Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cerebral Vascular Tone Regulation: Integration and Impact of Disease

This chapter summarizes the current knowledge regarding the regulation of the tone of cerebral resistance arteries under conditions of normal health and with the development of chronic diseases (e.g., metabolic disease). The work integrates the myogenic (pressure-induced) regulation of vascular tone, the impact of elevated luminal flow or shear stresses, that of local tissue metabolic activity on vascular tone and the concept of neurovascular coupling (linking neuronal activity to the impacts on vascular diameter). In addition, this work summarizes some of the recent work on how diseases such as type 2 diabetes impact the mechanisms of cerebrovascular tone regulation. It is anticipated that the current review will provide the reader with an up-to-date understanding of how the cerebral resistance vessels respond to changes in their local environment and contribute to the regulation of blood flow within the brain.
Real-time, label-free characterization of oligosaccharide-binding proteins using carbohydrate microarrays and an ellipsometry-based biosensor

ABSTRACT Carbohydrates present on cell surfaces mediate cell behavior through interactions with other biomolecules. Due to their structural complexity, diversity, and heterogeneity, it is difficult to fully characterize a variety of carbohydrates and their binding partners. As a result, novel technologies for glycomics applications have been developed, including carbohydrate microarrays and label-free detection methods. In this paper, we report using the combination of oligosaccharide microarrays and the label-free oblique-incidence reflectivity difference microscopy for real-time characterization of oligosaccharide-binding proteins. Aminated human milk oligosaccharides were immobilized on epoxy-coated glass substrates as microarrays for reactions with Family 1 of solute-binding proteins from Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis (B. infantis). Binding affinities of these protein–oligosaccharide interactions showed preferences of Family 1 of solute-binding proteins to host glycans, which helps in characterizing the complex process of human milk oligosaccharides foraging by B. infantis.
Power Grid Simulation Testbed for Transactive Energy Management Systems

To effectively engage demand-side and distributed energy resources (DERs) for dynamically maintaining the electric power balance, the challenges of controlling and coordinating building equipment and DERs on a large scale must be overcome. Although several control techniques have been proposed in the literature, a significant obstacle to applying these techniques in practice is having access to an effective testing platform. Performing tests at scale using real equipment is impractical, so simulation offers the only viable route to developmental testing at scales of practical interest. Existing power-grid testbeds are unable to model individual residential end-use devices for developing detailed control formulations for responsive loads and DERs. Furthermore, they cannot simulate the control and communications at subminute timescales. To address these issues, this paper presents a novel power-grid simulation testbed for transactive energy management systems. Detailed models of primary home appliances (e.g., heating and cooling systems, water heaters, photovoltaic panels, energy storage systems) are provided to simulate realistic load behaviors in response to environmental parameters and control commands. The proposed testbed incorporates software as it will be deployed, and enables deployable software to interact with various building equipment models for end-to-end performance evaluation at scale.
Preparation and evaluation of optimized zolmitriptan niosomal emulgel

Abstract Objective: Novel niosomal formulation may be successfully applied to treat a systemic disease such as migraine through transdermal drug delivery system (TDDS), moreover, the treatment of topical diseases such as mycotic infections by targeting and localizing the drug to the stratum corneum. The current study aims to formulate zolmitriptan (Zt) in niosomal vesicles to potentiate its transdermal effect. Significance: The development of a promising niosomal formulation will push the scaling up of pharmaceutical industry in this field. Methods: Design- Expert 10 was used to design twelve formulations using Box-Behnken. Zt loaded niosomes were prepared by the thin film hydration method using Span 60(S 60), Span 80(S 80) along with cholesterol(Ch) at three different levels. The optimized formulation (F11) was formulated in Emulgel (1:1 emulsion/gel ratio). Results: The vesicles revealed vesicle size (VS) ranging from 133.1 to 851.3 nm, zeta potential (ZP) −43.8 to −82.8 mV, entrapment efficiency (EE%) from 66.7 to 88.7%, and Zt release after 4 h up to 67%. Optimized niosomal formulation (F11) depicted the smallest VS (133.1 nm), highest EE (88.7%), high ZP (−80.6 mV) and satisfactory release after 4 h (61.5%). There was a significant difference (p <.05) in drug permeation after 8 h for niosomal F11(460.98 ug/cm2) and niosomal F11 loaded Emulgel (336.92 ug/cm2) compared to plain Zt loaded emulgel (160.83 ug/cm2). Niosomal F11 loaded emulgel showed thixotropic behavior of rapid recovery, significant bioavailability and pharmacokinetic parameters as compared to the plain Zt-loaded Emulgel. Conclusion: Optimized F11 represents a promising formulation for transdermal drug delivery system to treat both topical and systemic diseases.
New gravity data and 3-D density model constraints on the Ivrea Geophysical Body (Western Alps)

We provide a high-resolution image of the Ivrea Geophysical Body (IGB) in the Western Alps with new gravity data and 3-D density modelling, integrated with surface geological observations and laboratory analyses of rock properties. The IGB is a sliver of Adriatic lower lithosphere that is located at shallow depths along the inner arc of the Western Alps, and associated with dense rocks that are exposed in the Ivrea-Verbano Zone (IVZ). The IGB is known for its high seismic velocity anomaly at shallow crustal depths and a pronounced positive gravity anomaly. Here, we investigate the IGB at a finer spatial scale, merging geophysical and geological observations. We compile existing gravity data and we add 207 new relative gravity measurements, approaching an optimal spatial coverage of 1 data point per 4–9 km2 across the IVZ. A compilation of tectonic maps and rock laboratory analyses together with a mineral properties database is used to produce a novel surface rock-density map of the IVZ. The density map is incorporated into the gravity anomaly computation routine, from which we defined the Niggli gravity anomaly. This accounts for Bouguer Plate and terrain correction, both considering the in situ surface rock densities, deviating from the 2670 kg m–3 value commonly used in such computations. We then develop a 3-D single-interface crustal density model, which represents the density distribution of the IGB, including the above Niggli-correction. We retrieve an optimal fit to the observations by using a 400 kg m–3 density contrast across the model interface, which reaches as shallow as 1 km depth below sea level. The model sensitivity tests suggest that the ∼300–500 kg m–3 density contrast range is still plausible, and consequently locates the shallowest parts of the interface at 0 km and at 2 km depth below sea level, for the lowest and the highest density contrast, respectively. The former model requires a sharp density discontinuity, the latter may feature a vertical transition of densities on the order of few kilometres. Compared with previous studies, the model geometry reaches shallower depths and suggests that the width of the anomaly is larger, ∼20 km in west–east direction and steeply E–SE dipping. Regarding the possible rock types composing the IGB, both regional geology and standard background crustal structure considerations are taken into account. These exclude both felsic rocks and high-pressure metamorphic rocks as suitable candidates, and point towards ultramafic or mantle peridotite type rocks composing the bulk of the IGB.
Measurable residual disease testing for personalized treatment of acute myeloid leukemia

This review summarizes – with the practicing hematologist in mind – the methods used to determine measurable residual disease (MRD) in everyday practice with some future perspectives, and the current knowledge about the prognostic impact of MRD on outcome in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), excluding acute promyelocytic leukemia. Possible implications for choice of MRD method, timing of MRD monitoring, and guidance of therapy are discussed in general and in some detail for certain types of leukemia with specific molecular markers to monitor, including core binding factor (CBF)‐leukemias and NPM1‐mutated leukemias.
Methodological consensus on clinical proton MRS of the brain: Review and recommendations

Proton MRS (1H MRS) provides noninvasive, quantitative metabolite profiles of tissue and has been shown to aid the clinical management of several brain diseases. Although most modern clinical MR scanners support MRS capabilities, routine use is largely restricted to specialized centers with good access to MR research support. Widespread adoption has been slow for several reasons, and technical challenges toward obtaining reliable good‐quality results have been identified as a contributing factor. Considerable progress has been made by the research community to address many of these challenges, and in this paper a consensus is presented on deficiencies in widely available MRS methodology and validated improvements that are currently in routine use at several clinical research institutions. In particular, the localization error for the PRESS localization sequence was found to be unacceptably high at 3 T, and use of the semi‐adiabatic localization by adiabatic selective refocusing sequence is a recommended solution. Incorporation of simulated metabolite basis sets into analysis routines is recommended for reliably capturing the full spectral detail available from short TE acquisitions. In addition, the importance of achieving a highly homogenous static magnetic field (B0) in the acquisition region is emphasized, and the limitations of current methods and hardware are discussed. Most recommendations require only software improvements, greatly enhancing the capabilities of clinical MRS on existing hardware. Implementation of these recommendations should strengthen current clinical applications and advance progress toward developing and validating new MRS biomarkers for clinical use.
Meningoencephalitis Caused by a Campylobacter fetus in a Patient with Chronic Alcoholism

We herein report a case of Campylobacter fetus meningoencephalitis in a patient with chronic alcoholism. C. fetus is a rare cause of meningitis. The patient presented with hallucinations and monology, and alcohol withdrawal was initially suspected. After he was unsuccessfully treated for alcohol withdrawal delirium, we diagnosed C. fetus meningoencephalitis. Ampicillin monotherapy gradually improved his clinical status. A previous report stated that C. fetus infection is associated with chronic alcoholism. In patients with chronic alcoholism and disturbed consciousness, an atypical bacterial central nervous system infection, such as C. fetus meningoencephalitis, should be considered.
Expression of γ‐H2AX and patient prognosis in breast cancer cohort

H2AX phosphorylation is a novel marker of DNA double‐stranded breaks. In the present study, we assessed the γ‐H2AX expression, its association with other clinicopathologic characteristics, and the prognosis in a cohort of 97 patients with breast cancer. Ninety‐seven specimens of tumor tissue and 77 adjacent normal tissues from patients with breast cancer were examined. All patients underwent modified radical mastectomy or local tumor resection without lymph node dissection. γ‐H2AX expression was assessed by standard immunohistochemistry. Patients were followed after surgery for a mean duration of 70.1 ± 18.7 months (range, 6‐93 months). The γ‐H2AX staining was positive in 27 (27.8%) patients. The positive rates of H2AX were 26.0% and 2.6% in tumor tissue and adjacent normal tissues, respectively. γ‐H2AX positive status was negatively associated with TNM staging, with 24 positive cases (32.4%) in TNM staging I‐II, while no positive cases in TNM staging III‐IV (P = 0.026). Sixteen patients (16.5%) died during the follow‐up. No significant association between γ‐H2AX expression and patient survival was detected. The unadjusted HR (hazard ratio) for γ‐H2AX positive was 0.84 (95% CI: 0.27, 2.60). In TNM staging subgroup analysis, death only occurred in γ‐H2AX negative patients. Our study is the first study to demonstrate that expression of γ‐H2AX is associated with TNM staging. Due to the small sample and limited follow‐up time, we did not observe a significant association between γ‐H2AX and patient survival. γ‐H2AX expression could be a potential biomarker for cancer diagnosis and prediction, and further studies are in need.
Effects of course coordination and part-time precalculus instructor support on student academic performance

This study aims to measure the impact of course coordination and part-time Precalculus instructor support on students academic performance. Our results show the Precalculus passing rate (71.53%) was slightly higher in the post-coordination cohorts. However, this difference was not statistically significant from the passing rate (70.70%) of the cohorts in pre-coordination. Also, there was no significant difference between the passing rates (66.90% vs 65.25%) of calculus in the pre- and post-coordination cohorts. However, when accounting for the two versions of calculus, we observed one passing rate was statistically significantly lower in post-coordination cohorts, while the other passing rate was statistically significantly higher after Precalculus coordination. This paper discusses how our results confirm that a careful curriculum design in addition to a dedicated course coordination can have a significant positive impact on students’ learning and their academic performance. We observed that the reflective teaching philosophy and opportunity to engage in critical conversations about teaching and learning promoted through course coordination influenced classroom practice and resulted in improved student outcomes. We recommend that departments should recognize the importance of course coordination and encourage faculty to work closely towards the common aim of delivering the best teaching practices.
The Potential of Designing a Digital Payment Framework for Philippine HEIs

Cashless payment in educational environment among developed countries have been one of the norms to improving payment services. The main objective of the study was to explore the potential adoption and acceptance of a designed digital payment framework for Higher Educational Institutions in the Philippines to improve the payment services, utilize the use of student ID and solve behavioural issues of students in settling their school fees by converting student ID into Smart ID. A combination of qualitative and quantitative method was applied to present the data and findings. A pre-tested questionnaire was used for data collection and 288 participants among enrolled students were drawn using snowball purposive sampling. Results revealed that 9% among 6596 total enrolled students had remaining balance at the end of the semester. Whereas 66% scholars admitted to having failed in paying their fees on time due to some priorities (WM=3.24). Moreover, 75% among parents working abroad preferred the use of smart card for payment to ensure that money is consumed to tuition fee payment as to where it is intended. Further, USCTAM was used to measure the adoption and acceptability level which has resulted to 91.5% positive perception to using smartID in a university setting.
The usefulness of YouTube™ videos as a source of information on burning mouth syndrome.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this review was to investigate quality assessment and quantitative information on burning mouth syndrome (BMS) on YouTube™ videos. METHODS An electronic search of YouTube™ videos on BMS was performed using subject headings, keywords and synonyms of BMS. For each video, quality information, via the quality assessment score (QAS) and quantitative information, such as the total number of results per term searched, date of upload, clip length, view count, source category (professional, personal, educational, mixed), number of likes and dislikes and YouTube™ category were evaluated. RESULTS The search identified 3768 videos of which only 114 were included in our analysis: the quality of videos was very poor (mean ± standard deviation = 1.76 ± 1.64). The most representative categories were "educational" with 53 (46.5%) videos scoring between 0 and 4 and "mixed" with 24 (21.1%) videos scoring between 0 and 2. Significant differences were found among all four categories in relation to length in seconds (P < 0.001), number of views (P = 0.006) and interaction index (P = 0.001), as well as between "professional" and the other categories and between "educational" and "personal" in relation to length in seconds (P < 0.001), between "educational" and "personal" (P < 0.001) and "personal" and "mixed" category in relation to interaction index (P = 0.003) and between "professional" and "personal" in relation to views per day (P = 0.015). CONCLUSIONS A large number of videos regarding BMS have published on YouTube™, with a wide range of distribution regarding their length and views. Unfortunately, they presented unreliable information which is most often scientifically inaccurate. Health care institutions and professionals should be more actively involved in improving high-quality e-information about BMS on YouTube™.
Atrial functional tricuspid regurgitation: An underappreciated cause of secondary tricuspid regurgitation

Secondary tricuspid regurgitation (TR) caused by right ventricular enlargement in the setting of left heart disease/pulmonary hypertension has been well described. In contrast, that associated with right atrial enlargement—atrial functional TR (AF‐TR)—remains largely underappreciated. AF‐TR most often occurs in the setting of lone atrial fibrillation, although it is also seen in its absence (idiopathic AF‐TR). Several recent studies have found that the prevalence, hemodynamic significance, and prognosis of AF‐TR are not inconsequential, suggesting increased physician awareness of this novel clinical entity is warranted. This article discusses the pathogenesis, echocardiographic findings, and treatment of this underappreciated cause of secondary TR.
Soft Robotics in Minimally Invasive Surgery

Abstract Soft robotic devices have desirable traits for applications in minimally invasive surgery (MIS), but many interdisciplinary challenges remain unsolved. To understand current technologies, we carried out a keyword search using the Web of Science and Scopus databases, applied inclusion and exclusion criteria, and compared several characteristics of the soft robotic devices for MIS in the resulting articles. There was low diversity in the device designs and a wide-ranging level of detail regarding their capabilities. We propose a standardized comparison methodology to characterize soft robotics for various MIS applications, which will aid designers producing the next generation of devices.
ARIMA Forecasting of PM2.5 and PM10 Trends: Effects of Continuing Social Distancing on Air Quality in a Southeast Asian Urban Area

It has been hypothesized that social distancing as the prevention measures for COVID 19 can affect the air quality including PM2.5 and PM10 in urban areas. According to this situation, this study aims to compare the PM2.5 and PM10 before and after the implementation of social distancing. Likewise, this study also forecasts the benefits of social distancing on PM2.5 and PM10 if social distancing period is continued and extended. To achieve these objectives, an Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model to investigate the daily PM2.5 and PM10 trends has been developed for social distancing periods (March– May 2020) and after May as well. The model confirms that if social distancing period is extended after May 2020 then the PM2.5 and PM10 are estimated will be 4% and 9% lower. To confirm that the PM2.5 and PM10 reductions are only due to social distancing effect, the study has investigated the possible effects of wind speed and rainfall on PM2.5 and PM10. Nonetheless, the reductions do not correlate with those factors. To conclude social distancing should be considered as an option to control PM2.5 and PM10 in urban areas.
Semantic processing in children with cochlear implants: Evidence from event-related potentials

ABSTRACT Introduction: Existing research has shown that children with significant hearing loss who use cochlear implants (CIs) perform worse than their hearing peers on behavioral measures of spoken language. The present study sought to examine how children with CIs process lexical–semantic incongruence, as indexed by electrophysiological evidence of the N400 effect. Method: Twelve children with CIs, aged between 6 and 9 years, participated in a spoken word–picture matching task while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. To determine whether the N400 effect elicited in this group deviated from normal, independent samples t tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA) analyses were used to compare the results of children with CIs against those of a similarly aged typically hearing (TH) group (n = 30). Correlational analyses were also conducted within each group to gauge the degree to which the N400 effect related to behavioral measures of spoken language. Results: An N400 effect was elicited in both groups of CI and TH children. The amplitude and latency of the N400 effect did not differ significantly between groups. Despite the similarity in ERP responses, children with CIs scored significantly lower on behavioral measures of spoken word- and sentence-level comprehension. No significant correlations between ERP and behavioral measures were found, although there was a trending relationship between sentence-level spoken language comprehension and the TH group’s N400 effect mean amplitude (p = .060). Conclusions: The results suggest that, at a neural level, children with CIs can process lexical–semantic incongruence, and that other underlying processes not measured by the N400 effect contribute to this population’s spoken language difficulties.