Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investigating the effect of liposomal membrane fluidity and antibody lateral mobility on endothelial cell targeting

Atherosclerosis is initiated by the adhesion of leukocytes to the endothelial surface of arteries followed by migration beneath the intima. Current therapies to combat atherosclerotic plaque, such as statins or antihypertensive drugs, treat atherosclerosis indirectly; they do not specifically target inflamed vasculature or improve the vascular condition. Few studies have focused on antibody mobility or membrane fluidity as an approach to improve drug delivery vehicle binding and uptake. Here, we present a biomimetic liposomal design targeting vascular adhesion molecule (VCAM1) and E-selectin, which are upregulated on inflamed endothelial cells (ECs). We hypothesized that increased lateral antibody diffusivity may be used as a strategy to enhance liposome targeting to ECs expressing high levels of VCAM1 and Eselectin. We first characterized the physical properties of our liposomal system, including membrane fluidity and quantification of antibody surface density, and evaluated the temporal EC expression of VCAM1 and E-selectin. We then examined the effects of membrane fluidity, antibody surface density, and incubation time on activated EC binding and uptake. Finally, we also conducted a preliminary in vivo study where we assessed the biodistribution of our liposomes.
Application of the Chinese Version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Basic for Assessing Mild Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson’s Disease

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a common and pivotal non-motor symptom in Parkinson’s disease (PD). It is necessary to use the appropriate tools to characterize the cognitive profiles and identify the subjects at risk of MCI in clinical practice. A cohort of 207 non-demented patients with PD and 52 age- and gender-matched cognitively normal controls (NCs) underwent the Chinese Version of Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Basic (MoCA-BC) evaluation. Patients with PD also received detailed motor and non-motor evaluation by serial scales. Cognitive profiles were investigated in patients with PD-MCI, relative to patients with normal cognition (PD-NC) and cognitively NCs. In addition, differences in demography, major motor and non-motor symptoms were compared between patients with PD-MCI and PD-NC. There were 70 patients with PD-MCI, occupying 33.8% of the total patients. Patients with PD-MCI had impairment in multiple cognitive domains, especially in executive function, memory and visuospatial function on MoCA-BC, relative to cognitively NCs or PD-NC. Compared with PD-NC patients, PD-MCI patients were older (p = 0.002) and had a later onset age (p = 0.007) and higher score of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) part III (p = 0.001). The positive rate of clinical possible rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (cpRBD) in the PD-MCI group was significantly increased relative to the PD-NC group (p = 0.003). Multivariate logistic analysis showed that older age (OR = 1.06; p = 0.012), higher score of UPDRS-III (OR = 1.03; p = 0.018) and the presence of cpRBD (OR = 2.10; p = 0.037) were independently associated factors of MCI in patients with PD. In conclusion, executive function, memory and visuospatial function are the main impaired cognitive profiles in PD-MCI via MoCA-BC. Aging, motor severity and RBD may be independently related factors of MCI in PD.
STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION TOWARDS THE USE OF GOOGLE CLASSROOM IN WRITING SUBJECT

Google Classroom is one of features from Google that mostly used by the educators recently. It helps them to submit and organize the students’ assignments. The main purpose of this study is to investigate students’ perception towards the use of Google Classroom in writing subject. The study is carried out through a qualitative research design. The study involved the students of higher education who have used Google Classroom in writing subject for at least one semester. The data obtained through questionnaire and interview. The data obtained were analyzed by using thematic analysis. Finding revealed that students perceive it as a tool that helps them to submit the assignment easily. They assumed that it assist them in managing the assignment better. Thus, it can be concluded that Google Classroom is useful for both lecturer and student in writing subject.
Effects of food particle loss on the evaluation of masticatory ability using image analysis.

PURPOSE To examine how particle loss affects the evaluation of masticatory ability using the image analysis method. METHODS The subjects were divided into two groups:Y-group (healthy young adults: 10 male, 10 female; mean age 27.6 ± 1.9 years), and D-group (denture wearing older adults: 13 male, 9 female; mean age, 75.1 ± 5.3 years). Raw carrots, peanuts, and a combined test food from 5 daily food materials (mixed foods) were selected as test foods. Images of the boluses were captured and processed after the subjects freely masticated the test foods until the point of swallowing or completed half strokes of total chewing cycles. The median particle size (X50) was calculated from the data for each particle. We compared X50 calculated from all particles obtained from the masticatory bolus (as X50N) with the X50 of only selectively larger particles (as X50R). RESULTS Significant correlations were observed between X50N and X50R (p < 0.01) determined in almost all masticatory conditions. In particular, for particle sizes of 2 mm or more, the correlation coefficient between X50N and X50R was notably strong (r > 0.75). CONCLUSION The method of analyzing only larger particles makes it possible to evaluate masticatory ability without losing the characteristics of the original particle size distribution of the entire bolus. This finding can be applied for the evaluation of masticatory ability, especially among older adults who have difficulty retrieving the total amount of test food due to decreased activities of daily living.
Behavior of Non-Shear-Strengthened UHPC Beams under Flexural Loading: Influence of Reinforcement Depth

This study was carried out in order to study the flexural behavior of fiber-reinforced ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) containing hybrid microsteel straight fibers and natural fine aggregates under four-point flexural loading. The experimental results revealed that the fiber pullout mechanism had a progressive pullout (collapse) mode. A highly flexural crack developed when the fiber pulling mechanism was explicitly triggered, leading to the failure of most beams. The maximum load in beams reinforced by 1.2, 1.6, and 2.0% exceeded that in beams without longitudinal reinforcement by 56, 73, and 94%, respectively. Further, bar reinforcements at 125, 115, 95, 85, and 75 mm depths led to increases of 56, 55, 73, 96, and 94% in beam load capacity, respectively. In addition, bar reinforcement at 115, 95, 85, and 75 mm depths reduced the beams’ ductility by 40, 23, 35, and 39% compared to those with 125 mm depth. All studied UHPC beams had an uncracked phase that extended to a curvature of about 7.5 × 10−6 rad, which occurred at about 10 kNm. The use of the design of experiments was exploited in this investigation to develop a prediction model for the ultimate moment capacity of UHPC beams. This prediction model took into account the sectional and material properties of UHPC beams. To carry out this analysis, a database of 25 beams, developed by other investigators, as well as the present authors, was utilized. With a mean prediction-to-test ratio of 0.92, this prediction model had a reasonable performance capacity. In turn, this model was used to generate isoresponsive surface contours that could be used for UHPC beam design.
Experimental investigation into wave-induced design loads on a large moored catamaran

A new concept uses a large catamaran, Gas Cat, as a floating natural gas processing, storage and offloading facility. The concept design of the vessel is based on two retrofitted very large crude carriers allowing for the processing and storage of 1 million bbls of condensate and approximately 240,000 m3 of liquid natural gas. Key to the development of this concept is the accurate estimation of the wave-induced cross-demi-hull loads experienced by the catamaran in a variety of operational scenarios. Model experiments were conducted in the model test basin of the Australian Maritime College using a 1:78 scale model of two full-form hulls, converted into a catamaran configuration, to measure the wave-induced forces and moments. Tests were conducted in head, beam and oblique seas for two hull spacings and a range of wave heights. The experimental results show that for the range of wave conditions tested, good linearity of the forces and moments can be expected with respect to wave height. This allows the results to be used to determine expected loads for a range of wave conditions. Changes in demi-hull separation were found to have little influence on the measured cross-demi-hull loads. Forces and moments were the least for the head sea condition; therefore, in order to minimise the wave-induced loads on the vessel, it is recommended that it be allowed to weathervane with the prevailing swell direction. The forces and moments which may be expected in Timor Sea 10,000-year return storm conditions have been estimated based on the model results. These provide valuable data for the preliminary design of an appropriate structural configuration for the vessel.
A critical, creative UX community: CLUF

Research and practice in human-computer interaction (HCI) are now in their fourth decade. After a first decade focused on modeling and guidance, professional practices associated with HCI have focused first on user-centered design (UCD), next on user experience (UX, which includes usability), and now on interaction design (IxD), with a range of practices (e.g., creative, agile, lean) that challenge established ways of working within UX, UCD, and early HCI.
Islamic law states and the International Court of Justice

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), as the principal judicial organ of the UN, plays an important role in peaceful resolution of international disputes. Traditionally, relations between Islamic law states, international law, and courts have been relatively tense due to the inherent link between Islamic law and the Islamic faith. Yet, several Islamic law states recognize the ICJ’s compulsory and compromissory jurisdiction. This article asks: Why do some Islamic law states extend support to the International Court of Justice, while others turn away from the Court? I argue and empirically demonstrate that specific characteristic of Islamic law can explain variation of Islamic law states’ preferences towards the ICJ. After providing original data on the characteristics of Islamic legal structures, I systematically compare pertinent rules of international law and Islamic law, focusing on similarities and differences between the two. Islamic law features such as respect for legal scholarship and peaceful resolution of disputes are compatible with principles embraced by the ICJ. Islamic law states that incorporate these norms are supportive of the Court. In contrast, Islamic law states that directly adopt sharia as the law of the land and incorporate sharia in their education systems are less open to the ICJ’s adjudication.
Tolerance to a highly variable environment does not infer resilience to future ocean warming and acidification in a branching coral

Coral populations from reef habitats that experience extreme daily abiotic fluctuations have been suggested as candidates to survive and proliferate under future climate change. Few studies, however, have exposed corals from dynamic environments to the synergistic effects of ocean warming and acidification to investigate whether tolerance of present‐day environmental variability is maintained under future climate stress. This study assessed the impact of RCP2.6 (+0.8°C and +25 ppm) and RCP4.5 (+1.3°C and +66 ppm) ocean warming and acidification on the survivorship, primary calcification (i.e., extension), secondary calcification (i.e., densification), and protein densities of Isopora palifera originating from two distinct reef habitats (abiotically variable reef flat vs. stable reef slope) over 9 weeks. Temperature and pCO2 were offset from a reef slope baseline temperature of 26.0°C ± 0.6°C and pCO2 concentration of 559 ± 56 ppm, incorporating natural diurnal variability. A trade‐off was observed in I. palifera originating from the reef flat, which significantly increased tissue protein densities but reduced densification relative to corals from the reef slope. Survivorship nor extension rates differed between corals originating from the variable or stable reef habitats. Mortality increased under RCP4.5 as extension rates increased, indicating that energetic investment in skeletal expansion becomes unsustainable under future climate stress. Increasing temperature and CO2 reduced calcification rates irrespective of the corals originating reef habitat suggesting with future climate change, exposure to greater environmental variability may not benefit coral calcification. These results demonstrate that tolerance to present‐day abiotic variability does not necessarily infer resilience to moderate future ocean warming and acidification conditions.
Development and Validation of a Questionnaire to Assess Carbohydrate and Insulin-dosing Knowledge in Youth with Type 1 Diabetes. Short running title: PedCarbQuiz

This is an uncopyedited electronic version of an article accepted for publication in Diabetes Care. The American Diabetes Association, publisher of Diabetes Care, is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it by third parties. The definitive publisherauthenticated version will be available in a future issue of Diabetes Care in print and online at http://care.diabetesjournals. org. Diabetes Care Publish Ahead of Print, published online December 10, 2009
Thai Student Teacher Learning Innovation: A Second-Order Confirmatory Factor Analysis

The study’s objective was to analyze the corroborating elements of a Thai student teacher’s (TST) learning innovation as perceived through the expertise of their teachers. Therefore, from 12 Thai teaching universities (Rajabhats) located across four Thai regions, multiple sampling techniques were used to select a sample of 151 teaching professionals. The research instrument was a questionnaire using a 5-level scale to assess the opinions on the four latent and 12 observed variables. The results showed that of the three latent variables analyzed that contributed to TST learning innovation (IN), learning innovation use (US) were perceived as most important, followed by the learning innovation development process (DE) and then the TST’s creative collaboration (CO) abilities, respectively. Finally, all the observed variables were determined to be compatible with TST innovation learning at a ‘high’ level.
The Newly Detected B.1.1.529 (Omicron) Variant of SARS-CoV-2 With Multiple Mutations Implications for transmission, diagnostics, therapeutics, and immune evasion

1 Executive Vice President, DHR Health, 5501 S. McColl Road, Edinburg, Texas 78539 and President & Chief Executive Officer, DHR Health Institute for Research & Development, 5323 S. McColl Road, Edinburg, Texas 78539. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5027-9992 2 Correspondence should be addressed to: Sohail Rao, MD, MA, DPhil. , DHR Health Institute for Research & Development, 5323 S. McColl Road, Edinburg, Texas 78539. Tel: (956) 362-2387. E-mail: s.rao@dhr-rgv.com 3 Chief Executive Officer, DHR Health, 5501 S. McColl Road, Edinburg Tx 78539 and DHR Health Bariatric and Metabolic Institute, 500 Raphael Drive, Edinburg, TX 78539 ORCID: Manish Singh: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4146-3282
Effective positioning of portable air cleaning devices in multizone residential buildings

SUMMARY An advantage of portable air cleaners is that they can be positioned in different parts of a building and used where air cleaning is needed. This makes them a popular choice for use in residential buildings. In typical indoor particle modeling efforts, perfect air mixing and uniform contaminant concentration distribution are assumed. However, the use of portable air cleaners in buildings with open doors and particle circulation between rooms can cause nonuniform spatial concentrations. Using validated computational fluid dynamic simulations, this paper analyzes the overall contaminant removal in a multi-room residential building. Simulations varied (1) particle size (0.74, 3.4 and 10 um), (2) clean air delivery rate (CADR) of the air cleaner (50 m 3 hr -1 and 500 m 3 hr -1 ), and (3) position of portable air cleaner. The results show very large variation of the overall particle removal (by deposition, exfiltration, and filtration) for different positions of portable cleaning device. In extreme cases, the effective positioning of cleaning device can result in a dramatic change in overall particle removal.
RNA Profiling of Mouse Ependymal Cells after Spinal Cord Injury Identifies the Oncostatin Pathway as a Potential Key Regulator of Spinal Cord Stem Cell Fate

Ependymal cells reside in the adult spinal cord and display stem cell properties in vitro. They proliferate after spinal cord injury and produce neurons in lower vertebrates but predominantly astrocytes in mammals. The mechanisms underlying this glial-biased differentiation remain ill-defined. We addressed this issue by generating a molecular resource through RNA profiling of ependymal cells before and after injury. We found that these cells activate STAT3 and ERK/MAPK signaling post injury and downregulate cilia-associated genes and FOXJ1, a central transcription factor in ciliogenesis. Conversely, they upregulate 510 genes, seven of them more than 20-fold, namely Crym, Ecm1, Ifi202b, Nupr1, Rbp1, Thbs2 and Osmr—the receptor for oncostatin, a microglia-specific cytokine which too is strongly upregulated after injury. We studied the regulation and role of Osmr using neurospheres derived from the adult spinal cord. We found that oncostatin induced strong Osmr and p-STAT3 expression in these cells which is associated with reduction of proliferation and promotion of astrocytic versus oligodendrocytic differentiation. Microglial cells are apposed to ependymal cells in vivo and co-culture experiments showed that these cells upregulate Osmr in neurosphere cultures. Collectively, these results support the notion that microglial cells and Osmr/Oncostatin pathway may regulate the astrocytic fate of ependymal cells in spinal cord injury.
Application and Effects of Ohmic-Vacuum Combination Heating on the Quality Factors of Tomato Paste

Ohmic-vacuum combination heating is a common method used in the food industry as a concentration process. In the present study, an OH-VC combination heating system was developed for producing tomato paste at temperatures of 70, 80, and 90 °C and pressure of 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7 bar and electric field of 1.82, 2.73, and 3.64 V/cm using a central composite design. The effects of heating conditions on the quality and sensory evaluation of tomato paste were also evaluated. Each combination of temperature, pressure, and the electric field was quantified for specific energy consumption, energy efficiency, and productivity. A decrease of 35.08% in the amount of acid ascorbic and lycopene content 19.01%, using conventional heating compared to ohmic-vacuum heating under optimized conditions, was attained. The results also highlighted an increase in the amount of HMF (69.79%) and PME (24.33%) using conventional heating compared to ohmic-vacuum heating under optimized conditions. Ascorbic acid, lycopene, titratable acidity, productivity, energy efficiency was higher than conventional heating; on the other hand, HMF, PME, pH, SEC were lower than conventional heating at the applied OH-VC process. No significant effects between OH-VC and conventional heating on the TSS were observed. In addition, OH-VC heating was highly efficient in the inhibition of bacterial growth. Further, a minor effect on the sensory properties of tomato paste with OH-VC heating compared to the conventional treatment. The obtained results indicate a strong potential for an OH-VC combination heating system as a rapid-heating, high-efficiency alternative for saving electrical energy consumption and preserving nutritional value.
Coping with Fears of Covid-19 Pandemic Among Nursing Students During Clinical Practice: Malawi’s Perspective

Purpose Fears of the Covid-19 pandemic have brought additional psychological pressure among nursing students. Nursing students at Mzuzu University in Malawi resumed clinical practice amidst the first wave of the pandemic and completed their rotation from September to December 2020. However, it was not known how they were coping with fears of the Covid-19 pandemic during clinical practice and this had set the impetus for conducting this study. Methods The study used qualitative approach employing a descriptive phenomenological design. Four focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted on students who had completed a clinical rotation during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Results Four themes emerged from the data analysis, and these were staying positive amidst the Covid-19 pandemic; applying the Covid-19 preventive measures; the role of religion and use of avoidance strategies. Conclusion Students should be encouraged to use coping strategies that have been proven to promote psychological well-being in times of crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic.
MARKET STRUCTURE AND MARKET PERFORMANCE OF TUNA VALUE CHAIN: A CASE STUDY OF YELLOWFIN TUNA AND BIGEYE TUNA VALUE CHAIN IN THREE SOUTH CENTRAL PROVINCES OF VIETNAM

A value chain integrated Structure Conduct Performance (SCP) framework applied in agribusiness products in general and fishery products, in particular, is of great significance in conceptualizing the strategy design specifically to a value chain segment in a territory in terms of economic development. This study aims to analysed the market structure and financial performance of each actor in the tuna value chain in three South Central provinces of Vietnam to provide an overview of the economic efficiency of the value chain. Within the study, the interviews have been conducted with 315 respondents, including shipowners, middle-persons, and processors, directly related to the tuna value chain in 2018. The market concentration of each actor was quantitatively indicated in form of the Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient. In addition actor’s financial performance was calculated by costs and earnings models. The results also showed that the market structure of middle-persons and processors tended to be monopolistic while shipowner’s market structure tended to be in perfect competition. Besides, the processors received the highest return compared to other actors due to their highest value-added contribution and the most significant business scale. Finally, several policy interventions were suggested to improve the economic efficiency of the value chain.