Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolites in house dust, soil and selected food crops from indoor residual sprayed areas of Apac and Oyam Districts, Uganda

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) levels and its metabolites are reported in 75 soil and 75 vegetable samples from the vicinity of homesteads sprayed with DDT during indoor residual spraying (IRS) pilot exercise, carried out in 2008 in Apac and Oyam districts, Uganda as a measure to control malaria. The samples were randomly and conveniently collected in 2020 from selected villages of the districts, extracted using solid dispersion and multi-residue methods for soil and vegetable samples, respectively and analyzed using GC-ECD and GC-MS. DDT residues were detected in all samples collected. The ΣDDT (µg kg-1) in all indoor house dust, outdoor soil samples from villages of Apac and Oyam districts and control areas were 69.9±20.9 and 8.9±4.7, 113.4±22.6 and 15.4±4.3, and 1.13±0.27 and 1.8±0.9, respectively. ΣDDT were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the study areas than the control areas. In vegetables, ∑DDT (µg kg -1 ) ranged between 1.7±0.3 and 8.3±4.0 and 2.3±0.4 and 11.4±7.5 in the study and control areas, respectively. Abelmoschus esculentus and Gynandropsis gynandra had the highest levels. The results suggest that IRS had an effect on DDT levels in the environment. However, ∑DDT in vegetables were significantly below (P < 0.05) the EU EMRL, thus, the results raise no concern regarding the potential health effects of DDT to the residents. Nevertheless, due to bioaccumulation effects of DDT, to control malaria, measures like Ecohealth rather than IRS of DDT should be embraced.
The Detection of Potential Native Probiotics Lactobacillus spp. against Salmonella Enteritidis, Salmonella Infantis and Salmonella Kentucky ST198 of Lebanese Chicken Origin

Salmonella continues to be a major threat to public health, especially with respect to strains from a poultry origin. In recent years, an increasing trend of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Salmonella spp. was observed due to the misuse of antibiotics. Among the approaches advised for overcoming AMR, probiotics from the Lactobacillus genus have increasingly been considered for use as effective prophylactic and therapeutic agents belonging to the indigenous microbiota. In this study, we isolated lactobacilli from the ilea and ceca of hens and broilers in order to evaluate their potential probiotic properties. Four species were identified as Limosilactobacillus reuteri (n = 22, 45.8%), Ligilactobacillus salivarius (n = 20, 41.6%), Limosilactobacillus fermentum (n = 2, 4.2%) and Lactobacillus crispatus (n = 1, 2%), while three other isolates (n = 3, 6.25%) were non-typable. Eight isolates, including Ligilactobacillus salivarius (n = 4), Limosilactobacillus reuteri (n = 2), L. crispatus (n = 1) and Lactobacillus spp. (n = 1) were chosen on the basis of their cell surface hydrophobicity and auto/co-aggregation ability for further adhesion assays using the adenocarcinoma cell line Caco-2. The adhesion rate of these strains varied from 0.53 to 10.78%. Ligilactobacillus salivarius A30/i26 and 16/c6 and Limosilactobacillus reuteri 1/c24 showed the highest adhesion capacity, and were assessed for their ability to compete in and exclude the adhesion of Salmonella to the Caco-2 cells. Interestingly, Ligilactobacillus salivarius 16/c6 was shown to significantly exclude the adhesion of the three Salmonella serotypes, S. Enteritidis, S. Infantis and S. Kentucky ST 198, to Caco-2 cells. The results of the liquid co-culture assays revealed a complete inhibition of the growth of Salmonella after 24 h. Consequently, the indigenous Ligilactobacillus salivarius 16/c6 strain shows promising potential for use as a preventive probiotic added directly to the diet for the control of the colonization of Salmonella spp. in poultry.
Comparing Outcomes for Community-Acquired Pneumonia Between Females and Males: Results from the University of Louisville Pneumonia Study

Introduction: Male sex is currently considered to be a risk factor for worsened community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) outcomes compared to female sex; hence, female sex equates to a lower score on the Pneumonia Severity Index. There is no recent update on sex-based outcomes of patients with CAP. The objective of this study was to compare the outcomes of CAP between females and males. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of the University of Louisville Pneumonia Study database. It was a prospective population-based cohort study of all hospitalized adults with CAP who were residents of Jefferson County in the city of Louisville, Kentucky. The study included data from June 1, 2014, to May 31, 2016, and data from October 1, 2016, to May 31, 2017. The study population was divided into two groups: females and males. Results: Female patients had a 13% lower mortality at one year compared to males (aHR 1.13 [95% CI 1.05–1.23], P =0.002). There was no significant difference in mortality between the two groups during hospitalization or at 30-day or six-month follow-up. The median time to discharge for both female and male patients hospitalized with CAP was five days (interquartile range [IQR] 3, 9 days). The median time to clin- ical stability for both female and male patients hospitalized with CAP was two days (IQR 1, 4 days). Conclusion: This study shows that female patients had sig- nificantly lower one-year mortality compared to males. There was no significant difference between females and males in time to clinical stability or length of stay. Further investigation is needed to examine whether risk factors associated with fe- male and male sex predict outcomes among hospitalized patients due to CAP.
Poly(methacrylate citric acid) as a Dual Functional Carrier for Tumor Therapy

Owing to its pH-sensitive property and chelating Cu2+ effect, poly(methacrylate citric acid) (PCA) can be utilized as a dual functional nanocarrier to construct a nanodelivery system. Negatively charged carboxyl groups can interact with positively charged antineoplastic drugs through electrostatic interaction to form stable drug nanoparticles (NPs). Through drug experimental screening, doxorubicin (DOX) was selected as the model drug, PCA/DOX NPs with a diameter of 84 nm were prepared, and the drug-loading content was 68.3%. PCA/DOX NPs maintained good stability and a sustained release profile. Cell experiments presented that PCA/DOX NPs could inhibit effectively the growth of 4T1 cells; the IC50 value was decreased by approximately 15-fold after incubation for 72 h. The cytotoxicity toward H9C2 was decreased significantly. Moreover, based on its ability to efficiently adsorb copper ions, PCA showed good vascular growth inhibition effect in vitro. Furthermore, animal experiments showed that PCA/DOX NPs presented stronger anticancer effects than DOX; the tumor inhibition rate was increased by 1.5-fold. Myocardial toxicity experiments also confirmed that PCA reduced the cardiotoxicity of DOX. In summary, PCA/DOX NPs show good antitumor efficacy and low toxicity, and have good potential for clinical application.
Work engagement and job satisfaction in the medical sector

Work engagement and job satisfaction are among the aspects of psychological well-being. This study is an empirical investigation regarding the levels of work engagement and job satisfaction among doctors who work in Greek public hospitals. Moreover, the purpose of the paper is to examine the relationship between these two concepts. Results revealed that the concepts of work engagement and job satisfaction are strongly positively correlated, while work engagement appears to be a very important predictor of intrinsic satisfaction but it can also predict extrinsic satisfaction to some extent.
Musician / instrument interaction : the case of the concert harp

The physics of musical instruments has been studied to a point where many instruments can now be modeled to produce realistic sound synthesis. However, the knowledge of the mechanics of any system is not sufficient to predict its behavior after a human interaction. Thus, the investigation of the musician-instrument interaction is an active field of research, which aims at including the musician impact on the sound production. Eventually, it will be valuable to provide more realistic sound synthesis. Over the years, trained instrumentalists develop the ability to produce notes in a specific and reproducible way. They learn how to control their gestures to perform each note with the desired acoustical features. This thesis studies the control parameters used by the harpist in relation to the produced sound. First, the player/harp interaction has been investigated by characterizing the musical gestures in relation to the musical interpretation. Then, we focused on the gesture directly involved in the sound production, i.e. the plucking action. This analysis had underlined the characteristics of string plucking, both highly reproducible and player-specific. Finally, a previous model of the finger / string interaction has been enhanced by using these results. It has been validated by a repeatable and configurable robotic finger.
Network Identifiability: Advances in Separating Systems and Networking Applications

This letter discusses the parallelism between the concept of network identifiability introduced by Boolean Network Tomography (BNT), and the theory of separating systems, highlighting applications of interest to research in networking. This letter evidences how recent results of BNT have direct implications to the formulation of new bounds to the size of separating systems over finite sets. Grounding on these theoretical results, we provide an efficient algorithm for the design of separating systems that meet the bound tightly. We extend the proposed results, bounds and algorithm, to networking applications, including network failure assessment, robust network design and compressed sensing.
The Effect of Age on Gene Therapy Efficacy for RPE65 Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis: A Pooled Analysis

- Leber’s congenital amaurosis (LCA) is an inherited retinal disease that leads to severe vision loss from birth. Gene therapy for LCA caused by mutations in the RPE65 gene has been discovered to be a promising treatment, and one treatment (Luxturna) has received FDA approval. Within the current body of clinical trials, there is little consensus on whether age has any effect on treatment efficacy and outcomes. This pooled analysis aims to discern the effect of age on changes in visual function in patients undergoing adeno-associated virus mediated gene therapy for RPE65-LCA. The PubMed database was searched for papers describing the results of RPE65 gene therapy on patients with LCA, and data were pooled from 5 selected studies. Linear regression of age on percent change from baseline visual acuity in treated eyes was conducted on the pooled data from one, two, and three years post-treatment. Linear regression of age on change from baseline retinal thickness in treated eyes was conducted on the pooled data at one year post-treatment. At 1 year, a s tatistically significant linear regression equation of age versus visual acuity was found (α = 0.05, n = 78, F(1, 76) = 7.3152, p = 0.0084). At the same time point, a statistically significant linear regression equation of age versus change in r etinal thic kness was not found (α = 0.05, n = 50, F(1, 48) = 0.07756, p = 0.7818). Age appears to be a statistically significant predict or of improvements in visual acuity, but not of retinal degeneration. Younger age appears to be associated with greater improvements in vision. However, the age predictive effect is only visible in the first year after treatment, and may be attributed to the decline in long-term data availability. Future analysis using a larger sample size is needed to evaluate the effect after one year.
Topical Nigella Sativa in the treatment of oro-genital ulceration in Behcet's disease.

To assess the effect of Nigella sativa oil as a topical preparation for treatment of oro- genital ulceration of Behcet's disease. This is a double blinded therapeutic trial in which 40 patients with Behcet's disease manifested as recurrent episodes of oral and genital ulceration were enrolled into 2 groups; Nigella sativa oil was applied as 10% in glycerin topically 3 times / daily to the first 20 patients. The other 20 were given glycerin only. Assessment was done 4 days then 8 days after treatment.Results were recorded as they appeared in clinical examination and those records were arranged in tables for both groups concerning oral and genital ulceration cases.Nigella sativa oil is a new topical agent for promotion of healing of oro- genital ulceration of Behcet’s disease which may act through Pits anti-inflammatory effect
Exploring DIF: Comparison of CTT and IRT Methods

Assessment of test bias is important to establish the construct validity of tests. Assessment of differential item functioning (DIF) is an important first step in this process. DIF is present when examinees from different groups have differing probabilities of success on an item, after controlling for overall ability level. The study was conducted to answer the following questions: To what extent do the four methods (i.e. area differential index procedure for the 2- parameter Logistic model, TID, b-difference, and Chi-square) agree or disagree in the identification of DIF? Are there gender differences in mathematical proficiency? What is the content or nature of those items identified as revealing DIF? Achievement test covering the following subjects: Relations and functions, polynomial, Trigonometric functions, and triangles was developed. The test was administered to a sample of 1228 tenth grade students (656 males and 624 females) in Jordan. The study pointed out: (1) the percentage of agreement among the four methods in detecting DIF were from 41% to 85%. The highest agreement was between Chi-square and b-parameter difference methods (85%), whereas the lowest agreement was between Area index and TID methods (41%). The agreement among IRT based methods and CTT based methods were convergent. (3) females showed a statistically significant and consistent advantage over males on items involving Relations and functions, polynomial, Trigonometric functions, whereas men showed a less consistent advantage on items involving triangles, however It was concluded that gender differences in mathematics may well be linked to content.
Morphological and molecular diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated to Carica papaya L. rhizosphere in two agro-ecological zones in Cameroon

The papaya tree is not very exploitable on the international market because of the post-harvest decline of the fruits. In this study, we identified arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) from the rhizosphere of papaya in two agroecological zones of Cameroon (Njombe-Pendja: NP and Yaounde: Y). Morphological studies on the density, the rate of root colonization, the diversity of AMF species were evaluated. Molecular identification of AMF was performed by sequencing the small subunit (SSU) 18S rDNA gene region from soil samples. These genes were amplified from the AML and NS2 primers. The total number of spores per 100 g of dry soil was significantly different (P<0.05) depending on the sites, ranging from 391 in NP to 790 in Y sites. The frequency and intensity of root colonization was not significantly different in the two sites. Eleven (11) AMF belonging to seven (7) genera ( Scutellospora , Gigaspora , Acaulospora , Entrophospora , Funneliformis , Glomus and Racocetra ) were recorded. Two AMF species (T1: Scutellospora rosa and T6: Racocetra gregaria ) were recorded at NP and absent at Y. The Shannon-Wiener index revealed a low diversity of AMF species. Homogeneity of species was recorded. Molecular analysis reveals that the AMF species obtained have sizes of 250 bp.
Two-fluid simulations of magnetic reconnection with a kinetic closure for the electron pressure anisotropy

Magnetic reconnection is a rapid rearrangement of magnetic line topology in a plasma that can allow magnetic energy to heat, drive macroscopic flows, or accelerate particles in space and laboratory plasmas. Though reconnection affects global plasma dynamics, it depends intimately on small-scale electron physics. In weakly-collisional plasmas, electron pressure anisotropy resulting from the electric and magnetic trapping of electrons strongly affects the structure surrounding the electron diffusion region and the electron current layer. Previous fluid models and simulations fail to account for this anisotropy. In this thesis, new equations of state that accurately describe the electron pressure anisotropy in cases of sufficiently strong guide magnetic field are implemented in fluid simulations and are compared to previous fluid models and kinetic simulations. Elongated current layers in the reconnection region, driven, in part, by this pressure anisotropy, appear as part of a self-regulating mechanism of electron pressure anisotropy. The structure depends on plasma parameters, with low guide fields yielding longer layers. Thesis Supervisor: Jan Egedal Title: Associate Professor
Extrusion Improves the Antihypertensive Potential of a Kabuli Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Protein Hydrolysate

Chickpea hydrolysates could have antihypertensive potential, but there are no evaluations in vivo. Thus, the antihypertensive potential of a chickpea protein hydrolysate obtained before and after extrusion (a process that modifies protein digestibility) was evaluated. Protein precipitates were obtained from extruded and unextruded chickpea flours by isoelectric precipitation and hydrolyzed (α-amylase/pepsin/pancreatin). Chemical composition was determined (standard methods). ACE-I inhibition assays were carried out using a colorimetric test. For antihypertensive effect evaluations, spontaneously hypertensive rats (n = 8) received the treatments intragastrically (extruded or unextruded hydrolysate (1.2 g/kg), captopril (25 mg/kg), or water only). Fat, ash, and carbohydrate contents were lower in extruded chickpea flour (p < 0.05 versus unextruded). The protein content varied between protein precipitates (91.03%/78.66% unextruded/extruded (dry basis)) (p < 0.05). The hydrolysates’ IC50 values (mg/mL) were 0.2834 (unextruded)/0.3218 (extruded) (p > 0.05). All treatments lowered the blood pressure (p < 0.05 vs. water). The extruded hydrolysate showed a more potent antihypertensive effect than the unextruded one (p < 0.05), an effect similar to captopril (p > 0.05). The results suggest that protein extrusion can be used to generate protein hydrolysates with improved health benefits. The findings have implications for the design and production of functional foods that could help to prevent hypertension or serve as an adjunct in its treatment.
A Two-Time-Scale Approach to Time-Varying Queues for Hospital Inpatient Flow Management

We analyze a time-varying Mperi/Geo2timeScale/N queueing system. The arrival process is periodic Poisson. The service time of a customer has components in different time scales: length of stay (LOS) in days and departure time (hdis) in hours. This queueing system has been used to study patient flows from the emergency department (ED) to hospital inpatient wards. In that setting, the LOS of a patient is simply the number of days she spends in a ward and her departure time hdis is the discharge hour on the day of her discharge. We develop a new analytical framework that can perform exact analysis on this novel queueing system. This framework has two steps: first analyze the midnight customer count process and obtain its stationary distribution, then analyze the time-dependent customer count process to compute various performance measures. We also develop approximation tools that can significantly reduce the computational time. In particular, via Stein's method, we derive explicit expressions to approximate the stationary distribution of the midnight count. We provide error bounds for these approximations and numerically demonstrate that they are remarkably accurate for systems with various sizes and load conditions. Our theoretical and numerical analysis have produced a number of insights that can be used to improve hospital inpatient flow management. We find that the LOS term affects the overnight wait caused by the mismatch between daily arrivals and discharges, whereas the hdis term affects the intra-day wait caused by the non-synchronization between the arrival and discharge time patterns. Thus, reducing LOS or increasing capacity can impact the daily average performance significantly; shifting the discharge timing to earlier times of a day can alleviate the peak congestion in the morning and mainly affects the time-dependent performance.
Reduction of Arm Lymphedema Using Manual Lymphatic Therapy (Godoy Method)

Background: The manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) technique used during the early stages following surgical treatment of breast cancer can help prevent the progression of clinical lymphedema. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of manual lymphatic therapy (MLT) (Godoy method) in reducing the development of lymphedema immediately after breast cancer treatment. Method: A randomized, blind, crossover, clinical trial was conducted involving 66 women with breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL), who underwent one hour of manual physical therapy and one hour of the control procedure. To evaluate the volume before and after the application of the MLT technique, volumetry, a water displacement technique was used. For statistical analysis, the paired t-test with 5% alpha error by Stats Direct 3(StatsDirect Ltd, Wirral, UK) was used. Results: A significant reduction in the volume of the limb was found in all patients (p-value = 0.0001, paired t-test). Conclusion: MLT is effective in reducing lymphedema after breast cancer treatment.
Oil-Incorporated Poly(Lactic Acid) as an Alternative Material for Orthodontic Base Plate: A 3D Printing Approach

Removable orthodontic appliances fabricated from poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) have been routinely used for active orthodontic correction and as retention appliances. This article reports the use of a combination of biodegradable-grade poly (lactic acid) (PLA) and cooking-grade sesame oil as a biodegradable alternative for PMMA. The underlying purpose is to combat the environmental hazards due to nondegradable PMMA as well as to overcome its structural and mechanical drawbacks. The fabrication technique that has been used is fused deposition modeling-based 3D printing technology. Oil-dipping for 24 h was done to render the PLA hydrophobic and to reduce its brittleness. Incorporation of oil within the PLA base plate has been confirmed by FT-IR and FT-Raman spectroscopic techniques. The PLA-cooking oil material has exhibited satisfactory tensile, compressive and flexural strengths. The proposed material has demonstrated excellent attributes in terms of product precision, dimensional stability, density, hardness, and maximum load bearing capacity for the purpose of fabricating orthodontic appliances.