Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mitigation of Beach Erosion after Coastal Road Construction

Abstract Beach erosion problems have become prevalent in Korea as a result of its economic growth and coastal development. This paper summarizes a comprehensive approach used to mitigate beach erosion that occurred after the construction of a coastal road with a seawall along Namae Beach in Korea. Field measurements of waves and currents were performed to identify the wave-induced current pattern associated with the observed shoreline erosion in front of the seawall. The construction of a short jetty and two submerged reef mounds was proposed to reduce the wave-induced current and resulting beach erosion. After the jetty construction from May to August, 2008, the shoreline advanced offshore continuously in the zone affected by the jetty. Field monitoring will be continued during the reef mound construction and for beach nourishment proposed to maintain a wide beach in front of the seawall. This mitigation project indicates that the effect of a coastal road on an adjacent beach should be taken into account before its siting because of the long-term evolution of the beach morphology.
Confidence of Faculty in Writing Letters of Recommendation for Pediatric Fellowship Applicants

Background: The assessment of pediatric residents applying to subspecialty fellowship programs relies on faculty letters of recommendation (LOR). However, it is unclear if pediatric faculty are confident that their LOR are effective. Objective: This study aims to assess the confidence of pediatric faculty in writing an effective LOR for pediatric residents applying to subspecialty fellowship programs. Methods: Survey development was conducted using evidence-based best practices. Surveys were distributed via email in 2021 to all full-time pediatric faculty members who taught pediatric residents in a large academic medical center. Categorical values were compared by chi-square test. Results: Eighty-five out of 150 (57%) faculty members completed the survey. Forty-one percent of participants were very confident that their LOR provided adequate content to assess residents during the application process. Confidence was associated with higher academic rank (p=0.02), frequent contact with residents (p=0.01), and writing >2 LOR in the last five years (p=0.0002). Confident LOR writers were more likely to describe their own background, details about the resident’s scholarly activity, and the resident’s ability to work as part of a team. Thirty-five percent of respondents reported never considering gender bias when writing LOR, whereas 28% reported always considering gender bias. Eighty-seven percent of respondents reported an interest in receiving LOR writing guidelines. Conclusion: Half of the faculty respondents were not very confident in their ability to write an effective LOR for pediatric residents applying for a fellowship. Faculty development and standardized instructions on writing effective LOR may be helpful both at the institutional and national levels, including the importance of considering gender bias when writing LOR.
Validation of potential RNA biomarkers for prostate cancer diagnosis and monitoring in plasma and urinary extracellular vesicles

Introduction: Prostate cancer (PCa), one of the most prevalent malignancies affecting men worldwide, presents significant challenges in terms of early detection, risk stratification, and active surveillance. In recent years, liquid biopsies have emerged as a promising non-invasive approach to complement or even replace traditional tissue biopsies. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), nanosized membranous structures released by various cells into body fluids, have gained substantial attention as a source of cancer biomarkers due to their ability to encapsulate and transport a wide range of biological molecules, including RNA. In this study, we aimed to validate 15 potential RNA biomarkers, identified in a previous EV RNA sequencing study, using droplet digital PCR. Methods: The candidate biomarkers were tested in plasma and urinary EVs collected before and after radical prostatectomy from 30 PCa patients and their diagnostic potential was evaluated in a test cohort consisting of 20 benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and 20 PCa patients’ plasma and urinary EVs. Next, the results were validated in an independent cohort of plasma EVs from 31 PCa and 31 BPH patients. Results: We found that the levels of NKX3-1 (p = 0.0008) in plasma EVs, and tRF-Phe-GAA-3b (p < 0.0001) tRF-Lys-CTT-5c (p < 0.0327), piR-28004 (p = 0.0081) and miR-375-3p (p < 0.0001) in urinary EVs significantly decreased after radical prostatectomy suggesting that the main tissue source of these RNAs is prostate and/or PCa. Two mRNA biomarkers—GLO1 and NKX3-1 showed promising diagnostic potential in distinguishing between PCa and BPH with AUC of 0.68 and 0.82, respectively, in the test cohort and AUC of 0.73 and 0.65, respectively, in the validation cohort, when tested in plasma EVs. Combining these markers in a biomarker model yielded AUC of 0.85 and 0.71 in the test and validation cohorts, respectively. Although the PSA levels in the blood could not distinguish PCa from BPH in our cohort, adding PSA to the mRNA biomarker model increased AUC from 0.71 to 0.76. Conclusion: This study identified two novel EV-enclosed RNA biomarkers–NKX3-1 and GLO1–for the detection of PCa, and highlights the complementary nature of GLO1, NKX3-1 and PSA as combined biomarkers in liquid biopsies of PCa.
Management of the mycorrhizal and rhizobial associations to mitigate the negative effects of Grevillea banksii on the development of Dalbergia trichocarpa an endemic tree species

This study aims to improve the development of Dalbergia trichocarpa, a Malagasy native tree species, on a soil invaded by Grevillea banksii, an invasive plant species in eastern part of Madagascar, by inoculating seedlings with mycorrhizal fungal, Rhizophagus irregularis and AMFn strains or rhizobial STM609 and Rn strains, or a mixed rhizobial-mycorrhizal strains. After five months of growth, the results showed that single or dual inoculation boosted significantly the development of D. trichocarpa, compared to control treatments and all parameters measured were markedly different between the time periods of plant invasions. Indeed, the dry mass of aerial biomass was significantly higher in inoculated seedlings than in control seedlings. It was also observed that the number of nodules and the arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization rates of D. trichocarpa increased significantly with inoculated plantlets. However, soil inoculated with the rhizobial strain STM609 alone showed a significantly high global soil microbial activity and the dual inoculation has promoted the soil acid phosphatase activity. These results suggest that dual inoculation with rhizobial and arbuscular mycorrhizal strains was significantly beneficial to the growth, nodulation and mycorrhizal colonization rates of D. trichocarpa in the soil overgrown by G. banksii, an invasive exotic plant species. Thus, this biotechnology can be used for restoration of degraded ecosystems in Madagascar with native tree species.
Association of Epstein–Barr Virus (EBV) and Human Endogenous Retroviruses (HERV) with Multiple Sclerosis in Northwest of Iran

Materials and Methods 130 subjects were enrolled in a case-control study at two tertiary university hospitals from Tabriz (Imam and Razi), Iran. Of these, 65 subjects were MS patients serving as the case group, and 65 subjects were healthy individuals serving as the control group. After DNA extraction from all samples, the EBER region of EBV genome was used as the primer for the detection of EBV. RNA was extracted from PBMCs, and cDNA synthesis was performed by using Sina Gene kit. Subsequently, each sample was analysed by RT-PCR with two sets of primers to detect specifically multiple sclerosis retroviruses (MSRV) env, and RT-PCR was repeated for each HERV-W env. Positive sample was used in order to confirm the result. Results In the case group, 19 (29.2%) patients were male and 46 (70.8%) patients were female. Nevertheless, in the control group, 21 (32.3%) subjects were male and 44 (67.7%) subjects were female. No significant difference was found between groups in gender (p = 0.70). The mean range in control and case groups was 33/38 ± 9/85 and 33.18 ± 8.65, respectively. No significant difference was found between groups in age (p = 0.902). 4 (6.2%) patients in case groups were found to be positive for EBV DNA (p = 0.119). Expression of the env gene of HERVs was observed in 10 (15.38%) and two (3.07%) specimens in the case and control groups (p = 0.030), separately. A comparison of the prevalence of the HERV ENV genome between the two study groups showed a significant difference (p = 0.005). Conclusion The results of this study failed to show any difference between MS patients and healthy controls in the rate of EBV infection. It can be concluded that the expression of HERV-W/env genes may be involved in the development of MS in these patients.
Periodontitis and Metabolic Syndrome: Statistical and Machine Learning Analytics of a Nationwide Study

This study aimed to analyze the associations between periodontitis and metabolic syndrome (MetS) components and related conditions while controlling for sociodemographics, health behaviors, and caries levels among young and middle-aged adults. We analyzed data from the Dental, Oral, and Medical Epidemiological (DOME) record-based cross-sectional study that combines comprehensive sociodemographic, medical, and dental databases of a nationally representative sample of military personnel. The research consisted of 57,496 records of patients, and the prevalence of periodontitis was 9.79% (5630/57,496). The following parameters retained a significant positive association with subsequent periodontitis multivariate analysis (from the highest to the lowest OR (odds ratio)): brushing teeth (OR = 2.985 (2.739–3.257)), obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) (OR = 2.188 (1.545–3.105)), cariogenic diet consumption (OR = 1.652 (1.536–1.776)), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) (OR = 1.483 (1.171–1.879)), smoking (OR = 1.176 (1.047–1.322)), and age (OR = 1.040 (1.035–1.046)). The following parameters retained a significant negative association (protective effect) with periodontitis in the multivariate analysis (from the highest to the lowest OR): the mean number of decayed teeth (OR = 0.980 (0.970–0.991)); North America as the birth country compared to native Israelis (OR = 0.775 (0.608–0.988)); urban non-Jewish (OR = 0.442 (0.280–0.698)); and urban Jewish (OR = 0.395 (0.251–0.620)) compared to the rural locality of residence. Feature importance analysis using the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) machine learning algorithm with periodontitis as the target variable ranked obesity, OSA, and NAFLD as the most important systemic conditions in the model. We identified a profile of the “patient vulnerable to periodontitis” characterized by older age, rural residency, smoking, brushing teeth, cariogenic diet, comorbidities of obesity, OSA and NAFLD, and fewer untreated decayed teeth. North American-born individuals had a lower prevalence of periodontitis than native Israelis. This study emphasizes the holistic view of the MetS cluster and explores less-investigated MetS-related conditions in the context of periodontitis. A comprehensive assessment of disease risk factors is crucial to target high-risk populations for periodontitis and MetS.
Prediction of soil nutrient regime based on a model of DEM-generated clay content for the province of Nova Scotia, Canada

Zhao, Z. , Ashraf, M. I. , Keys, K. S. and Meng, F-R. 2013. Prediction of soil nutrient regime based on a model of DEM-generated clay content for the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. Can. J. Soil Sci. 93: 193–203. Soil nutrient regime (SNR) maps are widely required by ecological studies as well as forest growth and yield assessment. Traditionally, SNR is assessed in the field using vegetation indicators, topography and soil properties. However, field assessments are expensive, time consuming and not suitable for producing high-resolution SNR maps over a large area. The objective of this research was to develop a new model for producing high-resolution SNR maps over a large area (in this case, the province of Nova Scotia). The model used 10-m resolution clay content maps generated from digital elevation model data to capture local SNR variability (associated with topography) along with coarse-resolution soil maps to capture regional SNR variability (associated with differences in landform/parent material typ.
A study of morbidity and mortality pattern of pre-term neonates in neonatal intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital of North East India

Background: Pre-maturity is one of the major health problems and associated with high morbidities and mortality. According to the WHO every year, an estimated 15 million babies are born pre-term and this number is rising. Aims and Objectives: The objectives of the study were to know the various morbidity pattern developed during the clinical course and to identify the cause of mortality of pre-term babies admitted in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Materials and Methods: This prospective, observational study was conducted in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, Assam, over a period of 1 year. A sample size of 150 pre-term babies selected randomly as per inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: The total number of cases studied in the present study were 150 pre-term babies admitted in NICU. Male pre-term babies were 82 (54.6%) and female pre-term babies were 68 (45.3%). The various morbidities observed among the pre-term babies during the study period were neonatal hyperbilirubinemia (48%) followed by respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) (30%), neonatal sepsis (22%), hypocalcemia (16%), hypothermia (14.7%), necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) (5.3%), and intraventricular hemorrhage (4.7%). The overall mortality among the studied cases was 12.6%. Out of 150 cases, 19 cases were expired (12.6%). The present study shows that RDS (36.8%), neonatal sepsis (26.3%), birth asphyxia (21.1%), and NEC (15.7%) were the major causes of mortality among pre-term babies. Conclusion: The survival rate increases significantly with increase in birth weight and gestational age. RDS, birth asphyxia, and neonatal sepsis were the leading causes of death.
Applications of non-intrusive experimental techniquesto roughness-induced transition in hypersonic flows

The application of non-intrusive experimental techniques is a break-through in the comprehension of the physical mechanisms governing roughness-induced transition in hypersonic flows. In this thesis, IR Thermography, Planar and Tomographic Particle Image Velocimetry are applied. They show a great potentiality in quantifying the most relevant flow features upstream and downstream of three-dimensional roughness elements. Particularly, non-intrusive measurements of the two-dimensional and three-dimensional velocity flow fields are reported and discussed.
Parental Vaccine Literacy: Attitudes towards the COVID-19 Vaccines and Intention to Vaccinate Their Children Aged 5–11 Years against COVID-19 in Thailand

Background: High rates of population immunity are needed to control the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to assess parents’ intention to have their children, aged 5–11 years, vaccinated against COVID-19 and its influencing factors in Thailand. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted before the nationwide COVID-19 vaccine rollout for children aged 5–11 years in Thailand. A sample of 542 parents with children in this age group was recruited online. Results: In total, 58.8% of parents intended to vaccinate their child against COVID-19. Logistic regression analysis revealed that influencing factors include child age, parents’ education, interactive/critical vaccine literacy, attitudes that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective for children, that the vaccine can reduce the severity of COVID-19 in children, that there were other ways to prevent children from contracting COVID-19 superior to vaccination, and that COVID-19 vaccination in children can be fatal. The main reasons for having an intention to vaccinate their children included to reduce the severity of symptoms if infected with COVID-19 and to protect them from contracting COVID-19 when they go to school. Conclusions: Our study provides evidence regarding factors influencing parents’ intention to vaccinate their children. The findings can be used to design future interventions to promote COVID-19 vaccine uptake in children.
Association of blood pressure with frequency of different blood groups and body mass index among medical students.

Objective: To determine the association of blood pressure with frequency of different blood groups and body mass index among medical students. Study Design: Cross-Sectional study. Setting: Ameer-ud–Din Medical College /Postgraduate Medical Institute, Lahore, Pakistan. Period: May 2022 to August 2022. Material & Methods: Comprised 105 healthy both male and female medical students of 1st year and 2nd year MBBS. Participants were divided into groups following ABO blood grouping and body mass index criteria. Blood grouping was done by using conventional slide method. Manual auscultatory method consisting of mercury sphygmomanometer was used for estimation of blood pressure. Blood Pressure of female students was measured during follicular phase (days 7-11) of menstrual cycle to exclude role of emotional state and endocrinological factors for causing variation in blood pressure. Data was analysed by using SPSS 26. Results: There were 105 students with an overall mean age of 19.7±1.2 years. Blood group B&O found most predominant with equal prevalence of 35(33.3%). Prevalence of prehypertension among our study subjects was found 17.4%. Mean systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressure were not found statistically significant among blood groups; p values 0.39, 0.28 and 0.25 respectively. No statistically significant difference of pre hypertensive subjects (n=18) were noted among ABO blood groups. (p=0.201). Statistical analysis showed significant association of DBP and MAP with BMI, p=0.014 and p=0.011 respectively. 38.5% of obese subjects were found prehypertensive. Highest percentage of obese subjects with pre-hypertension was noted among blood group O. Among underweight and normal weight subjects highest of pre- hypertensives were found to have blood group AB. , but no significant association of pre-hypertensive subjects among different groups of BMI (p=0.184). Conclusion: B&O blood group were found predominant with equal prevalence. No statistically significant association of prehypertensive subjects were found among different ABO blood groups and different groups of BMI.
Assessing the Impact of Enhanced Hydrological Processes on Urban Hydrometeorology with Application to Two Cities in Contrasting Climates

AbstractTo enhance the capability of models in better characterizing the urban water cycle, physical parameterizations of urban hydrological processes have been implemented into the single-layer urban canopy model in the widely used Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model. While the new model has been evaluated offline against field measurements at various cities, its performance in online settings via coupling to atmospheric dynamics requires further examination. In this study, the impact of urban hydrological processes on regional hydrometeorology of the fully integrated WRF–urban modeling system for two major cities in the United States, namely, Phoenix and Houston, is assessed. Results show that including hydrological processes improves prediction of the 2-m dewpoint temperature, an indicative measure of coupled thermal and hydrological processes. The implementation of green roof systems as an urban mitigation strategy is then tested at the annual scale. The reduction of environmental temperature.
Ceft-to-Ceft Study: Real-Life Experience with Ceftaroline and Ceftobiprole in Treatment of the Principal Infectious Syndromes in a Spanish Multicenter Hospital Cohort

Background: To compare the real-life effectiveness and safety of ceftaroline fosamil (ceftaroline-F) and ceftobiprole medocaril (ceftobiprole-M) for infections in hospitalized patients. Methods: This comparative, observational, retrospective, and multicenter Spanish study included patients receiving outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) and hospitalized patients treated for at least 48 h with ceftaroline-F or ceftobiprole-M between their first incorporation in the clinical protocol of each hospital and 31 July 2022. Results: Ceftaroline-F was administered to 227 patients and ceftobiprole-M to 212. In comparison to the latter, ceftaroline-F-treated participants were younger (63.02 vs. 66.40 years, OR 1.1; 95%CI: 1.001–1.05) and had higher rates of septic shock (OR 0.27; 95%CI: 0.09–0.81) and higher frequencies of targeted (57.7 vs. 29.7%; OR: 0.35; 95%CI: 0.18–0.69) and combined (89.0 vs. 45.8%, OR: 0.13; 95%CI: 0.06–0.28) therapies that were second line or more (82.4% vs. 64.6%%; OR 0.35; 95%CI: 0.18–0.69), and higher rates of infections due to Gram-positive cocci (92.7 vs. 64.7%, p = 0.001), bacteremia (51.9 vs. 21.7%, p = 0.001), infective endocarditis (24.2 vs. 2.4%, p = 0.0001), and mechanical ventilation-associated pneumonia (8.8 vs. 2.4%, p = 0.0001). Ceftobiprole-M was more frequently administered against polymicrobial infections (38.1 vs. 14.0%, p = 0.001), those produced by Gram-negative bacilli (19.7 vs. 6.0%, p = 0.0001), nosocomial pneumonia (33 vs. 10.6%, p = 0.0001), and skin and soft-tissue infections (25.4 vs. 10.1%, p = 0.0001). Patients treated with ceftaroline-F had a longer hospital stay (36 (IQR: 19–60) vs. 19.50 (IQR: 12–30.75, p = 0.0001) days), with no difference in infection-related mortality at 14 (13.2 vs. 8.0%, p = 0.078) or 28 (4.8 vs. 3.3%, p = 0.415) days or in dropout rate for adverse effects (2.2 vs. 0.9%; p = 1). Conclusions: The fifth-generation cephalosporins, ceftaroline-F and ceftobiprole-M, are safe and effective in real life, with no difference between them in health outcomes.
Effect of vegetation on lateral migration of anastomosed channels of a glacier meltwater river

A series of experiments were performed on bank materials of anastomosed channels in flood-plain silt deposits in the Alexandra Valley in Banff Park, Alberta, to determine the effect of vegetation roots on bank erodibility and lateral migration of channels. Underground roots from the dense growth of meadow grass and scrub willow provide the reinforcement of bank sediment and a riprap-like protection of channel banks from river erosion. Results from the experiments suggest that in cool environments with aggrading river conditions where overbank deposition of silt, clay, and fine sand dominate the valley fill, vegetation roots are able to rapidly accumulate and decay very slowly, thus affording protection to banks from erosion in deeper parts of the channels. Experiments were performed with a specially designed erosion box, used as a means to simulate natural erosion conditions and measure the influence of vegetation roots in reducing bank erosion. Results indicate that the bank sediment with 16 to 18 percent by volume of roots with a 5-cm root-mat for bank protection, typical of the area, had 20,000 times more resistance to erosion than comparable bank sediment without vegetation. Assuming five severe erosion days per year, potential lateral channel migration would amount to 4.2 cm per year. Such resistance, due to vegetation, accounts for the remarkable stability of channels during the last 2,500 yr in the Alexandra Valley.