Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A fast and robust method for the extraction and analysis of quaternary alkyl ammonium compounds from soil and sewage sludge

Alkyltrimethylammonium compounds (ATMACs), dialkyldimethylammonium compounds (DADMACs) and benzylalkyldimethylethylammonium compounds (BACs) are quaternary alkylammonium compounds (QAAC), which are released into the environment in large quantities after their use in cleaning agents and disinfectants. Despite their potential role as selective agents promoting resistance against QAACs as well as antibiotics, there is a lack of data for QAACs in soil due to the lack of sensitive analytical methods. Therefore, we present a robust and fast method for the extraction and quantification of concentrations of these compounds in soil and sewage sludge. The method is based on ultrasonic extraction (USE) with a mixture of acetonitrile and HCl followed by a solid phase extraction (SPE) cleaning step and a subsequent quantification of concentrations with high performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) in multi mass reaction mode (MRM). The proposed method is suitable for the quantification of ATMACs (chain length C-8 to C-16), BACs (C-8 to C-18) and DADMACs (C-8 to C-16). The achieved limits of quantification (LOQ) range from 0.1 μg kg-1 to 2.1 μg kg-1. The recovery rates of spiked soil samples for non-deuterated homologues were between 47% and 57%. The analysis of sewage sludge samples and soil samples revealed that BAC-C12 was the most abundant QAAC with concentrations up to 38600 μg kg-1 in sewage sludge and up to 81 μg kg-1 in a Mexican soil that was irrigated with wastewater. Overall, the presented methods open perspectives for effectively studying fate and effects of QAACs in soils.
Potential effects of abiotic factors on the abundance of autotrophic picoplankton in four boreal lakes

The seasonality of autotrophic picoplankton (APP) in four boreal lakes of varying trophic state and light availability was studied. Red-fluorescing cyanobacteria (CyAPP) dominated the APP in three lakes, but in the fourth, most humic lake, Valkea Kotinen, eukaryotic picoalgal cells (EuAPP) predominated. The most productive, least humic, and stratified lake (Ormajarvi) was the only one in which low numbers of orange-fluorescing cyanobacteria were present in winter (7 X 10 2 cells ml -1 ) and early spring (1 X 10 2 cells ml -1 ) under the ice cover. The numbers of CyAPP did not correspond to the trophic status of the lakes. The highest average and maximal number of CyAPP were recorded in shallow and moderately productive Jylisjarvi (6.2 × 10 5 cells ml -1 ) while the lowest number (8 × 10 4 cells ml -1 ) was recorded in the deepest lake, Paajarvi, with fairly similar water quality. Light availability and water temperature seemed to be more important abiotic factor in regulating CyAPP and EuAPP density than nutrient concentrations. In the deepest lakes, light and temperature correlated very strongly with density of CyAPP in spring, while in the shallowest lake this correlation only occurred in autumn. Although light and temperature were occasinally significantly correlated with EuAPP cell density, no common trend throughout all the seasons (as seen for prokaryotic APP) was found.
Effect of Hydrated Sodium Calcium Aluminosilicate on the Prevention of the Toxic Effects of Ochratoxin

SUMMARY We studied the efficacy of hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate (HSCAS) as an inhibitor of the toxic effects of ochratoxin in broilers from 1 to 42 d of age. A total of 288 broilers was distributed into four treatments with four replicates of 18 birds each: T1, control; T2, 0.25% HSCAS; T3, 2 ppm of ochratoxin; T4, 0.25% HSCAS + 2 ppm ochratoxin. The parameters evaluated were feed intake; weight gain; feed conversion; relative weights of the liver, kidneys, and bursa; and serum levels of Ca, P, total protein (TP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and γ-glutamiltransferase (GGT). Ochratoxin in the diet negatively affected (P < 0.05) all performance parameters evaluated when the birds were 21 and 42 d of age. However, HSCAS did not affect performance, and there was no interaction between HSCAS and dietary ochratoxin. The liver and the kidneys of birds fed ochratoxin with or without HSCAS were relatively heavier (P < 0.05) than those of the control birds, demonstrating the influence of ochratoxin, but not of HSCAS, on the relative weight of these organs. Although the bursa of birds exposed to ochratoxin with or without HSCAS had a lower relative weight as compared to control birds, the difference was not significant. Ca, P, and TP serum levels were lower (P < 0.05) in birds exposed to ochratoxin, whereas AST and GGT levels were higher (P < 0.05) in these birds. These results reflect that ochratoxin in the diet impaired the productivity indexes and that HSCAS did not improve these parameters.
3D Printing and Solvent Dissolution Recycling of Polylactide–Lunar Regolith Composites by Material Extrusion Approach

The in situ resource utilization of lunar regolith is of great significance for the development of planetary materials science and space manufacturing. The material extrusion deposition approach provides an advanced method for fabricating polylactide/lunar regolith simulant (PLA/CLRS-1) components. This work aims to fabricate 3D printed PLA–lunar regolith simulant (5 and 10 wt.%) components using the material extrusion 3D printing approach, and realize their solvent dissolution recycling process. The influence of the lunar regolith simulant on the mechanical and thermal properties of the 3D printed PLA/CLRS-1 composites is systematically studied. The microstructure of 3D printed PLA/CLRS-1 parts was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray computed tomography (XCT) analysis. The results showed that the lunar regolith simulant can be fabricated and combined with a PLA matrix utilizing a 3D printing process, only slightly influencing the mechanical performance of printed specimens. Moreover, the crystallization process of PLA is obviously accelerated by the addition of CLRS-1 because of heterogeneous nucleation. Additionally, by using gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) characterization, it is found that the 3D printing and recycling processes have a negligible influence on the chemical structure and molecular weight of the PLA/CLRS-1 composites. As a breakthrough, we successfully utilize the lunar regolith simulant to print components with satisfactory mechanical properties and confirm the feasibility of recycling and reusing 3D printed PLA/CLRS-1 components via the solvent dissolution recycling approach.
Mesenchymal Stromal Cells as a Therapeutic Intervention

Mesenchymal stem cells, also known as mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), are a safe and promising biologic therapeutic for inducing tissue repair and regeneration in a broad array of chronic diseases. The mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of MSCs include immunomodulation, reduction in inflammation and fibrosis, and stimula tion of neovascularization and endogenous regeneration. Accumulating evidence from a multitude of clinical trials support the notion that both autologous and allogeneic MSCs are not only safe but also possess the capacity for repair of diverse organ systems and amelioration of multiple chronic disease processes. However, there are many questions regarding the underlying mechanisms of action, the most efficacious cell characteristics, tissue source, dose/concentration, route of delivery, and timing of administration, interactions with concurrent therapies, sustainability of effect, donor and patient characteris - tics, and adverse effects, including infections and malignancy, that remain to be resolved. Answering these questions will require well-designed and rigorously conducted multi- center clinical trials with well-established and defined clinical endpoints and appropri ately defined patient populations, number of patients, and duration of follow-up. This chapter will review the current state of knowledge in the use of MSCs as a therapeutic strategy for organ structural and functional repair in chronic diseases.
Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Vascular Inflammation Model on Microfluidic Chip

Inflammation is the initiation of defense of our body against harmful stimuli. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), originating from outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, causes inflammation in the animal’s body and can develop several diseases. In order to study the inflammatory response to LPS of blood vessels in vitro, 2D models have been mainly used previously. In this study, a microfluidic device was used to investigate independent inflammatory response of endothelial cells by LPS and interaction of inflamed blood vessel with monocytic THP-1 cells. Firstly, the diffusion of LPS across the collagen gel into blood vessel was simulated using COMSOL. Then, inflammatory response to LPS in engineered blood vessel was confirmed by the expression of Intercellular Adhesion Molecule 1 (ICAM-1) and VE-cadherin of blood vessel, and THP-1 cell adhesion and migration assay. Upregulation of ICAM-1 and downregulation of VE-cadherin in an LPS-treated condition was observed compared to normal condition. In the THP-1 cell adhesion and migration assay, the number of adhered and trans-endothelial migrated THP-1 cells were not different between conditions. However, migration distance of THP-1 was longer in the LPS treatment condition. In conclusion, we recapitulated the inflammatory response of blood vessels and the interaction of THP-1 cells with blood vessels due to the diffusion of LPS.
Building Learning Path of Mathematical Creative Thinking of Junior Students on Geometry Topics by Implementing Metacognitive Approach

Mathematical creative ability is one of the most important skills students must have to process the information provided in resolving the problem. Before using mathematical creative skills, prior knowledge becomes the most crucial thing that allows students to connect all existing information so that they can construct new knowledge through assimilation or accommodation processes. The process of forming mathematical concepts with metacognitive questions that might be carried out by students causes a metacognitive process in students that will affect their mathematical behavior. The purpose of this study is to (1) analyze prior knowledge of what students miss or forget so that they have difficulty to answer the given geometry problem, (2) how the learning path of creative thinking of students with the application of metacognitive approach. This type of research is Design Research to improve the quality of learning. This type of research is research design, data collection techniques . The researcher gave 2 geometry questions to 38 8th graders selected randomly in SMP Medan city. Questions given are tailored to Cognitive level 4 (C4) for questions 1 and C5 for question 2 based on Bloom's taxonomy. Data analysis techniques are descriptive qualitative.This study shows that prior knowledge becomes important to build students' mathematical creative ability to gain new knowledge, especially in the field of geometry. The most problematic topics that make it difficult for them to understand geometry are the area of the rectangle and the cube webs. In dividing the rectangle into two equal parts, students still have not created another form of flat build or have not been able to get out of the rectangular pattern or exactly the same as the available problem. There are five phases of learning trajectory of hierarchically creative mathematical thinking, which is orientation to problem, problem solving plan, plan realization, previous knowledge mastery / concept of mathematical creativity and evaluation of result obtained. Students do metacognition on the learning path of creative thinking in a comprehensive way from evaluation to planning, action to the formation of prior knowledge and selection of creative ideas. From these explanations, it is important that teachers need to ensure students have enough prior knowledge to make it easier to construct new knowledge, as well as to make learning fun and meaningful so that students will remember knowledge in long-term memory.
Bacteriostatic and Bactericidal Effect of Tigecycline on Leptospira spp.

Tigecycline is a relatively new antimicrobial, belonging to glycylcyclines with antimicrobial activity against a large spectrum of bacteria. Very few data are available on its effect on Leptospira spp. , which consist in a bacteriostatic mechanism. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the bacteriostatic and bactericidal effect of tigecycline on reference Leptospira strains belonging to 16 serovars. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined through the microdilutions method, and tetracycline was used as the control. Results showed that tigecycline had higher MIC and MBC values than tetracycline. Obtained MIC values were between 4 and 32 µg/mL, while MBC values between 16 and >128 µg/mL. Patoc (MIC: 4 µg/mL; MBC: 16 µg/mL) resulted in the most susceptible serovar, while the most resistant were Bataviae (MIC: 32 µg/mL; MBC: 64 µg/mL), Bratislava (MIC: 8 µg/mL; MBC 128 µg/mL), and Tarassovi (MIC: 8 µg/mL; MBC: >128 µg/mL). This is the first investigation focused on the effect of tigecycline against Leptospira spp. reference strains. Since tigecycline is used as a treatment for bacteremia and urinary tract disease, and these symptoms could be linked to Leptospira infection, the possibility of using this antibiotic as a treatment for leptospirosis should be evaluated. Further studies are needed to explore the possibility to use tigecycline for in vivo application against Leptospira.
Undergraduate Student Gender, Personality and Academic Confidence

Within a socio-situational and socio-behavioural context, the relationships between the Big Five personality traits and the academic confidence of university students and how they differed by sex of the student was explored. Previous research has identified both conscientiousness and academic confidence as being linked to university performance. In respect of sex, female students have been found to score higher on all of the Big Five measures, whereas the relationship between sex and academic confidence has been mixed. Using self-report measures of personality and academic confidence from 1523 Spanish students, it was found that the female students were more confident in their grades, studying and attendance components of academic confidence and had higher scores for conscientiousness, agreeableness and neuroticism personality measures. A multiple regression analysis found that personality predicts academic confidence, with conscientiousness being the trait that statistically loaded the most strongly. This research further confirms the validity of the Academic Behavioural Confidence scale and suggests that measures of personality and, especially, academic confidence could be usefully used in student support situations to help students acquire the strategies and skills that lead to successful university study. It is suggested that further research in the area needs to include outcome or achievement measures and measures of hypothetical constructs, such as personality and academic confidence, that go beyond self-report measures.
Purchases of psychotropic drugs among the migrant population in Finland: a nationwide register-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND Migrant populations may have different mental health service needs when compared with native populations. One indicator of service use is the use of psychotropic medication. The aim of this study was to compare the purchases of psychotropic drugs among different migrant populations with the native population in Finland. METHODS Foreign-born participants (n = 184 805) and their Finnish-born controls (n = 185 183) were identified from the Finnish Central Population Register. Information on their purchases of psychotropic drugs in 2011-15 was collected from the National Prescription Register. A washout period of 2009-10 was used to define incident purchases. Cox regression analysis was the statistical method used. RESULTS At least one incident purchase of a psychotropic drug was identified for 11.1% of migrant women, 11.4% of Finnish-born women, 8.7% of migrant men and 9.8% of Finnish-born men. When controlled for age, sex, marital status, socioeconomic status and social assistance, migrants were less likely to purchase psychotropic drugs (adjusted hazard ratio 0.96, 95% confidence interval 0.93-0.98), but there was variation between different drug categories. Recent migrants and migrants from Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa were least likely to purchase drugs. Migrants from Nordic countries and other Western countries most closely resembled the Finnish-born controls. CONCLUSIONS Recent migrants in Finland appear to use fewer psychotropic drugs than native Finns. It is important to analyze the reasons for this pattern, as they may indicate delays in access to care or benefits. The heterogeneity of migrant populations must also be considered when developing services to better address their needs.
The Use of Curcumin as a Complementary Therapy in Ulcerative Colitis: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Clinical Trials

The objective of this study was to systematically review the literature to verify the efficacy and safety of curcumin as a complementary therapy for the maintenance or induction of remission in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). A comprehensive search was conducted by two independent authors in MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, Lilacs, Food Science and Technology Abstracts, and ScienceDirect. The search terms “curcumin”, “curcuma”, “inflammatory bowel disease”, “proctocolitis”, “crohn disease”, and “inflammation” were combined to create search protocols. This study considered randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in any language before March 2020 that evaluated the effects of curcumin on inflammatory activity and the maintenance or remission of IBD patients. After duplicates were removed, 989 trials were identified, but only 11 met the eligibility criteria. Five of these were considered to be biased and were excluded. Therefore, six trials were considered in this review. All the studies included in the systematic review were placebo-controlled RCTs conducted on individuals with ulcerative colitis (UC). All the RCTs reported that curcumin was well tolerated and was not associated with any serious side effects. Studies show that curcumin may be a safe, effective therapy for maintaining remission in UC when administered with standard treatments. However, the same cannot be stated for Crohn’s disease due to the lack of low bias risk studies. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed before curcumin can be recommended as a complementary therapy for UC.
Cytotoxic Effects of Cannabinoids on Human HT-29 Colorectal Adenocarcinoma Cells: Different Mechanisms of THC, CBD, and CB83

In this study, we investigated the effects of exposition to IC50 dose for 24 h of a new synthetic cannabinoid (CB83) and of phytocannabinoids Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) on HT-29 colorectal carcinoma cells. Cell viability and proliferative activity evaluated using the MTT, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and CyQUANT assays showed that cell viability was significantly affected when CB83, THC, and CBD were administered to cells. The results obtained showed that the reduced glutathione/oxidized glutathione ratio was significantly reduced in the cells exposed to CBD and significantly increased in the cells treated with the CB83 when compared to the controls. CBD treatment causes a significant increase in malondialdehyde content. The catalase activity was significantly reduced in HT-29 cells after incubation with CB83, THC, and CBD. The activities of glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidase were significantly increased in cells exposed to THC and significantly decreased in those treated with CBD. The ascorbic acid content was significantly reduced in cells exposed to CB83, THC, and CBD. The ultrastructural investigation by TEM highlighted a significantly increased percentage of cells apoptotic and necrotic after CB83 exposition. The Annexin V-Propidium Iodide assay showed a significantly increased percentage of cells apoptotic after CB83 exposition and necrotic cells after CBD and THC exposition. Our results proved that only CBD induced oxidative stress in HT-29 colorectal carcinoma cells via CB receptor-independent mechanisms and that CB83 caused a mainly CB2 receptor-mediated antiproliferative effect comparable to 5-Fuorouracil, which is still the mainstay drug in protocols for colorectal cancer.
Mobile Phone Addiction and Risk-Taking Behavior among Chinese Adolescents: A Moderated Mediation Model

Objectives: The mobile phone (MP) is an indispensable digital device in adolescents’ daily lives in the contemporary era, but being addicted to MP can lead to more risk-taking behavior. However, little is known about the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this relation. To address the gaps in the literature, the present study examined the idea that MP addiction is associated with reduced self-control, which further associates with increased risk-taking behavior. In addition, this study also investigated the moderation effect of adolescent sex in the association between MP addiction and self-control. Methods: A three-wave longitudinal study, each wave spanning six months apart, was conducted in a sample of Chinese adolescents (final N = 333, 57.4% girls). Results: Results of the moderated mediation model suggest that after controlling for demographic variables and baseline levels of self-control and risk-taking behavior, MP addiction at T1 positively predicted increased risk-taking behavior at T3 through reduced self-control at T2 for girls but not for boys. Conclusions: Theoretically, these findings contribute to the understanding about the working processes in the association between MP addiction and risk-taking behavior in adolescents. Practically, the results implied that boosting self-control appeared as a promising way to reduce girls’ risk-taking behavior, particularly for those who are addicted to MPs.
Quantized Adaptive Finite-Time Bipartite NN Tracking Control for Stochastic Multiagent Systems

This article investigates the quantized adaptive finite-time bipartite tracking control problem for high-order stochastic pure-feedback nonlinear multiagent systems with sensor faults and Prandtl–Ishlinskii (PI) hysteresis. Different from the existing finite-time control results, the nonlinearity of each agent is totally unknown in this article. To overcome the difficulties caused by asymmetric hysteresis quantization and PI hysteresis, a new distributed control method is proposed by adopting the adaptive compensation technique without estimating the lower bounds of parameters. Radial basis function neural networks are employed to estimate unknown nonlinear functions and solve the problem of algebraic loop caused by the pure-feedback nonlinear systems. Then, an adaptive neural-network compensation control approach is proposed to tackle the problem of sensor faults. The problem of the “explosion of complexity” caused by repeated differentiations of the virtual controller is solved by using the dynamic surface control technique. Based on the Lyapunov stability theorem, it is proved that all signals of the closed-loop systems are semiglobal practical finite-time stable in probability, and the bipartite tracking control performance is achieved. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy is verified by some simulation results.