Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electromicrofluidic device with integrated PDMS microchannel and laser-induced graphene electrodes for electrochemical detection of cardiac biomarker in a point-of-care platform

By providing a facile and scalable alternative to otherwise complex and resource-intensive synthesis of graphene, laser-induced graphene (LIG) is spearheading the translation of graphene-based propositions to deployable technologies for societal benefit. LIG is a versatile and economical synthesis approach which is being used on a variety of substrates and in a multitude of applications—including miniaturized sensing systems. One aspect that has not been addressed thoroughly in LIG-based miniaturized sensing systems is its successful integration with microfluidics and its possible use in point-of-care settings. To further diversify the applications of LIG with integrated microfluidics, this work reports on the development of an integrated flexible microfluidics-LIG based electrochemical biosensor. The work describes the methodology to develop a polydimethylsiloxane-LIG scribed polyamide microfluidic device in a leakage-free flexible application. In view of the excellent electrical and electrochemical properties of LIG, such device has been employed for electrochemical biosensing. The biosensing capabilities of the microfluidic device were validated via sensing of cardiac troponin I—a gold standard cardiac biomarker for early identification of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The developed biosensor demonstrated a detection and quantification limit of 45.33 pg ml−1 and 151.10 pg ml−1 respectively, which are in clinically significant ranges for diagnosis of AMI. The µ-fluidic biosensor was also analyzed for stability and interference with other cardiac biomarkers. The developed integrated µ-fluidic electrochemical biosensor was evaluated for possible point-of-source applications in conjunction with a custom 3D printed peristaltic pump and smartphone-enabled miniaturized potentiostat.
Investigating the Influence of Different Factors on the UX Evaluation of a Mobile Application

Abstract User eXperience (UX) evaluations play an essential role in the software development process. As the results from such evaluations can drive future releases, it is necessary to identify which factors can substantially change users’ judgments about their experience to have more precise results and understand UX better. This article investigates how interaction sequencing, previous experience, and the number of problems could affect overall satisfaction and the two main UX dimensions: pragmatic and hedonic. We employed three different evaluation methods to evaluate a chatbot-based mobile shopping application. The results revealed that participants with previous experience with similar apps tended to give lower ratings. We also found that as inspectors identify more problems, they tend to rate the pragmatic dimension lower. Finally, we did not identify a significant influence of interaction sequencing on UX evaluation. We discuss the reasons for these results, the implications for practitioners and researchers, and research opportunities.
Analysis of Social Networks among Students in Abidjan City

This paper investigates the social networks usage by students in Abidjan city, Côte d’Ivoire. We focus on a descriptive or quantitative analysis to understand the motivations and how students make use of internet and social networks. More than six hundred forms were distributed to persons we have deemed as students. In return, we received more than 93% of the forms that have been processed. The study highlights the materials and the digital platforms that students used the most. The majority of the respondents reported to have access to the social networks in their mobile phones, with WhatsApp leading this application ranking, followed by Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Tik Tok. The survey shows that two third of our respondents are aged from 19 to 25 years old and almost half of the respondents spend daily 2 to 5 hours on digital platforms. The investigation also reveals that the main online activities are the e-commerce, chatting, information, and entertainment. The paper addresses also the online harassment of the students and it shows that more than one tenth of them have been victims of cyber-bullying. This study might be useful for governments, institutions, academia, individuals and professionals in order to communicate efficiently with a given population for a better use of social networks and to prevent students from harassment.
Model-Based Policy Iterations for Nonlinear Systems via Controlled Hamiltonian Dynamics

The infinite-horizon optimal control problem for nonlinear systems is studied. In the context of model-based, iterative learning strategies we propose an alternative definition and construction of the temporal difference error arising in policy iteration strategies. In such architectures, the error is computed via the evolution of the Hamiltonian function (or, possibly, of its integral) along the trajectories of the closed-loop system. Herein the temporal difference error is instead obtained via two subsequent steps: first the dynamics of the underlying costate variable in the Hamiltonian system is steered by means of a (virtual) control input in such a way that the stable invariant manifold becomes externally attractive. Then, the distance-from-invariance of the manifold, induced by approximate solutions, yields a natural candidate measure for the policy evaluation step. The policy improvement phase is then performed by means of standard gradient descent methods that allows us to correctly update the weights of the underlying functional approximator. The above-mentioned architecture then yields an iterative (episodic) learning scheme based on a scalar, constant reward at each iteration, the value of which is insensitive to the length of the episode, as in the original spirit of reinforcement learning strategies for discrete-time systems. Finally, the theory is validated by means of a numerical simulation involving an automatic flight control problem.
The Greenhouse Gas Impact of Shale Gas Exploitation

Shale gas is a hydrocarbon in impermeable shale rock up to 3.5km below the earth surface, requiring hydraulic fracturing, an ‘unconventional’ technique to stimulate production. This study sought to explore the accurate greenhouse gas impact of shale gas exploitation. Emissions from a producing conventional well pad are analogous to an unconventional well pad in production. Methane emissions were measured at three key sites; the KM5 conventional well pad, Knapton generation station and a rural crop farm control site, Cranford Farm. 288 hours of methane measurements were conducted using a Picarro Ring Down Spectrometer, which recorded methane concentration at 1 hertz. A Gull wind sonic was also used to record wind speed and direction. Therefore a flux could be calculated for two natural gas infrastructure sites for comparison. The control site had an average methane concentration of 1.93 ppm, which was higher than the 1.91 ppm CH4 average at the KM5 well pad but lower than that of Knapton which was 2.01 ppm. The average calculated CH4 flux at KM5 was 24.29 kg CH4/year, 3% of the average flux from Knapton, which was calculated as 847.91 kg CH4/year. These annual methane emissions are the equivalent of 3 sheep and 7 dairy cows respectively. Under highest case calculations, methane emissions from these sites equate to emission factors of 0.0077% for KM5 and 0.082% for Knapton. From literature analysis, pre-production emissions from shale gas exploitation will be higher from a) excess energy required for horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing and b) methane emissions from well completion. The extent to which it has a larger environmental impact than conventional gas is dependent on the use of REC (reduced emissions completions), which can reduce well completion methane emissions by over 90%. Over longer terms, the Climate Change Act (2008) requires an 80% reduction in GHG emissions from 1990 levels, which will require CCS implementation nationally regardless of shale gas exploitation.
Scutellarin Loaded on Ultradeformable Nanoliposome Scutellarin EDTMP (S-UNL-E) Promotes Osteogenesis in Osteoporotic Rats

Scutellarin is known as a safe, effective, and low-cost traditional Chinese medicine and has a variety of biological activities. Studies reported that the scutellarin loaded on ultradeformable nanoliposome scutellarin EDTMP (S-UNL-E) could promote osteoblast differentiation and bone formation in vitro. However, its effect on promoting osteogenesis in vivo is still unclear. In this study, pharmacology network and transcriptome sequencing were used to screen the potential targets and pathways of scutellarin in treating osteoporosis. The female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were operated on with bilateral oophorectomy and femoral defect to establish an osteoporosis model and then treated separately with bone dust, single scutellarin, 40 mg/kg ultradeformable nanoliposome scutellarin (S-UNL), and the optimal concentration of 40 mg/kg S-UNL-E for a total of 56 d to detect the parameters of trabecular bones. And qRT-PCR and western blot were performed to determine the expression of prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), transcription factor 4 (TCF4), and β-catenin. Results of microscopic computed tomography (Micro-CT) of trabecular bones showed that single scutellarin, S-UNL, and S-UNL-E all promoted the bone formation of osteoporotic rats, in which S-UNL-E manifested the most remarkable therapeutic effect. And it is found that 40 mg/kg of S-UNL-E increased the expression of PTGS2, ALP, TCF4, and β-catenin, which indicated that S-UNL-E stimulated the secretion of ALP in bone defect areas to promote bone healing, and increased PTGS2 expression thereby enhancing the transcription and translation of key gene β-catenin and TCF4 in the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway to treat osteoporotic rats.
Impact of pharmacist‐initiated educational interventions on improving medication reconciliation practice in geriatric inpatients during hospital admission in Vietnam

Unintentional medication discrepancies (UMDs) are common in geriatric patients during care transitions, resulting in frequent undesirable consequences. Medication reconciliation could be a useful practice to prevent or ameliorate UMD. However, this practice in Vietnamese hospitals has not been well established or standardized. This study aims to determine the effect of pharmacist‐initiated educational interventions on improving medication reconciliation practice.
Eplerenone (Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonist) Induced Bilateral Gynecomastia

Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (MRA) is also known as potassium-sparing diuretics which is commonly used for the treatment of heart failure and hypertension. Spironolactone is the first generation of MRA but it may have some adverse effects, particularly gynecomastia. This adverse effect may be related to its properties of androgen suppression. In contrast to spironolactone, eplerenone is the second generation of MRA which may be less potent in blocking the activation of androgen receptors resulting in less gynecomastia. However, despite limited sexual and hormonal side effects, we should still keep cautious regarding the anti-androgen effect of eplerenone. In this report, we demonstrated one 88-year-old male patient with eplerenone induced gynecomastia.
Influence of exogenous application of melatonin on biochemical changes of avocado fruit during ripening

Melatonin (MT) is considered as a plant growth regulator, has extensive functions and plays a prominent role in ripening and fruit senescence. However, there has been no report regarding the influence of melatonin on biochemical changes of avocado fruit (Persea americana Mill.) during ripening. In this study, the cultivar of avocado fruit “034” was treated with MT at 0.1 mM and 0.5 mM to evaluate biochemical changes relating to the fruit quality during storage at 22 oC ± 1 and 75–80% relative humidity. The results showed that postharvest fruits treated with MT effectively delayed the changes in ripening parameters and that the effectiveness depends on MT concentration. Application of MT (0.5 mM, immersion for 2 hours) to “034” avocado enhanced total phenol and flavonoid accumulation and maintained titratable acidity, total soluble solids, lipid and ascorbic acid contents. Furthermore, 0.5 mM MT treatment effectively suppressed the increase of total sugar and reduced weight loss compared with the control fruit after 12 days of storage. The results indicate that the MT application could be a useful tool to maintain avocado fruit quality during the postharvest stage.
Kinetic Analysis of the Adsorption of Cadmium onto Activated Carbon from Tridax procumbens

While Cd production, consumption, and environmental release have all skyrocketed in recent decades, there is currently no practical way to recycle Cd compounds. This suggests that Cd compounds may be very dangerous to human health. Due to this cadmium remediation from polluted environment is urgently needed. Several viable technologies include biosorption, which has several positive aspects which include low operating expenses, very efficient detoxification of toxicants at low concentrations and low amount of disposal materials. The biosorption of the biosorption of cadmium onto the activated carbon from Tridax procumbens is remodeled using nonlinear regression and the optimal mode was determined by a series of error function assessments. Statistical analysis showed that the best kinetic model for adsorption was pseudo-1st order. All error function analyses supported the pseudo-1st order model. The pseudo-1st order kinetic constants obtained were qe (mg/g) of 5.808 (95% confidence interval from 5.043 to 6.573) and k1 (per min) of 0.009 (95% confidence interval from 0.0064 to 0.0117). Nonlinear modeling enables the determination of a 95 percent confidence interval for the uncertainty range, which can be used in model comparison and discriminant analysis.
Corporate Tax Integrity and Financial Constraints: Evidence from China

ABSTRACT This study examines how corporate tax integrity affects financial constraints. In the past, scholars have captured corporate’s trust in an indirect way, and our paper fills this void. To capture the earned trust of enterprises in a more direct way, we use a firm’s tax integrity level as a proxy for its earned trust. Our results show that corporate tax integrity is negatively related to financial constraints. Further, we examine whether social trust in the regions where the corporate is located will affect the relationship between firm’s tax integrity and financial constraints, the result suggests that corporate tax integrity has a stronger effect on financing constraints of firms located in high social trust regions. Finally, we further find that firms’ business risk is a channel where corporate tax integrity affects financial constraints.
Osteohistology of Dromornis stirtoni (Aves: Dromornithidae) and the biological implications of the bone histology of the Australian mihirung birds

The late Miocene Dromornis stirtoni is the largest of the giant flightless dromornithid birds. Here, we studied 22 long bones (femora, tibiotarsi, tarsometatarsi) of D. stirtoni to assess its osteohistology to deduce various aspects of its life history. Our results show that D. stirtoni took several years (likely, more than a decade), to reach adult body size, after which its growth rate slowed down, and skeletal maturity occurred. This growth strategy differs from that of its Pleistocene relative, Genyornis newtoni, which experienced faster rates of growth to reach adult body size. We propose that these mihirung birds, separated by millions of years, each responded to the prevailing environmental conditions of the time, by selecting for different growth strategies, with D. stirtoni having an extreme K‐selected life history strategy. The presence of medullary bone permitted the identification of female D. stirtoni specimens, and its presence in some bones lacking an OCL layer showed sexual maturity preceded its formation. We postulate that while G. newtoni had a somewhat greater reproductive potential than D. stirtoni, it remained far less than that observed in the extant emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae). Genyornis newtoni survived into the late Pleistocene alongside extant emus and overlapped the arrival of the first humans in Australia, but the former species shortly thereafter became extinct while emus remain prolific.
A Systematic Review of Personalized Health Applications through Human–Computer Interactions (HCI) on Cardiovascular Health Optimization

Abstract Introduction: Currently, the deployment of human–computer interactive technologies to provide personalized care has grown and immensely taken shape in most healthcare settings. With the increasing growth of the internet and technology, personalized health interventions including smartphones, associated apps, and other interventions demonstrate prowess in various health fields, including cardiovascular management. This systematic review thus examines the effectiveness of various human–computer interactions technologies through telehealth (mainly eHealth) towards optimizing the outcomes in cardiovascular treatment. Methods: A comprehensive search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL databases using key terms was conducted from 2000 to November 2021 to identify suitable studies that explored the use of human–computer interaction technologies to provide a personalized care approach to facilitate bolstered outcomes for cardiovascular patients, including the elderly. The included studies were assessed for quality and risk of bias, and the authors undertook a data extraction task. Results: Ten studies describing the use of a mix of personalized health app (mHealth) interventions were identified and included in the study. Among the included studies, nine of them were randomized trials. All of the studies demonstrated the effectiveness of various personalized health interventions in maximizing the benefits of cardiovascular disease treatment. Conclusions: Personalized health application interventions through precision medicine has great potential to boost cardiovascular disease management outcomes, including rehabilitation. Fundamentally, since each intervention’s focus might differ based on the disease and outcome preference, it is recommended that more research be done to tailor the interventions to specific disease and patient outcome expectations.
Advances in Hyperspectral Image Classification with a Bottleneck Attention Mechanism Based on 3D-FCNN Model and Imaging Spectrometer Sensor

Deep learning approaches have significantly enhanced the classification accuracy of hyperspectral images (HSIs). However, the classification process still faces difficulties such as those posed by high data dimensions, large data volumes, and insufficient numbers of labeled samples. To enhance the classification accuracy and reduce the data dimensions and training needed for labeled samples, a 3D fully convolutional neural network (3D-FCNN) model was developed by including a bottleneck attention module. In such a model, the convolutional layer replaces the downsampling layer and the fully connected layer, and 3D full convolution is adopted to replace the commonly used 2D and 1D convolution operations. Thus, the loss of data in the dimensionality reduction process is effectively avoided. The bottleneck attention mechanism is introduced in the FCNN to reduce the redundancy of information and the number of labeled samples. The proposed method was compared to some advanced HSI classification approaches with deep networks, and five common HSI datasets were employed. The experiments showed that our network could achieve considerable classification accuracies by reducing the data dimensionality using a small number of labeled samples, thereby demonstrating its potential merits in the HSI classification process .
Modeling Potential EGS Signals from a Distributed Fiber Optic Sensor Deployed in a Borehole

Distributed fiber optic sensors installed in boreholes provide a new and data-rich perspective on the near-borehole environment. These sensors measure strain (or strain-rate) with high spatial resolution and can survive extreme conditions. These sensors should be capable of enduring the high temperatures that exist in Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) boreholes. Here, we explore the information that these sensors may reveal in a EGS system. Potential EGS subsurface signals are simulated in two ways: 1) a massively parallel multiphysics code that is capable of modeling hydraulic stimulation of heterogeneous reservoir with a pre-existing discrete fracture network, and 2) a parallelized 3D finite difference code for high-frequency seismic signals. The approach matches both the low-frequency strain signals generated during the fracture process and higher-frequency signals from microseismic and perforation shots. Results indicate that quantitative interpretation of the fiber data provides valuable constraints on the fracture geometry and microseismic activity, both of which are key to understanding an EGS system. These sensors are subject to varying types of noise, both external and internal and we evaluate potential sources of noise such as the electronics, fiber/cable, and subsurface to improve interpretation of the signals and the characteristics of each noise type. In addition, we examine the likely failure mechanisms of fiber sensors in the typical EGS environment and provide suggestions on ways to improve performance and durability. Ultimately, a robust system understanding will allow identification of areas for future improvement and possible optimization in fiber and cable design.
The Teacher's Cognitive Role in the Efficiency of Distance Education: A Case Study

This paper aims to examine preservice teachers' views of the School of Pedagogical and Technological Education (ASPAITE) regarding the skills of online teachers-counselors and the effectiveness of distance education during the pandemic of COVID-19. The aim of the conducted study is related to a continuous effort of research so as to ameliorate potential teachers' effectiveness in distance education. Firstly, attention will be drawn to the concept-key term of distance education, and afterwards, we are going to proceed into an extensive presentation of its basic principles and characteristics: active teaching, leadership and management, active learning of students and technological abilities. The results of the conducted research show that the role of teacher/counselor in distance education is a multiple one, as he or she must utilize and apply not only formal and informal qualifications as used in conventional education but also additional ones that bridge the gap of physical absence.