Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A miniaturized directional antenna for microwave breast imaging applications

A novel compact directional antenna with improved gain is proposed for microwave breast imaging (MBI) applications. The radiating fins are modified by etching several slots to make the antenna compact and enhance antenna performance in terms of bandwidth, gain, efficiency, and directivity. Several parameters are studied and optimized to frequency from 3.1 to 6.5 GHz, which is typically used in the breast imaging system. The electrical length of the antenna is 0. 39λ × 0. 46λ × 0. 01λ at the lower frequency band. The result shows that the antenna exhibits −10 dB impedance bandwidth of 4.3 GHz (2.7–7 GHz) with directional radiation pattern. The peak gain of the proposed prototype is 7.8 dBi and fractional bandwidth is 92%. The time domain results show that the fidelity factor for face to face is 0.92 and for side by side is 0.62, which prove the directivity and lower distortion of the signal. The proposed prototype is successfully simulated, fabricated, and measured.
RAPID REPORT: Dietary intervention prior to pregnancy reverses metabolic programming in male offspring of obese rats

Obesity involving women of reproductive years is increasing dramatically in both developing and developed nations. Maternal obesity and accompanying high energy obesogenic dietary (MO) intake prior to and throughout pregnancy and lactation program offspring physiological systems predisposing to altered carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Whether maternal obesity‐induced programming outcomes are reversible by altered dietary intake commencing before conception remains an unanswered question of physiological and clinical importance. We induced pre‐pregnancy maternal obesity by feeding female rats with a high fat diet from weaning to breeding 90 days later and through pregnancy and lactation. A dietary intervention group (DINT) of MO females was transferred to normal chow 1 month before mating. Controls received normal chow throughout. Male offspring were studied. Offspring birth weights were similar. At postnatal day 21 fat mass, serum triglycerides, leptin and insulin were elevated in MO offspring and were normalized by DINT. At postnatal day 120 serum glucose, insulin and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) were increased in MO offspring; glucose was restored, and HOMA partially reversed to normal by DINT. At postnatal day 150 fat mass was increased in MO and partially reversed in DINT. At postnatal day 150, fat cell size was increased by MO. DINT partially reversed these differences in fat cell size. We believe this is the first study showing reversibility of adverse metabolic effects of maternal obesity on offspring metabolic phenotype, and that outcomes and reversibility vary by tissue affected.
Mercury Uptake Capacity of Chitosan: Kinetic and Isotherm Study

N this study, the ability of chitosan (β (1→4) linkage of 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-β-D glucose] to remove mercury from water samples was studied. Chitosan was characterized by FTIR, XRD and FE-SEM. The Hg (II) uptake capacity was studied; different factors were considered such as pH, contact time, adsorbent dose, metal ion concentration. From the obtained results, it was found that chitosan exhibited a maximum uptake capacity of 32.83 mg/g under the investigated conditions. The uptake process was found to follow Frundlish Adsorption Isotherm and Pseudo Second Order Kinetics.
Managing the Impact of PASEC Projects in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa

The “Program on the Analysis of Education Systems“ (PASEC) was launched in 1991 at the conference of francophone education ministers (CONFEMEN) in Djibouti and carried out its first country evaluation one year later in the same country. Since then, 15 individual country evaluations have been carried out in francophone sub-Saharan Africa, including panel studies following primary students from 2 to 6 grade within a given country. While initially, these evaluations were implemented by various research teams of the north, from 1995 onwards, implementation was assured by national PASEC teams under the guidance and overall responsibility of the CONFEMEN secretariat in Dakar. This development ensured a higher degree of comparability between individual country studies, the building up of an international database including all micro data for students, teachers and schools, and, above all, a strong involvement of local PASEC teams with the objective of capacity building for future assessments of education quality.
Cost-Effectiveness of Schizophrenia Pharmacotherapy

TO THE EDITOR: The study by Robert A. Rosenheck, M.D. and colleagues represents a large and ambitious attempt to study the cost-effectiveness of pharmacotherapy for the treatment of schizophrenia (1). The authors acknowledge the caveats for policy making. However, we are concerned that drug plan administrators will nonetheless use these results to promote prior authorization and step-therapy policies that restrict access to atypical antipsychotic medications. Such policies will be based on both the imperative to contain costs and the conclusions of this analysis, which are unwarranted based on limitations in the study design. The purpose of cost-effectiveness analysis is to compare the relative efficacy of interventions in order to aid decision making (2). Thus, the study will be considered a commentary on policy options. However, the study deviates from the relevant policy choices in important ways. First, the trial was not limited to new episodes of schizophrenia. However, such patients are generally the only ones affected by Medicaid and Medicare policies, which largely grandfather currently treated patients. Second, it bases comparisons between typical and atypical medications on a select population—those both willing to switch antipsychotics and without tardive dyskinesia. The generalizability of this group is questionable, since those with tardive dyskinesia may benefit more from newer medications (3). Further, it is telling that patients and their clinicians almost universally switched to another atypical antipsychotic agent, suggesting customization of individual treatment. To this end, the unique circumstances of a clinical trial limit generalizability. While trial participants were free to switch medications at any time, typical prior authorization policies are burdensome on provider time and have unknown impacts on medication adherence and clinical outcomes. Inclusion of these impacts and use of a societal perspective in the analysis might reveal quite different implications. The authors acknowledge that the results should not be used to limit treatment of patients to first-generation antipsychotics. However, their abstract—which is all many busy policymakers will ever read—states that perphenazine treatment “was less costly than treatment with second-generation antipsychotics with no significant differences in measures of effectiveness” (p. 2080) with no such caveat. Such statements will be all too alluring for pharmacy benefit managers struggling with costs. In fact, within 2 weeks of publication, we received requests for advice about proposed policies to provide typical agents without cost-sharing while charging high copayments for atypical medications in a large drug benefit plan. Consequently, we have serious concerns that this research will support potentially harmful access restrictions on effective medications for vulnerable patients.
To study the added effect of modified dynamic core stability plank exercise program on diastasis recti abdominis closure and pelvic floor disability :a pilot study of A and

Background and Aim During and after pregnancy, many women experience an increase in the inter-recti abdominal muscle due to stretching and thinning of the linea alba. Because of the synergistic relationship between the pelvic floor and abdominal muscles, a decrease in abdominal muscle function associated with DRA could affect the performance of the pelvic floor musculature. Aim was to study the added effects of a modified dynamic core stability plank exercise program on diastasis recti abdominis (DRA) closure and pelvic floor disability. Materials Methodology An experimental study was carried out among 16 females (8 in each group), which were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Each participant completed pre and post-test caliper measurements for DRA and pelvic floor disability index questionnaire. The intervention was given for 6 weeks (3 times/week). There was an extremely significant difference at the level of umbilicus and 4.5cm above the level of umbilicus seen post treatment, with the experimental group showing greater closure after treatment compared to the control group. The PFDI scores also showed significant improvement post treatment in both the groups.
Prospects for ﬂavonoid and related phytochemicals as nature-inspired treatments for Clostridium difﬁcile infection

Aims: There is a need for novel treatments for Clostridium difﬁcile infection (CDI). Antibacterial ﬂavonoids are part of a large family of polyphenol phytochemicals with a long history of use in ethnomedicine, but are unexamined against Cl. difﬁcile . We explored their anti-difﬁcile properties. Methods and Results: Anti-difﬁcile activities were determined for several naturally occurring ﬂavonoids, olympicin A and synthetic 4-chromanone and chalcone analogues. With the exception of olympicin A, most naturally occurring phytochemicals tested were poorly active. Diversiﬁed synthetic ﬂavonoids resembling olympicin A retained anti-difﬁcile activity, suggesting olympicin A could act as a pharmacophore to obtain novel agents. They also demonstrated concentration-dependent killing of logarithmic and stationary phase cultures and reduced sporulation and toxin production. Olympicin A and some synthetic ﬂavonoids dissipated the bacterial transmembrane potential. Interestingly, mutants could only be selected with the analogue 207 at a frequency of 10 (cid:1) 9 . Conclusions: Based on the potent anti-difﬁcile properties of olympicin A and modiﬁed ﬂavonoids, further exploration of this class of phytochemicals is warranted. Signiﬁcance and Impact of the Study: Clostridium difﬁcile infection is a major problem in developed countries. These studies point to there being an avenue for optimizing plant-derived ﬂavonoids, and related antibacterial phytochemicals, as nature-inspired approaches to treat CDI.
A Comparative Study on the Effect of Cemented and other Different Biological Type of Artificial Femoral Head Prosthesis in the Treatment of Intertrochanteric Fractures in the Elderly

Background: The aim of this study is to assess comparatively the clinical effect of cemented and other biological type of artificial femoral head in the treatment of intertrochanteric fractures of the femur in elder patients.Methods: The clinical data of 121 patients with unstable intertrochanteric fractures treated with hip replacement from July 2017 to December 2018 in our hospital were reviewed.Results: There were 121 patients with unstable intertrochanteric fracture received hip replacement enrolled in this study. Of those patients, 60 patients received bone cement femoral prosthesis (bone cement group), while 61 cases (62 hips) received biological femoral prosthesis (biological group). The results showed that the biological group treated had shorter operation time, less intraoperative bleeding and longer time of complete weight-bearing than the bone cement group (P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in the time of partial weight-bearing and Harris score of hip joint function between the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion: The cemented and biological artificial type of femoral head might lead to satisfactory short-term results in the treatment of intertrochanteric fractures for elder patients. Results showed that the biological group had shorter operation time, less intraoperative bleeding and longer time of complete weight-bearing than the bone cement group. For the unstable intertrochanteric fracture of femur with severe osteoporosis and difficult to maintain stability after fracture reset, biological femoral prosthesis stems might be employed for the treatment of artificial hip replacement according to the shape of the proximal femoral cavity, the quality of bone and the range of fracture coverage, which may promote the recovery of hip joint function and obtain good clinical effect.
On Noncooperative Scheduling: Existence of Eﬃcient Equilibria

: - This paper studies dynamic noncooperative bandwidth allocation in a wireless communication network. The model is based on a dynamic non-cooperative game with a parameterized delay-penalty. Each mobile node chooses its transmission strategy to optimize its delay-throughput trade-oﬀ. The existence of an eﬃcient non-cooperative dynamic allocation under Rayleigh fading is demonstrated. This paper considers equilibria in pure strategies.
Medicinal plants used by the tribal communities of Thanchi Upazila in Bandarban Hill District, Bangladesh

Medicinal plants play in an important role in the primary health care system. The paper deals with the indigenous knowledge related to ethnomedicinal knowledge and plant parts application for curing various ailments by the ethnic community of Thanchi Upazila of Bandarban Hill District. Semi-structured questionnaires, interviews, group discussions, and specific plant sample collection were done from July 2019 to December 2021 to procure ethno-medicinal data from local herbalists and elderly villagers for this study and from the forest areas. A total of 129 plant species under 110 genera and 63 families have been documented, which have been traditionally used by the ethnic people for the treatment of different ailments. Traditional knowledge and information about medicinal plants such as local names, scientific names, families, habits, habitats, plant-parts used, names of ailments, modes of use, etc. were recorded, validated, and documented. Plant families namely, Asteraceae and Euphorbiaceae were represented by the highest (8) number of species, followed by Fabaceae, Verbenaceae, Apocynaceae, Araceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Lamiaceae, Rubiaceae and Zingiberaceae. The most widely used medicinal plants included Anacardium occidentale, Bombax ceiba, Calotropis gigantea, Terminalia chebula, Aegle mermelos, Ageratum conyzoides, Andrographis paniculata, Aristolochia indica, Blumea balsamifera, Bryophyllum pinnatum, Celosia cristata, Centella asiatica, Melastoma malabathricum, Mimosa pudica, Musa paradisiaca, Oroxylum indicum, Plumbago indica and Vitex negundo. Herbs (36%) were found to be the most used plant, followed by shrubs (33%), trees (17%), climbers (9%) and fern (5%). Most medicinal plants were used for the treatment of fever, skin diseases, cough problems, menstrual problems, body pain, indigestion, headaches, stomachaches, constipation, swelling problems, wounds and others. Among the plant parts, mostly leaves were used (43%), followed by roots (21%), whole plants (10%), stems (6%) along with fruit, rhizome, flower, bark, seed and latex for the treatment of diseases. The most common formulations prescribed to treat various diseases were juices. The findings will be useful for future research in the Bandarban Hill District. Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. 2022, 8 (2), 123-140
Removal of methyl orange dye using(ZnO/MWCNTs) nanomaterial

The (ZnO/MWCNTs) Nano composite had a composition of (0.8/0.018MWCNTs) (w/w). Batch adsorption method was used to remove Methyl orang dye from its aqueous solution. The structural characteristics of (ZnO/MWCNTs) were investigated (FTIR, XRD, BET,EDX,FE-SEM). The (ZnO) was discovered to have a 22 nm average particle size with surface area( 27.71m².g¯¹) . The (ZnO/MWCNTs ) was discovered to have a surface area(38.85m².g¯¹.). Adsorption equilibrium data was fitted with , Temkin equations to describe the isotherms, more than Freundlich,and Langmuir and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherms. Thermodynamic studies showed that the adsorption was exothermic and spontaneous and pysisorption nature of adsorption . The pseudo-first and second order models were used to fit the kinetic data, adsorption process flow the pseudo-second-order adsorption.
Sustainable Infrastructure Development: A Holistic System Based Decision Making Framework Integrating Vulnerability Indicators and Stakeholders Objectives

 Conducting research on site layout and facilities location selection in linear infrastructure projects using Uniform Cost Tree Search.  Defining optimal governmental policies to incentivize mid-range investors to construct community-centric facilities using game theory.  Developing a game theoretical model to evaluate driving behavior in Cairo, Egypt, and predicting optimal deterrence policies.  Driving fair share in revenue/risk share in Construction Joint Ventures via cooperative game theory.  Modeling production rates for construction crews via Bayesian Networks and System Dynamics to accurately predict the activities’ durations.
Enterococcus Virulence and Resistant Traits Associated with Its Permanence in the Hospital Environment

Enterococcus are opportunistic pathogens that have been gaining importance in the clinical setting, especially in terms of hospital-acquired infections. This problem has mainly been associated with the fact that these bacteria are able to present intrinsic and extrinsic resistance to different classes of antibiotics, with a great deal of importance being attributed to vancomycin-resistant enterococci. However, other aspects, such as the expression of different virulence factors including biofilm-forming ability, and its capacity of trading genetic information, makes this bacterial genus more capable of surviving harsh environmental conditions. All these characteristics, associated with some reports of decreased susceptibility to some biocides, all described in this literary review, allow enterococci to present a longer survival ability in the hospital environment, consequently giving them more opportunities to disseminate in these settings and be responsible for difficult-to-treat infections.
A case-control study along with an epidemiological approach to CNTNAP2 polymorphism among Bangladeshi ASD children

ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) is a neuropsychiatric disorder with a hereditary component, and its prevalence in South Asia was assessed 1, out of every 93 children. Moreover, recent studies suggested that the etiology of autism is thought to be linked to anomalies in the synapse, where mutation or deletion of synaptic gene CNTNAP2 is responsible. Therefore, this research was aimed to find out specific signs and symptoms of ASD individuals as well as the distribution pattern of the CNTNAP2 allelic variant (rs7794745) as a genetic risk factor in the Bangladeshi population. A case-control study including an epidemiological survey to investigate the association and pathophysiology of CNTNAP2 (rs7794745) with ASD for the Bangladeshi population has been studied, where PCR-RFLP analysis and Sanger sequencing were used for 180 individuals (90 ASD samples and 90 healthy controls). Our retrieved data speculated a diverse clinical profile of ASD, in comparison to the control group (n=110); where 80.9% (p ≤0.001) of ASD patients (n =100) had severe social interaction difficulties, 50% (p ≤0.001) had language impairments, and 40.9% (p ≤0.001) had behavioral abnormalities. Furthermore, findings from Pearson’s chi-square test (p = 0.001) as well as logistic regression analysis of co-dominant (p = 0.0083), and recessive model (p = 0.0075) confirmed significant association between rs7794745 and in our studied sample. This research demonstrates the genetic variation of CNTNAP2 found in our studied population could open a new clue to identifying a reliable biomarker for early diagnosis of ASD though it is recommended that more study is needed with a larger group population. Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. 2022, 8 (2), 79-93
Self-organizing inter-cell interference coordination in 4G and beyond networks using genetic algorithms

ABSTRACT The design objective of the 4G and beyond networks is not only to provide high data rate services but also ensure a good subscriber experience in terms of quality of service. However, the main challenge to this objective is the growing size and heterogeneity of these networks. This paper proposes a genetic-algorithm-based approach for the self-optimization of interference mitigation parameters for downlink inter-cell interference coordination parameter in Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks. The proposed algorithm is generic in nature and operates in an environment with the variations in traffic, user positions and propagation conditions. A comprehensive analysis of the obtained simulation results is presented, which shows that the proposed approach can significantly improve the network coverage in terms of call accept rate as well as capacity in terms of throughput.
Assessment of Optimal Conditions for Marine Invertebrate Cell-Mediated Mineralization of Organic Matrices

Cellular strategies and regulation of their crystallization mechanisms are essential to the formation of biominerals, and harnessing these strategies will be important for the future creation of novel non-native biominerals that recapitulate the impressive properties biominerals possess. Harnessing these biosynthetic strategies requires an understanding of the interplay between insoluble organic matrices, mineral precursors, and soluble organic and inorganic additives. Our long-range goal is to use a sea anemone model system (Nematostella vectensis) to examine the role of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) found in native biomineral systems. Here, we study how ambient temperatures (25–37 °C) and seawater solution compositions (varying NaCl and Mg ratios) will affect the infiltration of organic matrices with calcium carbonate mineral precursors generated through a polymer-induced liquid-precursor (PILP) process. Fibrillar collagen matrices were used to assess whether solution conditions were suitable for intrafibrillar mineralization, and SEM with EDS was used to analyze mineral infiltration. Conditions of temperatures 30 °C and above and with low Mg:Ca ratios were determined to be suitable conditions for calcium carbonate infiltration. The information obtained from these observations may be useful for the manipulation and study of cellular secreted IDPs in our quest to create novel biosynthetic materials.
The effect of six weeks High Intensity Interval Swimming Training and Resveratrol supplementation on the level of SIRT3 in left ventricular heart of aged rats

Background and Purpose: Identification and analysis of compounds that playing a role in delay aging and increase longevity is essential. Sirtuins are one of the main regulators of cell survival and longevity. The goal of this research was to investigate the effect of six weeks HIIT swimming exercise and Resveratrol supplementation on the level of SIRT3 in left ventricular heart of aged rats. Materials and Methods: In this research, 30 wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups (control (C), solvent (M), supplement (R), HIIT exercise (EX), HIIT exercise and supplement (EXR)). The EX group performed HIIT swimming for six weeks. C group did not practice. R group received only resveratrol supplementation. EXR group performed HIIT swimming exercises with resveratrol and M group received only solvent. The SIRT3 protein was obtained by Western blotting. Data were analyzed using One-way ANOVA analysis of variance and Tukey’s post hoc test. Results: After six weeks, there was a significant difference between the mean SIRT3 protein levels in the five groups. Therefore, Tukey post hoc test showed that SIRT3 levels were significantly increased in EX and EXR groups compared to C, R and M groups (P = 0/001). However, this difference between EX and EXR groups was not significant (P > 0.05). Moreover, the amount of SIRT3 in group R was significantly higher compared to groups C and M. Conclusion: of SIRT3 indicates of this protein in metabolic path-ways, antioxidant defense and cell condition. intensity interval training resveratrol also be used to moderate oxidative stress and delay the aging process.