Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Validation of Vectra 3D Imaging Systems: A Review

Aim: Three-dimensional facial imaging systems are a useful tool that is gradually replacing two-dimensional imaging and traditional anthropometry with calipers. In this varied and growing landscape of new devices, Canfield (Canfield Scientific, Parsippany, NJ, USA) has proposed a series of static and portable 3D imaging systems. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the current literature regarding the validation of Canfield’s Vectra imaging systems. Materials and Methods: A search strategy was developed on electronic databases including PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus by using specific keywords. After the study selection phase, a total of 10 articles were included in the present review. Results: A total of 10 articles were finally included in the present review. For six articles, we conducted a validation of the Vectra static devices, focusing especially on the Vectra M5, Vectra M3 and Vectra XT. For four articles, we validated the Vectra H1 portable system. Conclusions: All of the reviewed articles concluded that Canfield’s Vectra 3D imaging systems are capable of capturing accurate and reproducible stereophotogrammetric images. Minor errors were reported, particularly in the acquisition of the perioral region, but all the evaluated devices are considered to be valid and accurate tools for clinicians.
Clarifying links to literacy: How does morphological awareness support children’s word reading development?

Abstract We know a great deal about children’s first steps into reading. Here, we explore how they become more sophisticated readers, learning to read complex words. Theoretical accounts predict that one key factor is morphological awareness, or awareness of the minimal units of meaning in language. And yet empirical studies have yet to clarify whether morphological awareness has a stronger relation to the development of reading skill for words with multiple morphemes in particular (i.e., morphological decoding) or to the reading of a whole range of words. We examined this question in this study by contrasting the role of morphological awareness in the development of morphological decoding and of broader word reading skill. Participants were 197 English-speaking children who were followed from Grade 3 to 4. We conducted longitudinal analyses that included stringent autoregressive controls to capture the determinants of gains over time, as well as controls for vocabulary and phonological awareness. Structural equation modeling (SEM) path analysis with this set of controls revealed that morphological awareness predicted significant unique gains in morphological decoding from Grade 3 to 4 with no such unique contributions to broader word reading skill. These findings clarify the role of morphological awareness in supporting children in developing the ability to read morphologically complex words, supporting a more targeted role for morphology in theories of word reading development.
The Use of Carbon Fibers Recovered by Pyrolysis from End-of-Life Wind Turbine Blades in Epoxy-Based Composite Panels

This work is devoted to evaluating the effectiveness of the recovery of carbon fibers from end-of-life wind turbine blades in the pyrolysis process, and the use of those fibers in the production of flat composite panels. The recovery of carbon fibers from wind turbine blades uses a pyrolysis process at 500–600 °C in a non-oxidizing atmosphere, in such a way that makes it possible to preserve the shape and dimensions of the fibers. Using recycled carbon fibers, flat CFRP sheets with epoxy resin matrix were produced by pressing. Seven different series of samples were tested, which differed in fiber length, fiber orientation, and pressure holding time. The results obtained on the recycled fibers were compared to the original carbon fibers, cut to corresponding lengths. Additionally, one of the series was reinforced with a biaxial fabric. The most favorable pressing parameters are empirically found to be pre-pressing 2 MPa (10 min), and further pressing at a pressure of 7 MPa until the resin completely cross-linked (about 120 min). A number of tests were carried out to demonstrate the usefulness of pyrolytic fibers, including tensile strength of carbon fibers, bending strength, SEM observations, FT-IR, and Raman spectroscopy. The tests carried out on the carbon fibers show that the pyrolysis process used leaves about 2% of the matrix on the surface of the fiber, and the tensile strength of the fibers drops by about 20% compared to the new carbon fibers. The research results show that the use of the recycled carbon fibers in the production of flat composite plates is reliable, and their mechanical properties do not differ significantly from plates made of corresponding original carbon fibers. Composite panels with the pyrolytic fibers (274 MPa) show up to a 35% higher flexural strength than similarly produced panels with the original new carbon fibers (203 MPa), which means that the panels can be used in the production of elements for footbridges, bridges, pipelines, or structural elements of buildings and roofing.
Fungicidal and anti-aflatoxin activity of four meroterpenoids isolated from Arnebia euchroma root

Abstract Meroterpenoids are naturally occurring bioactive compounds derived from terpenoids. Isolation and structure elucidation of four meroterpenoids from Arnebia euchroma root confirmed as arnebinol A–D have been conducted and their antifungal and anti-aflatoxigenic activities against Aspergillus flavus have been investigated. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that after treating A. flavus with arnebinol A–D at ≥200 mg/L, the conidia with phialides appeared wrinkled and compressed, the cell wall was damaged, and mycelial growth was entirely inhibited. Arnebinol D could inhibit A. flavus aflatoxin production and reduce ergosterol levels. The present experiments confirmed the antifungal activity of arnebinol D and provided evidence for the potential use of these natural compounds against fungi.
The Medical, Clinical, and Radiographic Aspects of Multiple Idiopathic Tooth Resorption: A Systematic Review

Background: Many causes of resorption remain unclear and are thus identified as idiopathic. In such cases, management is difficult, especially when multiple teeth are involved. The aim of the present study was to assess the literature regarding the medical, clinical, and radiographic aspects of multiple idiopathic resorptions (MIR) and to examine the factors associated with the risk of extraction. Methods: The title and protocol were registered a priori in PROSPERO (CRD42020191564), and the study followed the PRISMA methodology. Four electronic databases were searched to include reviews and case reports on MIR in permanent dentition. Results: Among the 1035 articles identified, 31 case reports were included. The mean age of the patients was 32 years (SD = 16.4). MIR were consistently diagnosed after radiographic evaluation and were undetected during intra-oral examination in 62% of cases. The treatment involved extraction in 77% of cases. The risk of extraction increased in the presence of periodontal inflammation. Conclusions: MIR are aggressive forms of resorption requiring routine visits. MIR mostly involve extraction and lead to a challenging prosthetic rehabilitation due to severely damaged abutment teeth. However, the current knowledge on MIR remains fragmental and based on a limited number of case reports.
Effect of fenofibrate in comparison to metformin on the biophysical and biochemical parameters in diabetic albino wistar rats

Introduction: Diabetic endothelial dysfunction is accompanied by increased oxidative stress and upregulated proinflammatory and inflammatory mediators in the endothelial vasculature. Activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPAR-α) results in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Aim of this study is to investigate the effect of fenofibrate, a PPAR-α activator, on the oxidative stress, inflammation and its anti-oxidant effect in streptozotocin diabetic rats and to compare the effectiveness of FF with that of Metformin (Met). Material & Methods: This experimental animal study was conducted at animal house. The sample size included 174 albino wistar rats divided into 3 Groups, one control groups (C )Diabetic and untreated and two test groups . T1 -Diabetic and treated with metformin 75 mg/kgwt/day) and T2 (T – Diabetics treated with fenofibrate 100 mg/kgwt/day), with 58 rats in each group (29 male & 29 female). All the rats were treated with streptozotocin intra peritoneally and the diabetic state was induced. T1 group was treated with metformin 75 mg/kg/wt/day. The T2 group of rats were treated with Feno fibrate (FF) at a dose of 100 mg/kgwt/day.
Norepinephrine modulation of heat dissipation in female rats lacking estrogen

Postmenopausal hot flushes are caused by lack of estradiol (E2) but their neuroendocrine basis is still poorly understood. Here, we investigated the interrelationship between norepinephrine and hypothalamic neurons, with emphasis on kisspeptin neurons in the arcuate nucleus (ARC), as a regulatory pathway in the vasomotor effects of E2. Ovariectomized (OVX) rats displayed increased tail skin temperature (TST), and this increase was prevented in OVX rats treated with E2 (OVX + E2). Expression of Fos in the hypothalamus and the number of ARC kisspeptin neurons coexpressing Fos were increased in OVX rats. Likewise, brainstem norepinephrine neurons of OVX rats displayed higher Fos immunoreactivity associated with the increase in TST. In the ARC, the density of dopamine‐ß‐hydroxylase (DBH)‐immunoreactive (ir) fibers was not altered by E2 but, importantly, DBH‐ir terminals were found in close apposition to kisspeptin cells, revealing norepinephrine inputs to ARC kisspeptin neurons. Intracerebroventricular injection of the α2‐adrenergic agonist clonidine (CLO) was used to reduce central norepinephrine release, confirmed by the decreased 3‐methoxy‐4‐hydroxyphenylglycol/norepinephrine ratio in the preoptic area and ARC. Accordingly, CLO treatment in OVX rats reduced ARC Kiss1 mRNA levels and TST to the values of OVX + E2 rats. Conversely, CLO stimulated Kiss1 expression in the anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV) and increased luteinizing hormone secretion. These findings provide evidence that augmented heat dissipation in OVX rats involves the increase in central norepinephrine that modulates hypothalamic areas related to thermoregulation, including ARC kisspeptin neurons. This neuronal network is suppressed by E2 and its imbalance may be implicated in the vasomotor symptoms of postmenopausal hot flushes.
THE STUDY OF EXCHANGE RATES BEHAVIOR IN MALAYSIA BY USING NATREX MODEL

This paper aims to estimate equilibrium exchange rates and identify the determinants of macroeconomics fundamentals affecting exchange rates in Malaysia. By using Natural Real Exchange Rates (NATREX) model, this study adopts the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model to examine the long run relationships (or cointegration) among variables and the dynamic effect within variables in the short run for the period 1970 to 2012. The results suggest that the terms of trade, dependency ratio of the young, and foreign direct investment play an important role in influencing the exchange rates movement in Malaysia. The result also reveals that the misalignment of exchange rates is quite small and stable in Malaysia during 1983 to 2012, except in 1995.
Admission Patterns and Outcome in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Althawra Hospital: Al-Bayda, Libya

A retrospective cross sectional descriptive study to all children from age groups (1month to 15 years) presenting with critical illnesses to the PICU at the pediatric department of Al –Thawra Hospital, from June 2015 to December 2015. A total of 1043 children were admitted to PICU at Al Thawra Hospital, 54.1% were male and 45.9% were female with ratio male to female 1.1:1. Age distribution showed that 51% were infants (1month to 1year). Respiratory system, central nervous system, and gastrointestinal diseases (32.3%, 28 %, 13 %) respectively were the most common diseases requiring PICU admission, followed by infectious diseases (7%) cardiovascular (6%), others which include poisoning and trauma (7%), and least common endocrine (2%), hematology (1.3%), nephrology (1%), metabolic ( 0.7%), and oncology (0.5%). The overall mortality rate was 30 (2.87%) with higher proportion of males (22\30) died following admission compared to admitted females (8\30) and these differences were statistically significant. Infants had the highest proportion of the total death 22\30 which was statistically significant. Sepsis was the most common cause of total death 7\30 patients ( 23.33%) followed by 6\30 patients ( 20%) for each of CHD and pneumonia followed by couple patients (6.6%) for each of cerebral palsy, convulsion and others. One patient (3.33%) each for encephalitis, acute gastroenteritis, anemia, chronic renal failure, and malignancy. Nine hundred and five patients (86.76%) improved and discharged in satisfactory condition, 92 (8.82%) patients left against medical advice (LAMA), 61 (1,53%) patients were referred to more specified hospital and 30 patients died during the studied period. The estimated fatality rate was (2.87%). Infection remains a major problem for patients in intensive care units and associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. Pneumonia and congenital heart diseases were the most next common cause of death. Therefore, these patients require early referral and timely institution of therapy for better outcome, and intensive care facilities should be expanded to decrease child mortality.
Seasonality of host immunity in a tropical disease system

Infectious disease systems frequently exhibit strong seasonal patterns, yet the mechanisms that underpin intra-annual cycles are unclear, particularly in tropical regions. We hypothesized that host immune function fluctuates seasonally, contributing to oscillations in infection patterns in a tropical disease system. To test this hypothesis, we investigated a key host defense of amphibians against a lethal fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis ( Bd ). We integrated two field experiments in which we perturbed amphibian skin secretions, a critical host immune mechanism, in Panamanian rocket frogs ( Colostethus panamansis ). We found that this immunosuppressive technique of reducing skin secretions in wild frog populations increased Bd prevalence and infection intensity, indicating that this immune defense contributes to resistance to Bd in wild frog populations. We also found that the chemical composition and anti- Bd effectiveness of frog skin secretions varied across seasons, with greater pathogen inhibition during the dry season relative to the wet season. These results suggest that the effectiveness of this host defense mechanism shifts across seasons, likely contributing to seasonal infection patterns in a lethal disease system. More broadly, our findings indicate that host immune defenses can fluctuate across seasons, even in tropical regions where temperatures are relatively stable, which advances our understanding of intra-annual cycles of infectious disease dynamics.
ADSCs Combined with Melatonin Promote Peripheral Nerve Regeneration through Autophagy

Background In the early stage of nerve injury, damaged tissue is cleared by autophagy. ADSCs can promote nerve axon regeneration. However, the microenvironment of the injury was changed, and ADSCs are easily apoptotic after transplantation. Mel plays a role in the apoptosis, proliferation, and differentiation of ADSCs. Therefore, we investigated whether Mel combined with ADSCs promoted peripheral nerve regeneration by enhancing early autophagy of injured nerves. Materials and Methods SD rats were randomly split into the control group, model group, Mel group, ADSCs group, ADSCs + Mel group, and 3-MA group. On day 7, autophagy was observed and gait was detected on days 7, 14, 21, and 28. On the 28th day, the sciatic nerve of rats' renewal was detected. Results After 1 w, compare with the model group, the number of autophagosomes and lysosomes and the expressions of protein of LC3-II/LC3-I and Beclin-1 in the ADSCs + Mel group were prominently increased, while the 3-MA group was significantly decreased. After 4 w, the function of the sciatic nerve in ADSCs + Mel was similar to that in the control group. Compared with the model group, the ADSCs + Mel group significantly increased myelin regeneration and the number of motor neurons and reduced gastrocnemius atrophy. Conclusions It was confirmed that ADSCs combined with Mel could promote sciatic nerve regeneration in rats by changing the early autophagy activity of the injured sciatic nerve.
Torsion–Shear Behaviour at Interlocking Joints: Calibration of Discrete Element-Deformable Models Using Experimental and Numerical Analyses

ABSTRACT An interlocking block is a concave polyhedron with non-planar joints connecting the blocks together. The possibility of the fracture within a masonry interlocking block is a major challenge that has remained rather unexplored yet. Different fracture scenarios can be taken into account through considering the crack planes at which the block can be set apart. The plastic failure inside the block can also be represented through the continuum plastic deformation of the block composed of continuum finite elements. For an interlocking block with a cuboid projection above (lock), this paper intends to analyse the torsion–shear behaviour of the lock experimentally and numerically based on the discrete element method. Two strategies are developed to model a concave block: the lock and main body of an interlocking block are set to be rigid and connected with a cohesive contact in between; the concave interlocking polyhedron is set to be deformable with elasto-plastic behaviour. Given the same material properties, the torsion–shear capacities of the lock obtained by the two numerical models and the experimental test are compared to each other. A parametric analysis is then provided to calibrate the deformable model.
Incentive-based Demand Response Economic Model for Peak Shaving Considering Load Serving Entity Profit Maximization

In the smart grid electricity market, changes in consumer behaviors and price fluctuations can affect the benefits of Load Serving Entities. So, in this paper, the economic model of the incentive-based demand response program (IBDRP) is proposed based on the price elasticity of demand and consumer utility function. In peak hours and market price spikes, IBDRPs encourage active participation in managing consumption by paying incentives to customers to influence their consumption behaviors. This program benefits consumers and LSEs like retailers and aggregators by reducing consumer demands and increasing system reliability during peak hours and price spikes. Under the proposed model, the demand reduction is calculated. Then the value of optimal incentive price is obtained according to LSE's profit maximization problem. The implementation of this work is based on the smart grid, and we can implement it by using smart meters. So The proposed model is implemented in GAMS software and tested on data derived from a real-world power system.
Thermal Transport and Power Dissipation in Two-Dimensional (2D) Materials and Interfaces

Thermal and electrical transport characterization in devices based on two-dimensional (2D) materials have great implications in many areas such as nano- and optoelectronics, and energy generation, conversion, and storage systems. In many of these applications, the performance of the 2D-based devices is hindered by the heterogeneities such as grain boundaries (GBs) and interfaces. In the case of graphene, the effects of GBs on its electrical properties are well investigated. One of the goals of this dissertation is to establish an understanding on how individual graphene GBs affect the overall thermal properties of graphene films. Measurements on individual GBs are performed to identify the correlations between the thermal resistance imposed by the GBs and the crystallographic mismatch across the GB. Benchmarking the experimental results against theoretical predictions allows us to identify the governing mechanisms of the phonon scattering across GBs with different mismatch angles and morphological details. Next, the thermal transport in the through-plane direction is investigated which accounts for a major fraction of power dissipation from hot-spots in 2D-based devices. First, the interfacial thermal transport in graphene and MoS2 monolayers is characterized which may serve as the bottle-neck of dissipation in the through-plane direction. The effects of interface coupling and metal encapsulation are explored on thermal boundary conductance (TBC) across MoS2 and graphene monolayers. A system-level analysis of heat transport in the through-plane direction is also carried out to quantify the thermal dissipation limits in 2D-material-based structures on different technologically-viable substrates, e.g., diamond, aluminum nitride (AlN), sapphire, and silicon with different oxide types/thicknesses. The results highlight the importance of simultaneous optimization of the interfaces and the substrate and provides a route to maximize the heat removal capability of 2D-material-based devices. Another goal of this thesis was to develop a method for reliable fabrication of high-quality lateral interfaces between graphene and MoS2 monolayers for all-2D circuitry applications. The results show that the MoS2-graphene devices exhibit an order of magnitude higher mobility and lower noise metrics compared to the conventional MoS2-metal devices as a result of energy band rearrangement and smaller Schottky barrier height at the contacts.
Influence of Organic-Modified Inorganic Matrices on the Optical Properties of Palygorskite–Curcumin-Type Hybrid Materials

Clays are very important from an economic and application point of view, as they are suitable hosts for organic compounds. In order to diversify the fields of application, they are structurally modified by physical or chemical methods with cationic species, and/or different bifunctional compounds, such as organosilanes. In this study, palygorskite was modified with (3-Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane, which was subsequently modified at the amino group by grafting an acetate residue. By using this strategy, two types of host hybrid materials were obtained on which curcumin derivatives were deposited. The composites obtained were structurally characterized and their photophysical properties were investigated in relation to the structure of the host matrices and interactions with curcumin-type visiting species. The hybrid composites have different colors (orange, yellow, pink), depending on the polarity of the inorganic matrices modulated by different organic groups grafted at the surface. Fluorescence emission in the visible range is characterized by the presence of two emission maxima, one belonging to the chromophore and the other influenced by the physical interactions between auxochromes and host matrices. These hybrid materials, compared to other composite structures, are obtained by a simple adsorption process. They are temperature stable in aggressive environments (acid/base) and render the fluorescent properties of dyes redundant, with improved luminescent performance compared to them.