Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Silver nanoparticles biologically synthesised using tea leaf extracts and their use for extension of fruit shelf life

The biosynthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) from plant extracts is important in nanotechnology because the employed methods are environmentally friendly and cost-effective. In this study, silver NPs (AgNPs) were synthesised using Chinese tea (Oolong tea) extract. The effects of the relative content of the employed silver nitrate, the reaction temperature, the incubation time, and the tea-to-water ratio on the formation of the AgNPs were examined. The synthesised AgNPs were also analysed by UV–vis spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermo-gravimetric analysis. The NPs were observed to be highly crystalline, approximately spherical, and 10–50 nm in diameter. They were also tested for their use in preserving the postharvest quality of cherry tomatoes, with good results obtained. The tea AgNP treatment was specifically found to reduce the weight loss of the tomatoes, as well as changes in their total soluble solids, vitamin C, and titratable acid contents. The findings of this study indicate that postharvest tea AgNP treatment affords a clean, safe, high-quality, and environmentally friendly method for extending the shelf life of fruits.
Cognitive Functioning: An Underlying Mechanism of Age and Gender Differences in Self-Assessed Risk Tolerance among an Aging Population

Attitude toward risk plays a vital role in an individual’s financial decision-making and well-being. Past studies have found significant association of age and gender with risk tolerance. However, studies on the factors affecting the underlying mechanism are scant. The purpose of this research is to test whether cognitive functioning mediates the association between age, gender, and self-assessed risk tolerance. Using the 2014 wave of the Health and Retirement Study, path analysis was conducted to test the hypothesized model. Results revealed a negative direct association between age and risk tolerance. Moreover, the study also found a lower level of risk tolerance in women. A bootstrap-based confidence interval revealed that a significant portion of the relationship between age and risk tolerance was mediated by cognition. However, the gender difference in risk tolerance was not explained by cognition. Financial planning practitioners and policymakers should understand the contribution of cognitive functioning toward the difference in risk tolerance in older populations and implement strategies to reinforce cognitive functioning to mitigate the adversity of a low level of risk tolerance.
Study of the effect of mobile phones on hearing

Background : The effect of mobile phone radiation on human health is the subject of recent interest and study as a result of the enormous increase in mobile phone usage throughout the world. The present study was designed with an objective to study the effect of mobile phones on hearing. Methods : This cross sectional study involved cases in the age group of 18 to 45 years attending the out-patient department of ENT at Chhatrapati Shivaji Subharti hospital, Meerut. A total of 85 patients (mobile phone users) were taken for the study October 2018 to July 2020. Subjects with usage of mobile phones (smart phones) for a minimum of 2 hours a day and a minimum of 1 year duration (with or without ear phones), normal healthy individuals with no systemic disease, normal tympanic membrane with no prior external, middle/inner ear disease or discharge or trauma and subjects with type a tympanogram (on tympanometry) were included in the study. Degree of deafness was graded according to WHO classification, 1980 Results : Statistically significant p value was observed (<0.001) while comparing SNHL with hours of exposure and years of exposure. Statistically significant p value was observed (<0.05) while comparing hours of exposure with Tinnitus. Statistically insignificant p value was observed while comparing hours and years of exposure with other associated complaints; aural fullness, ear ache (otalgia) and warmth sensation in ear. Conclusions : The present study shows an increase in the hearing threshold of the ear exposed to the prolonged use of mobile phones.
Extractos vegetales: una alternativa para el control de enfermedades en el cultivo de cacao (Theobroma cacao)

El cacao (Theobroma cacao) enfrenta durante cada uno de sus ciclos productivos patógenos que disminuyen considerablemente a su producción. Cada año fitopatógenos como Moniliophthora roreri y Phytophthora palmivora afectan directamente a las mazorcas y pueden llegar a generar graves pérdidas. Esta investigación se desarrolló con la finalidad de identificar especies vegetales locales cuyos extractos contengan compuestos que tienen la capacidad de reducir la germinación de las esporas de los patógenos, así como también el desarrollo de micelio de los mismos. Extractos de las especies Bledo (Amaranthus bledo), Coquito (Cyperus odoratus), Lechosa (Euphorbia hirta), Rosa de muerto (Tagetes minuta), Teatina (Scoparia dulcis) y Verdolaga (Portulaca oleracea) se utilizaron para enmendar medios de cultivos en concentraciones de 10, 20 y 30%, sobre los cuales se inocularon suspensiones de esporas y discos de micelio de los patógenos. Transcurridos los periodos de incubación se evaluaron los porcentajes de germinación, porcentaje de inhibición de desarrollo del micelio, actividad fungicida de los extractos y su efecto sobre las estructuras de las hifas de los patógenos. Los resultados mostraron que todos los extractos en alguna medida influyeron en alguna medida en el desarrollo de los patógenos en todas las variables estudiadas, sin embargo, Amaranthus bledo y Euphorbia hirta fueron aquellas especies cuyo efecto fue notablemente superior a las otras especies en estudio, lo que indicaría que son especies con potencial para controlar los patógenos a nivel de campo.
Trachyonychia in a child with concomitant alopecia areata and lichen planus

Trachyonychia of nails has been found to be associated with dermatoses such as lichen planus, psoriasis, alopecia areata etc. When involving all the finger and toe nails bilaterally, it is referred to as ‘twenty nail dystrophies. We, hereby, report a case of trachyonychia in an 8-year-old boy, with concomitant lichen planus and alopecia areata. He was successfully treated with biweekly pulse systemic corticosteroid therapy for duration of 6 months. Significant response was noted at the end of 6 months in terms of hair re-growth; improvement of nail texture, thickness and subungual hyperkeratosis; and resolution of skin lesions.
Innovative Solutions for the Development of Sustainable Transport and Improvement of the Tourist Accessibility of Peripheral Areas: The Case of the Białowieża Forest Region

One of the main challenges affecting development opportunities of peripheral areas, particularly the development of tourism, includes the provision of satisfactory solutions for mobility and transport accessibility. Therefore, there is a high demand for innovative and sustainable transport solutions, which would increase the competitiveness of these regions, as well as reduce the negative impact of transport on the environment. This paper includes indications of the main directions of research on sustainable transport, the analysis of innovative solutions for improving the tourist accessibility of peripheral areas, and the development of an intermodal model of tourist mobility. The developed model was verified in terms of tourists’ needs for sustainable and innovative transport solutions. The region of the Bialowieza Forest, exhibiting high potential for tourism development due to its natural values—unique at the European and global scale—was selected for verification. The Bialowieza Forest was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of the few cross-border World Heritage sites. The study applied heuristic research methods, including brainstorming, the Delphi method, case studies, and a diagnostic survey (421 respondents). The developed model of tourist mobility is based on the combination of the public transport network and the availability of electric bicycle and electric car rental. The survey of tourists in the region of the Bialowieza Forest showed the demand for new mobile solutions, particularly in the field of e-mobility. The results of quantitative research indicate that around 40% of respondents express high and very high demand for sustainable and innovative mobile solutions, including e-mobility.
Honey bee colony losses: Why are honey bees disappearing?

The managed honey bees are the most important pollinators for many crops and wild flowering species. Many countries around the world, particularly in the northern hemisphere, rely on the Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, for commercial pollination of certain crops, but over the recent years some regions of the world have been suffering from an increase in losses in their managed honey bee colonies. The Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has been reported for the first time in 2006 in the USA (Neumann & Carreck, 2010). Abstract The Western honey bee (Apis mellifera L., Hymenoptera: Apidae) is a species of crucial economic, agricultural and environmental importance. In the last ten years, some regions of the world have suffered from a significant reduction of honey bee colonies. In fact, honey bee losses are not an unusual phenomenon, but in many countries worldwide there has been a notable decrease in honey bee families. The cases in the USA, in many European countries, and in the Middle East have received considerable attention, mostly due to the absence of an easily identifiable cause. It has been difficult to determine the main factors leading to colony losses because of honey bees’ diverse social behavior. Moreover, in their daily routine, they make contact with many agents of the environment and are exposed to a plethora of human activities and their consequences. Nevertheless, a number of different factors are considered to be contributing to honey bee losses, and recent investigations have established some of the most important ones, in particular, pests and diseases, bee management, including bee keeping practices and breeding, the change in climatic conditions, agricultural practices, and the use of pesticides. The global picture highlights the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor as a major factor in colony loss. Last, but not least, microsporidian parasites, mainly Nosema ceranae, also contribute to the problem. Thus, it is obvious that many factors are involved in honey bee colony losses globally. Increased monitoring and scientific research should throw new light on the factors involved in recent honey bee colony losses. This review focuses on the main factors which have been found to have an impact on the increase in honey bee colony losses. Sociobiology An international journal on social insects
A Theoretical Analysis of Mobility Detection in Connectivity-Based Localization for Short-Range Networks

This paper presents a theoretical analysis of mobility detection in connectivity-based localization, which exploits connectivity information as range measurements to anchors at a known location, to investigate how well and how precise mobility can be detected with connectivity in short-range networks. We derive mobility detection, miss detection, and false alarm probabilities in terms of a mobility detection threshold, defined as the minimum distance to detect the mobility, under the shadow fading channel and arbitrary mobility models to take into account practical and general scenarios. Based on the derivations, we address the threshold determination with the criteria in the sense of the minimum average error from miss detection and false alarm. Numerical and simulation evaluations are performed to verify our theoretical derivations, to show that increasing anchor numbers can improve the mobility detection probability with a smaller detection threshold, and that the probabilities are bounded by the weights of miss detection and false alarm. This work is the first attempt at addressing the performance of mobility detection using connectivity, and it can be utilized as a baseline for connectivity-based mobility tracking.
Association of 8p22-23-rs2254546 Genotypes with Coronary Artery Status and Resistance to Intravenous Immunoglobulin in Iranian Children with Kawasaki Disease

Background: Kawasaki disease (KD) is a frequent cause of acquired heart disease in infants and young children, which may be triggered by infectious agents, with the highest incidence in Asian countries. Several genotypes are identified as susceptibility genes for KD, but none is known in the Iranian population. Objectives: Due to the racial differences in the frequency and significance of the identified genes, we aimed to investigate the 8p22-23-rs2254546 genotypes in a sample of Iranian children and their association with aneurysm and resistance to treatment. Methods: In this prospective cross-sectional study, 100 children with KD as the sample group were compared with 100 matched unrelated healthy Iranian children with no history of KD or immune-related disease. The control subjects were ethnically recruited from the same hospital at the time of a routine physical examination. The 8p22-23-rs2254546 genotypes were analyzed using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and direct sequencing techniques, and the frequency of the three genotypes (GA, AA, and GG) was reported. Finally, the frequency of aneurysm and IVIG resistance was reported, and their associations with 8p22-23-rs2254546 genotypes were tested by SPSS software. Results: Of 100 patients with a mean age of 1.9 ± 1.7 (0.1 - 10.2) years, 57% were boys and 43% were girls. Of them, 62% had GG, 30% GA, and 8% AA genotypes. Besides, 21% of the studied patients were resistant to IVIG, and 19% had aneurysm, but resistance to IVIG and aneurysm was not associated with GG and GA genotypes of 8p22-23-rs2254546 (P = 0.29 and 0.88, respectively). Conclusions: The majority of the children with KD were shown to have this genetic susceptibility, which shows the importance of the 8p22-23-rs2254546 genotype in Iranian children. However, this genotype was not associated with the risk of resistance to IVIG and aneurysm.
Double-bundle Anatomic Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Using Hamstring-bone Graft: a Long-term Follow Up

Purpose We modified the hamstring tendon graft into the hamstring-bone composite graft in double-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. Here, we evaluated the technique's effectiveness by investigating the clinical results in restoring the stability and function of the knee joint. Methods We reviewed 42 patients who underwent anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) with the hamstring-bone graft for ACL injuries from January 2013 to April 2015, with an average follow-up of 66.6 months. The objective evaluations (KT-1000, Lachman test and pivot-shift test) and the subjective evaluations (International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) scores, Lysholm scores, and Tegner scores) were performed preoperatively and postoperatively. Results Forty-one of 42 patients were negative in the Lachman test and forty of 42 patients were negative in the pivot-shift test after the operation at the final follow-up time. The IKDC, Lysholm, and Tegner scores improved significantly from 56.24±9.28 to 85.33±3.37, from 62.00±11.09 to 90.43±3.71，and from 2.3±0.87 to 6.5±0.67 at the final follow-up. Conclusion Double-bundle anatomic ACLR with a hamstring-bone composite graft can restore the anteroposterior and rotational stability for ACL injuries. The modified technique can provide excellent clinical outcomes with a long-term follow-up.
Challenges of Applying Simplified LCA Tools in Sustainable Design Pedagogy

The growing recognition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been integrated globally into product design and business activities. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is considered a useful tool for designers to apply in the early stages of product design to mitigate the environmental impact. The study aims to identify the challenges of applying simplified LCA tools to improve the eco-efficiency of products and achieve a higher level of sustainable innovation. The study was conducted in a sustainable design course at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, for four consecutive years. All challenges and opportunities by using ECO-it, Eco-indicators, and the Materials, Energy use, and Toxic emissions (MET) matrix to assess the environmental impact in each phase of 11 home appliances are presented and discussed. Results show the positive potential of applying the tools to achieve function innovation in design for sustainable innovation. The needs for guided instruction, the availability of the database, the complexity of a study product, and the overlooking of social dimensions are four major challenges in applying the tools in the early stages of product redesign. Further study in testing the tools and developing a database in collaboration with industries should be conducted to compare and validate the results.
Effect of Low Protein Diets with Amino Acids Supplementation on Growth Performance, Carcass Traits, Blood Parameters and Muscle Amino Acids Profile in Broiler Chickens under High Ambient Temperature

This study evaluates low protein diets with amino acid supplement on growth, biochemical markers and muscle amino acids profile in broilers under high ambient temperature. A total of 480 one-day-old chicks were allocated into three treatments with four replicates (n = 40). Control fed optimal protein and optimal amino acids which contains 23% and 21% crude protein (CP) with 65% methionine + cysteine/ lysine (Met + Cys/Lys) and 55% threonine/lysine (Thr/Lys), LPOA (low protein and optimal amino acids) which contains 21% and 19% CP with 65% Met + Cys/Lys and 55% Thr/Lys and 3. LPHA (low protein and high amino acids) which contains 21 and 19% CP with 74% Met + Cys/Lys and 67% Thr/Lys, respectively during the summer months (The temperatures 32 ± 3 °C, and the relative humidity 72.5% ± 4). Birds fed LPOA diets significantly highest body weight, while those fed LPHA recorded significantly the lowest body weight (BW). Dressing percentages not revealed significantly affected by reducing dietary protein levels, while the blood plasma total protein, albumin, and globulin were not significant differences due to dietary low protein. Chicks fed LPHA diets recorded the highest liver content of malonaldehyde. It could be concluded that feeding the Cobb 500 broilers on low protein diets with the same amino acid levels had no adverse effect on growth, carcass markers, and liver function, however increased amino acids levels to low protein diets may led negative impacts for the broiler performance under high ambient temperature.
The Othering of Majority and Minority Groups in Lessing and Ajidarma’s Literary Works: A Postcolonial Analysis

A postcolonial reading of literary works remains relevant since the characters, stories and various issues related to the colonial domination discussed in literary texts may serve as a means for its readers to learn more about life under colonialism. This article examines how Doris Lessing, a British-Rhodesian author, and Seno Gumira Ajidarma, an Indonesian author, reveal the issue of discrimination of African native community and Indonesian-Chinese community because of the act of othering, respectively, from a postcolonial lens. This study used the critical content analysis technique on two literary works, namely Lessing’s short story entitled “No Witchcraft for Sale” and Ajidarma’s short story entitled “Clara”, which is based on Spivak’s theory of othering. Specific dialogues and utterances related to instances of discrimination were analyzed to uncover the othering of individuals, in this case, the main characters of the stories Lessing’s short story captures the struggles encountered by the main character named Gideon, who belongs to the majority group, while Ajidarma’s short story provides the portrayal of a young native Indonesian-Chinese descent who is a member of a minority group. The study found that Gideon faced racial discrimination and on the other hand, Clara faces racial and gender discrimination. By comparing two different literary works coming from two different cultures, nationalities, and historical backgrounds focusing on the issues of othering from a postcolonial perspective, this article can serve as a means for its readers to learn more about how the discrimination stemmed from different histories and how cultural background can create similar outcomes.
A Novel Immune-Related lncRNA Signature predict the Immune Landscape and Prognosis for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background: The tumor immune microenvironment is known to play an important role in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). Reliable prognostic signatures that could accurately predict immune landscape and survival in HNSCC patients are vitally needed to promote a better individualized and effective treatment.Methods: HNSCC transcriptome data and clinical data in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were embedded in our study. The differentially expressed irlncRNAs were identified by differential co-expression analysis, and recognized differently expressed irlncRNA (DEirlncRNA) pairs using univariate analysis. Cox and lasso regression analysis was used to identify DEirlncRNA pairs related to overall survival (OS) and build the prediction model. Then, we compared the areas under curve (AUC) with other published lncRNA signatures, counted the akaike information criterion (AIC) values of 3-year receiver operating characteristic curve, and identified the cut-off point to set up an optimal model for distinguishing the high- or low- risk groups among patients with HNSCC. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC)curves and Kaplan–Meier plot curves were used to validate the prediction model. Besides, We then reevaluated them from the viewpoints of clinical factor, tumor-infiltrating immune cells, chemotherapeutics efficacy, and immunosuppressed biomarkers.Results: We built a risk score model based on 18 DEirlncRNA pairs. The risk model is closely related to the OS of HNSCC patients. The hazard ratio (HR) is 1.376 [95% CI (confidence interval) 1.302-1.453] and log-rank P-value < 0.0001. Compared with two recently published lncRNA signatures, DEirLncRNA pairs signature has higher AUC score which showed the better prognostic performance. Additionally, the signature score showed a positive correlation with aggressive outcomes of HNSCC, such as low immunity score, significantly reduced CD8+ T cell infiltration and lowly expressed immunosuppressed biomarkers. However, high-risk groups of patients may have high chemotherapeutics sensitivity.Conclusions: The signature established by paring irlncRNA regardless of expression levels showed a promising clinical prediction value and revealed tumor immune microenvironment in HNSCC patients which might help in distinguishing those who could benefit from anti-tumor immunotherapy.