼ 2,4,6-TMDBT. This suggests that steric hindrances dominate selectivity for these high-molecular weight molecules. Finally, it was observed that the challenge with regeneration of adsorbent (AC) that treated conventional diesel using solvent extraction is competitive desorption of hydrocarbons and sulfur compounds.
HPLC-DAD Purification and Characterization of Meta-Cresol-Purple for Spectrophotometric Seawater pH Measurements

High-quality pH measurements are essential for observing ocean acidification and interpreting its chemical and ecological effects. Spectrophotometric measure is the preferred method for pH analysis of seawater because of its high reproducibility and excellent precision. Meta-cresol purple (mCP) is one of the most used indicator dyes for spectrophotometric pH determination. Impurities in indicator salts can significantly bias spectrophotometric pH determinations, and therefore the use of purified mCP is recommended. This work describes the use of a fast, simple, and green-friendly High-Performance-Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) procedure for purification of mCP dye solution. A C18 reversed phase column was used, and different compositions of the mobile phase were considered. The selected mobile phase was 85% Milli-Q water and 15% CH3CN pH 8.0 that allowed reasonable run time and a suitable purified mCP retention time (4.65 ± 0.005 min). Aliquots of purified mCP were mixed and evaporated by rotary evaporator that resulted in the fastest preconcentration procedure among those considered in this study. Purified mCP was used for measuring the pH in seawater samples collected in the Ross Sea (Antarctica) and the values ranged between 8.202 and 7.983, with the highest values at the surface.
The Impact of Childhood Psychological Maltreatment on Mental Health Outcomes in Adulthood: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Childhood emotional abuse (CEA) and childhood emotional neglect (CEN) are the least well-studied forms of childhood maltreatment due to challenges in their definition and in detection. However, the available evidence suggests associations with multiple adulthood mental health problems in clinical and non-clinical populations. This systematic review and meta-analysis (PROSPERO registration number CRD42020197833) explored the associations between CEA and CEN and a range of adulthood mental health problems based on systematic searches of eight databases. In total, 79 English and 11 Chinese studies met our inclusion criteria. Results suggested that CEA and CEN had positive associations with various adulthood mental health problems (d = 0.02–1.84), including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, suicidal ideation or attempts, personality disorders, eating disorders, and other psychological symptoms in the general population and across different geographic regions. Furthermore, findings suggested that compared with the non-clinical population, individuals in clinical populations were more likely to have experienced emotional abuse and neglect during childhood. The review highlights the need for more research on emotional abuse and emotional neglect. Furthermore, future research should include more populations from non-western countries and non-college populations. They further underline the importance of addressing issues related to CEA/CEN experiences in the prevention and treatment of mental health issues in adulthood.
Measurement of independent piezoelectric moduli of Ca3NbGa3Si2O14, La3Ga5.5Ta0.5O14 and La3Ga5SiO14 single crystals

Results of measurements of independent piezoelectric moduli d 11 and d 14 in Ca3NbGa3Si2O14, La3Ga5.5Ta0. 5O14 and La3Ga5SiO14, promising single crystals of the calcium gallogermanate structural type, are presented. The moduli were measured with a triple-axis X-ray diffractometer under an external electric field which causes changes in the interplanar distances due to the reverse piezoelectric effect. The results of the X-ray diffractometry measurements agree fairly well (within less than 10%) with the results obtained by different methods.