Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inflammation markers and the risk of hypertension in people living with HIV

Background The incidence of hypertension is high in people living with HIV (PLWH). High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), and neutrophil-to-monocyte ratio (NMR) are considered economic and convenient parameters that reflect the levels of inflammation in patients. Our aim was to explore whether indirect inflammation markers are associated with hypertension in PLWH. Methods This was a case-control study. The case group (hypertension) comprised PLWH with hypertension, and the control group (non-hypertension) comprised sex- and age-(± 3 years)-matched PLWH without hypertension. Demographic parameters, hsCRP, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), systemic immune- inflammation index (SII), SIRI, lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), platelet-to-neutrophil ratio (PNR), platelet-to-monocyte ratio (PMR), NMR, time to HIV diagnosis, antiretroviral therapy (ART) duration, recent CD4+ and CD8+ cell counts, recent CD4+/CD8+ ratio, recent HIV viral load (HIV-RNA),and recent ART regimen were obtained from the patients’ electronic medical records. A t-test or Wilcoxon rank-sum test was performed to compare differences between the two groups, and conditional logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors of hypertension. Correlations between inflammation markers and CD4+ cell counts, CD8+ cell counts, and CD4+/CD8+ ratio were analyzed using Spearman’s correlation. Results In the hypertension group, body mass index (BMI), hsCRP, NLR, SII, SIRI, NMR, time to HIV diagnosis, ART duration, CD4+ and CD8+ cell counts, and CD4+/CD8+ ratio, the ratio of HIV-RNA < 100 copies/mL were all higher than those in the non-hypertension group, while the PNR was lower than that in the non-hypertension group. ART duration, CD4+ cell counts, HIV-RNA < 100 copies/mL, hsCRP, SIRI, and NMR were positively associated with hypertensive risk in PLWH. CD8+ cell counts and CD4+/CD8+ ratio was negatively associated with hypertensive risk in PLWH. SIRI was negatively correlated with CD4+ cell counts and CD8+ cell counts, but positively correlated with CD4+/CD8+ ratio. Conclusions We identified positive associations between inflammation markers hsCRP, SIRI, NMR and hypertensive risk in PLWH. Alleviating inflammation may help control or delay the occurrence of hypertension in PLWH.
Population pharmacokinetics of nalbuphine in patients undergoing general anesthesia surgery

Purpose: The aim of this study was to build a population pharmacokinetics (PopPK) model of nalbuphine and to estimate the suitability of bodyweight or fixed dosage regimen. Method: Adult patients who were undergoing general anesthetic surgery using nalbuphine for induction of anesthesia were included. Plasma concentrations and covariates information were analyzed by non-linear mixed-effects modeling approach. Goodness-of-fit (GOF), non-parametric bootstrap, visual predictive check (VPC) and external evaluation were applied for the final PopPK model evaluation. Monte Carlo simulation was conducted to assess impact of covariates and dosage regimens on the plasma concentration to nalbuphine. Results: 47 patients aged 21–78 years with a body weight of 48–86 kg were included in the study. Among them, liver resection accounted for 14.8%, cholecystectomy for 12.8%, pancreatic resection for 36.2% and other surgeries for 36.2%. 353 samples from 27 patients were enrolled in model building group; 100 samples from 20 patients were enrolled in external validation group. The results of model evaluation showed that the pharmacokinetics of nalbuphine was adequately described by a two-compartment model. The hourly net fluid volume infused (HNF) was identified as a significant covariate about the intercompartmental clearance (Q) of nalbuphine with objective function value (OFV) decreasing by 9.643 (p < 0.005, df = 1). Simulation results demonstrated no need to adjust dosage based on HNF, and the biases of two dosage methods were less than 6%. The fixed dosage regimen had lower PK variability than the bodyweight regimen. Conclusion: A two-compartment PopPK model adequately described the concentration profile of nalbuphine intravenous injection for anesthesia induction. While HNF can affect the Q of nalbuphine, the magnitude of the effect was limited. Dosage adjustment based on HNF was not recommended. Furthermore, fixed dosage regimen might be better than body weight dosage regimen.
Improved PO-MM hybrid formulation for scattering from three-dimensional perfectly conducting bodies of arbitrary shape

The method of moments (MM) represents a suitable procedure for dealing with electromagnetic scattering problems of arbitrary geometrical shape in the lower frequency range. However, with increasing frequency both computation time and memory requirement often exceed available computer capacities. Therefore a current based hybrid method combining the MM with the physical optics (PO) approximation suitable for three-dimensional perfectly conducting bodies is proposed in this paper. The hybrid formulation allows a substantial reduction of computation time and memory requirement, while the results are in reasonable agreement with those based on an application of the MM alone. Further improvement can be achieved for flat polygonal parts of the scattering body by a heuristic modification of the PO current density taking into account the effects of edges. As opposed to the physical theory of diffraction (PTD), no additional electric and magnetic line currents along the edges are necessary. >
Influence of positive bias stress on N2O plasma improved InGaZnO thin film transistor

A post-treatment using N2O-plasma is applied to enhance the electrical characteristics of amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide thin film transistors. Improvements in the field-effect mobility and the subthreshold swing demonstrate that interface states were passivated after N2O-plasma treatment, and a better stability under positive gate-bias stress was obtained in addition. The degradation of mobility, resulted from bias stress, reduces from 6.1% (untreated devices) to 2.6% (N2O-plasma treated devices). Nevertheless, a strange hump characteristic occurs in transfer curve during bias stress, inferring that a parasitic transistor had been caused by the gate-induced electrical field.
A comparison of turbulence models in computing multi-element airfoil flows

Four different turbulence models are used to compute the flow over a three-element airfoil configuration. These models are the one-equation Baldwin-Barth model, the one-equation Spalart-Allmaras model, a two-equation k-omega model, and a new one-equation Durbin-Mansour model. The flow is computed using the INS2D two-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes solver. An overset Chimera grid approach is utilized. Grid resolution tests are presented, and manual solution-adaptation of the grid was performed. The performance of each of the models is evaluated for test cases involving different angles-of-attack, Reynolds numbers, and flap riggings. The resulting surface pressure coefficients, skin friction, velocity profiles, and lift, drag, and moment coefficients are compared with experimental data. The models produce very similar results in most cases. Excellent agreement between computational and experimental surface pressures was observed, but only moderately good agreement was seen in the velocity profile data. In general, the difference between the predictions of the different models was less than the difference between the computational and experimental data.
SEQUENTIAL THERMAL ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX ORGANIC MIXTURES: PROCEDURAL STANDARDS AND IMPROVED CO2 PURIFICATION CAPACITY

ABSTRACT Sequential thermal analysis allows for deconvoluting the refractory nature and complexity of carbon mixtures embedded in mineral matrices for subsequent offline stable carbon and radiocarbon (14C) isotope analyses. Originally developed to separate Holocene from more ancient sedimentary organic matter to improve dating of marine sediments, the Ramped Pyrolysis and Oxidation (RPO) apparatus, or informally, the “dirt burner” is now used to address pressing questions in the broad field of biogeochemistry. The growing interest in the community now necessitates improved handling and procedures for routine analyses of difficult sample types. Here we report on advances in CO2 purification during sample processing, modifications to the instrumentation at the National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (NOSAMS) facility, and introduce sodium bicarbonate procedural standards with differing natural abundance 14C signatures for blank assessment. Measurements from different environmental samples are used to compare the procedure to the different generations of sequential thermal analyses. With this study, we aim to improve the standardization of the procedures and prepare this instrumentation for innovations in online stable carbon isotopes and direct AMS-interface measurements in the future.
Investigating the Factors That Determine the ESG Disclosure Practices in Europe

The increased focus on environmental (E), social (S), and governance (G) (ESG) disclosure has become a necessary step toward the integration of sustainability practices into firms’ culture to meet the expectations of stakeholders. The social and environmental implications of firm activities on the environment and surrounding communities have led to the growing demand for useful non-financial information. This paper investigates the impacts of the board’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy and CSR orientation, GRI, and the country–cultural dimensions, based on Hofstede’s measures of ESG disclosure practices within Europe. Using a European dataset from Bloomberg and Refinitiv Eikon, this paper adopts a quantitative research methodology to test the research hypotheses through a statistical analysis of 7840 observations from European companies to analyze the extent of the relationship between micro- and macro-variables and the disclosure of company ESG. Our findings suggest that both board CSR orientation and strategy and the GRI have positively and significantly affected the overall disclosure of ESG practices within Europe. When examining country–cultural dimensions, we find that individualism and feminine cultures are positively associated with increased levels of ESG disclosure. Our findings shed light on factors affecting ESG disclosure practices within Europe and could be of interest to companies, policy makers, and other stakeholders.
Role of soy lecithin combined with soy isoflavone on cerebral blood flow in rats of cognitive impairment and the primary screening of its optimum combination

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES Soy isoflavone (SIF) and soy lecithin (SL) have beneficial effects on many chronic diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases. Regretfully, there is little evidence to show the combined effects of these soy extractives on the impairment of cognition and abnormal cerebral blood flow (CBF). This study examined the optimal combination dose of SIF + SL to provide evidence for improving CBF and protecting cerebrovascular endothelial cells. MATERIALS/METHODS In vivo study, SIF50 + SL40, SIF50 + SL80 and SIF50 + SL160 groups were obtained. Morris water maze, laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI), and hematoxylin-eosin staining were used to detect learning and memory impairment, CBF, and damage to the cerebrovascular tissue in rat. The 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and the oxidized glutathione (GSSG) were detected. The anti-oxidative damage index of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione (GSH) in the serum of an animal model was also tested. In vitro study, an immortalized mouse brain endothelial cell line (bEND.3 cells) was used to confirm the cerebrovascular endothelial cell protection of SIF + SL. In this study, 50 μM of Gen were used, while the 25, 50, or 100 μM of SL for different incubation times were selected first. The intracellular levels of 8-OHdG, SOD, GSH, and GSSG were also detected in the cells. RESULTS In vivo study, SIF + SL could increase the target crossing times significantly and shorten the total swimming distance of rats. The CBF in the rats of the SIF50 + SL40 group and SIF50 + SL160 group was enhanced. Pathological changes, such as attenuation of the endothelium in cerebral vessels were much less in the SIF50 + SL40 group and SIF50 + SL160 group. The 8-OHdG was reduced in the SIF50 + SL40 group. The GSSG showed a significant decrease in all SIF + SL pretreatment groups, but the GSH showed an opposite result. SOD was upregulated by SIF + SL pretreatment. Different combinations of Genistein (Gen)+SL, the secondary proof of health benefits found in vivo study, showed they have effective anti-oxidation and less side reaction on protecting cerebrovascular endothelial cell. SIF50 + SL40 in rats experiment and Gen50 + SL25 in cell test were the optimum joint doses on alleviating cognitive impairment and regulating CBF through protecting cerebrovascular tissue by its antioxidant activity. CONCLUSIONS SIF+SL could significantly prevent cognitive defect induced by β-Amyloid through regulating CBF. This kind of effect might be attributed to its antioxidant activity on protecting cerebral vessels.
Doped Carbon Quantum Dots Reinforced Hydrogels for Sustained Delivery of Molecular Cargo

Hydrogels have emerged as important soft materials with numerous applications in fields including biomedicine, biomimetic smart materials, and electrochemistry. Because of their outstanding photo-physical properties and prolonged colloidal stability, the serendipitous findings of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) have introduced a new topic of investigation for materials scientists. CQDs confined polymeric hydrogel nanocomposites have emerged as novel materials with integrated properties of the individual constituents, resulting in vital uses in the realm of soft nanomaterials. Immobilizing CQDs within hydrogels has been shown to be a smart tactic for preventing the aggregation-caused quenching effect and also for manipulating the characteristics of hydrogels and introducing new properties. The combination of these two very different types of materials results in not only structural diversity but also significant improvements in many property aspects, leading to novel multifunctional materials. This review covers the synthesis of doped CQDs, different fabrication techniques for nanostructured materials made of CQDs and polymers, as well as their applications in sustained drug delivery. Finally, a brief overview of the present market and future perspectives are discussed.
Dialogic Positioning on Pro-Whaling Stance: A Case Study of Reported Speech in Japanese Whaling News

ABSTRACT Hard news is often assumed to be ‘objective’ and ‘factual’, with little or no trace of a ‘subjective’ authorial point of view. However, what is often forgotten is that journalists still choose what information to divulge, and how to communicate that information. This article explores how whaling news is presented in Japanese hard news reports, examining the types of ‘voices’ quoted and how these voices are presented. Analysing 176 quotations from 33 news articles published between 2014 and 2018 on news relating to controversies over Japan’s whaling policy in relation to the International Whaling Commission’s 2014 ban on whaling, this article found that in most cases, pro-whaling voices (43%) are quoted far more frequently than anti-whaling voices (24%). However, in news reports on Japan’s resumption of whaling in 2015, pro-whaling voices became completely absent, because the Japanese journalists chose to quote foreign external voices that reject a pro-whaling point of view. Japanese journalists also incorporated emotional statements from local residents and fishermen in order to dramatise the issue and seek sympathy for those whose livelihood was threatened by the whaling ban.
Recognition and Management of Hospital-Acquired Sepsis Among Older General Medical Inpatients: A Multi-Site Retrospective Study

Purpose To assess accuracy of early diagnosis, appropriateness and timeliness of response, and clinical outcomes of older general medical inpatients with hospital-acquired sepsis. Methods Hospital abstracts of inpatient encounters from seven digital Queensland public hospitals between July 2018 and September 2020 were screened retrospectively for diagnoses of hospital-acquired sepsis. Electronic medical records were retrieved and cases meeting selection criteria and classified as confirmed or probable sepsis using pre-specified criteria were included. Investigations and treatments following the first digitally generated alert of clinical deterioration were compared with a best practice sepsis care bundle. Outcome measures comprised 30-day all-cause mortality after deterioration, and unplanned readmissions at 14 days after discharge. Results Of the 169 screened care episodes, 59 comprised probable or confirmed cases of sepsis treated by general medicine teams at the time of initial deterioration. Of these, 43 (72.9%) had no mention of sepsis in the differential diagnosis on first medical review, and only 38 (64%) were managed as having sepsis. Each care bundle component of blood cultures, serum lactate, and intravenous fluid resuscitation and antibiotics was only delivered in approximately 30% of cases, and antibiotic administration was delayed more than an hour in 28 of 38 (73.7%) cases. Conclusion Early recognition of sepsis and timely implementation of care bundles are challenging in older general medical patients. Education programs in sepsis care standards targeting nurses and junior medical staff, closer patient monitoring, and post-discharge follow-up may improve patient outcomes.
An Observational and Modeling Study of the Processes Leading to Deep, Moist Convection in Complex Terrain

AbstractA case study of orographic convection initiation (CI) that occurred along the eastern slopes of the Vosges Mountains in France on 6 August 2007 during the Convective and Orographically-Induced Precipitation Study (COPS) is presented. Global positioning system (GPS) receivers and two Doppler on Wheels (DOW) mobile radars sampled the preconvective and storm environments and were respectively used to retrieve three-dimensional tomographic water vapor and wind fields. These retrieved data were supplemented with temperature, moisture, and winds from radiosondes from a site in the eastern Rhine Valley. High-resolution numerical simulations with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model were used to further investigate the physical processes leading to convective precipitation.This unique, time-varying combination of derived water vapor and winds from observations illustrated an increase in low-level moisture and convergence between upslope easterlies and downslope westerlies along the eastern slo.
Improving the registration stability of cone-beam computed tomography with the Sphere-Mask Optical Positioning System: a feasibility study

Background Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) is an important tool for patient positioning in radiotherapy due to its outstanding advantages. However, the CBCT registration shows errors due to the limitations of the automatic registration algorithm and the nonuniqueness of manual verification results. The purpose of this study was to verify the feasibility of using the Sphere-Mask Optical Positioning System (S-M_OPS) to improve the registration stability of CBCT through clinical trials. Methods From November 2021 to February 2022, 28 patients who received intensity-modulated radiotherapy and site verification with CBCT were included in this study. S-M_OPS was used as an independent third-party system to supervise the CBCT registration result in real time. The supervision error was calculated based on the CBCT registration result and using the S-M_OPS registration result as the standard. For the head and neck, patients with a supervision error ≥3 or ≤–3 mm in 1 direction were selected. For the thorax, abdomen, pelvis, or other body parts, patients with a supervision error ≥5 or ≤–5 mm in 1 direction were selected. Then, re-registration was performed for all patients (selected and unselected). The registration errors of CBCT and S-M_OPS were calculated based on the re-registration results as the standard. Results For selected patients with large supervision errors, CBCT registration errors (mean ± standard deviation) in the latitudinal (LAT; left/right), vertical (VRT; superior/inferior), and longitudinal (LNG; anterior/posterior) directions were 0.90±3.20, –1.70±0.98, and 7.30±2.14 mm, respectively. The S-M_OPS registration errors were 0.40±0.14, 0.32±0.66, and 0.24±1.12 mm in the LAT, VRT, and LNG directions, respectively. For all patients, CBCT registration errors in the LAT, VRT, and LNG directions were 0.39±2.69, –0.82±1.47, and 2.39±2.93 mm, respectively. The S-M_OPS registration errors were –0.25±1.33, 0.55±1.27, and 0.36±1.34 mm for all patients in the LAT, VRT, and LNG directions, respectively. Conclusions This study shows that S-M_OPS registration offers comparable accuracy to CBCT for daily registration. S-M_OPS, as an independent third-party tool, can prevent large errors in CBCT registration, thereby improving the accuracy and stability of CBCT registration.
Demographic factors, personality, and executive functions as predictors of procrastination in Polish and Ukrainian youth

BACKGROUND Procrastination is an irrational and unproductive behavior that disrupts psychological well-being and the quality of interpersonal relationships. The study aimed to determine the differences between Polish and Ukrainian youth in procrastinating and establish personality and executive functions as predictors of procrastination. Also, cultural differences were taken into account. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE It included 180 students (86 females and 94 males) aged 12 to 17; 84 lived in Lublin, Poland, while 96 lived in Lviv, Ukraine. The Pure Procrastination Scale, Ten Item Personality Inventory, and Comprehensive Executive Function Inventory were used. RESULTS There were no significant differences in the level of procrastination between the whole Polish and Ukrainian groups, but age was an important predictor of procrastination. Gender was not a differentiating factor within the Polish or Ukrainian group. The most stable negative set of predictors of procrastination appeared to be age, agreeableness, and inhibitory control. These traits can be helpful in dealing with procrastination tendencies. CONCLUSIONS Our research shows that an ability to control procrastination depends more on predispositions related to personality traits than on executive function improvement linked to the maturation of the frontal lobes. Combining the demographic, personality, and executive variables showed that students in the older age groups were more resistant to procrastination.