Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative Study between Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Flax Seeds Oil against Toxicity of Lead Acetate on the Spinal Cord Tissue of Male Albino Rats

Background: Lead is a common heavy metal that persists in the environment and has many toxic effects on the central nervous system, especially the spinal cord. Objective: The current study investigates the effect of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and flax seeds oil (FSO) on the spinal cord tissue against lead acetate toxicity in male albino rats. Materials and Methods : Forty adult male albino rats were divided equally into four groups. The first group served as control rats. The second group received lead acetate (100 mg/kg) intraperitoneally daily for seven days. Group 3 after lead acetate intoxication then treated with a single dose of MSCs (1 × 10 6 cells/rat intravenously injection). In the 4 th group 3 after lead acetate intoxication then rats were treated orally with FSO (1 ml/kg) for thirty days. At the end of the experiment, spinal cord tissues were collected to determine the lead level in the spinal cord, histopathology, immunohistochemistry for cleavage caspase3, and estimate DNA damage by comet assay. Results: Our results revealed significantly increased lead concentration in spinal cord tissue in group 2. In addition to, upregulation of cleavage caspase 3 and elevation of DNA damage in the spinal cord tissue and histopathological alterations in spinal cord tissues. Nevertheless, the treatment of MSCs and FSO groups recorded a decline in lead levels in the spinal cord tissue and downregulation of cleaved caspase 3 and DNA damage and histopathological improvement. Conclusion: Our investigation showed that MSCs are more effective than FSO against lead acetate induced toxicity.
Prevalence of Protein-Energy Wasting in Dialysis Patients Using a Practical Online Tool to Compare with Other Nutritional Scores: Results of the Nutrendial Study

This cross-sectional study aims to explore the prevalence of protein-energy wasting (PEW) in dialysis patients in Catalonia, Spain, using a new and practical online tool which enables rapid calculation and comparison with other nutritional scores. Methods: A web tool (Nutrendial) was created to introduce different variables and automatically calculate PEW, Malnutrition inflammation Score (MIS) and Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) in 1389 patients (88% in haemodialysis (HD)), 12% in peritoneal dialysis (PD) from different regions of Catalonia. Results: A prevalence of 23.3% (26% HD, 10.2% PD) of PEW was found, with a mean MIS score of 6 and SGA score of C in 7% of the patients. ROC analysis showed MIS as the best nutritional score to diagnose PEW (AUC 0.85). Albumin delivered lower diagnostic precision (AUC 0.77) and sensitivity (66%). A cut off point of 7 (86% sensitivity and 75% specificity) for MIS and 3.7 mg/dL for albumin were found to predict the appearance of PEW in this population. SGA B or C showed an 87% sensitivity and 55% specificity to diagnose PEW. Very low nutritional intervention (14%) was recorded with this tool in patients with PEW. Conclusions: This new online tool facilitated the calculation of PEW, enabling different professionals—including nephrologists, dieticians and nurses—to efficiently obtain insights into the nutritional status of the Catalonian dialysis population and implement the required nutritional interventions. MIS is the score with more sensitivity to diagnose PEW.
A Harmonic Compensation Strategy in a Grid-Connected Photovoltaic System Using Zero-Sequence Control

Mitigation of harmonics for a grid-connected inverter is an important element to stabilize the control and the quality of current injected into the grid. This paper deals with the control method of a three-phase Grid-Connected Inverter (GCI) Photovoltaic (PV) system, which is based on the zero-sequence current adjuster. The proposed method is capable of removing the harmonic current and voltage without using any active and passive filters and without the knowledge of the microgrid topology and also impedances of distribution bands and loading conditions. This concept is adopted for the control of a Distributed Generator (DG) in the form of grid-connected inverter. The proposed control can be applied to the grid connected inverter of the PV. The fast dynamic response, simple design, stability, and fast transient response are the new main features of the proposed design. This paper also analyzes the circuit configuration effects on the grid connected inverter capability. The proposed control is used to demonstrate the improved stability and performance.
Electronic spatial distribution of In0.53Ga0.47As∕AlAs0.56Sb0.44 quantum-cascade lasers

We have investigated the band-to-band photoluminescence of In0.53Ga0. 47As∕AlAs0.56Sb0. 44 quantum-cascade devices operating at λ∼4. 3μm, based either on normally grown or nominally As-terminated interfaces. This technique allowed us to probe the spatial distribution of conduction electrons as a function of the applied voltage and to correlate the quantum design of devices with their thermal performance.
Brain Decoding of Multiple Subjects for Estimating Visual Information Based on a Probabilistic Generative Model

Brain decoding is a process of decoding human cognitive contents from brain activities. However, improving the accuracy of brain decoding remains difficult due to the unique characteristics of the brain, such as the small sample size and high dimensionality of brain activities. Therefore, this paper proposes a method that effectively uses multi-subject brain activities to improve brain decoding accuracy. Specifically, we distinguish between the shared information common to multi-subject brain activities and the individual information based on each subject’s brain activities, and both types of information are used to decode human visual cognition. Both types of information are extracted as features belonging to a latent space using a probabilistic generative model. In the experiment, an publicly available dataset and five subjects were used, and the estimation accuracy was validated on the basis of a confidence score ranging from 0 to 1, and a large value indicates superiority. The proposed method achieved a confidence score of 0.867 for the best subject and an average of 0.813 for the five subjects, which was the best compared to other methods. The experimental results show that the proposed method can accurately decode visual cognition compared with other existing methods in which the shared information is not distinguished from the individual information.
Characteristics of Audit Committee and Banking Sector Performance in Oman

Purpose: Oman is the first country among the GCC countries to implement corporate governance (CG) principles. Corporate governance regulates the fundamental principles that govern the activities of businesses, like the responsibilities and roles of the Board of Directors (BoD), financial reporting and auditing, remunerations, and internal control system. Banks play a vital role in the economic development of a country. Adopting CG practices and the audit function in banks paves the way for transparent financial reporting. Furthermore, the audit committee has an impact on the financial performance of a firm as they undertake the task of preventing fraudulent financial reporting. From the above discussion, the purpose of this study is to understand and examine the characteristics of the audit committee by exploring its association with its performance.Methodology: All the eight listed banks on the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) have been selected for the study, and data has been collected from the banks’ annual reports for five years (2016-2020). The study has been conducted based on three CG characteristics such as the number of members in the committee, number of committee meetings and number of non-executive members in the committee. Measuring firm performance has been done by calculating Return on Asset (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE). Correlation and regression analysis has been used to study the relationship between CG factors and bank performance. ROA and ROE are dependent variables. The three CG factors are independent variables, and bank size has been used as a control variable.Results/Findings: This study shows a positive relationship between the banks’ performance and the number of committee meetings and non-executive members and a negative impact between the number of members in the committee and bank performance.Originality and Practical Implications: Further research on this study area can be conducted after 2021, considering the impact of audit committee characteristics on bank performance before and during COVID – 19.
Expression of ABCA1 Transporter and LXRA/LXRB Receptors in Placenta of Women with Late Onset Preeclampsia

Background: Appropriate levels of cholesterol are necessary for the mother and developing fetus, but theirexcess may cause preeclampsia. The ABCA1 transporter mediates the secretion of cholesterol and is highly regulated at the transcriptional level via the nuclear liver X receptors (LXRs). Methods: Sixteen preeclamptic and 39 normotensives healthy women with uncomplicated pregnancies were involved in the case-control study. The placental levels of ABCA1, LXRA and LXRB mRNA were quantified by real-time quantitative PCR. The concentrations of ABCA1, LXRA and LXRB proteins from the placenta were determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay Results: We found in the logistic regression model significantly lower placental expression of LXRB mRNA (crude OR = 0.26, 95% CI: 0.07–0.94, p = 0.040) and LXRA protein level (crude OR = 0.19, 95% CI: 0.05–0.69, p = 0.012) in late-onset preeclamptic women compared to healthy pregnant women. The values remained statistically significant after adjustment for possible confounders. Conclusions: Our results suggest that high placenta LXRA mRNA and LXRA protein expression levels decrease the risk of late-onset preeclampsia. These nuclear receptors could play a role in the development of preeclampsia through disturbances of lipid metabolism.
Functional Connectivity as an Index of Brain Changes Following a Unicycle Intervention: A Graph-Theoretical Network Analysis

Grey matter volume reductions in the right superior temporal gyrus (rSTG) were observed in young adults who learned to ride a unicycle. As these decreases were correlated with the acquired ability in unicycling, the authors interpreted the change as a brain tissue reorganization to increase postural control’s automated and efficient coordination. The current study aims to further corroborate this interpretation by looking at changes in the functional brain network in the very same sample of participants. For this reason, we applied graph theory, a mathematics field used to study network structure functionality. Four global and two local graph-theoretical parameters were calculated to measure whole brain and rSTG specific changes in functional network activity following the three-week-unicycle training. Findings revealed that the Local Efficiency of the rSTG was significantly elevated after the intervention indicating an increase in fault tolerance of the rSTG, possibly reflecting decentralisation of rSTG specific functions to neighbouring nodes. Thus, the increased Local Efficiency may indicate increased task efficiency by decentralising the processing of functions crucial for balance.
Intracesarean Postpartum Insertion of Intrauterine Contraceptive Device as an Alternative to Delayed Insertion: Safety and Complications

ABSTRACT Article information Background: Family planning [FP] describes the proper spacing and prevention of unintended pregnancies and seems to improve the couples’ quality of reproductive and overall life. Different modalities are available to achieve such goal. Aim of the work: This work aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy profile of postpartum intrauterine contraceptive device [IUCD]. Thus, it could be recommended as a reasonable and effective modality for the family planning. Patients and methods: A randomized controlled study that included 120 pregnant females, selected from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University [Egypt]. All females were clinical evaluated by inquiry about their personal, medical, obstetric and contraception history. This was followed by general and local examination. An abdominal ultrasound was carried out for all. Females of Group-I underwent lower segment cesarean section by standard technique followed by IUD insertion after placental delivery. In the other group, the insertion was done 3 months after delivery. The successful IUD insertion and expulsion rate represented the primary outcome. The secondary outcomes included pregnancy, perforation and other adverse events. Result: Female’s age ranged between 18 and 37 years and previous cesarean section was the commonest indication of CS. The expulsion rate at 3 and 6 months after insertion was higher for group I than group II. However, the difference was non-significant. In addition, there was no significant differences found between groups I and II regarding post-CS complications at 3 or 6 months after CS. The frequency of pain and bleeding in the follow up duration was statistically increased in Group I than Group II after 3month and after 6 months. Conclusion: Interval insertion of the IUD is an easy, safe, and effective method and could replace the post-placental insertion. Additionally, it could be the first line contraceptive agent in eligible patients.
Deformation behaviour of body centered cubic Fe nanowires under tensile and compressive loading

Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations have been carried out to investigate the deformation behaviour of /{111} body centered cubic (BCC) Fe nanowires under tensile and compressive loading. An embedded atom method (EAM) potential was used to describe the interatomic interactions. The simulations were carried out at 10 K with a constant strain rate of $1\times10^{8}$ $s^{-1}$. The results indicate a significant differences in deformation mechanisms under tensile and compressive loading. Under tensile loading, the deformation occurs by the slip of full dislocations, While under compressive loading twinning was observed as the dominant mode of deformation. The tension-compression asymmetry in deformation mechanisms of BCC Fe nanowires is attributed to twinning-antitwinning asymmetry of 1/6 partial dislocation on {112} planes. We further explain the mechanism of dislocation pile up in tensile loading and twin growth in compressive loading.
Toward a Holistic Understanding and Models of Nonphotochemical Quenching Effects on In Vivo Fluorometry of Chlorophyll a in Coastal Waters

Nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) is known to depress in vivo fluorescence (IVF) of chlorophyll a (Chla) in aquatic environments, which makes it difficult to interpret the hour‐to‐hour variations in Chla measured by in situ fluorometers. We hypothesized that ratios between quenched and unquenched IVF are a function of both NPQ and photochemical quenching. In this study, two diatom model species Thalassiosira pseudonana (CCMP1335) and Thalassiosira weissflogii (CCMP1047) incubated under a sinusoidal light:dark cycle were studied; IVF was recorded continuously, and Chla and photo‐physiological variables were measured seven times a day. The maximal decline in Chla‐specific IVF (IVFB) attributable to quenching was 50% under the experimental settings. An NPQ and photochemical quenching‐based modeling equation exhibited a better match to the measured IVFB than equations representing the sole NPQ effect. Photochemical quenching induced by measuring light beam varied substantially during the day, and the part of the model for this process is excitation intensity‐dependent (which is differed between models of in situ fluorometers, implying no straightforward method to correct Chla for all instrument models, instrument‐specific parameterization is required). The forms of the IVFB‐light relationship are discussed as well. The findings foster a holistic understanding of NPQ effects on in vivo Chla fluorometry.
Effect of Cycocel and Paclobutrazol on the Dwarfing Characteristics of Chrysanthemum indicum L.

: Chrysanthemum indicum L. is one of the most important ornamental crops worldwide that can be produced as both potted plants and cut flowers. In this paper, a pot experiment was conducted to study the effects of different levels of cycocel (1500, 3000 and 6000 ppm) and paclobutrazol (25, 50 and 75 ppm) on the dwarfing characteristics of C. indicum plant as a potted plant. Spraying the dwarfing agents, cycocel (CCC) and paclobutrazol (PPP) was started 4 weeks after the cuttings were transplanted and repeated 2 weeks later. After applying CCC and PPP, the vegetative and flowering growth characteristics as well as leaf pigments showed significant differences between treatments. Application of the growth retardants had a positive influence on reducing plant height and increasing shoot number, flowering period and flowers number per plant. Moreover, chlorophyll and carotenoids contents were enhanced in plants sprayed with CCC and PPP at all concentrations. In sum, moderate and low levels of CCC (1500 and 3000 ppm) and PPP (25 and 50 ppm) had the desired effects in manipulating growth parameters of C. indicum , thus enhancing dwarfing and the commercial value of C. indicum for the industry of potted ornamental flowering plants.
The Spanish Version of the State Self-Compassion Scale–Long Form (SSCS–L): A Study of Its Validity and Reliability in a Sample of Nursing Students

Background: In nurses, self-compassion mitigates the effects of stress, burnout and compassion fatigue, and enhances empathy, compassion and well-being and quality of life. The Self-Compassion Scale is the most-used instrument. The aim of this study is to validate the Spanish version of the new developed State Self-Compassion Scale–Long (SSCS–L). Methods: Students of the first year of the Nursing Degree were surveyed online. Together with the SSCS–L, their levels of positive and negative affect was reported. Analyses included descriptive statistics, competitive confirmatory factor analysis, evidence on criterion-related validity and estimates of reliability. Results: The best fitting model for the SSCS–L was the one hypothesizing six-correlated factors of self-compassion: self-kindness, common humanity, mindfulness, self-judgement, isolation, and over-identification. Positive relations between the positive dimensions of self-compassion and positive affect were found, whereas there were negative relations between the positive poles of self-compassion and negative affect. Estimates of reliability were adequate, except for the dimension of over-identification. Conclusions: Self-compassion has become a key competency for nurses. The SSCS–L is an appropriate tool to allow an adequate assessment of self-compassion in experimental contexts.
Fitting in a Blended Learning Educational System

Scholarship-holders have more pressure than regular students (keeping a GPA ≥3.5/4, managing financial stress, and completing some scholarship’ duties). The research intends to determinate the significant self-regulatory and technological variables that help scholarship-holders (N=402) in a blended learning environment to reach a high GPA and avoid learning burnout. A validated online survey was employed to collect data that were analyzed using descriptive, inferential, and predictive statistical tests under a quantitative research method. It was found that discipline (p=0.000); self-efficacy (p=0.018); task management (p=0.043); goal setting (p=0.021), task persistence (p=0.004) and previous ICT experience (p=0.033) were statistically significant . Regardless limitations, some practical implications are discussed for the scholars.
Genetic Diversity and Relationships within Citrus Species Based On Sequence-Related Amplified Polymorphism Markers (Sraps)

Sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers were used to detect molecular marker polymorphisms among five parents and four crosses of citrus and their relatives in Aurantioidea. Four SRAP primer combinations produced a total of 160 polymorphic fragments with an average of 40 per primer combination and the an-average polymorphism information content (PIC) of 0.86. The unweighted pair group method arithmetic average (UPGMA) analysis demonstrated that the accessions had a similarity range from 0.35 in the cross between Lemon and Clementine to 0.43 in the Grapefruit parent with a mean of 0.37. The dendrogram separated the parents and the resulted crosses of Citrus species into two main sub-clusters with a similarity value of 0.37. Only one member of the first sub-cluster which is Clementine or the parent of all the resulted crosses. In the second main sub-cluster, Only one member of the first sub-sub-cluster which is Grapefruit or the parent of one cross. The second sub-sub-cluster has consisted of one parent separated alone (Succari parent) and another sub-cluster. This sub-cluster is formed from the sub-sub-cluster including the parent Cleopatra mandarin and the resulting from cross Cleopatra mandarin x Clementine. The last sub-cluster has consisted of one group containing the parent Lemon and the resulted cross Lemon x Clementine. The other group consisted of two crosses; Grapefruit x Clementine and Succari x Clementine.
Use of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery in the Management of High-grade Thoracolumbar Spine Injuries

Objective: Spinal fractures often have devastating sequelae. Thoracolumbar fractures are classified using the Thoracolumbar Injury Classification and Severity score (TLICS) to determine the severity of injury and to guide treatment. Recently advancements in minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) have led to new approaches to high-severity fractures. Studies have suggested that MISS may yield similar outcomes to conventional, more invasive procedures while producing several benefits. Methods: This retrospective study involves 46 patients treated from 2005 through 2020 for high grade thoracolumbar trauma from T2 to L5 with a minimum follow-up of 6-months treated with MISS techniques using percutaneous instrumentation. Results: Average TLICS was 7.5. Patient derived outcome measures with average length of fol-low-up of 602 days included Oswestry Disability Index 28.9, Patient Satisfaction Index 4.2, Short Form-12 Mental Component Score 51.9, and Short Form-12 Physical Component Score 37.7. Average estimated blood loss was 119.2 mL. Conclusion: The TLICS is a validated tool used to guide surgical intervention in high grade trauma. The utilization of MISS techniques for the treatment and stabilization of thoracolumbar trauma is efficacious and a viable alternative to traditional open approaches.