Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A novel platform using homobifunctional hydrazide for enrichment and isolation of urinary circulating RNAs

Abstract Changes in specific circulating RNA (circRNA) expressions can serve as diagnostic noninvasive biomarkers for prostate cancer (PCa). However, there are still unmet needs, such as unclear types and roles of circRNAs, PCa detection in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) by unstandardized methods, and limitations of sample volume capacity and low circRNA concentrations. This study reports a simple and rapid circRNA enrichment and isolation technique named “HAZIS‐CirR” for the analysis of urinary circRNAs. The method utilizes homobifunctional hydrazides with amine‐modified zeolite and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) syringe filtration for combining electrostatic and covalent coupling and size‐based filtration, and it offers instrument‐free isolation of circRNAs in 20 min without volume limitation, thermoregulation, and lysis. HAZIS‐CirR has high capture efficiency (82.03%–92.38%) and a 10‐fold more sensitive detection limit (20 fM) than before enrichment (200 fM). The clinical utility of HAZIS‐CirR is confirmed by analyzing circulating mRNAs and circulating miRNAs in 89 urine samples. Furthermore, three miRNA panels that differentiate PCa from BPH and control, PCa from control, and BPH from control, respectively, are established by comparing miRNA levels. HAZIS‐CirR will be used as an optimal and established method for the enrichment and isolation of circRNAs as diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive biomarkers in human cancers.
Parametric Amplification and Wavelength Conversion of Phase-Modulated Signals

In this thesis, parametric amplification and wavelength conversion based on four-wave mixing in materials with third-order nonlinearity are theoretically investigated. These processes may find a variety of applications in future high-capacity fiber-optic transmission systems including low-noise amplification with variable gain spectrum and arbitrary center wavelength, nonlinearity compensation during transmission through phase conjugation and contention resolution in network nodes through wavelength conversion. Beside their flexibility, one of the expected key advantages for such devices is the possibility for modulation format and bit rate independent operation enabling transparent networking. However, while phase-modulation formats are widespread used in the current transmission systems, most of the previous publications on parametric processes considered only amplitude-modulation formats like on-off keying. Since a detailed investigation is still pending, the focus of the work is put on aspects regarding the processing of phase-shift keying (PSK) formats. Different direct (differential 2and 4-PSK) and coherent detection formats (2-PSK, 4-PSK, 8-PSK) as well as 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM) as a format carrying both amplitude and phase modulation are considered. While various nonlinear materials are available, the thesis is restricted to two of the most promising devices, namely the highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF) and the semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). They are examined using analytical and numerical calculations with models that are presented in detail within the thesis. The analysis shows that both parametric devices introduce different types of phase distortions that
The Impact of the Capital Structure on Financial Performance: An Applied Study on the Saudi Basic Materials Companies

This study aimed to measure the impact of the capital structure on the financial performance of basic materials companies listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) during the period (2014-2021). The study relied on a number of independent variables to measure financial performance (the ratio of total debts to total assets, the ratio of Total debt to equity, the ratio of long-term debt to total assets), and ROE was used as an independent variable to measure financial performance. The study targeted all Saudi public shareholding basic materials companies listed in the Saudi financial market, a sample of (42) companies were selected, which represent the study population. To verify the acceptance or rejection of the study’s hypotheses, the descriptive statistics method was followed, and the multiple linear regression model was used. The researcher concluded that there is a positive and statistically significant effect of the total debt to the equity of the study sample companies, and the absence of a significant effect of (total debt to total assets and long-term debt to total assets) on the financial performance. The study recommended that Saudi companies should use both short-term and long-term debt to finance their operations, which has a positive impact on financial performance. The study also recommended the Saudi Capital Market Authority to issue guidelines for Saudi public shareholding companies that contain the advantages that companies obtain from managing the capital structure with high efficiency and its repercussions on financial performance.
Microencapsulation of Ruellia tuberosa L. Aqueous Root Extracts Using Chitosan-Sodium Tripolyphosphate and Their In Vitro Biological Activities

The current study aims to perform microencapsulation of R. tuberosa L. extracts using chitosan crosslinked to sodium tripolyphosphate (NaTPP) as wall materials by spray drying and to analyze their in vitro biological activities. The influence of manufacturing conditions, like pH, chitosan concentration, and stirrer time, was assessed. Results showed that microcapsules prepared in pH 4 with a concentration of 0.1% (w/v) chitosan, and 90 min stirring time had 51.80% encapsulation efficiency and high in vitro biological activity. These were shown by high in vitro alpha amylase inhibition and antioxidant activity with IC50 values of 50.65 μg/mL and 123.97 μg/mL, respectively. Releases of the bioactive compounds in microcapsules of R. tuberosa L. were carried out on phosphate buffer medium pH 2.2 and pH 7.4 with times release of 30, 60, 90, and 120 min. The bioactive compounds were released in pH 2.2 in 120 min at 2.48%. At pH 7.4, the active ingredients were more easily released, by 79.90% in 120 min. The microcapsules' morphology showed a rough surface with spherical forms and the average sizes were 53.41 μm. This study supports the essential role of microencapsulation in improving plant extracts with reserved biological activities.
Fire and Explosion Hazards Expected in a Laboratory

Scientists at universities across Iraq are actively working to report actual incidents and accidents occurring in their laboratories, as well as structural improvements made to improve safety and security, to raise awareness and encourage openness, leading to widespread adoption of robust Chemical Safety and Security (CSS) practices. This manuscript is the fifth in a series of five case studies describing laboratory incidents, accidents, and laboratory improvements. In this study, we summarize unsafe practices involving the improper installation of a Gas Chromatograph (GC) at an Iraqi university which, if not corrected, could have resulted in a dangerous fire and explosion. We outline how the identified infractions were corrected and highlight lessons learned. By openly sharing the experiences at the university involved, we hope to minimize the possibility of another researcher being injured due to similarly unsafe practices in the future. Scientists at universities across Iraq are actively working to report actual incidents and accidents occurring in their laboratories in order to encourage openness and encourage widespread adoption of robust Chemical Safety and Security (CSS) practices. In this manuscript, the fifth of a five case studies, we report safety hazards associated with the improper installation of a gas chromatograph in the postgraduate laboratory at Al-Nahrain University. After the university's CSS committee was formed, representatives from the committee inspected the laboratory and observed a number of fire and explosion hazards. The CSS Committee's findings and associated lessons learned are summarized in this manuscript in order to help other institutions minimize such safety hazards when installing new equipment in the future.
Health-Related Quality of Life in Spanish Schoolchildren and Its Association with the Fitness Status and Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) allows knowing the subject’s feelings in distress and well-being, as well as perception of current and future health. Objective: To assess associations between health-related quality of life, fitness status, and adherence to the Mediterranean diet in Spanish children and adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in a sample of 305 (47.2% women) children and adolescents aged between 8 and 16 years, in the primary and secondary schools of the province of Ávila (central Spain) (NCT05380674). Subjects were classified according to their quality of life: group 1 (highest quality of life) > group 2 (medium quality of life) > group 3 (lowest quality of life). Results: More participants in group 1 showed higher adherence to Mediterranean diet (70.8%) than other groups (group 2: 55.0%; group 3: 43.4%). It was less likely to find optimal levels of muscle strength as quality of life decreased (OR; 95% CI: group 2: 0.535; 0.303–0.955; and group 3: 0.424; 0.234–0.768). Similar trends were found for speed and agility, but only group 3 showed significant results (OR; 95% CI: group 3: 0.297; 0.162–0.545). Flexibility was also the worst in groups 2 and 3 (OR; 95% CI: G2: 0.403; 0.213–0.762; and group 3: 0.520; 0.282–0.958). Conclusion: High fitness status and adherence to the Mediterranean diet were associated with improved health-related quality of life in schoolchildren of central Spain.
Late Paleozoic Flexural Extension and Overprinting Shortening in the Southern Ozark Dome, Arkansas, USA: Evolving Fault Kinematics in the Foreland of the Ouachita Orogen

Faults and folds on the southern flank of the Ozark dome in northern Arkansas, USA, record flexural extension in a foreland area followed by shortening in response to the late Paleozoic Ouachita orogeny. Map‐scale structures and an analysis of fault‐slip data collected systematically during geologic mapping demonstrate that most deformation in the area accommodated north‐south extension as the southern margin of Laurentia was flexed beneath the thrust load of the Ouachita belt, probably during Middle Pennsylvanian. Extension was concentrated in northeast‐ and west‐northwest‐trending structural zones having sets of discontinuous, often en echelon normal and strike‐slip faults and associated monoclinal folds. Reactivation of basement weaknesses that underlie these zones is indicated by their close match to oblique‐rift models in which both the proportions of normal and strike‐slip faulting and the internal extension directions vary with orientation of the zones. Subsequent propagation of north‐south Ouachita shortening into the foreland formed small‐offset strike‐slip and sparse reverse faults that overprinted older extensional structures. Strike‐slip faults were concentrated in reactivated northeast‐trending structural zones. In two areas, reverse faults and local anticlines were developed in the footwalls of older normal faults, both near intersections of northeast‐ and west‐northwest‐trending structural zones. These are interpreted as areas of incipient inversion due to compressional stress concentrations at fault‐block corners. Spatial overlap of areas of north‐south shortening and fluid flux marked by silicification or lead‐zinc mineralization indicates that regional fluid flow of brines was coeval with and may have enhanced inversion during Late Pennsylvanian to early Permian.
Evaluation of Human Papilloma Virus 16/18 Antibody Titer Seven Years after Vaccination with Cervarix among Adolescent Girls of Bangladesh

Background: Prevention of HPV infection by prophylactic vaccination is a critical step in reducing the cervical cancer burden. A pilot study was conducted to evaluate the serological immune response to the bHPV vaccine in adolescent Bangladeshi girls at 7th months of vaccination. This is the first in depth follow up study in Bangladesh to directly evaluate the long-term immunogenicity of the bHPV vaccine by measuring sustained HPV16/18 antibody titer seven years after vaccination. Objective: To determine the long-term immune response against HPV16/18 induced by the immunization with bivalent human papilloma virus (bHPV) 16/18 ASO4 adjuvanted vaccine by measuring the antigen specific antibody titer. Materials & Method: This was a cross- sectional observational study conducted among 30 adolescent Bangladeshi girls from October 2015 to September 2016 who were vaccinated with 3 doses of bHPV vaccine from December 2008 to June 2009 in the Division of Gynaecological Oncology of BSMMU. Antibody titer against bHPV 16/18 ASO4 adjuvanted cervical cancer vaccine was measured in the serum of the 30 vaccinee in the Virology laboratory of BSMMU using DRG HPV IgG ELISA (REF.EIA- 4907) kit. Data were analyzed by using SPSS version 21. Results: The mean age of the population was 17.9±1.2 years. Among 30 vaccinated subjects, vaccine-induced long-term anti-HPV ELISA seropositivity was 93.33% (with 95% CI) for both HPV 16/18 types measured at year seven post-vaccination. Immunization with the HPV16/18 L1 virus-like particle vaccine adjuvanted with AS04 induced sustained high levels of antibodies among adolescent Bangladeshi girls against high-risk HPV genotypes 16/18. Conclusion: Vaccination with bHPV is predicted to provide long-term protection against HPV infection and subsequent development of high-grade cervical lesions and cancer. Bangladesh J Obstet Gynaecol, 2019; Vol. 34(2): 72-78
A B/S-Based Computer-Aided Translation Teaching Method

English and Chinese are fundamentally different in many ways, due to which miscommunications are common in both languages. For this purpose, there are several English-Chinese translation systems available these days, but most of them provide a sluggish interactive experience, primarily due to erroneous language, grammatical problems, imprecise pronunciation of the system, and slow translation feedback speed. Therefore, there is a need to develop an efficient and collaborative system. Due to these factors, this paper proposes an interactive machine translation system for English-Chinese based on the B/S architecture to aid communication between English and Chinese speakers in both directions. This system is designed based on the B/S three-layer architecture. To achieve the desired results, this paper explains the machine translations mode and then implements the overall system design based on the process of system operation, algorithm for translation enhancement, network structure, and application, respectively. Lastly, an investigational platform is created using the WINCC6.0 operating system to evaluate the overall system performance. Results of the system testing demonstrate that the comprehensive score of manual evaluation is 3.769 points, which is higher than the limit value of 3.5, which shows that the system’s translation quality is high and that it can fulfill the expectations of users.
Coastal high-frequency radars in the Mediterranean – Part 2: Applications in support of science priorities and societal needs

Abstract. The Mediterranean Sea is a prominent climate-change hot spot, with many socioeconomically vital coastal areas being the most vulnerable targets for maritime safety, diverse met-ocean hazards and marine pollution. Providing an unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution at wide coastal areas, high-frequency radars (HFRs) have been steadily gaining recognition as an effective land-based remote sensing technology for continuous monitoring of the surface circulation, increasingly waves and occasionally winds. HFR measurements have boosted the thorough scientific knowledge of coastal processes, also fostering a broad range of applications, which has promoted their integration in coastal ocean observing systems worldwide, with more than half of the European sites located in the Mediterranean coastal areas. In this work, we present a review of existing HFR data multidisciplinary science-based applications in the Mediterranean Sea, primarily focused on meeting end-user and science-driven requirements, addressing regional challenges in three main topics: (i) maritime safety, (ii) extreme hazards and (iii) environmental transport process. Additionally, the HFR observing and monitoring regional capabilities in the Mediterranean coastal areas required to underpin the underlying science and the further development of applications are also analyzed. The outcome of this assessment has allowed us to provide a set of recommendations for future improvement prospects to maximize the contribution to extending science-based HFR products into societally relevant downstream services to support blue growth in the Mediterranean coastal areas, helping to meet the UN's Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and the EU's Green Deal goals.
CAMBRA Protocol Efficacy: A Systematic Review and Critical Appraisal

The Caries Management by Risk Assessment (CAMBRA) protocol consists of analyzing the patient’s profile by assessing the risk and protective factors and assigning a risk level to the patient to allow an individualized treatment plan, which combines restorative treatments with a preventive chemical therapy. This systematic review and critical appraisal aim to evaluate the effectiveness of the CAMBRA protocol in reducing the incidence of caries lesions and oral bacterial load. An electronic search was carried out in the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Embase databases. Clinical studies evaluating the incidence of dental caries lesions and/or the reduction of cariogenic bacterial load (Streptococcus mutans and/or Lactobacilli spp.), with at least an intervention group that follows the CAMBRA protocol and a control group published up until January 2022, were included. The methodological quality assessment of the included clinical studies was assessed through the Revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials (RoB 2). The quality of the case-control study was evaluated according to the Methodological Index for Non-Randomized Studies (ROBINS-I). There is currently no scientific evidence to recommend the integration of the CAMBRA protocol into clinical practice. The results reported by the studies included in the systematic review do not suggest a decrease in the incidence of dental caries lesions and/or bacterial load. There is a clear need for the development of new clinical studies with an adequate methodology and follow-up, both for the CAMBRA protocol and for its components individually.
Upper-ocean flux of biogenic calcite produced by the Arctic planktonic foraminifera Neogloboquadrina pachyderma

Abstract. With ongoing warming and sea ice loss, the Arctic Ocean and its marginal seas as a habitat for pelagic calcifiers are changing, possibly resulting in modifications of the regional carbonate cycle and the composition of the seafloor sediment. A substantial part of the pelagic carbonate production in the Arctic is due to the calcification of the dominant planktonic foraminifera species Neogloboquadrina pachyderma. To quantify carbonate production and loss in the upper water layer by this important Arctic calcifier, we compile and analyse data from vertical profiles in the upper water column of shell number concentration, sizes and weights of this species across the Arctic region during summer. Our data are inconclusive on whether the species performs ontogenetic vertical migration throughout its life cycle or whether individual specimens calcify at a fixed depth within the vertical habitat. The base of the productive zone of the species is on average located below 100 m and at maximum at 300 m and is regionally highly variable. The calcite flux immediately below the productive zone (export flux) is on average 8 mg CaCO3 m−2 d−1, and we observe that this flux is attenuated until at least 300 m below the base of the productive zone by a mean rate of 6.6 % per 100 m. Regionally, the summer export flux of N. pachyderma calcite varies by more than 2 orders of magnitude, and the estimated mean export flux below the twilight zone is sufficient to account for about a quarter of the total pelagic carbonate flux in the region. These results indicate that estimates of the Arctic pelagic carbonate budget will have to account for large regional differences in the export flux of the major pelagic calcifiers and confirm that substantial attenuation of the export flux occurs in the twilight zone.
Effectiveness of the Novel Anti-TB Bedaquiline against Drug-Resistant TB in Africa: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Background: In 2018, an estimated 10.0 million people contracted tuberculosis (TB), and 1.5 million died from it, including 1.25 million HIV-negative persons and 251,000 HIV-associated TB fatalities. Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is an important contributor to global TB mortality. Multi-drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) is defined as TB resistant to at least isoniazid (INH) and rifampin (RMP), which are recommended by the WHO as essential drugs for treatment. Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of bedaquiline addition to the treatment of drug-resistant TB infections on the African continent. Methodology: The search engine databases Medline, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Embase were used to obtain published data pertaining to DR-TB between 2012 and 2021 in Africa. Included studies had to document clinical characteristics at treatment initiation and outcomes at the end of treatment (i.e., success, failure, recurrence, loss to follow-up, and death). The included studies were used to conduct a meta-analysis. All data analysis and visualization were performed using the R programming environment. The log risk ratios and sample variances were calculated for DR-TB patients treated with BBQ monotherapy vs. BDQ and other drug therapy. To quantify heterogeneity among the included studies, random effect sizes were calculated. Results: A total of 16 studies in Africa from Mozambique (N = 1 study), Eswatini (N = 1 study), Democratic Republic of the Congo (N = 1 study), South Africa (N = 12 studies), and a multicenter study undertaken across Africa (N = 1 study) were included. In total, 22,368 individuals participated in the research studies. Among the patients, (55.2%; 12,350/22,368) were male while 9723/22,368 (44%) were female. Overall, (9%; 2033/22,368) of patients received BDQ monotherapy, while (88%; 19,630/22,368) patients received bedaquiline combined with other antibiotics. In total, (42%; 9465/22,368) of the patients were successfully treated. About (39%; 8653/22,368) of participants finished their therapy, meanwhile (5%; 1166/22,368) did not finish their therapy, while people (0.4%; 99/22,368) were lost to follow up. A total of (42%; 9265/22,368) patients died. Conclusion: Very few studies on bedaquiline usage in DR-TB in Africa have been published to date. Bedaquiline has been shown to enhance DR-TB results in clinical studies and programmatic settings. Hence, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that it be included in DR-TB regimens. However, in the current study limited improvement to DR-TB treatment results were observed using BDQ on the continent. Better in-country monitoring and reporting, as well as multi-country collaborative cohort studies of DR-TB, can expand the knowledge of bedaquiline usage and clinical impact, as well as the risks and benefits throughout the continent.