Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Black carbon accumulation in extrapulmonary human tissues

Black carbon is a product of incomplete combustion and is associated with a number of adverse health outcomes in epidemiologic studies. To date, anatomic studies investigating the pathogenic mechanisms of black carbon in humans have confirmed black carbon particles accumulate in the lung and in the placenta of pregnant women, and are excreted in urine. In this feasibility study, the presence of black carbon particles was demonstrated in post-mortem spleen, myocardium, and hilar lymph node samples obtained from three de-identified sources. A protocol validated for extraction of chemically inert particles from fish tissue was utilized to extract black carbon particles from human tissue. Visual examination and micro-Raman scattering spectroscopy were used to identify recovered black carbon particles. Recovered particles ranged from 2 to 45 m in greatest dimension. The highest concentrations of black carbon particles were recovered from hilar lymph nodes, followed by the myocardium, with lowest concentrations recovered from the spleen. Particles extracted from the spleen were, on average, larger than particles extracted from the heart or hilar lymph nodes. These findings confirm black carbon particles accumulate in human extrapulmonary organs. Based on the size and concentrations of recovered particles, it is suggested that black carbon particles are transported to extrapulmonary sites via the lymphatic system. Furthermore, the noted concentration differentials suggest reduced black carbon particle clearance from the myocardium compared with the spleen.
Retrospective Study on the Incidence of Thyroid Disorders in Bisha and Evolving Surgical Management Considerations

Background: There is a high prevalence of goiter in Bisha despite more than 15 years of the national campaign for increased dietary iodine supplementation. The cause is multifactorial. It is associated with non-neoplastic and neoplastic conditions. Surgical management has evolved over many years. Purpose: To describe the pathological types of goiter in Bisha along with their management and to discuss current surgical considerations. Methodology: A retrospective review of 339 patients with goiter diagnosed by FNAC and or histopathological examination and managed surgically or non-surgically. Results: There were 339 patients, of which 280 (82.6%) were females and 59 (17.4%) males. Age range was seven to 94 years with a mean of 39.18 ± 13.87 years. There were 138 (40.7%) multinodular goiters, 82 (24.2%) colloid goiters, 8 diffuse goiters (2.4%), 40 (11%) solitary thyroid nodules, 10 thyroid nodules (2.9%), 14 thyroid cysts (4.1%), 20 Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (5.9%) and two de Quervain’s thyroiditis (0.6%). Benign thyroid neoplasms comprised of 25 (7.4%) follicular adenomas and 11 (3.2%) Hürthle cell adenomas. Malignant thyroid disorders consisted of 18 (5.3%) papillary thyroid cancers, 7 (2.1%) mixed papillary/ follicular thyroid cancers, one (0.3%) mixed follicular/ papillary thyroid cancer, and three (0.9%) follicular thyroid cancers respectively. There were 128 (37.1%) total thyroidectomies, 70 (20.6%) hemithyroidectomies, 10 (2.9%) subtotal thyroidectomies and, 5 (1.5%) near-total thyroidectomies. There were 125 (36.9%) patients who had no surgery. The overall complication rate was 14.5%. Conclusion: Thyroid disorders are still prevalent despite years of dietary iodine supplementation campaigns. The rate of complications following total thyroidectomy is significant and guidelines are changing.
Effects of oral white willow bark (Salix alba) and intravenous flunixin meglumine on prostaglandin E2 in healthy dairy calves

Graphical Abstract Summary: White willow bark is a useful analgesic in humans, and its utility to alleviate pain in organic calves remains of interest. The objectives of this study were to (1) determine the salicin concentrations of non-standardized white willow bark products, and (2) to investigate the effects of intravenous flunixin meglumine and 3 oral doses (low, medium, and high) of white willow bark on the blood plasma concentrations of the inflammatory biomarker prostaglandin E2 and salicylic acid in healthy calves. The white willow bark product had 2,171 μg/g (0.22%) salicin. Flunixin meglumine lowered prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), whereas the white willow bark doses were ineffective at reducing PGE2 and achieving a minimum plasma salicylic acid concentration necessary for analgesia in calves. Results indicate that the white willow bark doses used in this experiment are unsuitable for producing analgesia in calves.
Typ-2-Diabetes: Spätfolgen einer suboptimalen glykämischen Kontrolle untersucht

Jedes Jahr erhalten rund 1,4 Millionen erwachsene US-Amerikaner eine Diabetesdiagnose. Die Patienten profitieren von einem dauerhaften HbA1cWert < 7,0 %. Eine Studie konnte beispielsweise zeigen, dass sich das Risiko für diabetesbezogene Endpunkte bei einer Abnahme des HbA1c-Werts von 7,9 auf 7,0 % um 12 – 32 % reduziert. N. Laiteerapong et al. haben nun untersucht, wie sich eine frühe glykämische Kontrolle auf spätere Gesundheitsoutcomes auswirkt.
Modulation by Phosphonium Ions of the Activity of Mitotropic Agents Based on the Chemiluminescence of Luminols

Mitochondria-targeting drugs and diagnostics are used in the monitoring and treatment of mitochondrial pathologies. In this respect, a great number of functional compounds have been made mitotropic by covalently attaching the active moiety onto a triphenylphosphonium (TPP) cation. Among these compounds, a number of molecular detectors for reactive oxygen species (ROS) are based on fluorescent and chemiluminescent probes. In this regard, luminol (probably the most widely known chemiluminescent molecule) has been employed for a number of biological applications, including ROS detection. Its oxidation under specific conditions triggers a cascade of reactions, ultimately leading to the excited 3-aminophthalate (3AP *), which emits light upon deactivation. Hence, the photophysical interaction between the light-emitting species 3AP * and TPP cations needs to be evaluated, as it can add valuable information on the design of novel emission-based mitotropic systems. We herein investigate the quenching effect of ethyltriphenylphosphonium cation onto substituted 3-aminophthalates. These were prepared in situ upon hydrolysis of the corresponding anhydrides, which were synthesized from 3-aminophthalimides. Steady-state fluorescence and time-resolved experiments were employed for the evaluation of a possible electron transfer quenching by phosphonium ions. Our experimental results confirmed such quenching, suggesting it is mainly dynamic in nature. A minor contribution of static quenching that was also detected is attributed to complex formation in the ground state. Accordingly, the chemiluminescence of luminol was indeed strongly reduced in the presence of phosphonium ions. Our results have to be taken into account during the design of new chemiluminescent mitotropic drugs or diagnostic agents of the luminol family.
A deep‐learning approach for health monitoring of a steel frame structure with bolted connections

This study is motivated by the need to develop a data‐driven deep‐learning approach for vibration‐based structural health monitoring of a steel frame structure with bolted connections. A convolutional‐neural‐network‐based deep‐learning architecture is designed and trained to extract discriminative features from the vibration‐based time‐frequency scalogram images and use those to distinguish the undamaged and damaged cases of the targeted frame structure. Different damage and undamaged classes corresponding to the loosening of bolts are categorized as fully loose, hand tight, and fully tight (undamaged) conditions. The average training and validation accuracy were found to be 100% and 98.1%, respectively. In order to check the performance and robustness of the technique, testing is carried out for an unseen dataset corresponding to the training classes as well as some additional cases close to the training classes. The proposed deep‐learning approach can successfully classify the damage classes with high testing accuracy that demonstrates its efficacy as an automation tool for health monitoring of connections of plane frame structures.
Mathematical Analysis and Update of ADM1 Model for Biomethane Production by Anaerobic Digestion

Biomethane is a renewable product that can directly substitute its fossil counterpart, although its synthesis from residual biomasses has some hurdles. Because of the complex nature of both biomasses and the microbial consortia involved, innovative approaches such as mathematical modeling can be deployed to support possible improvements. The goal of this study is two-fold, as we aimed to modify a part of the Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1 (ADM1), describing biomethane production from activated sludge, matching with its actual microbial nature, and to use the model for identifying relevant parameters to improve biomethane production. Firstly, thermodynamic analysis was performed, highlighting the direct route from glucose to biomethane as the most favorable. Then, by using MATLAB® and Simulink Toolbox, we discovered that the model fails to predict the microbiological behavior of the system. The structure of the ADM1 model was then modified by adding substrate consumption yields in equations describing microbial growth, to better reflect the consortium behavior. The updated model was tested by modifying several parameters: the coefficient of decomposition was identified to increase biomethane production. Approaching mathematical models from a microbiological point of view can lead to further improvement of the models themselves. Furthermore, this work represents additional evidence of the importance of informatics tools, such as bioprocess simulations to foster biomethane role in bioeconomy.
Study of a parabolic cylinder elastic-plastic contact model

Based on Hertz contact theory, two parabolic cylinder normal contact models are established. The effect of contact angle on normal approach, actual contact area, and normal contact stiffness are investigated, and the effect of the distance from the focus to the directrix (focus distance) on the mechanical characteristics of the models is further analyzed. The parabolic cylinder contact model was verified by simulation analysis and comparison with cylinder contact model. The results demonstrated that the contact angle, focal distance, and load have significant effects on the mechanical properties of the model. The simulation data are basically consistent with the contact model data, and the parabolic cylinder contact model and cylinder contact model have the same change trend. The results verify the correctness of the parabolic cylinder contact model and reveal the variation of the mechanical properties of the contact model.
Definition of a new (Doniach‐Sunjic‐Shirley) peak shape for fitting asymmetric signals applied to reduced graphene oxide/graphene oxide XPS spectra

The existence of asymmetry in X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) photoemission lines is widely accepted, but line shapes designed to accommodate asymmetry are generally lacking in theoretical justification. In this work, we present a new line shape for describing asymmetry in XPS signals that is based on two facts. First, the most widely known line shape for fitting asymmetric XPS signals that has a theoretical basis, referred to as the Doniach‐Sunjic (DS) line shape, suffers from a mathematical inconvenience, which is that for asymmetric shapes the area beneath the curve (above the x‐axis) is infinite. Second, it is common practice in XPS to remove the inelastically scattered background response of a peak in question with the Shirley algorithm. The new line shape described herein attempts to retain the theoretical virtues of the DS line shape, while allowing the use of a Shirley background, with the consequence that the resulting line shape has a finite area. To illustrate the use of this Doniach‐Sunjic‐Shirley (DSS) line shape, a set of spectra obtained from varying amounts of graphene oxide (GO) and reduced GO on a patterned, heterogeneous surface are fit and discussed.
Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Tomato Plants Grafted onto Solanum pennellii and Solanum peruvianum under Water-Deficit Conditions

Grafting using suitable rootstocks mitigates the adverse effects caused by environmental stresses such as water deficit in the tomato crop. Solanum pennellii and Solanum peruvianum, the wild relatives of tomato, are used as rootstocks due to their tolerance to water deficit and soil-borne diseases. This study focused on evaluating physiological and biochemical responses of tomato plants grafted onto S. pennellii and S. peruvianum rootstocks during water deficit. The commercial tomato cultivar ‘HM 1823’ (HM) either self-grafted (HM/HM) or grafted onto S. pennellii (HM/PN), S. peruvianum (HM/PR), and ‘Multifort’ (HM/MU) rootstocks were subjected to water-deficit stress by withholding irrigation for eight days. The performance of the grafted plants under water deficit was evaluated using physiological and biochemical parameters in vegetative tissues of the grafted plants. Plants grafted using S. pennellii (PN) and S. peruvianum (PR) rootstocks showed higher values of water potential (Ψw), relative water content (RWC), net photosynthetic rate (A), and leaf water use efficiencies (WUE) compared to HM, HM/HM, and HM/MU. Plants grafted onto tomato wild relatives showed the lowest malondialdehyde (MDA) and proline content. This study demonstrated that the rootstocks of wild tomato relatives reduced the effect of water deficit to a greater extent through better physiological, metabolic, and biochemical adjustments than self-grafting plants.
Ship-based estimates of momentum transfer coefficient over sea ice and recommendations for its parameterization

Abstract. A major source of uncertainty in both climate projections and seasonal forecasting of sea ice is inadequate representation of surface–atmosphere exchange processes. The observations needed to improve understanding and reduce uncertainty in surface exchange parameterizations are challenging to make and rare. Here we present a large dataset of ship-based measurements of surface momentum exchange (surface drag) in the vicinity of sea ice from the Arctic Clouds in Summer Experiment (ACSE) in July–October 2014, and the Arctic Ocean 2016 experiment (AO2016) in August–September 2016. The combined dataset provides an extensive record of momentum flux over a wide range of surface conditions spanning the late summer melt and early autumn freeze-up periods, and a wide range of atmospheric stabilities. Surface exchange coefficients are estimated from in situ eddy covariance measurements. The local sea-ice fraction is determined via automated processing of imagery from ship-mounted cameras. The surface drag coefficient, CD10n, peaks at local ice fractions of 0.6–0.8, consistent with both recent aircraft-based observations and theory. Two state-of-the-art parameterizations have been tuned to our observations with both providing excellent fits to the measurements.
Auxin and Target of Rapamycin Spatiotemporally Regulate Root Organogenesis

The programs associated with embryonic roots (ERs), primary roots (PRs), lateral roots (LRs), and adventitious roots (ARs) play crucial roles in the growth and development of roots in plants. The root functions are involved in diverse processes such as water and nutrient absorption and their utilization, the storage of photosynthetic products, and stress tolerance. Hormones and signaling pathways play regulatory roles during root development. Among these, auxin is the most important hormone regulating root development. The target of rapamycin (TOR) signaling pathway has also been shown to play a key role in root developmental programs. In this article, the milestones and influential progress of studying crosstalk between auxin and TOR during the development of ERs, PRs, LRs and ARs, as well as their functional implications in root morphogenesis, development, and architecture, are systematically summarized and discussed.
The Effect of Frequency of Dialysis Session On Efficiency of Brain Natriuretic Peptide as Cardiac Biomarker Among Patient with End Stage Renal Disease

Background : There is overwhelming evidence about the importance of brain natriuretic peptide as a cardiac biomarker. However, the hemodynamic changes and associated abnormal body fluid homeostasis in patient with impaired renal function will add further complexity to the situation and may make the validity of brain natriuretic peptide as predictor of heart performance questionable. This prospective cross-sectional study tends to appraise the role of brain natriuretic peptide in determining left ventricular performance in patient with end stage renal disease treated by regular haemodialysis and its relation to the frequency of dialysis. Methods: the present study included ninety patients with end stage renal disease who attend Al-Hussein hospital in Thiqar governorate /Iraq for regular haemodialysis. The patients were further classified into 3 groups depending on the frequency of dialysis session. Ten ml of venous blood were taken from every patient to measure the plasma level of brain natriuretic peptide and creatinine. Glomerular filtration rate was estimated from plasma creatinine values utilizing Cockcroft-Gault equation. Left ventricular ejection fraction was determined by transthoracic two-dimensional echocardiography. Chi-square test used to assess the relationship between different studied variables. The relation considered significant when P value < 0.05. Results: There was a statistically significant negative relation between the plasma level of brain natriuretic peptide and left ventricular ejection fraction (P<0.001). The mean of plasma level of brain natriuretic peptide was significantly higher (P <0.001) in patients who underwent single dialysis each week when compared with patients who underwent three dialysis session each week. There was a strong negative association (P <0.001) between the renal function represented by the mean of glomerular filtration rate and level of brain natriuretic peptide in the plasma. Conclusion: Estimation of brain natriuretic peptide values in the plasma seems to be efficient in predicting left ventricular function among patients with end stage renal disease. However, utilizing brain natriuretic peptide measurement together with estimation of left ventricular ejection fraction seems to be necessary in these patients to avoid the bias in brain natriuretic peptide level which may contribute to other factors like volume status or impaired excretion of BNP rather than impaired left ventricular function.
Phenolics from Medicinal and Aromatic Plants: Characterisation and Potential as Biostimulants and Bioprotectants

Biostimulants and bioprotectants are derived from natural sources and can enhance crop growth and protect crops from pests and pathogens, respectively. They have attracted much attention in the past few decades and contribute to a more sustainable and eco-friendly agricultural system. Despite not having been explored extensively, plant extracts and their component secondary metabolites, including phenolic compounds have been shown to have biostimulant effects on plants, including enhancement of growth attributes and yield, as well as bioprotectant effects, including antimicrobial, insecticidal, herbicidal and nematicidal effects. Medicinal and aromatic plants are widely distributed all over the world and are abundant sources of phenolic compounds. This paper reviews the characterisation of phenolic compounds and extracts from medicinal and aromatic plants, including a brief overview of their extraction, phytochemical screening and methods of analysis. The second part of the review highlights the potential for use of phenolic compounds and extracts as biostimulants and bioprotectants in agriculture as well as some of the challenges related to their use.
Clemastine Ameliorates Myelin Deficits via Preventing Senescence of Oligodendrocytes Precursor Cells in Alzheimer’s Disease Model Mouse

Disrupted myelin and impaired myelin repair have been observed in the brains of patients and various mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Clemastine, an H1-antihistamine, shows the capability to induce oligodendrocyte precursor cell (OPC) differentiation and myelin formation under different neuropathological conditions featuring demyelination via the antagonism of M1 muscarinic receptor. In this study, we investigated if aged APPSwe/PS1dE9 mice, a model of AD, can benefit from chronic clemastine treatment. We found the treatment reduced brain amyloid-beta deposition and rescued the short-term memory deficit of the mice. The densities of OPCs, oligodendrocytes, and myelin were enhanced upon the treatment, whereas the levels of degraded MBP were reduced, a marker for degenerated myelin. In addition, we also suggest the role of clemastine in preventing OPCs from entering the state of cellular senescence, which was shown recently as an essential causal factor in AD pathogenesis. Thus, clemastine exhibits therapeutic potential in AD via preventing senescence of OPCs.
Effect of calcium ions on the III steps of self-assembly of SA investigated with atomic force microscopy

ABSTRACT Previous research on the binding of SA (SA) and calcium ions mainly concentrated on the high concentration solutions and formation of gels. While it was hard to provide details of the behaviors of SA polymer during the binding process. In order to study individual polymer, all the experiments were carried out on diluted solutions in this research. The morphological change of SA self-assembly under the effects of calcium ions was observed using atomic force microscopy, and the change of molecular dimension with the addition of calcium ions was characterized through viscosity data. The SA showed a tendency to form network on the initial addition of calcium ions and the chains broke into rods or particles along with continuous addition of calcium ions. Roughness of images, diameter of the network holes, and the width of chains or rods were measured to support the shape features that combined with the data of viscosity, we proposed a modified three-step hypothesis to interpret the SA binding behaviors in “egg-box” model.
Tuning the catalytic activity of heterogeneous two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides for hydrogen evolution

Using first principles DFT calculations and AIMD simulations, we establish a database for catalytic properties of two-dimensional metal-dichalcogenides (2D-TMDs) toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In addition to conventionally known active sites of edges, we propose that terrace sites can be substantially activated for the HER even without incorporating defects or heteroatom doping. The key idea is to design a heterogeneous 2D-TMD with a bilayer of catalyst/support configuration. We identify the best candidates, NbS2/HfSe2, NbS2/ZrSe2, and TaS2/HfSe2, via high-throughput computational screening of 256 different heterogeneous 2D-TMDs. The expected HER activity is estimated to be comparable to or even better than that of the conventional Pt/C catalyst. It is shown that the Gibbs free energy of hydrogen adsorption can be tuned to an optimal value of 0 eV using heterogeneous 2D-TMD materials. Careful analysis of the first principles database for 2D-TMDs leads to capturing a universal descriptor for the HER activity of 2D-TMDs regardless of hydrogen coverage and active sites: the adhesion energy difference of the catalyst/support TMDs before and after the hydrogen adsorption. The descriptor is linearly correlated with hydrogen adsorption energy. Our design principle for highly functional 2D-TMD catalysts for the HER is, thus, to identify a heterogeneous 2D-TMD of an optimum hydrogen adsorption energy based on adhesion energy difference, which can be accurately and quickly performed via the analysis of the first principles database and validation through experimental measurements.