Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determination of Benzo(a)pyrene in Malaysian commercialized coffee powder using solid phase extraction and gas chromatography

Roasting is a critical process in coffee production as it enables the development of flavor and aroma. Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is a nondesirable product of incomplete combustion at temperatures between 300 and 600 °C and may be produced during roasting step. In this study, selected samples of roasted coffee powder were analysed for BaP. Extraction of BaP was achieved using C18 solid phase extraction (SPE) prior to analysis by gas chromatography. Calibration curve prepared with concentrations ranged between 3 – 50 ppm showed good linearity with r = 0.999. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.25 ppm and the limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.85 ppm. Recovery of BaP obtained from spiked sample (3 ppm) was 88.7 % with RSD (n=3) of 5.4 %. Benzo[a]pyrene was detected in all samples, at level ranging from 0.14 to 0.62 ppb .
Vibration Transmission during Manual Wheelchair Propulsion: A Systematic Review

Manual wheelchair (MWC) propulsion can expose the user to significant vibration. Human body exposure to certain vibrations can be detrimental to health, and a source of discomfort and fatigue. Therefore, identifying vibration exposure and key parameters influencing vibration transmissibility during MWC propulsion is crucial to protect MWC users from vibration risks. For that purpose, a systematic review using PRISMA recommendations was realized to synthesize the current knowledge regarding vibration transmissibility during MWC propulsion. The 35 retrieved articles were classified into three groups: Vibration content, parameters influencing vibration transmission, and vibration transmission modeling. The review highlighted that MWC users experience vibration in the frequency range detrimental/uncomfortable for human vibration transmission during MWC propulsion depends on many parameters and is still scarcely studied and understood. A modeling and simulation approach would be an interesting way to assist physicians in selecting the best settings for a specific user, but many works (modeling, properties identification, etc.) must be done before being effective for clinical and industrial purposes.
Effect of different-sized spherical gold nanoparticles grown layer by layer on the sensitivity of an immunochromatographic assay

The immunochromatographic assay (ICA) commonly suffers from low sensitivity because of the insufficient brightness of traditional spherical gold nanoparticles (AuNSs; 20–30 nm). Larger-sized AuNSs exhibit greater potential to improve the detection performance of the ICA method because of their higher molar extinction coefficient. However, oversized AuNSs could produce steric hindrance on the strip. In the present study, the impact of AuNS size on the sensitivity of a competitive ICA method was explored. Four kinds of citrate-stabilized AuNSs with sizes of 20, 60, 100, and 180 nm were synthesized. The affinity properties of four sized AuNS probes toward ochratoxin A and bovine serum albumin conjugates were analyzed using bio-layer interferometry and further characterized by immunological kinetic analysis. These results showed that 100 nm AuNS probes could remarkably enhance the detection signal of the strip due to their higher molar extinction coefficient and stronger affinity to the target antigen. By contrast, 180 nm AuNSs were unsuitable as labeled probes on the strip because of significant steric hindrance. Under the optimal conditions, the 100 nm AuNS-based ICA sensor exhibited the best sensitivity, with a cut-off limit (qualitative detection by naked eye) and half-maximum inhibitory concentration (quantitative analysis by strip reader) in wet (dry) formats 12.5 and 7.15 (10 and 5.3) times better than those of the conventional 20 nm AuNS-based strips, respectively. In summary, 100 nm AuNSs have considerable industrial application potential as alternative novel probe nanomaterials in the competitive ICA platform.
Graphane- and Fluorographene-Based Quantum Dots

With the help of first-principles calculations, we investigate graphane/fluorographene heterostructures with special attention for graphane and fluorographene-based quantum dots. Graphane and fluorographene have large electronic band gaps, and we show that their band structures exhibit a strong type-II alignment. In this way, it is possible to obtain confined electron states in fluorographene nanostructures by embedding them in a graphane crystal. Bound hole states can be created in graphane domains embedded in a fluorographene environment. For circular graphane/fluorographene quantum dots, localized states can be observed in the band gap if the size of the radii is larger than approximately 4 to 5 A.
Ectopic Fat Depots and Cardiometabolic Burden: A Possible Dangerous Liaison in Women Planning Assisted Reproduction

Objective: We evaluated cardiometabolic burden in women planning assisted reproduction in order to identify subgroups at higher risk of pregnancy complications and cardiovascular disease. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study we investigated 60 infertile women with BMI≥25 kg/m2 referred to the Center for Assisted Reproduction. All women underwent metabolic, anthropometric parameters and ultrasound evaluation of ectopic fat depots. Results: All women had waist ≥80 cm. We found that 93.3% of women had pathological subcutaneous, 58.3% visceral and 80% para-perirenal fat; all women had fatty liver. Visceral fat and severity of steatosis were significantly related to the presence of metabolic syndrome (OR =5.7; p=0.03). A significant negative correlation between low HDL-c and para-perirenal fat (p<0.0001), a significant positive correlation with fasting plasma glucose and para-perirenal fat (p=0.001) were found. We observed a significant positive correlation between visceral fat and hs-CRP (p=0.002), HOMA-IR (p=0.04) and triglycerides (p=0.002), a significant negative correlation with HDL-c (p=0.05). Conclusion: This study by highlighting a clinically “dangerous liaison” between ectopic fat depots and metabolic/inflammatory markers, might permit to identify women with a worse metabolic phenotype and encourage lifestyle changes for improving their general and reproductive health together.
Evaluating Well-being Among Dental Students Using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale and the Relationship Between Mental Well-being and Socio-demographic Findings

ORCID ID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3164-6886 Amaç: Bu çalışmada, Warwick-Edinburgh Mental İyi Oluş Ölçeği (WEMİOÖ) kullanılarak diş hekimliği öğrencilerinin mental iyi oluşunu ölçmek ve iyi oluşu etkileyen faktörleri incelemek amaçlanmıştır. Gereç ve Yöntemler: Bu çalışmaya Başkent Üniversitesi Diş Hekimliği Fakültesi’nde öğrenim gören öğrenciler dahil edilmiştir. Katılımcılara WEMİOÖ ile demografik detaylar, sosyal geçmiş ve yaşam tarzı alışkanlıklarını içeren bir anket uygulanmıştır. Objective: The present study aimed to measure mental well-being among dental students using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) and to investigate factors affecting well-being. Materials and Methods: Başkent University Faculty of Dentistry students were invited to participate in the study in 2019. The participants were asked to complete the WEMWBS and a questionnaire describing their demographic details, social background and lifestyle habits. Results: A total of 268 dental students (68% females) participated in the survey, with a response rate of 85%. The overall WEMWBS score of the study population was 48.18±9.6. Statistically significant differences in WEMWBS scores were detected between firstand fourth-year (p<0.001) students and between fourthand fifthyear students (p<0.001). Male students (p<0.001) whose first choice was to attend the school of dentistry (p=0.024) and who pursued hobbies (p=0.001) or regular sports activities (p=0.001) had significantly higher WEMWBS scores than those who did not. Dental students’ smoking status (p=0.630), living accommodation (p=0.71) or parents’ education level did not affect WEMWBS scores significantly. Conclusion: The mental well-being of dental students was influenced by their year of study, gender, first choice of school and pursuit of hobbies or regular sports activities. Factors that may affect the mental well-being of students should be carefully considered, and strategies should be implemented to monitor and promote well-being during the students’ academic career. Anah tar Ke li me ler Diş hekimliği eğitimi, diş hekimliği öğrencileri, mental sağlık, anket, WarwickEdinburgh Mental İyi Oluş Ölçeği
Pretreatment for dissolved organic nitrogen testing by gas stripping

ABSTRACT Total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), including dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), is of significant importance in aquatic systems due to its roles in numerous environmental processes, such as nutrients for agriculture activities, sources for lake and estuary eutrophication, and one of the major factors contributing to disinfection byproduct formation. The distribution and impact of DIN on these processes are relatively well-understood; however, information on DON is extremely limited, as there is no direct method for its quantification. DON is conventionally determined by subtracting DIN from TDN. However, significant errors may be introduced if DIN is the predominant species in samples with high concentrations of TDN. In order to deal with this challenge, pretreatment method for nitrogen gas stripping was investigated using 56 water samples collected from various ecosystems. The results indicated that after nitrogen gas stripping pretreatment, removal % of ammonia nitrogen (NH3–N) was more than 87.5%, and the ratios of removal of NH3–N/removal of TDN (β) were over 86.5% for most of 56 samples with high [NH3–N], indicating a high efficiency for removal of NH3–N, and that NH3–N was the predominant nitrogen species removed for the samples with high [NH3–N]. Therefore, nitrogen gas stripping is an appropriate pretreatment method for DON testing when NH3–N is the dominant inorganic nitrogen species.
Probability distribution based resource management for multitenant cloud clusters

Accurate resource allocation and colocating jobs are effective ways to increase resource utilization and reduce costs in modern datacenters. The main challenges are fluctuations in resource consumption and interference among colocated jobs. Therefore, we propose a resource management schema based on the probability distributions of resource consumption and completion time for multitenant cloud clusters. First, we found that the characteristics of the task can be well described by the probability distribution of resource consumption and completion time, and the probability distribution function can be obtained by Gaussian fitting. Second, we propose a probability distribution based resource allocation (PDRA) strategy for batch jobs. Third, we design a tail latency aware allocation (TLAA) strategy to use transient resources efficiently while ensuring tail latency requirements. Finally, we design a cost‐effective resource revocation (CERR) strategy to revoke transient resources with minimal eviction costs. Experimental results demonstrate the efficiency of our resource management. Our resource allocation strategies (PDRA and TLAA) can effectively improve resource utilization and reduce job completion time. CERR can reduce the impact of resource revocation on batch jobs and perform better than existing resource revocation strategies.
Defining Parameters for Urban-Environmental Quality Assessment

Measuring the quality of the urban environment has been a matter of research rooted in different fields of knowledge. Several methods and indicators have been deployed through the years, as have horizontal approaches from mixed perspectives. However, currently established indexes to measure urban performance depend on the actual definition of quality and on the weighted relevance of the different features influencing it. This contribution compares the level of emphasis paired by established indexes to measure urban quality, in contrast to what people mention the most when asked about what they like or dislike about the urban environment. The underlying idea is to obtain firsthand information about the way people make decisions about their movements in urban space. As a result, the authors observe a lack of correlation between the two groups of indicators and between the key urban elements driving positive and negative emotions. In conclusion, the authors observe a tendency of people to perceive and report individual physical elements rather than intangible concepts like safety or comfort.
The impact of universal cardiopulmonary exercise testing on perioperative pathways and short-term patient outcomes following elective pancreatic surgery: A retrospective cohort study

Background The utility of Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET) to identify higher risk surgical patients remains controversial. There is limited research investigating the value of preoperative CPET to plan perioperative pathways for patients undergoing major pancreatic surgery. Methods Retrospective cohort study, comprising two groups before and after a change in referral policy for High Risk preoperative anaesthetic clinic with CPET. Period 1 discretionary referral and Period 2: universal referral. The primary aim was to investigate the impact of this policy change on critical care use (planned vs unplanned) on the day of surgery and on delayed critical care admission. Secondary end points included a comparison of the total number of critical care bed days, days in hospital, complication rates and mortality data between the two cohorts. Results 177 patients were included; 114 in Period 1 and 63 in Period 2. There was a reduction in unplanned day of surgery postoperative admissions to critical care (28.1% vs. 11.1%, p = 0.008). Seven (6.1%) of patients in Period 1 and 1 (1.6%) patient in Period 2 had delayed admission, though no p value was calculated due to the small numbers involved. Complication rates were similar in each group. The median critical care bed days was 1 (range 0–21) days in Period 1 and 1 (0–13) days in Period 2. Conclusions A universal referral policy for preoperative CPET demonstrated a decrease in unplanned day of surgery critical care admissions and a trend towards reducing delayed (>24 h postop) critical care admission which could be investigated in a larger study. No measurable impact was seen on clinical outcomes.
Spatial and temporal assessment of groundwater quality and hydrogeochemical processes in Urmia Lake Basin, Iran

The evaluation of groundwater quality and geochemistry have an important role in the management of water resources in arid and semi-arid regions. In the present study, the spatio-temporal assessment of groundwater quality and hydrogeochemical processes, as well as, statistical analyses in the Azarshahr and Ajabshir planes located in the Urmia Lake basin were investigated. The results revealed that within six years (from 2014 to 2019), the value of total hardness was higher than the permissible level and the quality of groundwater for drinking was very hard and fresh in both planes. In 2019, 84 and 67% of the samples fell within the range of good to poor groundwater quality in the Azarshahr and Ajabshir planes, respectively. The temporal assessment with the help of water quality index values for both planes revealed a good groundwater quality for the Azarshahr plane and a good to poor groundwater quality for the Ajabshir plane. However, deterioration of water quality was observed in both planes from 2014 to 2019. The level of water quality for irrigation was better in the Azarshahr plane than in the Ajabshir plane, due to the presence of fewer salty sites. In addition, Ca–Mg–HCO3 and rock dominance were identified as hydrochemical facies and controlling factor in the groundwater of both planes, respectively. Multivariate statistical analyses indicated both natural and anthropogenic sources (such as weathering, fertilizers, and wastewater) for hydrochemical parameters. It was suggested to develop a comprehensive regulation to control the entry of pollutants into the groundwater of the study area.
Smart Robotic Exoskeleton: a 3-DOF for Wrist-forearm Rehabilitation

In order to regain the activities of daily living (ADL) for patients suffering from different conditions such as stroke and spinal cord injury, they must be treated with rehabilitation process through programmed exercises. The human motor system can learn through motor learning. This study concerned with the rehabilitation of wrist and forearm joints to restore the ADL through designing and constructing a robotic exoskeleton. The exoskeleton was designed to rehabilitate the patients by providing a 3 degree of freedom (DOF) include flexion/ extension, adduction/abduction, and pronation/ supination movements. It is specified as being portable, comfortable, lightweight, and compatible with the human anatomical structure, in addition to providing a speed and range of motion (ROM) as that of a normal subject. It was designed with SolidWorks software program and constructed with a 3D printer technique using polylactic acid (PLA) plastic material. The overall exoskeleton was controlled with electromyography and angle information extracted using EMG myoware and gyroscope sensors respectively. it was applied for evaluation with 5 normal subjects and 12 subjects of stroke and spinal cord injury (SCI). The results were found that the exoskeleton has a strong effect on regaining muscle activity and increasing the ROMs of wrist and forearm joints. These results give proof of this exoskeleton to be used for performing physiotherapy exercises.
Convergence rate for nonparametric quantile regression with a total variation penalty

Quantile regression with a total variation penalty was previously proposed due to its computational expediency as well as its local adaptiveness. However, the convergence rate of the method in this setting has been not rigorously established. In this short communication, we establish the convergence rate of Op(n−1/3) for the penalized estimator which is the same as in penalized least squares regression. Different from penalized least squares regression, in order to deal with the quantile loss function, we heavily rely on the Rademacher complexity of the class of functions of bounded variation.
Novel cellulose pretreatment solvent: phosphonium-based amino acid ionic liquid/cosolvent for enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis

Abstract The potential of halogen-free and imidazolium-free phosphonium-based amino acid ionic liquids (AAILs) has been investigated as new solvents for cellulose pretreatment for the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose. AAILs alone did not dissolve cellulose (Avicel), even at 120°C. However, when polar solvents such as dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) were added as cosolvents, AAILs became an acceptable solvent for cellulose at 30°C. The solubility of cellulose in tetrabutylphosphonium glycine ([TBP][Gly])/cosolvent reached 15%. The enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose was dramatically enhanced by pretreatment with AAIL/cosolvent, and the glucose yield reached 100% when the novel AAIL tetrabutylphosphonium N,N-dimethylglycine ([TBP][DMGly]) was used in combination with DMSO as cosolvent. The enzymatic conversion of cellulose to glucose in 6% and 13% [TBP][DMGly]/DMSO buffer solutions reached 98% and 79%, respectively. The decrease in cellulase activity owing to residual [TBP][DMGly]/DMSO was not significant. Hence, it is possible to conduct the dissolution and enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose in a one-batch process in a phosphonium-based AAIL/cosolvent system.
Prognostic value of neutrophil lymphocyte ratio in acute ischemic stroke patients either received reperfusion therapy or not

Background: Very few studies have investigated the specific relationship between neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the short-term prognosis of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and after receiving intravenous thrombolysis. Objectives: To discuss if there is a relationship between neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio and stroke severity in the emergency department and short-term prognosis whether the patient is treated by reperfusion therapy or not to use it as a rapid prognostic marker in acute ischemic stroke patients. Patients and Method: A prospective comparative interventional study was done on 56 patients with acute ischemic stroke at Menoufia University Hospitals. They were selected according to certain inclusion and exclusion criteria. NLR was assessed from the patients’ blood samples. Initial stroke severity was evaluated by Glasgow Coma Score (GCS), National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score and modified ranking scale (mRS), then was re-evaluated later after 24 hours of admission and after one month. Results: NLR among ischemic stroke patients with a bad prognosis was significantly higher than that of the patients who had a good prognosis. The optimal cutoff value of NLR for the prediction of unfavorable outcomes was 4.15 with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 88.5%. Conclusion: Elevated NLR on the hospital admission is an easy and strong predictor of poor outcomes in AIS patients either receiving reperfusion therapy or not.
Template Synthesis of 3D High-Temperature Silicon-Oxycarbide and Silicon-Carbide Ceramic Photonic Crystals from Interference Lithographically Patterned Organosilicates

The fabrication of 3D diamond-like silicon-oxycarbide and silicon-carbide high-temperature ceramic photonic crystals has been achieved by a strategy involving (1) the use of four-beam interference lithography (IL) to construct a patterned silsesquioxane (POSS) template and (2) infiltration of the polymeric allylhydridopolycarbosilane (AHPCS) silicon-carbide precursor into the patterned POSS template followed by high temperature ceramic conversion and HF etching. Energy-dispersive X-ray mapping analysis and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) studies suggested that the 3D ceramic photonic crystals formed at 1100 °C were SiC-like silicon oxycarbide. Additional thermal treatment at 1300 °C in vacuo resulted in the carbothermic reduction of the 3D silicon-oxycarbide to form 3D β-SiC with less than 10% shrinkage in the (111) plane and [111] direction, respectively. The reflectivities of the inverse 3D ceramic photonic crystals obtained at different stages were characterized by FT-IR in the [111] direction. Both.
Building the pollen wall : the role of tapetum transport proteins and sporopollenin translocation in the formation of the specialized cell wall encasing Arabidopsis thaliana pollen

ii Preface. iii Table of Contents . iv List of Tables . x List of Figures. xi List of Symbols and Abbreviations . xiv Acknowledgements . xix Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 1.1 Evolution of spores and pollen in the plant life cycle. 1 1.2 Morphological events in angiosperm pollen development . 1 1.2. 1 Stages of pollen and pollen wall development in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana . 1 1.2. 2 Structure and functions of the stratified pollen wall . 5 1.3 Composition and biosynthesis of the pollen exine . 7 1.3. 1 Priming for exine formation. 7 1.3. 2 Sporopollenin composition: insights provided by biochemical analyses . 9 1.3. 3 Sporopollenin composition: insights provided by genetic analyses . 10 1.3. 4 Model for sporopollenin biosynthesis and the sporopollenin metabolon . 16 1.3. 5 Pollen coat (tryphine). 17 1.3. 6 The sporophytic contribution to the pollen wall . 19 1.3. 6.1 The origin of the primexine . 20