Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sero-prevalence and associated risk factors of Hepatitis B among adults attending selected government hospitals in Nigeria

: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is one of the major public health problems globally. This study aims to determine the frequency of occurrence of HBV infection and associated risk factors for acquisition of the disease in clinically-ill adult patients attending selected government hospitals in Ondo State, Nigeria. Seven hundred and sixty-seven (767) ill adult individuals attending five medical out-patient Departments of the hospitals who consented to the study were recruited for the investigation. A structured questionnaire which covered sociodemographic characteristics and risk factors were used for primary information. Positivity for HBV was determined using a quality assured commercial enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit for the detection of Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Of the 767 patients, 11.0% were positive for HBsAg. The prevalence rate for HBsAg positivity was higher in the males (13.5%) than the females (9.3%) (pv = 0.043). The study also revealed the highest prevalence rate of HBsAg infection among the age group 19 – 39 years with mean percentage of 17.5%. Alcohol consumption, history of HBV in the family, multiple sex partners, history of injections in road side chemist shops, and intake of traditional herbs showed significant association respectively (p < 0.05), however no significant association among individuals with history of HBV vaccination, blood transfusion and tattoo/tribal mark (p > 0.05). Conclusively, this study gives information on the prevalence rate of HBV in the community sampled to be 11.0%. This shows that HBV is endemic in Ondo State, Southwest Nigeria.
plants Anti-Osteoporotic E ﬀ ects of the Herbal Mixture of Cornus o ﬃ cinalis and Achyranthes japonica In Vitro and In Vivo

: Osteoporosis is a porous bone disease caused by bone density loss, which increases the risk of fractures. Cornus o ﬃ cinalis (CO) and Achyranthes japonica (AJ) have been used as traditional herbal medicine for various disorders in East Asia. Although the anti-osteoporotic e ﬀ ects of single extract of COand AJ havealready beenreported, thesynergistic e ﬀ ect ofa combinedmixture hasnot been studied. In this study, we investigated the e ﬀ ects of a CO and AJ herbal mixture on osteoporosis in in vitro and in vivo models. The results demonstrate that treatment with the CO and AJ mixture signiﬁcantly promoted osteoblast di ﬀ erentiation of MC3T3-E1 mouse preosteoblasts through the upregulation of osteoblastic di ﬀ erentiation-associated genes such as alkaline phosphatase ( Alpl ), runt-related transcription factor 2 ( Runx2 ), and bone gamma-carboxyglutamic acid-containing protein ( Bglap ) , while the mixture signiﬁcantly inhibited di ﬀ erentiation of osteoclasts isolated from primary-cultured mouse monocytes. In addition, oral administration of CO and AJ mixture signiﬁcantly prevented bone mineral density loss and trabecular bone structures in an ovariectomy-induced osteoporotic mouse model. These results suggest that the combination treatment of CO and AJ mixture might be a beneﬁcial therapy for osteoporosis.
The Escherichia coli Azoreductase AzoR Is Involved in Resistance to Thiol-Speciﬁc Stress Caused by Electrophilic Quinones (cid:1)

The physiological role of Escherichia coli azoreductase AzoR was studied. It was found that AzoR was capable of reducing several benzo-, naphtho-, and anthraquinone compounds, which were better substrates for AzoR than the model azo substrate methyl red. The (cid:1) azoR mutant displayed reduced viability when exposed to electrophilic quinones, which are capable of depleting cellular reduced glutathione (GSH). Externally added GSH can partially restore the impaired growth of the (cid:1) azoR mutant caused by 2-methylhydroquinone. The transcription of azoR was induced by electrophiles, including 2-methylhydroquinone, catechol, menadione, and diamide. A transcription start point was identiﬁed 44 bp upstream from the translation start point. These data indicated that AzoR is a quinone reductase providing resistance to thiol-speciﬁc stress caused by electrophilic quinones. (cid:2) -AACGGGGCATCGCCCATTCAA ACATCTATAAGGAAACACCGTGTAGGCTGGAGCTGCTTC-3 (cid:2) The un- derlined sequences anneal to the template plasmid, while the remaining sequences correspond to the ends of azoR . The PCR-ampliﬁed DNA fragment was electroporated into E. coli ADH containing plasmid pKD46, which expresses Red recombinase and was cured later by growth at 37°C. The mutant strain E. coli LG1 was selected on an LB plate supplemented with kanamycin. The deletion of the gene was conﬁrmed by PCR and sequencing. Cloning of azoR from E. coli JM109. The azoR gene was PCR-ampliﬁed from the chromosomal DNA of E. coli JM109 by using primers P1 (5 (cid:2) -GAATTCAT GAGCAAGGTATTAGTTCTTAA-3 (cid:2) ) and P2 (5 (cid:2) -CTCGAGTTATGCAGAA ACAATGCTGTCG-3 (cid:2) The ampliﬁed DNA fragment was digested with EcoRI and XhoI and cloned into the EcoRI/XhoI double-digested pGEX-4T-1. The resulting plasmid pGEX-azoR was transformed into E. coli JM109, and the resultant E. coli LG2 was used for the expression of GSH S -transferase (GST) fusion AzoR protein. using the 5 (cid:2) -Full rapid ampliﬁcation of cDNA ends (RACE) kit (TaKaRa Dalian) according to manufacturer’s instructions. The adaptor-ligated cDNA was ampliﬁed by two sequential reactions using azoR outer primer (5 (cid:2) -CATCG CTCGGACGCAGA-3 (cid:2) ) and azoR inner primer (5 (cid:2) -CAACCAGTTCGCCATC CAGTA-3 (cid:2) ). After denaturation at 94°C for 3 min, the ampliﬁcation (30 cycles) was 98°C for 15 s, 52°C for 30 s, and 72°C for 2 min, followed by one cycle of 72°C for 10 min. The PCR products were sequenced to recognize the relevant TSP. Sequence alignment and structure analysis. Multiple sequence alignment was conducted using Clustal X 1.8 (10) and visualized with Genedoc 2.6 (32). Three- dimensional structure analysis was conducted using PyMol 0.99 (DeLano Scien-tiﬁc, San Carlos, CA). Statistical analysis. Student’s t test was employed to investigate statistical differences. Samples with P values of (cid:11) 0.05 were considered statistically different.
OPTH_A_328215 3581..3591

Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India Background: To characterize the diagnostic role of swept source anterior segment optical coherence tomography (SS-ASOCT) in strabismus re-operations with lost surgical details. Methods: Patients presenting to our outpatient services for strabismus care from February 2020 to March 15th 2021 were systematically evaluated. Those willing to undergo re-operation were included in the study. A total of 30 patients were identified and out of this a total of 10 eyes of 10 patients with lost surgical details were finally included in the study. Demographic details, preoperative deviation, ocular findings, orthoptic measurements, detailed SS-ASOCT findings, intraoperative measurements, and post-operative outcomes were recorded. Results: The mean age of 10 patients was 23.7±5.75 years. Seven were male and three were female. The mean pre-operative SS-ASOCT measured distance from angle to insertion was 8.90±1.85 mm and the mean intraoperative distance was 9.12±2.14 mm. A mean difference of 0.21±1.31 mm was noted, and this difference was statistically insignificant (paired t test, p = 0.57). In addition, SS-ASOCT unraveled novel signs to differentiate operated eyes from the un-operated eyes, and recessed muscle from the resected muscle. Conclusion: In strabismus re-operation with lost surgical details, the pre-operative SSASOCT can provide reliable muscle details with respect to its type of surgery and amount surgery.
Investigation of the Role of Organizational Climate in Enhancing Quality Management Practices of Higher Education

This study attempts to find the organisational climate's role in enhancing quality management practices in Egypt higher education. Data collected with surveys consist of three sections ( Demographic, Organisational climate, and Quality Management Practices) adapted from prior study to be appropriate with higher education. Across the faculty of Sadat university, 252 lecturers completed surveys to examine relationships among variables within the instruments and explore possible differences by demographic variables. Smart PLS was used to analyze the data. While SPSS 26 was used to identify the Profile of respondents and identify lecturers' perception. The study results revealed that all the predicting variables have a significant positive relationship with quality management practices. Results also suggested that the need to pay attention to the university's organisational climate is important to improving quality management practices. The study also recommended that the need to raise awareness among those in charge of the educational process of applying the practice of quality management in universities and its benefits to the educational process.
Signature of a topological phase transition in the Josephson supercurrent through a topological insulator

Topological insulators (TIs) hold great promise for topological quantum computation in solid-state systems. Recently, several groups reported experimental data suggesting that signatures of Majorana modes have been observed in topological insulator Josephson junctions (TIJJs). A prerequisite for the exploration of Majorana physics is to obtain a good understanding of the properties of low-energy Andreev bound states (ABSs) in a material with a topologically nontrivial band structure. Here, we present experimental data and a theoretical analysis demonstrating that the band-structure inversion close to the surface of a TI has observable consequences for supercurrent transport in TIJJs prepared on surface-doped Bi2Se3 thin films. Electrostatic carrier depletion of the film surface leads to an abrupt drop in the critical current of such devices. The effect can be understood as a relocation of low-energy ABSs from a region deeper in the bulk of the material to the more strongly disordered surface, which is driven by the topology of the effective band structure in the presence of surface dopants.
NSS_A_312037 933..966

1Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, People’s Republic of China; 2Institute of Respiratory Disease, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Thyroid and Vascular Surgery, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Respiratory Medicine, Wuhan No.3 Hospital, Wuhan, 430000, People’s Republic of China
A case report on the use of recombinant hirudin as an anticoagulant for cardio- pulmonary bypass in open heart surgery

A. Greinacher Department of Transfusion Medicine, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University Greifswald, Germany Abstract We present a patient with coronary heart disease and a heparininduced thrombocytopenia , who was successfully treated by coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) using recombinant hirudin as an anticoagulant for cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) instead of heparin. [Eur J Cardio-thorac Surg (1996) 10: 3 8 6 3 8 8 ]
OAEM_A_246656 99..109

Roshana Shrestha 1 Wolfgang Blank Anmol Purna Shrestha 1 Alok Pradhan 1Department of General Practice and Emergency Medicine, Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences, Dhulikhel, Kavrepalanchok, Nepal; 2Medical Clinic I, Klinikum am Steinenberg Reutlingen Teaching Hospital, University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany Purpose: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a quick bedside tool that has the potential to improve emergency care in resource-limited settings due to its relatively low cost and accessibility. Effort to disseminate the knowledge and skills about POCUS is inadequate in low and middle income countries like Nepal. We conducted a two-day interdisciplinary advanced emergency ultrasound workshop that targeted physicians working in emergency department and primary care, especially in rural Nepal. We explored the effectiveness of this training based on validated Kirkpatrick’s 4 steps of evaluating training outcomes. Materials and Methods: We conducted a prospective quasi-experimental study with mixed research design. Multidisciplinary physicians working in emergency departments participated in the two-day workshop. We assessed and compared the preand post-workshop knowledge. We collected on-site and a follow-up feedback to explore preand post-workshop confidence level, perceived usefulness and clinical use of ultrasound using a 5-point Likert scale. The barriers to use POCUS were explored. Results: A total of 50 physicians from different parts of Nepal participated in the workshop. The academic level of the participants, duration of their clinical experience and the previous use of POCUS did not have a significant difference in their preand posttest knowledge scores. The difference between the median (IQR) preand posttest scores [14 (12.75–17.75) and 24.5 (22.25–25.5), respectively] was statistically significant (p<0.001). Perceived confidence level and usefulness of the POCUS increased significantly in all of its domains (p<0.001). Self-reported increase in its clinical use was significant (p<0.001) for all fields. Conclusion: The participation in this emergency ultrasound workshop increased the knowledge of participants in POCUS. Their confidence, perceived usefulness and clinical use of POCUS improved significantly. Objective longitudinal follow-up of participants’ skill and demonstration of increased clinical use of POCUS in emergency department influencing the clinical outcome would be the focus of future research.
Tobacco isoenzyme one of NAD(H)-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase catabolizes glutamate in vivo

Glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH, EC 1.4.1.2-1.4.1.4) catalyses in vitro the reversible amination of 2-oxoglutarate to Glu. The in vivo direction(s) of the GDH reaction in higher plants and hence the role(s) of this enzyme is unclear, a situation confounded by the existence of isoenzymes comprised totally of either GDH β(isoenzyme 1) or α(isoenzyme 7) subunits, as well as another five α-β isoenzyme permutations. To clarify the in vivo direction of the reaction catalyzed by GDH isoenzyme 1, [N]Glu was supplied to roots of two independent transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) lines with increased isoenzyme 1 levels (S4-H and S49-H). The [N]ammonium (NH4 ) accumulation rate in these lines was elevated ~65% compared with a null segregant control line, indicating that isoenzyme 1 catabolizes Glu in roots. Leaf glutamine synthetase (GS) was inhibited with a GS-specific herbicide to quantify any contribution by GDH towards photorespiratory NH4 + reassimilation. Transgenic line S49-H did not show enhanced resistance to the herbicide, indicating that the large pool of isoenzyme 1 in S49-H leaves was unable to compensate for GS, and suggesting that isoenzyme 1 does not assimilate NH4 + in vivo.
In uence of modi cation of dental porcelains with hybrid nanomaterial on surface characteristics, antimicrobial, chemical, and mechanical properties

Carla Larissa Vidal Universidade de Sao Paulo Faculdade de Odontologia de Ribeirao Preto Izabela Ferreira Universidade de Sao Paulo Faculdade de Odontologia de Ribeirao Preto Paulo Sergio Ferreira Universidade de Sao Paulo Faculdade de Odontologia de Ribeirao Preto Mariana Lima da Costa Valente Universidade de Sao Paulo Faculdade de Odontologia de Ribeirao Preto Ana Beatriz Vilela Teixeira Universidade de Sao Paulo Faculdade de Odontologia de Ribeirao Preto Andrea Candido dos Reis (  andreare73@yahoo.com.br ) Universidade de São Paulo Faculdade de Odontologia de Ribeirão Preto https://orcid.org/0000-00022307-1720
Alarm cues and alarmed conspecifics: neural activity during social learning from different cues in Trinidadian guppies

Learning to respond appropriately to novel dangers is often essential to survival and success, but carries risks. Learning about novel threats from others (social learning) can reduce these risks. Many species, including the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata), respond defensively to both conspecific chemical alarm cues and conspecific anti-predator behaviours, and in other fish such social information can lead to a learned aversion to novel threats. However, relatively little is known about the neural substrates underlying social learning and the degree to which different forms of learning share similar neural mechanisms. Here, we explored the neural substrates mediating social learning of novel threats from two different conspecific cues (i.e. social cue-based threat learning). We first demonstrated that guppies rapidly learn about threats paired with either alarm cues or with conspecific threat responses (demonstration). Then, focusing on acquisition rather than recall, we discovered that phospho-S6 expression, a marker of neural activity, was elevated in guppies during learning from alarm cues in the putative homologue of the mammalian lateral septum and the preoptic area. Surprisingly, these changes in neural activity were not observed in fish learning from conspecific demonstration. Together, these results implicate forebrain areas in social learning about threat but raise the possibility that circuits contribute to such learning in a stimulus-specific manner.
Multiple-batch spawning: a risk-spreading strategy disarmed by highly intensive size-selective fishing rate

Can the advantage of risk-managing life-history strategies become a disadvantage under human-induced evolution? Organisms have adapted to the variability and uncertainty of environmental conditions with a vast diversity of life-history strategies. One such evolved strategy is multiple-batch spawning, a spawning strategy common to long-lived fishes that ‘hedge their bets' by distributing the risk to their offspring on a temporal and spatial scale. The fitness benefits of this spawning strategy increase with female body size, the very trait that size-selective fishing targets. By applying an empirically and theoretically motivated eco-evolutionary mechanistic model that was parameterized for Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), we explored how fishing intensity may alter the life-history traits and fitness of fishes that are multiple-batch spawners. Our main findings are twofold; first, the risk-spreading strategy of multiple-batch spawning is not effective against fisheries selection, because the fisheries selection favours smaller fish with a lower risk-spreading effect; and second, the ecological recovery in population size does not secure evolutionary recovery in the population size structure. The beneficial risk-spreading mechanism of the batch spawning strategy highlights the importance of recovery in the size structure of overfished stocks, from which a full recovery in the population size can follow.
An assessment of transmission dynamics via time-varying reproduction number of the second wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in Fiji

This study involves the estimation of a key epidemiological parameter for evaluating and monitoring the transmissibility of a disease. The time-varying reproduction number is the index for quantifying the transmissibility of infectious diseases. Accurate and timely estimation of the time-varying reproduction number is essential for optimizing non-pharmacological interventions and movement control orders during epidemics. The time-varying reproduction number for the second wave of the pandemic in Fiji is estimated using the popular EpiEstim R package and the publicly available COVID-19 data from 19 April 2021 to 1 December 2021. Our findings show that the non-pharmacological interventions and movement control orders introduced and enforced by the Fijian Government had a significant impact in preventing the spread of COVID-19. Moreover, the results show that many restrictions were either relaxed or eased when the time-varying reproduction number was below the threshold value of 1. The results have provided some information on the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that could be used in the future as a guide for public health policymakers in Fiji. Estimation of time-varying reproduction numbers would be helpful for continuous monitoring of the effectiveness of the current public health policies that are being implemented in Fiji.
Finite-amplitude instability of the buoyancy boundary layer in a thermally stratified medium

Abstract The finite-amplitude instability of the buoyancy-driven boundary layer is considered on a vertical plate immersed in a thermally stratified ambient medium, where the wall and surrounding fluid have different temperature gradients. Although the linear stability in this configuration has been investigated, the finite-amplitude solution arising from the critical instability has been studied only for specific parameter values. We extend this by using the amplitude expansion method. The primary bifurcations to the two-dimensional least unstable mode for different temperature gradient ratios ($0 \leqslant \lambda \leqslant 10$) and Prandtl numbers ($10^{-1} \leqslant Pr \leqslant 10^{4}$) are investigated. Only supercritical bifurcations are found to occur when $0 \leqslant \lambda < 2$ and $Pr \leqslant 2800$, while subcritical bifurcations are also found for larger values of temperature gradient ratio and Prandtl number. Analysis of the contribution of the nonlinear terms in the Landau coefficient reveals that the interaction of the modification of the mean flow and second harmonic for velocity with the fundamental mode for temperature plays an important role in subcritical bifurcation. Based on the Landau equation, the threshold amplitude of the nonlinear equilibrium solution is discussed as well. These encouraging results should be helpful for understanding such a buoyancy-driven flow system.
Optical imaging and spectroscopy for the study of the human brain: status report

Abstract. This report is the second part of a comprehensive two-part series aimed at reviewing an extensive and diverse toolkit of novel methods to explore brain health and function. While the first report focused on neurophotonic tools mostly applicable to animal studies, here, we highlight optical spectroscopy and imaging methods relevant to noninvasive human brain studies. We outline current state-of-the-art technologies and software advances, explore the most recent impact of these technologies on neuroscience and clinical applications, identify the areas where innovation is needed, and provide an outlook for the future directions.
Virtual backlash: nonverbal expression of dominance leads to less liking of dominant female versus male agents

Backlash is a form of social penalty occurring when people behave counter-stereotypically. When promoting themselves, dominant females compared to males are typically liked less and paid worse, because dominance is associated with males, and proscribed for females. Such backlash effects have been shown in human-human interactions, but attempts to replicate them in human-agent interactions have not been successful so far [40]. Here, the goal was to show backlash effects for virtual agents with a nonverbal manipulation of dominance. In an online experiment, N = 223 participants watched the video of a female or male virtual agent presenting themselves as a career coach while using either large or small gestures. They rated the agent's dominance, liking, competence, and made a monetary offer of how much they would pay for the coaching. Agents using large gestures were perceived as more dominant than those using small gestures. Moreover, a backlash effect emerged: Dominant female compared to male agents were liked less. Participants were not penalizing the female dominant agent in monetary offers. Overall, participants rated the female agents as less competent than male ones. The results underline the importance of considering effects of the agent's gender in research on human-agent interaction.