Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Augmentation of Pedicle Screws Using Bone Grafting in Patients with Spinal Osteoporosis

The aim of the study was to develop a new method of vertebral augmentation based on autologous and allogeneic bone chips to be used in pedicle screw fixation and to compare this method with the technique based on polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). Materials and Methods This prospective non-randomized study included 164 patients with degenerative pathologies or traumatic injuries of the lumbar spine and transitional thoracolumbar segments; 153 of the operated patients were followed up for 18 months. In these patients, radiodensity of the cancellous bone tissue was below 110 HU by the Hounsfield scale. Patients with degenerative spinal disorders underwent pedicle screw fixation using transforaminal interbody fusion; patients with traumatic spinal injuries underwent intermediate pedicle screw fixation, and those with a loss of vertebral body height by >50% underwent anterior fusion. The patients were divided into three groups: in group 1 (n=39), bone tissue augmentation was performed using PMMA; in group 2 (n=21), augmentation was done with bone chips; in group 3 (n=93), no augmentation was performed (control group). The follow-up period was 12 months; cases with fixator breakage or loosening were recorded. Results After augmentation with PMMA, 11 cases (28.2%) of fixator destabilization were detected. With bone chips, fixator instability developed in 2 patients (9.5%) only, whereas in patients operated without augmentation, the instability was observed in 43 cases (46.2%). With PMMA augmentation, the incidence rate of fixator destabilization did not significantly differ from that in the control group (p=0.0801), while the use of bone chips resulted in a statistically significant decrease of this index compared to the control group (p=0.0023). A logistic regression analysis confirmed the superiority of the developed method over the PMMA-based vertebral augmentation. Conclusion The use of bone chips for vertebral augmentation provides a statistically significant decrease in the incidence of pedicle screw fixator destabilization in the post-operative period. By reducing the risk of proximal loosening and eliminating the risk of bone cement drainage into the spinal canal and vascular bed, the proposed method may become especially effective in patients with impaired bone density.
OralDisk: A Chair-Side Compatible Molecular Platform Using Whole Saliva for Monitoring Oral Health at the Dental Practice

Periodontitis and dental caries are two major bacterially induced, non-communicable diseases that cause the deterioration of oral health, with implications in patients’ general health. Early, precise diagnosis and personalized monitoring are essential for the efficient prevention and management of these diseases. Here, we present a disk-shaped microfluidic platform (OralDisk) compatible with chair-side use that enables analysis of non-invasively collected whole saliva samples and molecular-based detection of ten bacteria: seven periodontitis-associated (Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Campylobacter rectus, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Prevotella intermedia, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, Treponema denticola) and three caries-associated (oral Lactobacilli, Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sobrinus). Each OralDisk test required 400 µL of homogenized whole saliva. The automated workflow included bacterial DNA extraction, purification and hydrolysis probe real-time PCR detection of the target pathogens. All reagents were pre-stored within the disk and sample-to-answer processing took < 3 h using a compact, customized processing device. A technical feasibility study (25 OralDisks) was conducted using samples from healthy, periodontitis and caries patients. The comparison of the OralDisk with a lab-based reference method revealed a ~90% agreement amongst targets detected as positive and negative. This shows the OralDisk’s potential and suitability for inclusion in larger prospective implementation studies in dental care settings.
Application of kinetic, incentive, limits and arrheniusan curves for flotation characterization

Separation curves such as kinetic (recovery R versus process time t), limits (kinetic constant k versus maximum recovery Rmax), incentive (R vs incentive parameter i), and arrheniusan (ln k vs 1/energy - for a regent concentration (i = c) being kT·ln(c/co)), were characterized and discussed. Their usefulness for flotation was described and relations between the curves were presented. All the separation curves provide valuable parameters. The arrheniusan curves are exceptionally useful because they deliver activation energy, expressed in the terms of energy, a parameter indicating how well a separation system responds to a change of an incentive parameter. The incentive parameter can be temperature, reagent concentration, pH, particles size and many others.
FFT based approaches in micromechanics: fundamentals, methods and applications

FFT methods have become a fundamental tool in computational micromechanics since they were first proposed in 1994 by Moulinec and Suquet for the homogenization of composites. Since then many different approaches have been proposed for a more accurate and efficient resolution of the non-linear homogenization problem. Furthermore, the method has been pushed beyond its original purpose and has been adapted to a variety of problems including conventional and strain gradient plasticity, continuum and discrete dislocation dynamics, multi-scale modeling or homogenization of coupled problems such as fracture or multi-physics problems. In this paper, a comprehensive review of FFT approaches for micromechanical simulations will be made, covering the basic mathematical aspects and a complete description of a selection of approaches which includes the original basic scheme, polarization based methods, Krylov approaches, Fourier–Galerkin and displacement-based methods. Then, one or more examples of the applications of the FFT method in homogenization of composites, polycrystals or porous materials including the simulation of damage and fracture will be presented. The applications will also provide an insight into the versatility of the method through the presentation of existing synergies with experiments or its extension toward dislocation dynamics, multi-physics and multi-scale problems. Finally, the paper will analyze the current limitations of the method and try to analyze the future of the application of FFT approaches in micromechanics.
The Pattern of Neurological Disorders; Revisited Prevalence Data of a Dedicated Neurology Clinic in Sudan

Background: The diverse modes in geographical locations, environmental factors, genetic and racial characteristics play a complex role in determining the pattern of neurological disorders worldwide. Determining the pattern of neurological disorders enables health policymakers to plan evidently for service, training, and research priorities. Few prevalence studies in neurology were conducted in Sudan. Methods: This is a retrospective hospital-based study that reviewed the medical records of patients who attended a Dedicated Neurology Clinic (DNC) in Omdurman, the national Capital of Sudan, for 24 months, from January 2016 to January 2018. This study aimed to determine the DNC pattern of neurological disorders as a representative subset prevalence in Sudan. Neurologists conducted the medical workup for diagnosis after at least two visits. All patients have ethically consented. Results: The total number of patients was 1050. Only 749 patients (71.3%) fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The mean age was 46.5 ± 1.9, and males were 45.3%. 72% were from the Capital. The presenting symptoms were headache (16.6%), seizures (11.5%), limbs weakness (11.2%), and lower percentages for other neurological symptoms. The commonest diagnoses were Stroke 12.4%, Epilepsy 9.3%, Primary Headache 8.8%, Movement Disorders 7.3%, Peripheral Neuropathy 6%, DeHow to cite this paper: Elsayed, M. , Hamid, O.A. A. , Tonga, R. , Elsadig, S.M. , Ahmed, M.H. , Ahmed, M. and Saeed, M.K. (2021) The Pattern of Neurological Disorders; Revisited Prevalence Data of a Dedicated Neurology Clinic in Sudan. Case Reports in Clinical Medicine, 10, 339-358. https://doi.org/10.4236/crcm.2021. 1011043 Received: August 25, 2021 Accepted: October 29, 2021 Published: November 1, 2021 Copyright © 2021 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access
Microemulsion-Based One-Step Electrochemical Fabrication of Mesoporous Catalysts

Electrochemical technology has been proposed as an alternative or complementary method to classical inorganic synthesis for the fabrication of effective metallic solid catalysts. Microemulsion-based electrodeposition is a novel, fast, and one-step procedure to obtain mesoporous catalysts with extraordinarily effective areas, which can be used in heterogeneous catalysis for degradation of pollutants and clean energy production. The fabrication process involves conducting microemulsions containing ionic species (dissolved in aqueous solutions) as precursors of the metallic catalysts. The presence of nanometric droplets of organic or ionic-liquid components in the microemulsion defines the mesoporosity of the catalysts during a one-step electrodeposition process. This method also allows the fabrication of metal catalysts as supported mesoporous films or mesoporous nanowires with very high effective areas. Additionally, reactants have excellent accessibility to the overall surface of the catalysts. The different catalysts fabricated with the help of this technology have been tested for competitive degradation of organic pollutants and anodes' materials for fuel cell devices.
Experimental investigation and comparison of energy consumption of electric and conventional vehicles due to the driving pattern

ABSTRACT In this paper, energy consumption of two light-duty vehicles, battery electric and conventional with an internal combustion engine, was investigated on the basis of chassis dynamometer test results. The sensitivity of energy consumption to various zero-dimensional characteristics of the driving pattern was discussed. The results demonstrated that under dynamic driving conditions, the electric vehicle used on average 64% less energy than the conventional one, even with battery charging efficiency taken into account. Among selected zero-dimensional characteristics, the average velocity and the average absolute value of the product of velocity and acceleration proved to be the best characteristics to describe the energy consumption of vehicles.
Long-Term Evolution of Fracture Permeability in Slate: An Experimental Study with Implications for Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS)

The long-term sustainability of fractures within rocks determines whether it is reasonable to utilize such formations as potential EGS reservoirs. Representative for reservoirs in Variscan metamorphic rocks, three long-term (one month each) fracture permeability experiments on saw-cut slate core samples from the Hahnenklee well (Harz Mountains, Germany) were performed. The purpose was to investigate fracture permeability evolution at temperatures up to 90 °C using both deionized water (DI) and a 0.5 M NaCl solution as the pore fluid. Flow with DI resulted in a fracture permeability decline that is more pronounced at 90 °C, but permeability slightly increased with the NaCl fluid. Microstructural observations and analyses of the effluent composition suggest that fracture permeability evolution is governed by an interplay of free-face dissolution and pressure solution. It is concluded that newly introduced fractures may be subject to a certain permeability reduction due to pressure solution that is unlikely to be mitigated. However, long-term fracture permeability may be sustainable or even increase by free-face dissolution when the injection fluid possesses a certain (NaCl) salinity.
Isolating the Unique and Generic Movement Characteristics of Highly Trained Runners

Human movement patterns were shown to be as unique to individuals as their fingerprints. However, some movement characteristics are more important than other characteristics for machine learning algorithms to distinguish between individuals. Here, we explored the idea that movement patterns contain unique characteristics that differentiate between individuals and generic characteristics that do not differentiate between individuals. Layer-wise relevance propagation was applied to an artificial neural network that was trained to recognize 20 male triathletes based on their respective movement patterns to derive characteristics of high/low importance for human recognition. The similarity between movement patterns that were defined exclusively through characteristics of high/low importance was then evaluated for all participants in a pairwise fashion. We found that movement patterns of triathletes overlapped minimally when they were defined by variables that were very important for a neural network to distinguish between individuals. The movement patterns overlapped substantially when defined through less important characteristics. We concluded that the unique movement characteristics of elite runners were predominantly sagittal plane movements of the spine and lower extremities during mid-stance and mid-swing, while the generic movement characteristics were sagittal plane movements of the spine during early and late stance.
Quantifying the Autonomy of Structurally Diverse Automata: A Comparison of Candidate Measures

Should the internal structure of a system matter when it comes to autonomy? While there is still no consensus on a rigorous, quantifiable definition of autonomy, multiple candidate measures and related quantities have been proposed across various disciplines, including graph-theory, information-theory, and complex system science. Here, I review and compare a range of measures related to autonomy and intelligent behavior. To that end, I analyzed the structural, information-theoretical, causal, and dynamical properties of simple artificial agents evolved to solve a spatial navigation task, with or without a need for associative memory. By contrast to standard artificial neural networks with fixed architectures and node functions, here, independent evolution simulations produced successful agents with diverse neural architectures and functions. This makes it possible to distinguish quantities that characterize task demands and input-output behavior, from those that capture intrinsic differences between substrates, which may help to determine more stringent requisites for autonomous behavior and the means to measure it.
Glyceraldehyde as an Efficient Chemical Crosslinker Agent for the Formation of Chitosan Hydrogels

The rheological changes that occur during the chemical gelation of semidilute solutions of chitosan in the presence of the low-toxicity agent glyceraldehyde (GCA) are presented and discussed in detail. The entanglement concentration for chitosan solutions was found to be approximately 0.2 wt. % and the rheological experiments were carried out on 1 wt. % chitosan solutions with various amounts of GCA at different temperatures (25 °C and 40 °C) and pH values (4.8 and 5.8). High crosslinker concentration, as well as elevated temperature and pH close to the pKa value (pH ≈ 6.3–7) of chitosan are three parameters that all accelerate the gelation process. These conditions also promote a faster solid-like response of the gel-network in the post-gel region after long curing times. The mesh size of the gel-network after a very long (18 h) curing time was found to contract with increasing level of crosslinker addition and elevated temperature. The gelation of chitosan in the presence of other chemical crosslinker agents (glutaraldehyde and genipin) is discussed and a comparison with GCA is made. Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) results reveal structural changes between chitosan solutions, incipient gels, and mature gels.
Leading as boundary crossing: How teacher leaders lead across a professional learning network in Shanghai China

This paper explores how teacher leaders enact leadership practice across a regional learning network, Master Teacher Studios, an officially initiated teacher learning program in Shanghai. It investigates the leadership strategies that are employed for cross-boundary endeavors in the network. The concepts of boundary and boundary crossing, as expounded by Wenger and others, are used to guide an examination of the process of teacher leadership enactment across a network, which is elucidated as interpreting the boundaries, selecting/designing boundary objects, and participating in communities of practice. The paper fosters an understanding of teacher leadership practice as boundary work in a network context, and delineates a process of teacher leadership enactment, as well as the importance of teacher leader identity in the process.
Identification of Potent Natural Resource Small Molecule Inhibitor to Control Vibrio cholera by Targeting Its Outer Membrane Protein U: An In Silico Approach

Vibrio cholerae causes the diarrheal disease cholera which affects millions of people globally. The outer membrane protein U (OmpU) is the outer membrane protein that is most prevalent in V. cholerae and has already been recognized as a critical component of pathogenicity involved in host cell contact and as being necessary for the survival of pathogenic V. cholerae in the host body. Computational approaches were used in this study to screen a total of 37,709 natural compounds from the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) database against the active site of OmpU. Following a sequential screening of the TCM database, we report three lead compounds—ZINC06494587, ZINC85510056, and ZINC95910434—that bind strongly to OmpU, with binding affinity values of −8.92, −8.12, and −8.78 kcal/mol, which were higher than the control ligand (−7.0 kcal/mol). To optimize the interaction, several 100 ns molecular dynamics simulations were performed, and the resulting complexes were shown to be stable in their vicinity. Additionally, these compounds were predicted to have good drug-like properties based on physicochemical properties and ADMET assessments. This study suggests that further research be conducted on these compounds to determine their potential use as cholera disease treatment.
Performance analysis of dye-sensitized solar cells with various MgO-ZnO mixed photoanodes prepared by wet powder mixing and grinding

In this study, photoanodes of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) were made by adding various weight percentages (0∼9 wt%) of MgO nanopowder to ZnO nanopowder with a different wet powder mixing and grinding method. For the MgO/ZnO DSSCs, the addition of 1 wt% MgO can achieve maximum short-circuit current density (4.00 mA/cm2) and maximum photovoltaic conversion efficiency (1.03%), which was 39% and 27% better than those of the reference ZnO DSSCs, respectively. When a small amount of MgO was added, the electron transport rate or the efficiency of electron injection into photoanodes was improved. However, when a large amount of MgO was added, the number of carriers generated by light was lowered, which led to performance degradation in DSSCs. Preparing photoanodes by adding a small amount of MgO to ZnO can thus effectively improve the photovoltaic performance of ZnO DSSCs.
Carbon Transfer Processes of Food Web and Trophic Pathways in a Tropical Eutrophic Seagrass Meadow

Seagrass meadows provide important habitats and rich organic carbon sources for consumers at different trophic levels but are threatened by accelerating eutrophication in coastal waters. Nevertheless, at present, carbon transfer processes throughout the food web and trophic pathways in eutrophic seagrass meadows are still poorly known. To resolve this issue, carbon sources of different trophic communities in a eutrophic tropical seagrass meadow [Xincun (XC) bay, South China Sea] under eutrophication were examined in summer and winter using dual stable isotopes. The δ13C value of omnivores and carnivores overlapped more with that of herbivores and planktivores/filter feeders, which mainly overlapped with that of epiphytes in summer and macroalgae in winter. Meanwhile, epiphytes and macroalgae exhibited high biomass and corresponding highest contribution to herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores in summer and winter, respectively. These results suggest that the grazing food chain was the main trophic pathway in this eutrophic seagrass meadow, and that the transfer of carbon flow in the grazing food chain was mainly dominated by the proliferating epiphytes or macroalgae carbon. In contrast, the contribution of seagrass to detritivores in both seasons was higher than that of other food sources. Our findings suggest that in eutrophic tropical seagrass meadows, the proliferation of epiphytes or macroalgae induced by high nutrient loading, as well as their seasonal changes, has a greater impact on the transfer of carbon in the grazing food chain than that in the detritus food chain, and the seagrass fueled the food web mainly through the detritus food chain.
Suppressing the growth of HL-60 acute myeloid leukemia cells by chitosan coated anthraquinone nanoparticles in vitro

Abstract The aim of this work was to formulate Anthraquinone (AQ) loaded Chitosan (CS) nanoparticles using ionic gelation technique. The shape and size of the nanoparticles was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), zeta sizer and zeta potential. The drug release was studied and confirmed the sustained release of the drug. The cytotoxic effects were tested in-vitro against acute myeloid leukemia (HL-60) cells. Apoptosis investigations including cellular uptake, DNA fragmentation, and flow cytometry evaluation of the chitosan-anthraquinone nanoparticles was conducted. These results conclude that CS-AQ NPs have the ability to act against HL-60 cells. Graphical Abstract