Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enhanced phosphate sequestration by Fe(iii) modified biochar derived from coconut shell

In this work, a novel Fe-modified coconut shell biochar (Fe-CSB) was synthesized and utilized to remove phosphate from aqueous solution. Characterization results confirmed that the iron in the Fe(iii)-impregnated CSB existed mainly in the amorphous phase, as ferrihydrite and amorphous hydroxide, which substantially enhanced the phosphate adsorption. Batch experiments indicated that phosphate adsorption on the Fe-CSB was highly dependent on the pH, the humic acid, and temperature, while it was less affected by the nitrate. Phosphate adsorption by the CSB and Fe-CSB could be well described by the pseudo n-th order and Langmuir–Freundlich models. The fitting of the experimental data with the intra-particle diffusion model revealed that surface adsorption and inner-sphere diffusion were involved in the phosphate adsorption process, and that the latter was the rate-controlling step. Batch adsorption experiments and post-adsorption characterization results revealed that the phosphate adsorption by Fe-CSB was primarily governed by four mechanisms: ligand exchange, electrostatic attraction, chemical precipitation, and inner-sphere complexation. This work demonstrated that the modified Fe-CSB is an environmentally friendly and cost-effective bioretention medium and could open up new pathways for the removal of phosphorus from stormwater, as well as solve the problem of waste biomass pollution.
Chronic L-Carnitine Supplementation on Exercise Performance, Blood
 Lactate, and Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress in Resistance-Trained
 Males

Background: The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect of Chronic L-Carnitine Supplementation on Exercise Performance, Blood Lactate, and Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress in Resistance-Trained Males Materials and Methods: We examined 35 resistance-trained (1y) male participants (25±2y, 79.8±8.9 kg, 16.1±5.53% body fat) for 9-wk of L-carnitine supplementation in conjunction with resistance training on exercise performance, blood lactate, and exercise-induced oxidative stress. Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind treatment of a (1) no intervention, no supplement Control (CON, n=12), (2) maltodextrose Placebo (PLA, 2 g/d, n=11) or (3) L-carnitine (LCR, 2 g/d, n=12). Exercise performance, post-exercise blood lactate (BL) and oxidative stress markers were analyzed at weeks 3, 6, and 9. The PLA and LCR groups followed a specific resistance training program (4 d/w, upper body/lower body split) for a 9-wk. Data were analyzed by GLM and presented as mean (SD) or change (95% CI). Primary outcomes were total lifting volume for the bench (BP) and leg press (LP). Results: The results a significant increase in BP lifting volume at wk-6 (139 kg, 95% CI 49.1, 230) and wk-9 (238 kg, 95% CI 132, 343) for LCR. Similar results were observed for LP. We also observed a significant increase in Wingate mean power (63.4 W, 95% CI 30.5, 96.3) and peak power (239 W/kg, 95% CI 104, 374) at wk-9 for LCR as well as a significant reduction in post-exercise BL levels and oxidative stress responses. No differences were observed in body composition. Conclusion: These findings indicate that LCR supplementation improves exercise performance and attenuates the blood lactate and oxidative stress response to resistance training.
rrcf: Implementation of the Robust Random Cut Forest algorithm for anomaly detection on streams

Summary In this paper, we present the first open-source implementation of the robust random cut forest (RRCF) algorithm—an unsupervised ensemble method for anomaly detection on streaming data (Guha, Mishra, Roy, & Schrijvers, 2016). RRCF offers a number of features that many competing anomaly detection algorithms lack. Specifically, RRCF:
IMPORTANCIA DE LA EVALUACIÓN DE LA CROMATINA ESPERMÁTICA EN RUMIANTES. UNA REVISIÓN / IMPORTANCE OF SPERM CHROMATIN EVALUATION IN RUMINANTS. A REVIEW

During spermatogenesis, the sperm nucleus undergoes a series of important changes that make of the chromatin a unique structure, whose quality is a determining factor of sperm ability to promote normal embryonic development and it is consequently related to fertility. Several factors could affect the integrity of sperm chromatin and thus affect the fertility, having consequences for the offspring. Despite this and the availability of techniques, evaluation of the sperm chromatin quality is not part of the tests performed routinely at the field or laboratory to estimate sperm quality or the fertility of bulls, and this may be limiting the efficiency of embryos production systems and the artificial insemination with the consequent reduction in profitability. In this review, some of the factors that may affect the integrity of sperm chromatin and how damage to this structure affects reproductive efficiency and progeny are discussed; in addition, some alternatives that could be useful to reduce the incidence of sperm with damaged chromatin, with special emphasis on ruminants are presented. RESUMEN Durante la espermatogenesis el nucleo espermatico sufre una serie de cambios importantes que hacen de la cromatina una estructura unica cuya calidad es un factor determinante de la capacidad espermatica para promover el desarrollo embrionario normal y que consecuentemente esta relacionada con la fertilidad. Diversos factores pueden afectar la integridad de la cromatina espermatica y por ende afectar la fertilidad teniendo consecuencias sobre la progenie. A pesar de esto y de la disponibilidad de tecnicas, la evaluacion de la calidad de la cromatina espermatica no forma parte de la bateria de pruebas que se realizan tanto a nivel de campo como en laboratorio, para estimar la calidad espermatica y el potencial reproductivo de los toros, y esto puede estar limitando la eficiencia de los sistemas de produccion de embriones y de la inseminacion artificial con la consecuente disminucion de la rentabilidad. En esta revision se discuten algunos de los factores que pueden afectar la integridad de la cromatina espermatica y como el dano a esta estructura afecta la eficiencia reproductiva y a la progenie; ademas, se presentan algunas alternativas que pudiesen ser utiles a fin de disminuir la incidencia de espermatozoides con dano en la cromatina, con especial enfasis en rumiantes.
Combining Cisplatin with Different Radiation Qualities—Interpretation of Cytotoxic Effects In Vitro by Isobolographic Analysis

Background: The combination of platinum-containing cytostatic drugs with different radiation qualities has been studied for years. Despite their massive side effects, these drugs still belong to the therapeutic portfolio in cancer treatment. To overcome the disadvantages of cisplatin, our study investigated the cytotoxic effects of combining radionuclides with cisplatin. Methods: FaDu cells were treated with cisplatin (concentration ≈ 2 µM) and additionally irradiated after two hours with the alpha-emitter 223Ra, the beta-emitter 188Re as well as external X-rays using dose ranges of 2–6 Gy. Cell survival was followed by colony formation assays and plotted against cisplatin concentration and radiation dose. The results were interpreted by isobolograms. Results: Isobolographic analyses revealed a supra-additive cytotoxic effect for the combination of cisplatin and 223Ra. A sub-additive effect was observed for the combination of cisplatin and 188Re, whereas a protective effect was found for the combination with X-rays. Conclusions: The combination of cisplatin and 223Ra may have the potential to create a successfully working therapy scheme for various therapy approaches, whereas the combination with 188Re as well as single-dose X-ray treatment did not lead to a detectable radiosensitizing effect. Thus, the combination with alpha-emitters might be advantageous and, therefore, should be followed in future studies when combined with cytostatic drugs.
Ultraviolet H2 luminescence in molecular clouds induced by cosmic rays

Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) play a crucial role in ionisation, dissociation, and excitation processes within dense cloud regions where UV radiation is absorbed by dust grains and gas species. CRs regulate the abundance of ions and radicals, leading to the formation of more and more complex molecular species, and determine the charge distribution on dust grains. A quantitative analysis of these effects is essential for understanding the dynamical and chemical evolution of star-forming regions. The CR-induced photon flux has a significant impact on the evolution of the dense molecular medium in its gas and dust components. This study evaluates the flux of UV photons generated by CRs to calculate the photon-induced dissociation and ionisation rates of a vast number of atomic and molecular species, as well as the integrated UV photon flux. To achieve these goals, we took advantage of recent developments in the determination of the spectra of secondary electrons, in the calculation of state-resolved excitation cross sections of H2 by electron impact, and of photodissociation and photoionisation cross sections. We calculated the H2 level population of each rovibrational level of the $X,B,C,B^ prime D^ and $a$ states. We then computed the UV photon spectrum of H2 in its line and continuum components between 72 and 700 nm, with unprecedented accuracy, as a function of the CR spectrum incident on a molecular cloud, the H2 column density, the isomeric H2 composition, and the dust properties. The resulting photodissociation and photoionisation rates are, on average, lower than previous determinations by a factor of about 2, with deviations of up to a factor of 5 for the photodissociation of species such as AlH C2H2 C2H3 C3H3 LiH N2 NaCl NaH O2+ S2+ SiH l-C4 and l-C5H . A special focus is given to the photoionisation rates of H2 HF and N2 as well as to the photodissociation of H2 which we find to be orders of magnitude higher than previous estimates. We give parameterisations for both the photorates and the integrated UV photon flux as a function of the CR ionisation rate, which implicitly depends on the H2 column density, as well as the dust properties.
Vitamin E – a scoping review for Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023

Current evidence suggests that dietary vitamin E (as α-tocopherol) intake has a beneficial role in preventing certain chronic diseases. In contrast, there is no clear evidence for the benefit of α-tocopherol supplements in a generally healthy population. Deficiency symptoms are rare and mainly occur due to genetic or other factors affecting α-tocopherol absorption and/or metabolism, rather than a low α-tocopherol intake. No qualified systematic review was identified by the NNR2023 project for updating the dietary reference values (DRV).
Remote sensing and spatial databases for investigating latent urban-rural dynamics in rural, inland districts of Southern Italy

It is well-known that rural-urban patterns help to capture socioeconomic interactions between different settlement forms. The sustainability challenge requires to consider the evolution of these patterns as a reliable indicator of the dynamics of land use change and potential land degradation processes occurred in a time frame. In this research, by using multisource data (Corine Land Cover, Keyhole KH-9 and Landsat satellite images), we trace the diachronic evolution (1990-2018) of the rural-urban pattern in the provinces of Avellino and Benevento (Campania region, Southern Italy) with a specific focus on the key municipality of Ariano Irpino (1975-2018). The analysis confirms the considerable urban growth occurred in the study area, mostly in the form of urban sprawl phenomena decoupled from population growth. This happens concurrently with a transformation of the agricultural sector projected toward a greater specialization favouring agritourism activities and valuable crops (e.g., vineyards). These findings can support policy makers in future planning activities by mixing conservation, mitigation, and restoration actions.
VAR, ARIMA, Üstsel Düzleme, Karma ve İlave-Faktör Yöntemlerinin Özel Tüketim Harcamalarına ait Ex Post Öngörü Başarılarının Karşılaştırılması [A Comparison of Ex-Post Forecast Accuracies for VAR, ARIMA, Exponential Smoothing, Combining and Add-Factor Methods for Private Consumption]

The aim of this study is to compare the ex post forecast accuracies of VAR, ARIMA, ES, Combining and Add-factor methods. In this comparison, the ex post forecasts of 2000:1-2000:4 are obtained by using the data of the Turkish private consumption for the period of 1987:1-1999:4. Beside private consumption, for VAR method, the Turkish GDP data is employed for the same periods. Later, the seasonality and stationarity analyses are run for these two series. The series are seasonally adjusted by the additive decomposition method and found as I(1). In the following steps, the ex post forecast models of these methods are established. Forecast outputs are evaluated by the criteria of MAE, MAPE, MSE, RMSE and Theil U. In conclusion of this analysis, the combining model of VAR-ES is found the best among others.
Structural and Pixel Relation Modeling for Semisupervised Instrument Segmentation From Surgical Videos

Automatic instrument segmentation from surgical videos via deep learning has drawn increasing attention recently. However, interferences, such as blood or illumination, induce confusion of targets, which can be further exacerbated by the lack of labeled data, making accurate segmentation of instruments very challenging. Previous methods rarely pay attention to analyze confusion regions. In this article, we introduce a semisupervised framework to perform instrument segmentation task with sparse annotated surgical videos, where structural and pixel relations are modeled to address the confusion region issue in the surgical scene. For structural relation, we propose a semantic regularization module to constrain the relative distance of structurewise features, via a spatial–temporal transformer (STTransformer) equipped with a 3-D relative distance regression (RDR) mechanism that can be performed in a self-supervised manner. For pixel relation, we propose a confusion-aware contrastive learning strategy to build relations between nonconfusion and confusion regions, where the pixel embeddings from confusion regions are matched with high-quality labeled pixel embeddings that are stored in a classwise memory bank. We extensively validate our method on EndoVis17 and CaDIS datasets that are two public surgical video benchmarks, and experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our method on utilizing sparse annotated frames.
Future Demographic Challenges in the Arab World

The Arab region is often perceived in terms of its negatives rather than its achievements. The cradle of Judaism, Christianity and Islam is nowadays mostly discussed in the context of problems related to rising religious fundamentalism, political instability due in part to the Arab-Israeli conflict or the persistent low status of women. The first Arab Human Development Report listed three deficits impeding human advancement in Arab countries, these were: knowledge acquisition and effective utilization; human rights, freedom and good governance; and woman's empowerment. The demographic perspective on the Arab region again has tended to focused on the negative, with most studies ranging from uncontrollable immigration to untamable high fertility. Our perspective will first of all examine the differences in terms of demographic paths existing in the 22 countries that make up the Arab world, as well as any convergence occurring at different levels. While the notion that there is a unique and unchanging demographic pattern that is specifically Arab - one of universally high fertility that does not decline - is no longer tenable, the countries in the region are sufficiently similar to each other and distinct from their neighbors to be meaningfully discussed together. This is not to lose sight of the fact that modernity, cultural openness, the relations between men and women, the effects of economic crisis and of development all vary from one sub-population to another, in North Africa and the Middle East, as elsewhere in the world. The population projections by the United Nations Population Division essentially assume that fertility will steadily decline in the Arab region as it has elsewhere in the world. In the medium term, despite secular trends in declining fertility and mortality, there will in some respects be even greater demographic heterogeneity in the Arab region than is currently the case. As a result of this heterogeneity, the challenges posed by demographic change in the Arab region are more diverse than the attention to youth bulges suggests. It should not distract from the fact that a large number of Arab countries, in the GCC area, the Mashreq and North Africa, will within one generation already enter a phase characterized by progressive population ageing. Because of the rapid future growth in the number of elderly, the overall dependency ratio in the GCC area and Arab North Africa as a whole will, despite falling fertility, not drop much below current levels. This throws an under-appreciated light on the problem of very low participation rates in the labor market. Increasing economic opportunities for today's youth are not just imperative to meet their own current needs for transitioning to productive and fully adult members of society, but also to ensure future sustainability.
Botulinum neurotoxin type A in the interdisciplinary treatment of sialorrhea in adults and children—update and practice recommendations

Sialorrhea is defined as a chronic excessive flow of saliva from the mouth, often with adverse consequences for health and quality of life of patients. In addition to currently used non-drug treatment and systemic drugs, intraglandular Botulinum Neurotoxin A (BoNT/A) injections have been examined in case studies, controlled trials and clinical practice. Two pivotal Phase III trials recently led to market approval in the USA and EU for IncobotulinumtoxinA [Xeomin®, IncoBoNT/A, Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin type A (150 kD), free from complexing proteins, Merz Pharmaceuticals GmbH] for treatment of chronic sialorrhea in adults and pediatric patients. This review provides a multidisciplinary approach to discuss the current state of sialorrhea therapy as well as benefits and current limitations of BoNT/A injections. A consensus regarding treatment recommendations made available to physicians in Germany in 2022 has now been updated here for presentation to an international audience. This review provides a framework including a flow chart for patient selection, recommendations for dosing and the injection process, as well as a discussion of therapeutic goals, long-term benefits and safety aspects. This review is aimed at supporting physicians in developing multidisciplinary and individualized treatment approaches to achieve optimal benefits for patients.
Comparison of Diagnostic Quality of Multidetector Computed Tomography and Cone-Beam Computed Tomography in High and Low Resolution Modes for Assessment of the Nasal Cavity

Background: We aimed to compare the diagnostic quality of multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) in high (HR) and low (LR) resolution modes for assessment of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. Methods: This in vitro study was conducted on 5 dry human skulls by using a CBCT and a MDCT scanner in HR and LR modes to assess their diagnostic quality for 21 anatomical landmarks of the nose. The quality of images was evaluated by two oral and maxillofacial radiologists and a dentist using a four-point Likert scale of (I) poor, (II) decreased, (III) good, and (IV) excellent. Data were analyzed by STATA at 95% confidence interval. The Chi-square test was applied to compare the quality of visualization of landmarks based on the type of scanner. Results: The diagnostic quality of HR CBCT and CT for the majority of landmarks was higher than that of LR CBCT and CT (P<0.05). The diagnostic quality of HR CBCT for agger nasi cells (P=0.010), olfactory cleft (P=0.032), sphenoethmoidal recess (P=0.032), and nasolacrimal duct (P=0.014) and LR CBCT for the middle turbinate (P=0.046) and middle meatus (P=0.031) was significantly higher than that of MDCT. Conclusion: The diagnostic quality of HR CBCT and CT for the majority of the landmarks in the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses was higher than that of LR CBCT and CT. For the majority of landmarks, the diagnostic quality of CBCT and CT was the same; while for some landmarks, the diagnostic quality of HR and LR CBCT was higher than HR and LR CT. In general, CBCT has high efficacy for evaluation of the paranasal sinuses and the nasal cavity, and provides diagnostic information comparable to those provided by CT, but with a much lower radiation dose.
Analisis Optimasi Akses Radio Frekuensi Pada Jaringan Long Term Evolution (lte) Di Daerah Bandung

Implementasi LTE di Indonesia memanfaatkan jaringan eksisting yang sudah ada, di mana dalam perkembangannya mengalami kendala terutama dalam menjaga performansi jaringan yang diakibatkan oleh lonjakan data yang semakin meningkat dan kualitas coverage yang tidak maksimal. Operator perlu memikirkan skenario yang efisien dalam mengatasi permasalahan low RSRP Radio Signal Rceive Power), low RSRQ (Radio Signal Reference Quality) dan low Throughput agar memenuhi parameter KPI sesuai yang telah ditentukan. Penelitian ini menggunakan skenario physical tuning (pengaturan tinggi dan tilting antena), expand bandwidth dan penggunakaan SFR sebagai skenario optimasi jaringan LTE studi kasus di daerah Bandung. Optimasi dilakukan dengan menganalisa permasalahan pada layer akses radio (Radio frekuency layer) dengan meninjau parameter RSRP, RSRQ, connected user dan mean throughput. Performansi jaringan eksisting mengalami peningkatan setelah dilakukan proses optimasi. Nilai mean throughput meningkat dari 7,24 Mbps menjadi 19,18 Mbps, dengan target KPI di atas 12 Mbps. Parameter persebaran nilai rata- rata RSRP menurun dari nilai -93,94 dBm menjadi -96,18 dBm, tetapi jika ditinjau dari persentase nilai yang berada di atas threshold senilai -105 dBm, persebaran nilai RSRP mengalami peningkatan dari 81,58% menjadi 96,67%. Parameter persebaran nilai rata-rata RSRQ meningkat dari nilai -14,6 dBm menjadi –12,93 dBm, dengan persentase nilai yang berada di atas threshold senilai -15 dBm, mengalami peningkatan dari 61,3% menjadi 96,48%. Jumlah user yang dapat terkoneksi dengan batas rejected user 2% meningkat dari 313 menjadi 914 user. Parameter tinjauan yang telah memenuhi target KPI menunjukkan bahwa skenario optimasi yang telah dilakukan berhasil mengatasi permasalahan low RSRP Radio Signal Rceive Power), low RSRQ (Radio Signal Reference Quality) dan low Throughput. Kata kunci: LTE, Optimasi, physica tuning,, expand bandwidth, SFR