Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Surface-tailored graphene oxide paper: an efficient filter for dye pollutants

The potential application of graphene as a filter paper for selectively removing cationic and anionic dyes from aqueous solutions is demonstrated herein. A surface-tailored graphene paper was fabricated by the vacuum filtration technique on a microporous substrate to remove two different classes of dyes. A negatively charged graphene paper was fabricated from graphene oxide (GO) solution, and a positively charged graphene paper was fabricated from polyallylamine-functionalized GO solution. The solutions of methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) were filtered through the negatively charged graphene paper (GO−) and positively charged graphene paper (GO+). The stacking structure of the GO− and GO+ paper successfully removed the MB and MO mixtures from the solution. The GO− and GO+ paper demonstrated a high retention rate of 99.8% for MB dye and 99.5% for MO dye. The pore size of the paper was found to be less than 7 nm, providing more insights into the rejection mechanism. The rejection mechanism involves the adsorption and electrostatic interaction (i.e., cationic–anionic interaction) between the dye and graphene sheets, which result in the fast and efficient removal of the dye. The GO paper displayed adsorption capacities as high as 311 and 340 mg g−1 for MB and MO dyes, respectively. The results indicate that the surface-tailored graphene paper is a great alternative for the next generation cost-effective filters in practical water purification applications.
Miniature Folded Patch With Differential Coplanar Feedline for Metal Mountable UHF RFID Tag

In this paper, a pair of differentially fed coplanar waveguides is employed for exciting a folded patch antenna for designing a metal-mountable UHF RFID tag. The proposed tag has a compact size of 30 mm <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times \,\,25$ </tex-math></inline-formula> mm <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times \,\,3.0$ </tex-math></inline-formula> mm. Multiple slots are incorporated into the patch for tuning the resonant frequency and optimizing the impedance matching between the chip and the antenna. Two inductive stubs are introduced at two corners of the radiating patch to enable further frequency tuning. An equivalent circuit has been given for characterizing the tag’s impedance characteristics. When tested on a 20 cm <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times\,\,20$ </tex-math></inline-formula> cm metal plate, the read range of the proposed tag can achieve 8.9 m (4 W EIRP) using the Monza R6 microchip (with chip sensitivity of −20 dBm). Also, it has been found that the resonant frequency of the proposed tag antenna is stable and it does not shift much when the size of the backing metal is varied. The read distance is also more than 4 m when the proposed tag is attached to various dielectric materials with permittivity <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\varepsilon _{r}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> in the range of 1–12.4.
Can Convection‐Permitting Modeling Provide Decent Precipitation for Offline High‐Resolution Snowpack Simulations Over Mountains?

Accurate precipitation estimates are critical to simulating seasonal snowpack evolution. We conduct and evaluate high‐resolution (4‐km) snowpack simulations over the western United States (WUS) mountains in Water Year 2013 using the Noah with multi‐parameterization (Noah‐MP) land surface model driven by precipitation forcing from convection‐permitting (4‐km) Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) modeling and four widely used high‐resolution datasets that are derived from statistical interpolation based on in situ measurements. Substantial differences in the precipitation amount among these five datasets, particularly over the western and northern portions of WUS mountains, significantly affect simulated snow water equivalent (SWE) and snow depth (SD) but have relatively limited effects on snow cover fraction (SCF) and surface albedo. WRF generally captures observed precipitation patterns and results in an overall best‐performed SWE and SD in the western and northern portions of WUS mountains, where the statistically interpolated datasets lead to underpredicted precipitation, SWE, and SD. Over the interior WUS mountains, all the datasets consistently underestimate precipitation, causing significant negative biases in SWE and SD, among which the results driven by the WRF precipitation show an average performance. Further analysis reveals systematic positive biases in SCF and surface albedo across the WUS mountains, with similar bias patterns and magnitudes for simulations driven by different precipitation datasets, suggesting an urgent need to improve the Noah‐MP snowpack physics. This study highlights that convection‐permitting modeling with proper configurations can have added values in providing decent precipitation for high‐resolution snowpack simulations over the WUS mountains in a typical ENSO‐neutral year, particularly over observation‐scarce regions.
Experience-driven Engineering in IoT: The Importance of User Experience for Developing Connected Products People Love

In this paper, we describe the factors we have seen as influential in building contemporary tools specifically through the lens of connected devices and experiences. The Internet of things (IoT) provides a radically improved way to see how our tools/devices actually perform in the field and if customers use, abuse, or do not understand them. The complexity associated with designing a connected product or experience often causes its architect to focus almost exclusively on the enabling technology itself as opposed to the actual design and end user experience—the value or utility—that they create it for. We walk through fundamental design principles. This paper provides principles, frameworks, recommendations, and resources to ensure human-centered and user experience-led design for the IoT.
Virtual Reality for Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation: A Systematic Review

Objective. Pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with physical and psychobehavioral impairment in children. Effective rehabilitation programs postinjury are critical for children with TBI. Virtual reality (VR) has been increasingly adopted for brain injury rehabilitation. However, scientific synthesis is lacking in evaluating its effectiveness in pediatric TBI rehabilitation. This article aimed to conduct a systematic review on the effectiveness of VR-based pediatric TBI rehabilitation. Methods. A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, PsycInfo, SCOPUS, CENTRAL, BioMed Central, CiNAHL, and Web of Science through November 2015. Personal libraries and relevant references supplemented the search. Two authors independently reviewed the abstracts and/or full text of 5824 articles. Data extraction and qualitative synthesis was conducted along with quantitative assessment of research quality by 2 authors. Results. A positive impact was found for VR-based interventions on children’s physical rehabilitation post-TBI. The quality of research evidence was moderate, which largely suffered from small samples, lack of immersive VR experience, and lack of focus on socioemotional outcomes post-TBI. Conclusions. The present review identified positive effects of VR interventions for pediatric TBI rehabilitation especially in physical outcomes. Future research should include larger samples and broader post-TBI outcomes in children using VR-based interventions.
Profiling the initial 1st Year cohort of patients utilizing a tertiary hospital-based geriatric mental health-care service using the “Service Evaluation Framework”

Background: Increase in life expectancy of Indians will require revamping the health-care infrastructure for the elderly. In India, either there are not too many specialized geriatric mental health services available across the country or those that are available have problems of resources and quality. With this perspective, the Department of Psychiatry, Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, developed the Geriatric Mental Health Clinic (GMHC) for the elderly residing in and around Chandigarh. The aim of the study was to study the initial 1-year cohort and assess their satisfaction levels as well as to see whether their functioning improves with the intervention so provided. Materials and Methods: Using the “service evaluation framework,” the patients and caregivers who attended the GMHC over a period of 1 year were evaluated using tools such as Hindi Mental State Examination (HMSE), Everyday Abilities Scale for India (EASI), Global Assessment of Function (GAF) scale, World Health Organization quality of life-BREF (WHO-QoL-BREF)-Hindi version, and Patient Satisfaction Scale (PAT-SAT). In addition, sociodemographic and clinical profile data of the service users were compiled. Results: A total of 105 cases formed the cohort under study, wherein 70% had functional psychiatric illness and almost more than half of the cases had comorbid physical illness, hypertension being the most common. GAF score of 45.42 and WHO-QoL-BREF score of 78.7 at the time of follow-up suggested that there was “slight impairment in socio-occupational functioning” and “poor QoL,” respectively. However, GAF and HMSE scores were significantly decreased in those with organicity. Overall service users reported good service-cum-clinician satisfaction scores on PAT-SAT; there was also significant reduction of EASI score from that of baseline, suggesting improvement in functioning. Conclusions: Findings show that the newly started GMHC, even though in its incipient stage, is attracting patients of all diagnostic categories, from expected catchment areas, is being able to deliver interventions which are bringing about clinical and functional improvement, and service users are not reporting dissatisfaction.
Diastolic Function Changes during Stress Echocardiography in Hypertensive Patients

Background: Some hypertensive patients experience dyspnea with exercise due to rise in filling pressures. So, exercise is helpful to determine left ventricular filling tension. Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the effect of dobutamine stress echocardiography on diastolic function in hypertensive patients with normal ejection fraction. Methods: In this study, 30 hypertensive patients (52.7 ± 3.6 years) and 30 sex and age matched healthy controls (50.8 ± 7.6 years) were examined. Exclusion criteria were patients with coronary artery disease, significant valvular heart disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, left ventricular systolic dysfunction (EF (ejection fraction) < 50%), atrial fibrillation and bad echogenic view. We performed complete echocardiography and dobutamine stress echocardiography with pulsed wave Doppler tissue imaging at rest and during peak stress to measure primary mitral inflow diastolic wave rate (E), late mitral inflow diastolic wave rate (A), E/A ratio, primary diastolic myocardial wave rate (E′) and late diastolic myocardial wave velocity (A’). Results: At rest, E’ was significantly lower in patients than controls (8.2± 1.6 vs 14.7± 2.6 P value < 0.001) and E/E (early mitral inflow diastolic wave rate/early myocardial diastolic wave rate) was significantly higher in patients (7.6± 1.2 vs 4.8± 1.0 P value <0.001). At peak stress, E/A ratio was significantly lower in patients (P < 0.001) while E/E′ was significantly higher in patients than controls (8.3 ± 2.1 vs 4.7 ± 0.7 P value < 0.001). Conclusions: Dobutamine stress echocardiography with Doppler tissue study is effective in the evaluation of hypertensive patients with dyspnea on exertion with normal resting echocardiography.
RNF152 Negatively Regulates mTOR Signalling and Blocks Cell Proliferation in the Floor Plate

The neural tube is composed of a number of neural progenitors and postmitotic neurons distributed in a quantitatively and spatially precise manner. The floor plate, located in the ventral-most region of the neural tube, has a lot of unique characteristics, including a low cell proliferation rate. The mechanisms by which this region-specific proliferation rate is regulated remain elusive. Here we show that the activity of the mTOR signalling pathway, which regulates the proliferation of the neural progenitor cells, is significantly lower in the floor plate than in other domains of the embryonic neural tube. We identified the forkhead-type transcription factor FoxA2 as a negative regulator of mTOR signalling in the floor plate. We demonstrate that FoxA2 transcriptionally induces the expression of the E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF152, which together with its substrate RagA, regulates cell proliferation via the mTOR pathway. Silencing of RNF152 led to the aberrant upregulation of the mTOR signal and aberrant cell division in the floor plate. Taken together, the present findings suggest that floor plate cell number is controlled by the negative regulation of mTOR signalling through the activity of FoxA2 and its downstream effector RNF152.
A Brief Review Concerning Age Related Macular Degeneration

There are two types of AMD referred to as wet or dry. Wet AMD occurs when blood vessels will appear growing from the choroid located approximately behind the retina. The development of these blood vessels is triggered by Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) triggers the development of these blood vessels and intrusion of these blood vessels may cause retinal detachment or interference with the retinal segment. They may grow through Bruch’s membrane leading to fluid leakage near or around the macula. Part of this fluid contains protein and with this leakage comes vision loss and photoreceptor damage. About 10% of the total number of AMD cases are this more extreme (wet) form of the disease [1]. Dry AMD occurs when cellular debris known as drusen accumulates between the retina and choroid, degrading the retinal pigment layer over time. The loss of the associated rods and cones in the eye causes vision degradation. Dry AMD is considered the less severe of the two disease forms. Drusen does buildup naturally with increasing age, and its appearance does not always lead to AMD [2]. The disease progresses slowly in older individuals with drusen being visualized as white or yellow-white areas under the retinal pigment epithelium. The pigments may remain small and not affect vision to a great extent. Other signs may include pigmentary alterations and loss of lines of vision. The affected individual may experience vision loss from the “center, outward”. As such there is blurred or distorted vision. There may be a loss of contrast sensitivity, especially as related to color. The macula comprises only about 2% of the retina, but about 50% of the visual cortex processes information from the macula. So when the macula is compromised in any way, severe quality of life issues may result.
LINEAR PHASE SIW FILTER WITH GOOD SELECTIVITY

This letter presents an approach to design a linear phase substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) bandpass filter with good selectivity. The topology of the proposed filter is implemented based on cross and bypass coupling schemes, which simultaneously introduce a linear phase response and good selectivity, respectively. According to the proposed topology, a multilayer SIW filter is presented to realize the two kinds of couplings and preserve a compact size. Then, the defected ground structure is adopted to further improve the out-of-band rejection. To demonstrate the proposed design method, one double-layered SIW bandpass filter is fabricated and measured. Measured results show that the proposed filter has a linear phase response and good out-of-band rejection, as well as a good agreement between simulated and measured results.
Pricing the Pharmaceuticals When the Ability to Pay Differs: Taking Vertical Equity Seriously

A non-trivial fraction of people cannot afford to buy pharmaceutical products at unregulated market prices. This paper analyses the public insurance of a patent-protected pharmaceutical product in terms of price controls and socially optimal third-degree price discrimination. First, the paper characterizes the Ramsey pricing rule in the case where the producer price has to cover the R&D costs of the firm and patients’ pharmaceutical expenditures are not covered by health insurance. Subsequently, conditions for a welfare increasing departure from the Ramsey pricing rule are stated in terms of price regulation and health insurance coverage. Unlike the earlier views expressed, the increased consumption of the pharmaceutical is shown to be welfare increasing. In the spirit of the Rawlsian view, a criterion for vertical equity is examined as an optimal means-tested health insurance. In this scheme, the regulator chooses a higher insurance coverage for individuals whose income is below an endogenously determined income threshold. The means-tested insurance scheme improves social welfare but also yields very equal market outcomes.
Sedasyon Uygulama Ölçeği: Geçerlilik ve Güvenirlik Çalışması

Ozet Amac: Bu calisma, “Sedasyon Uygulama Olcegi”nin Turkce Gecerlilik ve Guvenirliginin incelenmesi amaciyla yapildi. Gerec ve Yontem: Bu metodolojik arastirmanin calisma grubunu, iki farkli hastanenin yogun bakim unitelerinde gorev yapan ve arastirmaya katilmayi kabul eden 105 hemsire olusturdu. Veri toplama araci olarak hemsire tanitim formu ve hemsirelerin mekanik ventilasyon desteginde olan hastalarin sedasyon yonetimine iliskin tutum ve davranislarini degerlendirmesini saglayan Sedasyon Uygulama Olcegi kullanildi. Verilerin analizinde; Cronbach Alfa guvenirlik katsayisi, korelasyon analizleri, orneklem buyuklugu icin Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin, faktor analizi yapilabilmesi icin uygunlugu Bartletts Test of Sphericity ve faktor analizi kullanildi. Bulgular: Veri yapisinin faktor analiziyle aciklanabilirligi %69.2 olarak bulundu. Kisilerin cevaplara verdigi tutarlilik her madde icin %40’in uzerinde oldugu icin Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity analizi sonucunda Tip I hata duzeyinde α=. 05 onem derecesinde, p<. 05 olarak belirlendi ve degiskenler arasinda yuksek korelasyon varligi oldugu belirlendi. Sedasyon Uygulama Olcegi’nin ic tutarlilik katsayisini gosteren Cronbach alfa degeri 0.80 olarak saptandi. Sonuc: Calismanin sonucunda, Sedasyon Uygulama Olcegi’nin ulkemizde bu alanda yapilacak olan calismalarda kullanilabilecek, yeterli gecerlilik ve guvenirlik gostergelerine sahip bir olcum araci oldugu belirlendi. Anahtar Kelimeler: Sedasyon, yogun bakim, hemsire, gecerlilik, guvenirlik. Abstract Objective: This study was conducted to investigate Turkish validity and reliability of the “Sedation Practice Scale”. Material and Method: The study group of this methodological study consisted of 105 nurses working in the intensive care units of two different hospitals, who accepted to participate in the study. As the data collection tool, the nurse introductory form and Sedation Practice Scale was used to evaluate nurses’ attitudes and behaviors related to sedation management in patients with mechanical ventilation support. In the analysis of the data; Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient, correlation analysis, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin for sample size, and the suitability of factor analysis for the analysis of Bartletts Test of Sphericity and factor analysis were used. Findings: Explainability of data structure by factor analysis was found to be 69.2%. As the consistency of the responses was over 40% for each item, Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity analysis showed that the Type I error level was α=. 05; p<. 05 and high correlation was found between the variables. The Cronbach’s alpha value of the Sedation Practice Scale was found to be 0.80. Conclusion: As a result of the study, it was determined that Sedation Practice Scale is a measurement tool with sufficient validity and reliability indicators that can be used in the studies in this field in our country. Keywords: Sedation, intensive care, nurse, validity, reliability.
The Study of HER-2/neu, ER/PR Expression Using Immunohistochemistry (IHC) in the Iraqi Breast Cancer

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in woman that originates from the uncontrolled growth of abnormal breast cells. According to the Iraq Cancer Registry 2009, breast cancer ranks as the first between the ten common cancers in Iraq and there is a wide tendency to increase the rate of breast cancer in earlier age group. Estimation of estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptors status as well as human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(Her-2/neu) serve as specific guidance to select the patients whose benefit from endocrine therapy and provide prognostic information. The study aimed to assess the expression of ER/PR hormone receptor and Her-2/neu in breast cancer patients and correlation with various Clinicopathological aspects as a predictive biomarker.Method: The current study was performed from the period between Jan 2015-Feb 2015 in Department of Oncology that referred to Baghdad Teaching Hospital in the Medical City. Routine staining hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) for histopathological examination and immunohistochemistry (IHC) test for ER, PR and Her-2/neu expression was conducted in all cases.Results: This study includes total 30 cases of breast cancer. The age of patients were between 29-65 years with 47± 9.8 (mean ±SD). Majority of tumors are invasive ductal carcinomas represented 23(76.7%). There are significant differences between different scores were observed in IHC test for Her-2/neu status and showed 8(26.7%) out of 30 cases were positive expression.The ER and PR expression status was strongly associated and demonstrated in 21(70%) of cases.The most commune subgroup was Her-2/neu+, ER/PR+ seen in 10(33.3%) out of 30 breast cancer patients.Conclusion: HER-2/neu is positively expressed in about 26.7% of breast cancer cases.The study of ER, PR status showed higher rates of positive expression70% and was strongly associated. Using IHC examination the Her-2/neu+, ER/PR+ subgroup indicates the most common subtype 10 (33.3%) compared to other tumor subtypes in breast cancer.
Optimal Operation of Critical Peak Pricing for an Energy Retailer Considering Balancing Costs

Recently, there have been frequent fluctuations in the wholesale prices of electricity following the increased penetration of renewable energy sources. Therefore, retailers face price risks caused by differences between wholesale prices and retail rates. As a hedging against price risk, retailers can utilize critical peak pricing (CPP) in a price-based program. This study proposes a novel multi-stage stochastic programming (MSSP) model for a retailer with self-generation photovoltaic facility to optimize both its bidding strategy and the CPP operation, in the face of several uncertainties. Using MSSP, decisions can be determined sequentially with realization of the uncertainties over time. Furthermore, to ensure a global optimum, a mixed integer non-linear programming is transformed into mixed integer linear programming through three linearization steps. In a numerical simulation, the effectiveness of the proposed MSSP model is compared with that of a mean-value deterministic model based on a rolling horizon method. We also investigate the optimal strategy of a retailer by changing various input parameters and perform a sensitivity analysis to assess the impacts of different uncertain parameters on the retailer’s profit. Finally, the effect of the energy storage system on the proposed optimization problem is investigated.