Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems for neural interfaces a novel approach for improved biocompatibility

The overall purpose of this thesis was to reduce brain tissue responses around implanted microelectrodes using a pharmacological strategy. One of the main aims was to develop and evaluate drug delivery systems that allow local administration of anti-inflammatory pharmaceutics. The drug Minocycline was therefore encapsulated into biodegradable poly (D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles and thereby also protecting the drug from degradation. The nanoparticle construct resulted in a sustained release of Minocycline over 30 days. This constitutes a substantial increase in release time compared to what has until now been achieved for the drug. The drug-loaded nanoparticles were then embedded in a fast-dissolving gelatin coating surrounding the implant which enabled local and sustained drug release at the target site. This technique supersedes any of the conventional administration routes and minimizes the risk for systemic side effects. The developed drug delivery system was found to significantly attenuate the acute brain tissue responses around implanted microelectrodes in mice. Coatings with Minocycline-loaded nanoparticles significantly reduced the activation of microglia cells compared to control coatings with gelatin alone both 3 and 7 days post implantation. This without affecting the overall microglia population. A significant reduction of the astrocytic response was also found 7 days post implantation in comparison to control implants. No effect on neurons or total cell count was found which may suggest that the Minocycline-loaded nanoparticles are non-toxic to the central nervous system. The thesis also presents a novel nanoparticle-eluting compartmentalized microelectrode that transforms into a flexible tube once implanted.
Advanced Glycation end product profile of Diabetic and Non- Diabetic patients with cataract

The study determined the levels of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in Nigerian cataract patients with and without diabetes mellitus, those with DM but no cataract as well as apparently healthy controls with a view to further elucidating putative pathophysiologic mechanisms for the occurrence of cataracts among our diabetic population. Participants comprised of 30 diabetic patients with operable cataract, 30 non-diabetic patients with operable cataract, 30 diabetic patients without cataract and 17 healthy controls all matched for age and sex, Glycated Haemoglobin levels in whole blood samples were determined using an affinity assay while fasting blood glucose was estimated by the glucose oxidase reaction. AGE was measured using a competitive ELISA kit while the level of lipid peroxidation in plasma was determined by measuring the reaction products between malondialdehyde and thiobarbituric acid. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS software (version 23). P<0.05 was taken as significant. The age range of participants was 52-90 years with a mean of 67.2±0.8. Mean levels of AGE were comparable in patients who had diabetes and cataract, those with cataract but no diabetes and those with Diabetes but no cataracts while healthy controls of similar age group had significantly lower levels. Patients with diabetes mellitus and cataract had significantly higher levels of MDA than those with diabetes only. There was positive, significant correlation between AGE and fasting glucose levels. No significant differences existed between AGE and MDA levels in male and female respondents. We conclude that AGE may serve as a useful index of pathologic conditions, including cataract and diabetes.
Returning to Rejection: Outcomes and Boundary Conditions of Mental Illness Stereotypes

i List of Tables.iii List of Figures.iv Chapter 1: Introduction.1 Chapter 2: Hypothesis Development.9 Chapter 3: Methods.22 Chapter 4: Results.29 Chapter 5: Discussion.39 Tables.52 Figures.58 References.59 Appendix A: Data Collection Measures.69 Appendix B: Stimulus Materials.73
First Systematic Voltammetric Measurements of Cd, Pb, and Cu in Hydrofluoric Acid-Dissolved Siliceous Spicules of Marine Sponges: Application to Antarctic Specimens

Ultrasensitive Square Wave Anodic Stripping Voltammetry is used for the first time for the systematic determination of Cd, Pb, and Cu in siliceous spicules of marine sponges; the procedure is performed directly in hydrofluoric acid solution, according to a procedure previously established in our laboratory, with the aim of demonstrating the feasibility of such measurements and to improve knowledge of heavy metal distribution in Porifera. The following Demospongiae species are considered: Sphaerotylus antarcticus, Haliclona sp. , Kirkpatrickia coulmani, and Inflatella belli from the Ross Sea, Antarctica, and Petrosia ficiformis from the Mediterranean Sea, Italy. The method shows a good accuracy; the analytical variability is approximately ±10% for all the metals studied and for all the measurements performed, showing a good repeatability of the method in consideration of low metal concentrations (order of tenths of µg g−1 dry weight, i.e., of hundreds of ng L−1 in the HF solution). In particular, the concentrations of heavy metals in the body of the sponge vary in the range 0.038–0.93 µg g−1 dry weight (d.w.) for Cd, 0.024–0.52 µg g−1 d.w. for Pb, and 0.32–1.3 µg g−1 d.w. for Cu. Similar ranges of concentration were recorded in the oscula of S. antarcticus and I. belli. Heavy metal concentration in the spicules can vary within and between specimens and, in particular, siliceous spicules of Antarctic sponges show higher concentrations of Cd and Pb and lower concentrations of Cu than those from the Mediterranean.
A Pronounced Spike in Ocean Productivity Triggered by the Chicxulub Impact

There is increasing evidence linking the mass‐extinction event at the Cretaceous‐Paleogene boundary to an asteroid impact near Chicxulub, Mexico. Here we use model simulations to explore the combined effect of sulfate aerosols, carbon dioxide and dust from the impact on the oceans and the marine biosphere in the immediate aftermath of the impact. We find a strong temperature decrease, a brief algal bloom caused by nutrients from both the deep ocean and the projectile, and moderate surface ocean acidification. Comparing the modeled longer‐term post‐impact warming and changes in carbon isotopes with empirical evidence points to a substantial release of carbon from the terrestrial biosphere. Overall, our results shed light on the decades to centuries after the Chicxulub impact which are difficult to resolve with proxy data.
Measurements of Isoprene and Monoterpenes at Mt. Taehwa and Estimation of Their Emissions

To investigate the distributions of BVOCs (Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds) from mountain near mega city and their role in forest atmospheric, BVOCs and their oxidized species were measured at a 41 m tower in Mt. Taehwa during May, June and August 2013. A proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometer (PTR-MS) was used to quantify isoprene and monoterpenes. In conjunction with BVOCs, O 3 , meteorological parameters, PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation) and LAI (Leaf Area Index) were measured. The average concentrations of isoprene and monoterpenes were 0.71 ppbv and 0.17 ppbv, respectively. BVOCs showed higher concentrations in the early summer (June) compared to the late summer (August). Isoprene started increasing at 2 PM and reached the maximum concentration around 5 PM. In contrast, monoterpenes concentrations began to increase 4 PM and stayed high at night. The O 3 maximum was generally found at 3 PM and remained high until 5 PM or later, which was concurrent with the enhancement of O 3 . The concentrations of BVOCs were higher below canopy (18 m) than above canopy, which indicated these species were produced by trees. At night, monoterpenes concentrations were negatively correlated with these of O 3 below canopy. Using MEGAN (Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature), the emissions of isoprene and monoterpenes were estimated at 1.1 ton/year and 0.9 ton/year, respectively at Mt. Taehwa.
Analyzing Fine-Grained Material Usage Behavior

Most prior work in log data analysis within introductory programming courses has focused on log data gathered from programming environments. While such data can provide insights into the programming process of students, it misses other parts of the learning process, such as students’ use of e-textbooks or other online learning materials. In this work, we present preliminary results from an analysis of learning material use at a ﬁne grain. We discuss the possibilities that such data provides for studying the learning process of students in introductory programming courses.
A Study on Chromium-Humic Complexation: Part 1. Characterisation of Humic Substances

The natural humic and fulvic acids were extracted and fractionated from the soils of two tea-estates of Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, and the synthetic humic acids were prepared in the laboratory from hydroquinone and α-amino acids, namely glycine and valine. Both the natural humic/fulvic acids and the synthetic humic acids were characterized in terms of important properties, namely functional group contents by pH-potentiometric titration, viscosity-average molecular weight, surface excess by surface-tension measurements, as well as the visible spectrophotometric properties. The fulvic acids had more total acidity than did the corresponding humic acids of both types. The naturally occurring humic acids were more complex in structure with essentially hydrophobic nature as compared to the corresponding fulvic acids and synthetic analogues of humic acids.
An Investigation Into The Effects Of Aluminum Substitution And Aging Under Aerobic Conditions On The Physicochemical Properties Of Ferrihydrite

This thesis characterizes the physicochemical properties of pure (Fh) and aluminum-doped ferrihydrites (AlFh) upon aging and puts forth a hypothesis involving the lattice position occupied by Al within Fh. We used flow and drop solution microcalorimetry, X-ray diffraction, adsorption spectroscopy and magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy to carry a complete characterization. Aging of pure Fh showed evidence for phase transformation into varying amounts of hematite (Ht) and goethite (Gt) with the former increasing over time. The presence of Al retarded all transformation. Aged AlFhs showed a larger heat of exchange (Qexch) compared to undoped Fhs and increased with age. Results also showed increased magnetism, contraction of the lattice c-axis, heats of phosphate adsorption, and pH decrease with Al incorporation. We posit that Al substitution occurs on the surface of Fh in an octahedrally-coordinated Fe site. INDEX WORDS: Ferrihydrite, Aging, Aluminum substitution, Microcalorimetry, Total scattering AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECTS OF ALUMINUM SUBSTITUTION AND AGING UNDER AEROBIC CONDITIONS ON THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF FERRIHYDRITE
Effectiveness of face masks in blocking the transmission of SARS-CoV-2: A preliminary evaluation of masks used by SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals

In 2019, a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is trans-mitted via airborne route, caused a new pandemic namely, 'coronavirus disease 2019' (COVID-19). Although it is still debated whether the use of masks can prevent the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, no study has evaluated the virus-blocking efficacy of masks used by patients. We aimed to evaluate this efficacy of masks used by SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals. Data, masks used, and nasopharyngeal swab samples were obtained from these patients. Forty-five paired samples of nasopharyngeal swabs and masks were obtained and processed; the majority of masks were woven. Viral RNAs were amplified using quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and detected only on the inner parts of masks. Median cycle threshold (CT) values of swabs and masks were 28.41 and 37.95, respectively. Statistically, there was a difference of ap-proximately 10 CT values between swabs and masks and no significant difference in CT values among different types of masks. There were statistically significant differences in CT values be-tween men and women and symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. Our findings suggest the blocking of the transmission of the virus by different types of masks and reinforce the use of masks by both infected and non-infected individuals.
Gender Diversity in Computing and Immersive Games for Computer Programming Education: A Review

This paper provides a review of the current state of the gender gap in computer science and highlights how immersive games can mitigate this issue. Game-based learning (GBL) applications have been shown to successfully incite motivation in students and increase learning efficiency in both formal and non-formal educational settings. With the rise of GBL, researchers have also used virtual reality to provide pupils with a more immersive learning experience. Both GBL and virtual reality techniques are also used for computer programming education. However, there is a paucity of applications that utilize these techniques to incite interest in computer science from a female perspective. This is a cause for concern as immersive games have been proven to be capable of inciting affective motivation and fostering positive attitudes towards specific subjects. Hence, this review summarises the benefits and limitations of GBL and virtual reality; how males and females respond to certain game elements; and suggestions to aid in the development of immersive games to increase female participation in the field of computer science.
Droop-free controls of inverter-based generator for use in systems that interconnected with synchronous generators

Received Jun 21, 2020 Revised Mar 14, 2021 Accepted Mar 19, 2021 Because of its simplicity and autonomous operation, droop control technique is widely implemented for power generation control in microgrids. Despite its popularity, it has been reported that the technique has the stability problem. In this paper, the previous work of droop-free inverter-based generator designed for operating in a fix frequency islanded microgrid, is redesigned to have the ability to operate in both islanded and grid connected microgrid as well as to the main power grid where it interconnected with synchronous generators. The proposed voltage source inverters use phase locked loop (PLL) algorithm to synchronize the changing frequency due to the operation of the synchronous generator. Unlike the frequency droop control that the output frequency is varied as its active power changed, the proposed controls do not make an adjustment of the system frequency. This kind of operation reduces the chance of the system unstable due to severe frequency change and it also reduces the frequency deviation when it increases its active power output. Simulation and result of the meshed power network demonstrate the feasibility to implement the proposed controls in the real system.
Opposition based red wolf algorithm for solving optimal reactive power problem

This paper presents an opposition based red wolf optimization (ORWO) algorithm for solving optimal reactive power problem. Each red wolf has a flag vector in the algorithm, and length is equivalent to the whole sum of numbers which features in the dataset of the wolf optimization (WO). In this proposed algorithm, red wolf optimization algorithm has been intermingled with opposition-based learning (OBL). By this amalgamate procedure the convergence speed of the proposed algorithm will be increased. To discover an improved candidate solution, the concurrent consideration of a probable and its corresponding opposite are estimated which is closer to the global optimum than an arbitrary candidate solution. Proposed algorithm has been tested in standard IEEE 14-bus and 300-bus test systems. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm reduced the real power loss considerably.
Do Preferences for Urban Amenities Really Differ by Skill?

City-level policies often aim at attracting skilled workers by improving urban amenities. However, due to endogeneity problems, studies relying on revealed preferences have difficulties in providing evidence for the basic premise that skilled workers place a higher value on urban amenities than less skilled individuals. Therefore, we use a stated- preference experiment to directly examine preferences for urban amenities. In a custom survey, we elicit hypothetical job choices between two cities that differ in wages and a set of urban amenities. We find that amenities are important determinants of city choice, with respondents willing to forgo a significant fraction of their wage to live in a city with better amenities. Most strikingly, we do not find any preference heterogeneity between workers differing by education or creative class membership. Instead, we uncover large heterogeneities mainly along family-related mobility constraints and unobserved dimensions. Our results imply that there is not much scope for amenity-oriented policies to improve the local skill mix. Rather, the urban skill bias reflects the incapability of less skilled individuals to afford living in and moving to their preferred places, resulting in significant welfare losses.
The Strength of Weak and Strong Ties in Bridging Geographic and Cognitive Distances

The proximity framework has attracted considerable attention in a scholarly discourse on the driving forces of knowledge exchange tie formation. It has been discussed that too much proximity is negatively associated with the effectiveness of a knowledge exchange relation. However, little is known about the key factors that trigger the formation of the boundaryspanning knowledge ties. Going beyond the “dyadic” perspective on proximity dimensions, this paper argues that the key factor in bridging distances may reside at the “triadic” level. We build on the notion of “the strength of weak ties” and its recent development by investigating the innovative performance and relations of more than 600,000 German firms. We explored and extracted information from the textual and relational content of firms’ websites by using machine learning techniques and hyperlink analysis. We thereby proxied the innovative performance of firms using a deep learning text analysis approach and showed that the triadic property of bridging dyadic relations is a reliable predictor of firms’ innovativeness. Relations embedded in cliques (i.e., strong ties) that connect cognitively distant firms are more strongly associated with firms’ innovation, whereas inter-regional relations connecting different parts of a network (i.e., weak ties) are positively associated with firms’ innovative performance. Also, the results suggest that a combination of strong inter-community and weak inter-regional relations are more positively related with firms’ innovativeness compared to the combination of other relation types.
Investigation of the Preschool Teacher Candidates’ Philosophical Views on the Nature of Mathematics

Teachers’ views on the nature of maths have a crucial effect on their interactions with children, their choice of method and technique to be used while preparing the curriculum, their decision on the type and frequency of activities to be applied, their behaviors in the classroom, children’s attitudes towards maths and their achievement. With this research, it is aimed to examine teacher candidates’ philosophical views on the nature of maths. The research is in relational scanning model. “The Scale of Philosophical Thoughts on the Nature of Mathematics” was implemented to 141 pre-school teacher candidates studying in 2019-2020, which constitute the sample of the study. As a result of the analysis, it has been found that 52.5% of teacher candidates have an absolutist view, the views of female and male teacher candidates support each other and there is a significant difference between the grade level in they study.
Three Dimensional Space-Time Gravitational Metric, 3 Space + 3 Time Dimensions

We have recently suggested a new quantum gravity theory that can be unified with quantum mechanics. We have coined this theory collision space-time. This new theory seems to be fully consistent with a 3-dimensional space-time, that is, three space dimensions and three time-dimensions, so some would call it six-dimensional. However, we have shown that collision-time and collision-length (space) are just two di↵erent sides of the same ”coin” (space-time), so it is more intuitive to think of them as 3-dimensional space-time. In previous papers, we have not laid out a geometric coordinate system for our theory that also considers gravity, but we will do that here. We are pointing out that Einstein’s negative attitude towards relativistic mass can perhaps cause a weakness in the foundation of general relativity theory. When a relativistic mass is incorporated in the theory, this mass also seems to indicate one needs to move to three-dimensional space-time. Then, for example, our new theory matches fully up with all the properties of the Planck scale in relation to the mathematical properties of micro black holes, not only mathematically but also logically, something we demonstrate clearly is not the case of general relativity theory. Our new metric has many benefits as an alternative to the Schwarzschild metric and general relativity theory. It seems to be more consistent with the Planck units than the Schwarzschild metric. Most importantly, it seems to be fully consistent with a new quantum gravity theory that seems to unify gravity with quantum mechanics.
The Enigmatic Brown Dwarf WISEA J153429.75-104303.3 (a.k.a. “The Accident”)

Continued follow-up of WISEA J153429.75−104303.3, announced in Meisner et al., has proven it to have an unusual set of properties. New imaging data from Keck/MOSFIRE and HST/WFC3 shows that this object is one of the few faint proper motion sources known with J − ch2 >8 mag, indicating a very cold temperature consistent with the latest known Y dwarfs. Despite this, it has W1−W2 and ch1−ch2 colors ∼1.6 mag bluer than a typical Y dwarf. A new trigonometric parallax measurement from a combination of WISE, Spitzer, and HST astrometry confirms a nearby distance of 16.3−1.2+1.4 pc and a large transverse velocity of 207.4 ± 15.9 km s−1. The absolute J, W2, and ch2 magnitudes are in line with the coldest known Y dwarfs, despite the highly discrepant W1−W2 and ch1−ch2 colors. We explore possible reasons for the unique traits of this object and conclude that it is most likely an old, metal-poor brown dwarf and possibly the first Y subdwarf. Given that the object has an HST F110W magnitude of 24.7 mag, broadband spectroscopy and photometry from JWST are the best options for testing this hypothesis.
Ultralong temporal coherence in optically trapped exciton-polariton condensates

We investigate an optically trapped exciton-polariton condensate and observe temporal coherence beyond 1~ns duration. Due to the reduction of the spatial overlap with the thermal reservoir of excitons, the coherence time of the trapped condensate is more than an order of magnitude longer than that of an untrapped condensate. This ultralong coherence enables high precision spectroscopy of the trapped condensate, and we observe periodic beats of the field correlation function due to a fine energy splitting of two polarization modes of the condensate. Our results are important for realizing polariton simulators with spinor condensates in lattice potentials.