Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Formulation development of Lornoxicam loaded heat triggered ocular in-situ gel using factorial design

Abstract Objective In the current research, lornoxicam-loaded in situ gels were developed, and their potential usage in ocular inflammation was evaluated. Significance Lornoxicam cyclodextrin complex prepared with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and poloxamer P407 because of the low viscosity of in situ gels to provide easy application. However, washing and removing it from the ocular surface becomes difficult due to the gelation formation with heat. Methods A three-level factorial experimental design was used to evaluate the effects of poloxamer 407 concentration, polymer type, and polymer concentration on viscosity, pH, gelation capacity, gelation time, and gelation temperature, which were considered the optimal indicators of lornoxicam-containing formulations. Results As a result of the three-level factorial experimental design, the optimized formulation contained 15 (%w/v) poloxamer 407 and 1 (%w/v) hydroxypropyl methylcellulose. The optimize formulation viscosity 25 °C = 504 ± 49cP, viscosity 35 °C = 11247 ± 214cP, pH = 6.80 ± 0.01, gelation temprature = 35 ± 0.2 °C, and gelation time= 34 ± 0.2 s was obtained. In the in vitro release studies, 68% of lornoxicam was released with a burst effect in the first three hours; then, the release continued for eight hours with controlled release. Release kinetics of the formulations were modeled mathematically, and it was found to be compatible with the Korsemeyer-Peppas and Weibull models. In cell culture studies, cell viability at 100 µg/mL was 83% and 96% for NL6 and NL6-CD, respectively. In Draize’s in vivo test, no negative conditions occurred in rats. Conclusions Therefore, the NL6-CD formulation has the potential to be a favorable option for treating ocular inflammation.
Closure evaluation of size‐resolved aerosol pH in the New England coastal atmosphere during summer

[1] During summer 2002, soluble trace gases, the ionic composition of size-resolved aerosols, and meteorological conditions were measured from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship Ronald H. Brown in coastal air along the eastern U.S. seaboard. Aerosol acidities were extrapolated from direct pH measurements in minimally diluted extracts and were also inferred from the measured phase partitioning and thermodynamic properties of HCl, HNO3, NH3, HCOOH, and CH3COOH. Median pHs for 0.75- through 25-μm geometric mean diameter (GMD) size fractions based on direct measurements (2.6–3.9) were higher than those inferred from HCl partitioning (1.7–3.3). Phase disequilibria caused negative deviations in median pHs inferred from HNO3 partitioning with aerosol size fractions greater than 2.8-μm GMD; pHs inferred for smaller size fractions (median values of 1.9–3.0) were similar to those based on HCl (median values of 1.5–3.0). The pHs inferred from NH3 partitioning were significantly lower than those estimated by other approaches; causes for this apparent bias are not known. The dominance of gas-phase HCOOH and CH3COOH was generally consistent with predicted phase partitioning with acidic aerosols. Typically large diel excursions in most gases implied corresponding variability in aerosol acidity. The pHs inferred from maximum and minimum mixing ratios of gases over each aerosol sampling interval suggested median 12-hour variations of ∼0.4–0.7 pH unit. Total acidity (Ht = H+ + undissociated acids) was greater than H+ by 1–2 orders of magnitude in all size fractions; most Ht was in the form of HSO4−.
Compressive sensing for Radar imaging via DAS Beam forming Method

ABSTRACT The signals in the microwave breast cancer imaging are ultra-wideband. Because of this, according to the nyquist theorem, the sampling rate of the signal is very high. In this paper a novel radar-based microwave breast cancer imaging method using compressive sensing (CS) is proposed. In this method, the received signals are sampled with a rate less than the nyquist rate, then using compressive sensing; we reconstruct the original signals and perform the delayand-sum (DAS) beamforming for breast cancer imaging. Comparing the results of the proposed method with the results of the previous delay-and-sum beamforming method, we conclude that using our method we can detect the tumor place with lower samples than the nyquist rate.
Prevalence and associated factors of poor sleep quality among industrial workers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: findings from a cross-sectional study

Objective This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and associated factors of poor sleep quality among Bole Lemi Industrial Park workers in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Design An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from July to August 2022. The data were collected using a validated and standardised Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Questionnaire. The collected data were entered into EpiData V.4. 6 and analysed using Stata V.14. A multivariable binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with poor sleep quality. The association was determined using an adjusted OR (AOR) with a 95% CI at a p value of <0.05. Setting The study was conducted in Bole Lemi Industrial Park in Addis Ababa. Participants A total of 370 workers participated in this study. Outcome measures The primary outcome of the study was the prevalence of poor sleep quality. Results The total response rate was 87.7%. The majority (260, 70.3%) of the participants were female. The mean (±SD) age of the participants was 30.5 (±10.6) years. The prevalence of poor sleep quality during the last months was found to be 75.4% (n=279) (95% CI: 70.7% to 79.7%). Undiversified dietary intake (AOR: 1.63; 95% CI (1.09 to 2.78)), caffeine consumption more than 250 mg per day (AOR: 2.57; 95% CI (1.12 to 6.05)) and night shift work (AOR: 2.36; 95% CI (1.27 to 4.41)) were risk factors for poor sleep quality among sampled workers. Conclusion This study detected that poor sleep quality is highly prevalent among garment and textile industry workers, indicating that it is a significant public health issue that requires immediate attention. Therefore, modifications of the work environment involving night shift work and the improvement of workers’ personal lifestyles involving dietary diversification and caffeine consumption are needed to minimise the burden of poor sleep quality among workers.
Characterisation of neonatal Staphylococcus capitis NRCS-A isolates compared with non NRCS-A Staphylococcus capitis from neonates and adults

Staphylococcus capitis is a frequent cause of late-onset sepsis in neonates admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU). One clone of S. capitis , NRCS-A has been isolated from NICUs globally although the reasons for the global success of this clone are not well understood. We analysed a collection of S. capitis colonising babies admitted to two NICUs, one in the UK and one in Germany as well as corresponding pathological clinical isolates. Genome analysis identified a population structure of three groups; non-NRCS-A isolates, NRCS-A isolates, and a group of ‘proto NRCS-A’ – isolates closely related to NRCS-A but not associated with neonatal infection. All bloodstream isolates belonged to the NRCS-A group and were indistinguishable from strains carried on the skin or in the gut. NRCS-A isolates showed increased tolerance to chlorhexidine and antibiotics relative to the other S. capitis as well as enhanced ability to grow at higher pH values. Analysis of the pangenome of 138 isolates identified characteristic nsr and tarJ genes in both the NRCS-A and proto groups. A CRISPR-cas system was only seen in NRCS-A isolates which also showed enrichment of genes for metal acquisition and transport. We found evidence for transmission of S. capitis NRCS-A within NICU, with related isolates shared between babies and multiple acquisitions by some babies. Our data show NRCS-A strains commonly colonise uninfected babies in NICU representing a potential reservoir for potential infection. This work provides more evidence that adaptation to survive in the gut and on skin facilitates spread of NRCS-A, and that metal acquisition and tolerance may be important to the biology of NRCS-A. Understanding how NRCS-A survives in NICUs can help develop infection control procedures against this clone.
Seismic Anisotropy of Post‐Perovskite and the Lowermost Mantle

The lowermost mantle - D" - is an enigmatic region of the deep Earth. Seismology has revealed a number of anomalous characteristics of this layer, one of which is a significant seismic anisotropy. This has been observed primarily in the shear-wave splitting of body wave phases which transit the region. The discovery of a post-perovskite form of MgSiO 3 (the dominant phase in the lower mantle) may have broad implications for the interpretation of these observations. In this chapter we review studies which measure D" anisotropy, and conclude that a relatively consistent (at least on a broad-scale) picture is apparent. The anisotropy in regions characterized by fast shear-wave velocities near the core-mantle boundary (such as the Pacific rim) are consistent with a transversely isotropic medium with a vertical axis of symmetry (VTI) where V SH > V SV . These regions are where post-perovskite might reasonably be expected to be present. This conclusion is complicated, but not as yet invalidated, by observations of more complex styles of anisotropy. We use the results from recent numerical and experimental studies of the elasticity and mechanical properties of post-perovskite to assess whether the lattice-preferred orientation of this phase is a viable explanation for lowermost mantle anisotropy. This is complicated by the disagreement which currently exists as to the correct slip system for post-perovskite and poor constraints on the nature of deformation flow in D". Some of the candidate slip systems, however, predict an anisotropy which is relatively compatible with observation.
No-Smoking Policies and Their Outcomes on U.S. Beaches

Abstract Beach litter is harmful and costly in many ways, and the number one form of litter on U.S. beaches is cigarette butts. Campaigns for smokeless beaches have been based largely on environment and aesthetics, but health and economic factors are also important. Beach tourism is often the most important source of revenue for coastal communities, and surveys have shown that the foremost requirements for beachgoers are clean sand and clean water. The present paper introduces a study of the smoking bans adopted so far on some U.S. beaches.
Determination of genetic predisposition to early breast cancer in women of Kazakh ethnicity

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common type of cancer among women in Kazakhstan. To date, little data are available on the spectrum of genetic variation in Kazakh women with BC. We aimed to identify population-specific genetic markers associated with the risk of developing early-onset BC and test their association with clinical and prognostic factors. The study included 224 Kazakh women diagnosed with BC (≤40 age). Entire coding regions (>1700 exons) and the flanking noncoding regions of 94 cancer-associated genes were sequenced from blood DNA using MiSeq platform. We identified 38 unique pathogenic variants (PVs) in 13 different cancer-predisposing genes among 57 patients (25.4%), of which 6 variants were novel. In total, 12 of the 38 distinct PVs were detected recurrently, including BRCA1 c.5266dup, c.5278-2del, and c.2T>C, and BRCA2 c.9409dup and c.9253del that may be founder in this population. BRCA1 carriers were significantly more likely to develop triple-negative BC (OR = 6.61, 95% CI 2.44–17.91, p = 0.0002) and have family history of BC (OR = 3.17, 95% CI 1.14–8.76, p = 0.03) compared to non-carriers. This study allowed the identification of PVs specific to early-onset BC, which may be used as a foundation to develop regional expertise and diagnostic tools for early detection of BC in young Kazakh women.
First 10 days after the 6th of February 2023 earthquake disaster: experience of an orthopedic clinic on the border of the disaster zone

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: The earthquake disaster that occurred on February 06, 2023, caused serious destruction and loss of life in the south of Türkiye. The purpose of this article consisting of two interconnected parts is to report the experience of our orthopedics clinic, which is located just on the border of the disaster area. The subject of the first part of the study is the characteristics of orthopedic traumas in earthquake victims and the treatment methods applied. The subject of the second part is the disaster work plan of the clinic and its consequences in practice. METHODS: For the first step, descriptive information, diagnoses, and treatment methods of 204 earthquake victims who were treated by our clinic in the first 10 days after the disaster were compiled from the archives. In terms of the second phase of the study, an in-clinic work plan was created on the morning of the 1st day of the disaster. The teams and working hours in the emergency department, inpatient service, and operating room were determined. Hospital management and other clinics were contacted and hospital facilities were organized for orthopedic trauma victims. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 42.3 years. Among the age groups, the smallest group was children under 10 years old (6.4% of all patients). 132 of the patients had at least one fracture in 135 extremities. Most of the injuries involved the lower extremity. 66 patients had crush injury with or without fracture. 181 orthopedic surgical procedures were performed in 144 patients. The most common operations were internal fracture fixation and debridement. The most used implant was the plate-screw combination. Thanks to the in-clinic work plan and the in-hospital assistance and allocation of facilities, we did not experience serious problems in the hospitalization, surgery, and post-operative follow-ups of the patients. Although we received numerous offers of assistance from external institutions, this was not possible due to bureaucratic obstacles. Among our most important problems were the shortage of sterilized powered surgical drills and the lack of a dynamic patient information database. CONCLUSION: Orthopedic clinics should prepare their in-clinic work plans for earthquake disasters and develop their facilities. In order not to encounter bureaucratic obstacles in emergency assistance, orthopedic clinics in different risk regions should be formally matched beforehand. A patient database table that clinical staff can access and revise using their smartphones facilitates the follow-up of large numbers of simultaneously hospitalized patients.
Early-Middle Pleistocene Beheading of the River Thames

This paper marks the centenary of the first of three articles by W.M. Davis on the beheading of the Thames, beginning with a statement of his capture hypothesis in 1895 and concluding with attempts to explain anomalous misfit streams in 1899 and 1909. It discusses Davis's classic thesis of river capture by slow, long-term landscape evolution and his apparent reluctance to accept the fact of rapid Quaternary climate change. In contrast, recent work based on lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy and morphostratigraphy emphasises the dynamism of the Quaternary Period and its influence on river capture. Possible mechanisms for the beheading of the Thames, tectonism, glacial erosion and conventional Davisian river capture, and the timing of the event, are discussed. In conclusion, the paper summarises known and unknown components of the problem of the beheading of the Thames, and discusses the extent of Davis's influence on later Thames studies.
Deep Multi-Dictionary Learning for Survival Prediction With Multi-Zoom Histopathological Whole Slide Images

Survival prediction based on histopathological whole slide images (WSIs) is of great significance for risk-benefit assessment and clinical decision. However, complex microenvironments and heterogeneous tissue structures in WSIs bring challenges to learning informative prognosis-related representations. Additionally, previous studies mainly focus on modeling using mono-scale WSIs, which commonly ignore useful subtle differences existed in multi-zoom WSIs. To this end, we propose a deep multi-dictionary learning framework for cancer survival prediction with multi-zoom histopathological WSIs. The framework can recognize and learn discriminative clusters (i.e., microenvironments) based on multi-scale deep representations for survival analysis. Specifically, we learn multi-scale features based on multi-zoom tiles from WSIs via stacked deep autoencoders network followed by grouping different microenvironments by cluster algorithm. Based on multi-scale deep features of clusters, a multi-dictionary learning method with a post-pruning strategy is devised to learn discriminative representations from selected prognosis-related clusters in a task-driven manner. Finally, a survival model (i.e., EN-Cox) is constructed to estimate the risk index of an individual patient. The proposed model is evaluated on three datasets derived from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and the experimental results demonstrate that it outperforms several state-of-the-art survival analysis approaches.
Examining the wintertime response to tropical convection over the Indian Ocean by modifying convective heating in a full atmospheric model

The boreal winter response to tropical convection in the eastern Indian Ocean is investigated by increasing the mid‐level diabatic heating for that region in the NCAR Community Atmosphere Model, version 3.1. The response is quite similar to the analytic Gill solution to steady heating, with a pair of Rossby wave packets poleward and to the west of the heating, extending into mid‐latitudes, and a Kelvin response to the east of the heating. Changes to tropical convection in the eastern Indian Ocean are an important component of several important modes of atmospheric variability, including the Madden‐Julian Oscillation, some El Niño‐Southern Oscillation events, and the Indian Ocean Dipole. The simulated response has considerable similarities to observational aspects of these modes, both in terms of the Gill‐like circulation patterns and changes to precipitation over Southwest Asia, demonstrating the central importance of the Indian Ocean convection in determining the regional response.
Vitamin C supplementation showed greater effects on systolic blood pressure in hypertensive and diabetic patients: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials

Abstract Results from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) testing the effect of vitamin C supplementation on blood pressure (BP) have been inconsistent. This systematic review evaluated the effects of vitamin C supplementation on BP and included RCTs testing the effects of vitamin C supplementation alone, on systolic and diastolic BP in adult participants (≥18 years). Random-effect models were conducted to estimate the pooled effects of vitamin C supplementation on BP. A total of 20 studies with 890 participants were included. The median dose of vitamin C was 757.5 mg/d, the median duration was 6 weeks. Vitamin C supplementation was found to reduce systolic BP by −3.0 mmHg (95%CI: −4.7, −1.3 mmHg; p = 0.001). Subgroup analysis showed a more pronounced effect on systolic BP in patients with hypertension (−3.2 mmHg, 95%CI −5.2, −1.2 mmHg, p = 0.002) and diabetes (−4.6 mmHg, 95%CI −8.9, −0.3 mmHg, p = 0.03). Further research needs to evaluate the long-term effect of vitamin C on BP in populations with impaired cardio-metabolic health.
Understanding Participation among Disabled Creators in Online Marketplaces

Emerging social media platforms and online marketplaces introduce new ways for individuals to sell and distribute handmade or custom items. This new landscape of online tools has the potential to provide work opportunities for people who are excluded from traditional workplaces due to inaccessible environments and work expectations. The present study involves an analysis of the work practices of 44 disabled creators who sell and promote their goods via online marketplaces. Through an analysis of publicly available content on Etsy and social media platforms, complemented with semi-structured interviews with a subset of creators, we report on the ways disabled sellers create, share and provide support through their practices. Our analysis reveals that creators move their work to an online space seeking more accessible ways to earn income, yet find themselves navigating access barriers that are enacted through platform norms, reward structures and algorithms. We discuss how online marketplaces present unique opportunities and challenges to participation for people with disabilities.
Disparity in education: evidence from Malaysia

Education development has been one of the long standing policies to achieve growth, welfare and ultimately national unity in Malaysia. Besides a few studies that recorded improvement in education disparity at aggregate level, little is known about the distribution of educational achievement at a more segregated level in the country. This study investigates the disparities in education achievement in Malaysia for the period of 1995 to 2009 with respect to regional, gender and ethnic differences. The Household Income Survey (HIS) is utilized to calculate Gini education coefficient, where the head of household’s educational attainment is the unit of analysis. We found the existence of overall improvement in the education disparity over time. Gender as well as strata differences continue to be prominent while ethnic difference is very marginal. The future policy in reducing those gaps should give due consideration to reducing cost of higher level education. This will provide greater access to education for the bottom 40 per cent of the population.
Sustained hyperglycemia specifically targets translation of mRNAs for insulin secretion

Pancreatic β-cells are specialized for coupling glucose metabolism to insulin peptide production and secretion. Acute glucose exposure robustly and coordinately increases translation of proinsulin and proteins required for secretion of mature insulin peptide. By contrast, chronically elevated glucose levels that occur during diabetes impair β-cell insulin secretion and have been shown experimentally to suppress insulin translation. Whether translation of other genes critical for insulin secretion are similarly downregulated by chronic high glucose is unknown. Here, we used high-throughput ribosome profiling and nascent proteomics in MIN6 insulinoma cells to elucidate the genome-wide impact of sustained high glucose on β-cell mRNA translation. Prior to induction of ER stress or suppression of global translation, sustained high glucose suppressed glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and downregulated translation of not only insulin, but also of mRNAs related to insulin secretory granule formation, exocytosis, and metabolism-coupled insulin secretion. Translation of these mRNAs was also downregulated in primary rat and human islets following ex-vivo incubation with sustained high glucose and in an in vivo model of chronic mild hyperglycemia. Furthermore, translational downregulation decreased cellular abundance of these proteins. Our findings uncover a translational regulatory circuit during β-cell glucose toxicity that impairs expression of proteins with critical roles in β-cell function.