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Abstract Strokes are a leading global cause of mortality, underscoring the need for early detection and prevention strategies. However, addressing hidden risk factors and achieving accurate prediction become particularly challenging in the presence of imbalanced and missing data. This study encompasses three imputation techniques to deal with missing data. To tackle data imbalance, it employs the synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE). The study initiates with a baseline model and subsequently employs an extensive range of advanced models. This study thoroughly evaluates the performance of these models by employing k-fold cross-validation on various imbalanced and balanced datasets. The findings reveal that age, body mass index (BMI), average glucose level, heart disease, hypertension, and marital status are the most influential features in predicting strokes. Furthermore, a Dense Stacking Ensemble (DSE) model is built upon previous advanced models after fine-tuning, with the best-performing model as a meta-classifier. The DSE model demonstrated over 96% accuracy across diverse datasets, with an AUC score of 83.94% on imbalanced imputed dataset and 98.92% on balanced one. This research underscores the remarkable performance of the DSE model, compared to the previous research on the same dataset. It highlights the model's potential for early stroke detection to improve patient outcomes.

Urbanization presents significant challenges to air quality and climate resilience, necessitating pioneering urban design solutions to enhance air circulation and mitigate pollutants. This urgency intensifies in densely populated and rapidly evolving regions like Wuhan, China, where effective strategies are crucial for sustainable development. This study introduces an innovative 3D Urban Form Optimization (3D-UFO) methodology aimed at advancing urban block design configurations to improve urbanization quality. The 3D-UFO approach systematically addresses the multifaceted challenges of climate change and air quality degradation in rapidly urbanizing areas. Integrating GIS-based analysis for comprehensive Land-Use and Land-Cover Change (LULCC) evaluation with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), our approach employs systematic exploration guided by established urban airflow study protocols. Robust metrics—Airspeed-Ratio (ASR) and Average-Age-of-Local-Air (ALA)—quantify the impact of diverse urban block design strategies on air-circulation efficiency and pollutant dispersion. Analysis across various urban scenarios, yielded by the proposed 3D-UFO approach, reveal significant variations in air-circulation efficiency at street and building levels (SBLs). Optimal urban air circulation achieves efficiency levels of 50–70 % when airflow aligns orthogonally across and parallel to streets. Adjusting street-level building heights, especially incorporating taller structures, boosts ventilation efficiency by 20–30 %, which is crucial for improving airflow dynamics in urban settings. Higher Height-to-Width (H/W) ratios (>5.5) yield a 218.5 % increase in ventilation in specific urban layouts. Notably, the synergy of street-aspect-ratio and building-height-ratio adjustments significantly enhance ASR and ALA, providing a quantitative foundation for sustainable urban development. This 3D-UFO methodology, fusing LULCC analysis, CFD simulations, and systematic exploration, emerge as a valuable framework for urban planners and designers. The study offers informed insights into urban sustainability challenges, demonstrating advancements in addressing environmental concerns and improving living conditions within densely populated environments.

Abstract The health of city residents is at risk due to the high rate of urbanization and the extensive use of electronics. In the context of urbanization, individuals have become increasingly disconnected from nature, resulting in elevated stress levels among adults. The goal of this study was to investigate the physical and psychological benefits of spending time in nature. The benefits of touching real grass and artificial turf (the control activity) outdoors with the palm of the hand for five minutes were measured. Blood pressure and electroencephalography (EEG) as well as State-trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scores, and the semantic differential scale (SDM) were used to investigate psychophysiological responses. Touching real grass was associated with significant changes in brainwave rhythms and a reduction in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared to touching artificial turf. In addition, SDM scores revealed that touching real grass increased relaxation, comfort, and a sense of naturalness while decreasing anxiety levels. Compared to the control group, the experimental group had higher mean scores in both meditation and attentiveness. Our findings indicate that contact with real grass may reduce physiological and psychological stress in adults.

One of the fast-growing electronic integration technologies in the modern high-density microelectronics industry is System-in-Package (SiP). It is expected to accelerate application development when reducing implementation risks with optimized codes. However, monitoring the thermal behavior of every chip in SiPs is challenging. This paper proposes a Novel Peak Source-Scanning (NPSS) algorithm based on the Gradient Direction Sensors (GDS) method. The proposed algorithm can detect and locate thermal peaks on any SiP. Detecting such peaks is vital for thermal monitoring and stress management on high-density semiconductor devices to avoid induced thermo-mechanical stresses. Furthermore, the NPSS algorithm can manage and monitor silicon chips with Multiple Heat Sources (MHS). To assess this algorithm, we used tools from COMSOL Multiphysics® and MATLAB® for Temperature-prediction (Tp), and Temperature-estimation (Te), respectively. Our simulations use the generalized GDS methodology for MHS using the finite element method (FEM) to highlight our NPSS capabilities to predict on-chip thermal peaks with a maximum error of 1.27 K (Kelvin).

DC-DC buck converters in automotive and aerospace applications are often required to handle large disturbances in their input supply and abrupt variations in their loads. This paper proposes a systematic method to combine input-voltage feedforward (IVFF) and voltage-mode feedback (VFB) controllers, aiming to enhance the closed-loop performance of these DC-DC converters. This method relies on the stability boundary locus approach to help select the proper control parameters that achieve strong dynamic stability across the full operating range regardless of practical implementation challenges. Also, an optimization approach is employed to minimize the passive components’ area within the compensator, achieving a 79% reduction in integration size compared to conventional designs. The controller was fabricated in a 0.35- $\mu \text{m}$ CMOS technology, occupying a core area of 0.438 mm2. The prototype chip was experimentally tested to regulate a buck converter that leverages an e-GaN half-bridge while operating at 1 MHz. Measurement results show a remarkable closed-loop performance against line and load variations, reaching up to ±80 V/ms and ±535 mA per 150 $\mu \text{s}$ , respectively. The output remains stable, showcasing very small ( $ < 100\mu \text{s}$ ) with small overshoots (

Abstract Background Indoor, sedentary lifestyles have disconnected individuals from nature, necessitating interventions to reestablish this bond. Performing horticultural activities, such as watering houseplants, offers a potential solution. This study sought to determine how participating in horticulture activities affected adults’ cognitive and emotional moods. Methods We compared the benefits of watering houseplants (a gardening task) to those of standing while performing a computer task (a mental task). Chinese participants, aged 20 to 21 years, were recruited; their physiological and psychological reactions were measured using electroencephalograms, blood pressure assessments, and psychological assessments. Results Fifty participants were included. Watering indoor plants significantly reduced blood pressure, without affecting pulse rate. During the plant watering task as opposed to the mental activity, more dramatic different patterns of very high alpha and beta brainwave activity were identified. Participants reported increased happiness following gardening activities. Conclusions The findings of this study highlight the substantial relaxation benefits, both mental and physical, associated with the simple act of watering indoor plants.

Background: The choroid is the vascular tissue supplying the outer retina. Objectives: We are concerned with studying the changes in choroidal thickness related to anti-VEGF injection in diabetic patients. Patients and Methods: This was a prospective cohort interventional study conducted at South Valley University Hospital, Ophthalmology department and included 40 eyes from 40 patients with diabetic macular edema. Inclusion criteria included adult phakic patients with diabetic macular edema receiving anti vascular endothelial growth factors injections without prior anti-VEGF therapy. All the patients underwent full eye examination , Refraction was done, uncorrected visual acuity, corrected visual acuity were estimated ,Injections were done only one injection every month for three months and the follow up was 6 months after the date of the first injection. OCT Measurements were performed before and after 6 monthes. OCT Measurements were done 3 times and the average was estimated. Results: The mean decrease in nasal choroidal thickness was 14.4 (SD = 4.3, 95% CI = 13.02:15.78, p value = .000). The mean decrease in subfoveal choroidal thickness was 12.25(SD = 3.59, 95% CI = 11.1:13.4, p value = .000). The mean decrease in temporal choroidal thickness was 13.33 (SD = 4.2, 95% CI = 11.98:14.67, p value = .000). Conclusion: The temporal, nasal, and subfoveal choroid showed a decrease in thickness after receiving anti-VEGF injections in DME patients. . Further studies are recommended to ascertain the relationship between diabetic retinopathy, anti-VEGF injections & choroidal thickness.

Background. Fixed, large volume resuscitation with intravenous fluids (IVFs) in septic shock can cause inadvertent hypervolemia, increased medical interventions, and death when unguided by point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS). The primary study objective was to evaluate whether total IVF volume differs for emergency department (ED) septic shock patients receiving POCUS versus no POCUS. Methods. We conducted a retrospective observational cohort study from 7/1/2018 to 8/31/2021 of atraumatic adult ED patients with septic shock. We agreed upon a priori variables and defined septic shock as lactate ≥4 and hypotension (SBP

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to explore and evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of using antibiotics among the community in the Eastern Province, of Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, from February 2022 through March 2022, among people in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Results: The study population was 753 of the Saudi community. The questionnaire used open-ended and multiple-choice questions. Out of 753 participants, only 254 (55.6%) think that antibiotics can treat a bacterial infection, whereas 163 (35.7%) and 82 (17.9%) think it treats viral and fungal infections respectively. 26 (5.7%) of the respondents think that they should be stopped when the antibiotics are finished, while 72 (15.8%) think that they should be stopped when the symptoms disappear. The most common side effect in the respondent's opinion was diarrhea 183 (40%), followed by 168 (36.76%) antibiotics resistance. The major reason for taking antibiotics without a prescription was found to be mild symptoms 28 (50.90%), adequate information 21 (38.18%), difficulty in taking appointments 17 (30.90%), long waiting hours during the hospital visits 15 (27.27%). 169 (36.9%) kept the leftover antibiotics for reuse. The most common antibiotics used for self-medication were found to be Amoxicillin and clavulanic acid 23 (41.8%), followed by Amoxicillin 9 (16.36%). Knowledge of antibiotic resistance was highest in the age group 20-30 (62.7%) (P < 0.05). Conclusion: People in Saudi Arabia show a high awareness of antibiotics' proper usage, and this returns to the great awareness campaign held by The Ministry of Health (MoH).

Existing textile exhaust finishing methods require higher liquor ratios, such as 1:5 and 1:10, leading to energy wastage, chemicals wastage, and higher effluents. However, the nanobubble technique can reduce the liquor ratio to 1:1, resulting in water savings, energy savings, and zero liquid discharge. Nevertheless, production of the nanobubbles for a range of finishes and their successful application onto the textile is a difficult and challenging task. For the first time, this article successfully reports the development and application of nanobubbles at the extremely low liquor ratio of 1:1 for the five most commonly used textile finishes, which include resin, softener, soil release, oil and water repellent, and antimicrobial finishes onto the cotton fabric. In addition, this research compares the performance of the nanobubble finishing at a liquor ratio of 1:1 with higher liquor ratios of 1:5 and 1:10 for all five finishes. The results showed that optimized nanobubble finishing exhibited comparable key performance with reference to liquor ratios of 1:5 and 1:10 related to each finish category. However, the physical properties of cotton fabrics, such as tensile strength, tear strength, bending length, and air permeability, were better for nanobubble technology as compared to conventional finishing.

Abstract Enhancers regulate gene expression, by playing a crucial role in the synthesis of RNAs and proteins. They do not directly encode proteins or RNA molecules. In order to control gene expression, it is important to predict enhancers and their potency. Given their distance from the target gene, lack of common motifs, and tissue/cell specificity, enhancer regions are thought to be difficult to predict in DNA sequences. Recently, a number of bioinformatics tools were created to distinguish enhancers from other regulatory components and to pinpoint their advantages. However, because the quality of its prediction method needs to be improved, its practical application value must also be improved. Based on nucleotide composition and statistical moment-based features, the current study suggests a novel method for identifying enhancers and non-enhancers and evaluating their strength. The proposed study outperformed state-of-the-art techniques using fivefold and tenfold cross-validation in terms of accuracy. The accuracy from the current study results in 86.5% and 72.3% in enhancer site and its strength prediction respectively. The results of the suggested methodology point to the potential for more efficient and successful outcomes when statistical moment-based features are used. The current study's source code is available to the research community at https://github.com/csbioinfopk/enpred .

Reducing stress associated with technology and the use of electronics is a major issue among Chinese adults. However, no studies have investigated the effect of tactile stimulation of the feet. In this study, we investigated psychophysiological techniques for controlling stress by having participants touch natural materials with the sole of the foot. The study included 90 young Chinese adults with a mean (±SD) age of 21.2 ± 2.7 years. A crossover design was used to examine psychological and physiological differences between touching grass with the sole of the foot and touching wood (control) for 10 minutes. Physiological assessments included blood pressure measurements and electroencephalography, and psychological assessments included the Semantic Differential Method (SDM) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). We observed significant decreases in systolic and diastolic blood pressures in the experimental condition compared with the control condition, along with increases in alpha and beta activities. SDM results indicated that participants were moderately comfortable, very relaxed, and experienced reduced anxiety after stimulation with grass compared with after the control condition. Mean attention and relaxation scores were also significantly higher in the experimental condition than in the control condition. Thus, our results suggest that touching grass with the sole of the foot can lower psychophysiological stress in adults.

الأهداف: هدفت الدراسة إلى معرفة مستوى معرفة معلمي العلوم للمرحلة الأساسية في محافظة المفرق باستراتيجية المحطات العلمية، وعلاقته بدرجة ممارستهم لها في التدريس. المنهجية: اعتمدت الدراسة المنهج الوصفي المسحي، وقد تكونت عينتها من (91) معلماً ومعلمة علوم في المرحلة الأساسية في محافظة المفرق اختيروا عشوائيا، طبقت عليهم استبانة تكونت من جزأين: الأول يتعلق بمعرفة معلمي العلوم باستراتيجية المحطات العلمية، والثاني يتعلق بدرجة ممارستهم لها، وقد جرى التحقق من صدقها وثباتها. النتائج: أظهرت النتائج أن مستوى معرفة معلمي العلوم للمرحلة الأساسية في محافظة المفرق باستراتيجية المحطات العلمية كانت متوسطة، وكذلك كانت درجة ممارستهم لها متوسطة. كما أظهرت أن هناك ارتباطا قويا ودالا إحصائيا بين مستوى معرفة معلمي العلوم للمرحلة الأساسية باستراتيجية المحطات العلمية ودرجة ممارستهم لها. الخلاصة: في ضوء النتائج تم تقديم مجموعة من التوصيات منها العمل على رفع مستوى معرفة معلمي العلوم للمرحلة الأساسية باستراتيجية المحطات العلمية، بتزويدهم بما يلزم كالنشرات والكتيبات، وتشجيعهم على الرجوع إلى المصادر الإلكترونية والورقية المختلفة لتحقيق ذلك.

This paper details the development and validation of a temperature sensing methodology using an un-trimmed oscillator-based integrated sensor implemented in the 0.18-μm SOI XFAB process, with a focus on thermal monitoring in system-on-chip (SoC) based DC-DC converters. Our study identifies a quadratic relationship between the oscillator output frequency and temperature, which forms the basis of our proposed calibration mechanism. This mechanism aims at mitigating process variation effects, enabling accurate temperature-to-frequency mapping. Our research proposes and characterizes several trimming-free calibration techniques, covering a spectrum from zero to thirty-one frequency-temperature measurement points. Notably, the Corrected One-Point calibration method, requiring only a single ambient temperature measurement, emerges as a practical solution that removes the need for a temperature chamber. This method, after adjustment, successfully reduces the maximum error to within ±2.95 °C. Additionally, the Two-Point calibration method demonstrates improved precision with a maximum positive error of +1.56 °C at −15 °C and a maximum negative error of −3.13 °C at +10 °C (R2 value of 0.9958). The Three-Point calibration method performed similarly, yielding an R2 value of 0.9956. The findings of this study indicate that competitive results in temperature sensor calibration can be achieved without circuit trimming, offering a viable alternative or a complementary approach to traditional trimming techniques.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), formerly termed nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is a widespread global health concern that affects around 25% of the global population. Its influence is expanding, and it is anticipated to overtake alcohol as the leading cause of liver failure and liver-related death worldwide. Unfortunately, there are no approved therapies for MASLD; as such, national and international regulatory health agencies undertook strategies and action plans designed to expedite the development of drugs for treatment of MASLD. A sedentary lifestyle and an unhealthy diet intake are important risk factors. Western countries have a greater estimated prevalence of MASLD partly due to lifestyle habits. Mitochondrial dysfunction is strongly linked to the development of MASLD. Further, it has been speculated that mitophagy, a type of mitochondrial quality control, may be impaired in MASLD. Thyroid hormone (TH) coordinates signals from the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes to control mitochondrial biogenesis and function in hepatocytes. Mitochondria are known TH targets, and preclinical and clinical studies suggest that TH, thyroid receptor β (TR-β) analogs, and synthetic analogs specific to the liver could be of therapeutic benefit in treating MASLD. In this review, we highlight how mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to development of MASLD, and how understanding the role of TH in improving mitochondrial function paved the way for innovative drug development programs of TH-based therapies targeting MASLD.

A novel level shifter (LS) circuit that uses a new low-power approach based on a parasitic capacitance voltage controlled current source is presented to minimize the propagation delay (PD) and maximize the voltage conversion range. This new scheme uses a simplified circuit including a dependent current source, a composite transistor made of three interconnected n-channel MOSFETs (TnM), one CMOS input inverter, and one CMOS output buffer to provide a fast response time. The circuit utilizes the combined action of the equivalent parasitic capacitance of the TnM, the value of which changes dynamically according to the transient value of the input voltage, and the dependent current source to shift the input signal level up from subthreshold voltage levels to +3.0 V, with minimal delay and power consumption. The LS circuit fabricated in 0.35 $\mu \text{m}$ CMOS technology occupies a silicon area of only 25 $\mu \text{m}\,\,\times25\,\,\mu \text{m}$ . The LS shows measured rising and falling PDs of, respectively, 4 and 11.2 ns. The measured results show that the presented circuit outperforms other solutions over a wide frequency range of 1 to 130 MHz. The fabricated circuit consumes a static power 31.5 pW and a dynamic power of 3.4 pJ per transition at 1 kHz, $\text{V}_{\mathrm {DDL}}\,\,=0.8$ V, and a capacitive load of $\text{C}_{\mathrm {L}}\,\,=0.1$ pF.

We present in this paper design considerations and implementation challenges of a proposed versatile SoC/SiP sensor interface intended for industrial applications. The proposed interface involves high-voltage circuits such as class-D power amplifiers, gate drivers, level shifters, and electrical isolators. Also, it includes low-voltage blocks like programmable gain amplifiers and ADCs. In addition, DC-to-DC converters are used to supply the various building blocks of the projected sensor interface. The key challenges for implementing each block are discussed in this paper. Also, the technological aspects to support the proposed SoC/SiP solution are given. Moreover, the different available packaging technologies to implement the intended SiP solution are discussed in addition to the thermal aspects associated with the system packaging.

This paper presents a method to estimate the internal impairment parameters of broadband time-interleaved (TI) ADCs using only single-tone measurement data acquired at two different frequencies. The estimated parameters, which include the signal-independent noise power, clock jitter, nonlinearity coefficients, and all sub-ADC mismatch parameters, are further used to predict the error power breakdown and the overall SNDR of the ADC for a multi-tone signal. In this way, the underlying sources of a TI ADC’s performance limitations can be separately evaluated with standard and low-cost single-tone measurements. Accurate estimation of the ADC’s impairment parameters is helpful for iteratively improving the ADC’s performance during design, characterizing prototypes, and potentially simplifying the production test. The proposed method is verified with comprehensive simulations and hardware measurement on a 3.6-GSPS, 12-bit, 2-channel TI ADC whose SNDR for a multi-tone signal is estimated at about 1 dB of its actual value sweeping its internal parameters over a wide range of values.

Introduction Corn is one of the most important cereals used for poultry feeding due to its high starch, available energy and protein. Starch is an important source of energy in cereals and it is important to pay attention to its availability. In the cell wall of the endosperm, cereal grains, contain some of the structural carbohydrates that are soluble in the small intestine and have high molecular weight which may cause viscosity. Positive physical and chemical changes by steam conditioning, include starch gelatinization, denaturation of digestive enzyme inhibitor proteins, and cell wall breakage. Regardless of NSP content, some amounts of nutrients pass through the birds gut without being digested in corn-soy diets. Supplementing broiler diets with exogenous enzymes to degrade NSP has been a useful tool to release energy and nutrients, which can increase the value of low quality corn in poultry feeds and improve growth performance.Materials and Methods This project was conducted at the Poultry Research Center of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. A batch of corm grains was obtained from a commercial supplier and ground in a hammer mill to pass through screen sizes of 3.0 and 5.0 mm for starter (1-10 d) and grower (11-24 d) periods, respectively.First trial: Apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and digestibility of corn crude protein (CP) and dry matter (DM) were determined in basal diets, which the corn was the sole source of ME and CP. Basal diets contained the conditioned (at temperatures of 55, 70 and 85 °C) or unconditioned corn and was or was not supplemented with enzyme (Rovabio®; Adisseo, France) at the amount of 0.5 g/kg diet. Total excreta collection was performed with 144 chicks in 8 treatments with 6 replicates and 3 birds each, during 7 to 9 days of age using battery cages. Excreta from each replicate cage were collected early in the morning and in the evening. After removing feathers, feed residues, and other contamination sources, excreta were air dried in an oven at 55 °C for 72 hours. Then the excreta were weighed and homogenized, then a sample of approximately 30% of the excreta was randomly separated and kept at -20 °C to further analysis. Then, dried excreta samples were ground in a micro-mill and submitted to the Animal Nutrition Lab. Feed and excreta dry matter, gross energy, and nitrogen contents were determined.Second trial: In second trial, 576 d-old broilers from Ross 308 strain with initial BW of 43 g, were fed with mash diets containing conditioned corn which was or was not supplemented with enzyme, during starter (1-10 d) and grower (11-24 d) periods. The experiment was done based on a completely randomized design with 4 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments evaluating four corn conditioning temperatures (unconditioned and conditioned at 55, 70 and 85 °C) and two enzyme (Rovabio®; Adisseo, France) levels (0 and 0.5 g/kg diet). chicks were assigned under eight treatments with 6 floor pen replicates. Each floor pen of 1.2 × 1 × 0.8 m (L × W × H) included 12 chicks (6 male and 6 female, equally for all replicates). Floor pens were covered with 1.5 Kg/m2 of wood shavings. Four of eight experimental diets were supplemented with 0.5 g/kg of a multiple enzyme complex composed of cellulases, 6400 unit; β-glucanase, 2000 unit and Xylanase 22000 unit per gram (Rovabio®; Adisseo, France). Corn-soy-based diets were formulated to meet the Ross 308 strain recommendations for major nutrients for starter and grower phases. Feed and water were supplied for ad libitum consumption throughout the trial with a tube feeder and two nipple drinkers in each floor pen. House temperature was initially set at 32 ◦C on day one and was decreased linearly by 0.5 ◦C per d to a temperature of 21 ◦C. During the experiment, the lighting program consisted of 23L:1D. A completely randomized design with 4×2 factorial arrangement was used in the both trials. Main factors were included corn conditioning temperatures (unconditioned and conditioned at 55, 70 and 85 °C) and two enzyme levels (0 and 0.5 g/kg diet). The data were analyzed using generalized linear model (GLM) procedure, SAS software (9.4) and the differences between them was tested by Duncan's test (P ≤ 0.05).Results and Discussion Conditioning and enzyme supplementation had no significant effects on AME and CP digestibility. Conditioning at 80 °C decreased DM digestibility of corn in comparison to control group (P

Abstract Background Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a rare, chronic cholestatic liver disease that often progresses to end-stage liver disease and/or the development of hepatobiliary neoplasia. Lack of prognostic tools and treatment options for PSC is driven in part by our poor understanding of its pathogenesis, which is thought to be complex, the interaction of genetic variants, environmental influences and biological response throughout the course of disease. The PSC Scientific Community Resource (PSC-SCR) seeks to overcome previous shortcomings by facilitating novel research in PSC with the ultimate goals of individualizing patient care and improving patient outcomes. Methods PSC patients who receive their health care at Mayo Clinic or a collaborating site are identified by chart review and invited in person or by mail to participate. Non-Mayo patients are offered enrollment if they provide sufficient access to their medical records to evaluate inclusion/exclusion criteria. Controls without liver disease are identified with assistance of the Mayo Clinic Biobank. Participant consent is obtained at the beginning of the recruitment process by mail-in, electronic or face-to-face protocols. Clinical data is extracted from the medical record by qualified physicians and entered in a custom designed database. Participants fill out a custom-designed, comprehensive questionnaire, which collects scientifically relevant demographic and clinical information. Biospecimens are collected using mail-in kits thar are returned via overnight carrier service and processed by the biospecimen accessioning and processing facility at Mayo Clinic, which coordinates sample transfers and provides required sample preparation services. The resource is currently being utilized to perform omics-scale projects investigating the exposome, metabolome, methylome, immunome and microbiome in PSC. Datasets and residual biospecimens will be shared with researchers proposing scientifically sound PSC-focused research with approval of the appropriate review boards. Discussion Patient-based studies leveraging the latest technologies for targeted and wide-scale interrogation of multiple omics layers offer promise to accelerate PSC research through discovery of unappreciated aspects of disease pathogenesis. However, the rarity of PSC severely limits such studies. Here we describe our effort to overcome this limitation, the PSC-SCR, a repository of patient biospecimens coupled with clinical and omics data for use by the broader PSC research community.

Looking for the exact solutions in the form of optical solitons of nonlinear partial differential equations has become very famous to analyze the core structures of physical phenomena. In this paper, we have constructed some various type of optical solitons solutions for the Kaup-Newell equation (KNE) and Biswas-Arshad equation (BAE) via the generalized Kudryashov method (GKM). The conquered solutions help to understand the dynamic behavior of different physical phenomena. These solutions are specific, novel, correct and may be beneficial for edifying precise nonlinear physical phenomena in nonlinear dynamical schemes. Graphical recreations for some of the acquired solutions are offered.

BACKGROUND: Taurodontism is a dental anomaly characterized by altered crown root ratio that is often diagnosed by radiographic evaluation. A three-dimensional cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) can aid in the diagnosis and treatment of taurodontic teeth. Only one study has reported the prevalence of taurodontism in a Saudi population. OBJECTIVE: Determine prevalence and other characteristics of taurodontism in permanent maxillary and mandibular molars, by CBCT in a dental center in Saudi Arabia. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: College of dentistry. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The first and second molars, maxillary and mandibular, from study participants of Saudi origin from Jazan region of Saudi Arabia were evaluated for taurodontism based on the criteria of Shifman and Chanannel. The degree of taurodontism was determined by the taurodontism index. Results were tabulated for analysis and the chi-square test was applied for the differences between age groups, genders, and maxillary and mandibular teeth. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Characteristics of taurodontism. SAMPLE SIZE: 1839 teeth in 300 individuals. RESULTS: Taurodontism was seen in 24 (8%) of the study participants and in 71 teeth (3.9%). Taurodontism was significantly more prevalent in individuals between 21 and 40 years of age. Hypotaurodontism (67.6%, n=48) was most prevalent, followed by mesotaurodontism (23.9%, n=17) and hypertaurodontism (8.5%, n=6). The maxillary molars were more commonly involved than mandibular, but the results were not statistically significant. No significant differences in gender were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Dental clinicians should be familiar with the condition due to the clinical implications in oral surgery, endodontics and prosthodontics. The possibilities of a complex root canal system, an additional canal, difficulties in canal negotiation, instrumentation and subsequent obturation can be challenging for the clinician. LIMITATIONS: Conducted in a single dental center hence future studies with larger sample sizes in different regions of Saudi Arabia should be conducted to more accurately measure the prevalence. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: None.

Introduction[1] Wheat is an important cereal due to high starch, available energy and protein contents and is used in poultry diets. Thermal processing is one of the common ways to increase the digestibility of feed, nutritional value of protein through denaturing the anti-nutritional compounds. Materials and Methods This project was conducted in two experiments at the Poultry Research Center of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.First experiment: This trial was designed to determine the apparent metabolizable energy and the digestibility of crude protein and dry matter in four heat treated wheat with and without enzyme supplementation. One hundred twenty mixed sex day-old broiler chicks were fed standard starter (0-10d) and grower (11-15d) diets, 96 of them were divided into 48 groups of two each and randomly assigned to 48 metabolic cages on day 15. Eight diets in which the sole source of energy and protein was wheat, were prepared and each was randomly fed to six replicates of two chicks each from 15-21d. At 18th day of age, 12 hours of starvation were imposed on all chicks; then trays were placed under each cage and feeds were supplied to all cages for 72 hours when the 2nd 12 hours of starvation was imposed and the collection of excreta continued until the end of the second starvation period. The amount of feed consumed by chicks in each cage in three days was determined by the differences of feed supplied and remained. Excreta collected from each cage was placed in a room air flow for 48 hours and then placed in an oven at 60°C for 72 hours to dry completely.Second experiment: in this trial, 576 birds (11d) were divided into two groups, (male and female) from which six males and six females were randomly assigned to one of the 48 pens. To prepare 8 experimental diets, only one grower diet (11-24days) containing 70.11% wheat was formulated based on Ross 308 nutrients recommendation and an untreated and three heat treated wheat with and without enzyme supplementation (Rovabio) were replaced to prepare the 8 diets. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with factorial (2×4) arrangement with 6 replicates of 12 birds each. Diets were randomly assigned to 48 pens in a way that each diet fed 6 replicate birds. On the final day of the trial (24d), one male bird from each replicate group was weighed and slaughtered. The carcass, breast, thighs, back, wings and neck, as well as the weight of internal organs including the heart, spleen, proventriculus, gizzard, liver, pancreas, bursa fabrisius, abdominal fat, duodenum, jejunum and ileum were measured. Duodenum, jejunum and ileum length were also measured. To evaluate the effect of different untreated and heat treated wheat at different temperatures with and without enzyme supplementation on the microbial condition of the digestive contents of the ileum digesta on 24d, about 3 grams of the contents of the ileum region from each slaughtered chicken transferred to the sterile tube containing 9 ml of buffer phosphate and placed in an ice flask and transferred to laboratory.Results and Discussion Thermal treatment significantly improved the apparent metabolizable energy, digestibility of crude protein and dry matter of wheat, so that the highest apparent metabolizable energy and dry matter of wheat was obtained when wheat was processed at 85°C. Whereas the highest digestibility of crude protein in wheat was obtained at 70°C thermal processing. The effect of enzyme on apparent metabolizable energy, apparent digestibility of crude protein and dry matter of wheat was not significant. The results of this study showed that thermal processing of wheat has a significant effect on feed consumption, daily gain, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio. Whereas the feed conversion ratio in chicks fed with diet containing wheat processed at 70°C was similar to those fed other diets contained heat treated wheat and was significantly better than those fed control diet. Dietary enzyme supplementation had a significant effect on body weight, daily gain and conversion coefficient, so that the daily gain of chicks fed diet containing enzyme was increased by 4.5% and the conversion factor was improved by 4.2% compared to those fednon-enzyme diet. Thermal treatment of wheat significantly affect relative percentage of thigh weight and relative weight of broiler chickens at 24 day age, so that the highest relative percentage weight of thigh and breast was in chicks fed diet contained wheat processed at a temperature of 70°C. On the other hand, thermal treatment of wheat significantly affect the relative percentage of abdominal fat, which increased compared to untreated wheat. Also, the present study showed that processed wheat did not have a significant effect on the percentage of carcass weight, back, wings and neck, liver, pancreas, heart, spleen and bursa. Also, the interaction effect of thermal processing of wheat and enzyme supplementation on the relative weight of carcass, its parts and internal organs was not significant. The supplementation of enzyme had only a significant effect on ileum weight. Thermal processing of wheat at different temperatures had a significant effect on the height and width of villi in jejunum, but did not have a significant effect on the depth of the crypt and villi height to crypt depth. The lactobacillus population in the ileum region has not been affected by the heat treatment of wheat and a negative response to Salmonella infection was observed in all chickens. On the other hand, the use of enzyme supplementation did not have a significant effect on villi height and depth of crypt and villi height to crypt depth. The interaction effect of heat treated wheat and enzyme supplementation was not significant for neither of the measurements.Conclusion The results of this experiment showed that although thermal processing of wheat at 85°C increased the apparent metabolizable energy by 5.32% and dry matter digestibility by 5.61%. In addition, the inclusion of heat treated wheat in diet led to an increase in height and width of jejunal villi and improvement of feed intake weight gain and feed conversation ratio in broiler chickens.

BackgroundGiven the aging population, the quality of mental health of elderly people deserves special attention. The aims of this study were (1) to assess the difference of neuro-emotion based on EEG from the cognitively impaired elderly (CNE) and the cognitively normal elderly (CIE) participants viewing different color Ardisia mamillata Hance and (2) to determine which color Ardisia mamillata Hance has greater benefits for boosting their neuro-emotions.MethodsThe cognitive function of the participants was judged by using the revised Chinese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scale combined with the daily cognitive performance of the participants, and the participants were divided into the cognitive normal elderly (CNE) and the cognitive impairment elderly (CIE). A total of 10 CNE volunteers and 10 CIE volunteers were recruited as participants for this study. For this study, two varieties of Ardisia mamillata Hance, green tiger tongue (GTT) with green leaves and red tiger tongue (RTT) with reddish brown leaves, were observed as plant materials. In total, six emotional indexes, including stress, engagement, interest, excitement, focus, and relaxation, were then measured by electroencephalography (EEG).ResultsRTT had the most positive effect on EEG neuro-emotion in the CNE group, with significant reductions in stress, engagement, and focus in the RTT test, while the combination of GTT+RTT had a positive effect on EEG neuro-emotions in the CIE group, with significant reductions in engagement and focus in the GTT+RTT test. No statistically significant differences were found for the interest, excitement, and relaxation index in the CNE and CIE participants in all tests.ConclusionSignificant reductions were observed in stress, engagement, and focus values of the CIE participants in the RTT test, which indicated that the CNE participants were more relaxed. RTT is a reddish brown and warm color plant, so the CNE individuals should always have the warm color plants indoors or outdoors, which could help boost their neuro-emotions. Significant reductions were observed in engagement and focus values of the CIE participants in the GTT+RTT test, which indicated that the CIE participants were more relaxed. The combination of GTT+RTT test shows the combination cold and warm color plants; therefore, the CIE individuals should always have a combination of cool and warm color plants indoors or outdoors, which could help boost their EEG neuro-emotions.

Hormone-binding proteins (HBPs) are specific carrier proteins that bind to a given hormone. A soluble carrier hormone binding protein (HBP), which can interact non-covalently and specifically with growth hormone, modulates or inhibits hormone signaling. HBP is essential for the growth of life, despite still being poorly understood. Several diseases, according to some data, are caused by HBPs that express themselves abnormally. Accurate identification of these molecules is the first step in investigating the roles of HBPs and understanding their biological mechanisms. For a better understanding of cell development and cellular mechanisms, accurate HBP determination from a given protein sequence is essential. Using traditional biochemical experiments, it is difficult to correctly separate HBPs from an increasing number of proteins because of the high experimental costs and lengthy experiment periods. The abundance of protein sequence data that has been gathered in the post-genomic era necessitates a computational method that is automated and enables quick and accurate identification of putative HBPs within a large number of candidate proteins. A brand-new machine-learning-based predictor is suggested as the HBP identification method. To produce the desirable feature set for the method proposed, statistical moment-based features and amino acids were combined, and the random forest was used to train the feature set. During 5-fold cross validation experiments, the suggested method achieved 94.37% accuracy and 0.9438 F1-scores, respectively, demonstrating the importance of the Hahn moment-based features.

The rapid economic growth and environmental concerns have led to high demands on paper and paper-based products in terms of variety, quantity, quality, and specialty. Enhancement and functionalization with additives are constantly required. Moving away from traditional petroleum-based additives, researchers have attempted to use “green” nanoadditives by introducing renewable environmentally friendly nanocellulose. This article studies the functions of nanocellulose as bio-additives (enhancer, retention and filtration reagent, and coating aid) in paper and paper products, and overviews the research development of nanocellulose-based additives and their applications in the paper industry for both efficient production and paper functionalization. The review shows that (1) a variety of nanocellulose-based bioadditives have been reported for various applications in paper and paper-based products, while commercially viable developments are to be advanced; (2) nanocellulose was mostly formulated with other polymer and particles as additives to achieve their synergistic effects; (3) major interests have concentrated on the nanocellulose in the specialty papers as representing more value added products and in the efficient utilization of recycled fibers, which remains most attractive and promising for future development. This report shall provide most useful database information for researchers and industries for paper recycling and enhancement, and paper-based products innovation and application.

Childhood primary angiitis of the CNS (cPACNS) is a poorly understood, rare, and diagnostically challenging neurologic disease. We describe an unusual and autopsy-confirmed case of cPACNS presenting as vertebrobasilar circulation hemorrhagic strokes in a 4-year-old girl. The presentation and clinical features were inconsistent with primary CNS vasculitis and skewed the diagnosis. Autopsy and histopathological analyses revealed a progressive lymphocytic vasculitis affecting the medium to large vessels of vertebrobasilar circulation and sparing the anterior circulation. It is imperative to raise the index of suspicion for cPACNS in any case of unusual or unexplained neurological presentation, especially in the absence of cerebrovascular risk factors and/or coagulation disorders.

Introduction[1] Soybean meal (SBM) is the main source of protein in broiler diets. Interest has been increased in the use of roasted full-fat soybean (RFFS) as a replacement of soybean meal and fat in broiler diets. The use of full-fat soybean can eliminate the high cost of oil usage and allows the use of a protein supplement in the broiler diets. Full-fat soybeans could provide both protein and energy in one feed ingredient. Use of raw soybeans in poultry diets is not efficient due to presence of anti-nutrient factors like trypsin inhibitor factors. One method of raw soybeans heat processing is roasting the beans by a rotating chamber in which they are directly exposed to a flame. It has been reported similar weight gains by broiler chicks fed heat treated full-fat soybeans or SBM. Heat-treated full-fat soybeans have been included in broiler diets at the level of 15% and reported that body weight at 6 weeks of age were not significantly affected. In contrast, heat-treated full-fat soybeans in starter and finisher diets at the level of 30% reduced growth performance during the starter period. However, the adverse effects became less severe as bird age increases. In some cases weight gain significantly decreased by full-fat soybeans compare to SBM containing diets. When 100% of the soybean meal was replaced by roasted full-fat soybeans, body weight was significantly decreased at 3weeks of age. The high energy of full-fat soybeans may change carcass composition. It has been shown that carcass yield of broiler chickens improved 3% when soybeans were included 10% of the diet. Information about full-fat soybeans for broilers is limited. Therefore, the aim of this experiment was to examine the effects of substituting different levels of roasted full-fat soybean for soybean meal in diets of broiler chickens on performance and blood metabolites. Materials and Methods In order to evaluate the effects of roasted whole soybeans replacement for soybean meal in male broiler chicken diets on growth performance, carcass characteristics and blood parameters, a completely randomized design with four treatments and four replicates was carried out with 192 day-old Ross 308 male broiler chicks up 42 days. In this experiment, RFFS was roasted in 130 centigrade degrees for 30 minutes. All groups were fed with a standard starter diet during 1-14 d. RFFS was substituted in 4 dietary levels of zero, 25, 50 and 75 percent for soybean meal during growing (15-28 d) and finisher (29-42 d) periods. Diets were formulated to be isocaloric and isonitrogenous. Feed and water were provided ad libitum throughout the experiment. Body weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were measured during grower and finisher periods. Birds were reared on litter floor pens and a lighting program with 23:1 h light and darkness was used from 1-42 d. At day 42 after 3 h fasting, one bird from each replicate close to group mean weight was selected to determine carcass characteristics and blood parameters. Blood samples were taken from the wing vein and serum was separated by centrifugation at 3000×g for five min. The serum samples were kept in -20°C until analysis. Results and Discussion Results showed that 75% level of RFFS replaced with SBM significantly decreased weight gain, body weight at the end of each period and feed intake in grower period. In finisher period the replacement of 75% of SBM with RFFS, resulted lower body weight, daily weight gain and feed consumption in compare to other replacement levels (p < 0.05). FCR in grower period was not significantly affected by treatments but control group in finisher period had better feed conversion ratio compared to other treatments (p < 0.05). Carcass parts including breast, thighs and pancreas were not significantly affected by the treatments. But, liver and abdominal fat pad weights were increased when the FFSM level was increased to 75% substituting level (p < 0.05). RFFS had no significant effects on blood serum triglycerides, low density lipoproteins, lactate dehydrogenase and alanine transaminase concentrations. But, blood serum cholesterol and high density lipoproteins (HDL) concentrations in control group were significantly lower than other treatments. Serum aspartate transaminase concentration in 75% replacement level of RFFS for SBM was significantly lower than other treatments (p < 0.05). Serum creatine phosphokinase concentration in control group was significantly (p < 0.05) lower than other groups. Conclusions Results of this experiment revealed that replacement of 50% of diet SBM with RFFS during 15-42 days of age has no adverse effect on broiler chickens growth performance and increases blood HDL.

In the past decades, researchers/scientists have paid attention to the physical layer of underwater communications (UWCs) due to a variety of scientific, military, and civil tasks completed beneath water. This includes numerous activities critical for communication, such as survey and monitoring of oceans, rescue, and response to disasters under the sea. Till the end of the last decade, many review articles addressing the history and survey of UWC have been published which were mostly focused on underwater sensor networks (UWSN), routing protocols, and underwater optical communication (UWOC). This paper provides an overview of underwater acoustic (UWA) physical layer techniques including cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM), zero padding orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (ZP-OFDM), time-domain synchronization orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (TDS-OFDM), multiple input multiple output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM), generalized frequency division multiplexing (GFDM), unfiltered orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (UF-OFDM), continuous phase modulation orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CPM-OFDM), filter bank multicarrier (FBMC) modulation, MIMO, spatial modulation technologies (SMTs), and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing index modulation (OFDM-IM). Additionally, this paper provides a comprehensive review of UWA channel modeling problems and challenges, such as transmission loss, propagation delay, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and distance, multipath effect, ambient noise effect, delay spread, Doppler effect modeling, Doppler shift estimation. Further, modern technologies of the physical layer of UWC have been discussed. This study also discusses the different modulation technology in terms of spectral efficiency, computational complexity, date rate, bit error rate (BER), and energy efficiency along with their merits and demerits.

Graphene-based materials are widely explored as the active electrode materials for energy storage and conversion devices, especially supercapacitors (SCs). Their high electrochemically active surface area, hierarchical porous structure, excellent compressibility, and high mechanical stability, as well as excellent conductivity, are the critical merits for providing robust and facilitative channels for charge transport. Various studies have explored many possible ways to utilize the maximum potential of graphene-based SC electrodes, and graphene research is booming, given its exceptional charge storage properties. This review focuses on the class-specific electrode materials for different types of SCs, followed by the classification and critical review of graphene-based electrodes reported in the past five years. The current challenges in the field have also been discussed with a focus on promising pathways for future research.

BackgroundThe Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is a widely accepted way to develop the communication skills of children with developmental disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the efficacy of PECS has been largely studied in Western societies and little research is available regarding its role in the development of children with ASD in a non-Western cultural context. The purpose of this study was to compare the parent and the practitioner perceptions of the use of PECS for children with ASD in the United Arab Emirates.MethodA new scale made up of three subscales was used to collect the data from the parents and the practitioners who were either related to or working with a cohort of children with ASD. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and subjected to the computation of means, t-tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA), binary logistical regression, and two-way factorial ANOVA.ResultsThe results showed uncertainty or neutrality among the parents and the practitioners toward the use of PECS. Variables such as age, years of experience using PECS, and gender were noted to influence perceptions of PECS.ConclusionThe need for policymakers to consider developing regular training for parents and practitioners on the use of PECS and other implications are discussed.

Sowing of radiated Germplasam of two selected virus free wheat cultivars Pirsabak-98 and Fisalabad-2000, were conducted in the department of Botany, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal during crop season November 2016 to study the impact of different doses of gamma radiation. Both cultivars were purchased from Tarnab Farm Peshawar and later on irradiated to 5, 10, 20 Krad at NIFA. (Nuclear institute for food and agriculture Peshawar). It was observed that inverse relationship was created in doses of 5, 10, 15 Krad against number of parameters like number spikelet per plant, number of spike per plant, spike length per plant, grain number per plant, 1000 seeds fresh weight, 1000 grain dry weight. Similarly the stated parameter means values gradually and continuously decreases with increasing of gamma irradiation concentration in both the hybrids pirsabak-98 and Fisalabas-2000 of wheat. It was also evaluated that high concentration of doses cause restrictive in the mean figure of all parameters which reflect that both cultivars pirsabak-98 and Fisalabad-2000 were sensitive high intensity of gamma radiation. Moreover there were also found a small number of mutant genotypes in Fisalabad-2000 at 15 krad due to genetic changeability similarly at 5 krad dose in both cultivar found pink color plant and sterile plant. As far as the effect gamma irradiation through of analysis for all the parameters were highly significant while due to the interaction doses and cultivar effects for the length of the spike was insignificant. Similarly the mean values for length of spike per plant, fresh weight of grain, and dry weigh of grain and number of grain per plant varietal effects were concluded as highly significant however the effects. Likewise in-significant outcome were obtained in the mean value due cultivar effect for fresh weight of 1000 seeds.

Cancerlectins are significantly important group of lectins that have an inhibitory effect on cancer cells with respect to their growth. They have a vital role in various tumor cell interactions like adhesion, growth, metastasis, differentiation and mainly in cellular infection. The investigations associated with cancerlectins are applicable to relevant studies in laboratories, diagnostics and therapy in clinical applications, and drug discoveries in targeting cancers. Prediction of cancerlectins is considered a helpful task due to the fact that they are specifically useful in dissecting cancers. Although, several Bioinformatics tools have been developed to predict cancerlectins, however, the need for improvement in the quality of its prediction model requires enhancements in the annotation and determination process of cancerlectins. In this study, a new model is proposed that builds on statistical moments based features to distinguish cancerlectins from non-cancerlectins. The currently proposed model achieved an accuracy of 88.36% using jackknife test which is better than current state-of-the-art models. These outcomes suggest that the use of statistical moments could bear more effective and efficient results. For the accessibility of the scientific community, a user-friendly web server has been developed which will associate the researchers in medical science. Web server is freely accessible at https://www.biopred.org/canlect.

Sumoylation is the post-translational modification that is involved in the adaption of the cells and the functional properties of a large number of proteins. Sumoylation has key importance in subcellular concentration, transcriptional synchronization, chromatin remodeling, response to stress, and regulation of mitosis. Sumoylation is associated with developmental defects in many human diseases such as cancer, Huntington’s, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Spin cerebellar ataxia 1, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The covalent bonding of Sumoylation is essential to inheriting part of the operative characteristics of some other proteins. For that reason, the prediction of the Sumoylation site has significance in the scientific community. A novel and efficient technique is proposed to predict the Sumoylation sites in proteins by incorporating Chou’s Pseudo Amino Acid Composition (PseAAC) with statistical moments-based features. The outcomes from the proposed system using 10 fold cross-validation testing are 94.51%, 94.24%, 94.79% and 0.8903% accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and MCC, respectively. The performance of the proposed system is so far the best in comparison to the other state-of-the-art methods. The codes for the current study are available on the GitHub repository using the link: https://github.com/csbioinfopk/iSumoK-PseAAC.

This paper presents a method to monitor the thermal peaks that are major concerns when designing Integrated Circuits (ICs) in various advanced technologies. The method aims at detecting the thermal peak in Systems on Chip (SoC) using arrays of oscillators distributed over the area of the chip. Measured frequencies are mapped to local temperatures that are used to produce a chip thermal mapping. Then, an indication of the local temperature of a single heat source is obtained in real-time using the Gradient Direction Sensor (GDS) technique. The proposed technique does not require external sensors, and it provides a real-time monitoring of thermal peaks. This work is performed with Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), which acts as a System-on-Chip, and the detected heat source is validated with a thermal camera. A maximum error of 0.3 °C is reported between thermal camera and FPGA measurements.

Adenoviruses (AdVs) constitute a diverse family with many pathogenic types that infect a broad range of hosts. Understanding the pathogenesis of adenoviral infections is not only clinically relevant but also important to elucidate the potential use of AdVs as vectors in therapeutic applications. For an adenoviral infection to occur, attachment of the viral ligand to a cellular receptor on the host organism is a prerequisite and, in this sense, it is a criterion to decide whether an adenoviral infection can potentially happen. The interaction between any virus and its corresponding host organism is a specific kind of protein-protein interaction (PPI) and several experimental techniques, including high-throughput methods are being used in exploring such interactions. As a result, there has been accumulating data on virus-host interactions including a significant portion reported at publicly available bioinformatics resources. There is not, however, a computational model to integrate and interpret the existing data to draw out concise decisions, such as whether an infection happens or not. In this study, accepting the cellular entry of AdV as a decisive parameter for infectivity, we have developed a machine learning, more precisely support vector machine (SVM), based methodology to predict whether adenoviral infection can take place in a given host. For this purpose, we used the sequence data of the known receptors of AdVs, we identified sets of adenoviral ligands and their respective host species, and eventually, we have constructed a comprehensive adenovirus–host interaction dataset. Then, we committed interaction predictions through publicly available virus-host PPI tools and constructed an AdV infection predictor model using SVM with RBF kernel, with the overall sensitivity, specificity, and AUC of 0.88 ± 0.011, 0.83 ± 0.064, and 0.86 ± 0.030, respectively. ML-AdVInfect is the first of its kind as an effective predictor to screen the infection capacity along with anticipating any cross-species shifts. We anticipate our approach led to ML-AdVInfect can be adapted in making predictions for other viral infections.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a global pandemic that affects one-quarter of the world’s population. NAFLD includes a spectrum of progressive liver disease from steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), fibrosis, and cirrhosis and can be complicated by hepatocellular carcinoma. It is strongly associated with metabolic syndromes, obesity, and type 2 diabetes, and it has been shown that metabolic dysregulation is central to its pathogenesis. Recently, it has been suggested that metabolic- (dysfunction) associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a more appropriate term to describe the disease than NAFLD, which puts increased emphasis on the important role of metabolic dysfunction in its pathogenesis. There is strong evidence that mitochondrial dysfunction plays a significant role in the development and progression of NAFLD. Impaired mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation and, more recently, a reduction in mitochondrial quality, have been suggested to play a major role in NAFLD development and progression. In this review, we provide an overview of our current understanding of NAFLD and highlight how mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to its pathogenesis in both animal models and human subjects. Further we discuss evidence that the modification of mitochondrial function modulates NAFLD and that targeting mitochondria is a promising new avenue for drug development to treat NAFLD/NASH.

Research shows that stress, a common problem in densely populated cities, can be relieved by exposure to the natural environment. As great significance has been attached to the relationship between the urban environment and public health, this paper aims to study the relationship and interaction between the perceived sensory dimensions of urban park green space, attention restoration, and state empathy. Therefore, we conducted an on-site questionnaire (PSD Scale) survey in four typical parks in Chengdu and recorded age, sex, daily stress, frequency of visits to parks, and other basic information from the respondents. In the survey and visit, we found that the group structure in the recreation area comprises chiefly of a few transient unfamiliar travelers and most long-haul neighborhood sightseers. Among long-haul vacationers, the greater part of them are moderately aged and older individuals in the encompassing local locations, whose lives are, for the most part, quick and proficient. Hence, to mirror the populace attributes of high-thickness metropolitan parks and to feature the agent bunches that have lived in the parks from here onward, indefinitely quite a while, the chosen bunches are somewhere in the range of 35 and 65 years old (half male and half female), so make sure there are no ailments, no drinking, and no late evenings in the earlier days, so a specific actual fundamental belief is kept up with. The main part of the exercise focused on the perceived dimension, state empathy, and attention restoration. The software SPSS24.0 was applied to the test of the validity and reliability of the perceived sensory dimension (PSD) Scale, and then the important correlation between the perceived sensory dimensions in the parks and visitors’ attention restoration was analyzed through multiple linear regression. Finally, the moderating effect of state empathy was tested by PROCESS. The findings show that (1) only seven dimensions in the PSD Scale are effective; (2) Serene and Refuge in the perceived sensory dimensions have a significant effect on the restorative components of attention. (3) Except for the dimensions of Rich in Species and Refuge, empathy enhanced the moderation effect in the interaction between the other five dimensions of the Perceived Restorative Scale (PRS), especially in the interaction between the Social and PRS dimensions. However, this topic needs to be further explored to provide a scientific basis and design strategy for research on the restoration potential of urban park green space in high-density urban areas.

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) enzyme inhibitors have not eliminated the necessity for developed drugs not only in the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAIDs) area, but also in other therapeutic applications including prevention of cancer and Alzheimer's disease. A series of novel substituted cyclic imides have been reported as selective COX-2 inhibitors. To understand the structural features responsible for their activity, a 3D validated pharmacophore and quantitative structure−activity relationship (QSAR) model have been developed. The values of enrichment factor (EF), goodness of hit score (GH), area under the ROC curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity refer to the good ability of the pharmacophore model to identify active compounds. Multiple linear regression (MLR) produced statistically significant QSAR model with (R2 training = 0.763, R2test = 0.96) and predictability (Q2training = 0.66, Q2test = 0.84). Then, using the pharmacophore and QSAR models, eight authenticated botanicals in two herbal medicines and the ZINC compounds database, were virtually screened for ligands to COX-2. The retrieved hits which also obey lipinski's rule of five (RO5) were docked in the COX-2 3D structure to investigate their binding mode and affinity. Finally, based on the docking results, nine molecules were prioritized as promising hits that could be used as leads to discover novel COX-2 inhibitors. COX-2 inhibition of most of these hits has not been reported previously. Ten-nanosecond molecular dynamics simulation (10-ns MD) was performed on the initial structure COX-2 complex with ZINC000113253375 and ZINC000043170560 resulted from the docking. Our utilization of the 3D pharmacophore model, QSAR, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulation trials can be a potent strategy to successfully predict activity, efficiently design drugs, and screen large numbers of new compounds as active drug candidates.

This paper investigates the impacts of conflicts on state-capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a region that has recorded a disproportionate number of armed conflicts and has a high presence in the Fragile States Index rankings. Individually, both conflicts and state-capacity are known to have important implications for economic development, which underscore their relevance for developing countries. Our aim here is to analyze the relationship between them and for this, we analyze a panel of 49 SSA countries spanning 2000–2015. Our results suggest that the effect of conflicts on state-capacity depends on the variable used to proxy state-capacity is important: conflicts diminish state-capacity when tax revenue is used as the proxy, but the effect is positive when proxied by military expenditure. Other proxies consider include regulatory quality, rule of law, and government effectiveness.

MXenes present unique features as materials for energy storage; however, limited interlayer distance, and structural stability with ongoing cycling limit their applications. Here, we have developed a unique method involving incorporating Nb atoms into MXene (Ti3C2) to enhance its ability to achieve higher ionic storage and longer stability. Computational analysis using density functional theory was performed that explained the material structure, electronic structure, band structure, and density of states in atomistic detail. Nb-doped MXene showed a good charge storage capacity of 442.7 F/g, which makes it applicable in a supercapacitor. X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicated c-lattice parameter enhancement after Nb-doping in MXene (from 19.2A° to 23.4A°), which showed the effect of the introduction of an element with a larger ionic radius (Nb). Also, the bandgap changes from 0.9 eV for pristine MXene to 0.1 eV for Nb-doped MXene, which indicates that the latter has the signature of increased conductivity due to more metallic nature, in support of the experimental results. This work presents not only the effect of doping in MXene but also helps to explain the phenomena involved in changes in physical parameters, advancing the field of energy storage based on 2D materials.

Background: Preeclampsia is among the leading causes of maternal mortality and morbidity worldwide, occurs in 4.6% of all pregnancies. Studies from developed countries show that high pre pregnancy body mass index (BMI) increases the risk of preeclampsia . Aim :To investigate the association between pre-pregnancy BMI and preeclampsia in a sample of Syrian pregnant women attending Tishreen University Hospital . Materials and Methods : This was a prospective study. Total of 120 pregnant women who were less than 12 weeks gestational age and receiving prenatal care at outpatient clinic or admitted to Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Tishreen university Hospital , Lattakia ,Syria , from January 2019 to January 2019 were enrolled in the present study and monitored until delivery to establish the outcomes . The subjects were categorized into four groups by BMI : underweight (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2), normal (BMI 18.5–24.9 kg/m2), overweight (BMI 25–29.9 kg/m2) and obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2). Logistic regression was used to adjust the potential confounder .Risk for preeclampsia was evaluated with odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals. Results : 8.3% ,55% , 20%, and 16.7 % of the subjects were underweight, normal BMI, overweight and obese, respectively. Twelve pregnancies (10%) were affected by preeclampsia. Compared to those with normal BMI , overweight and obese women had a higher risk of preeclampsia [OR (95% CI) 8.42 (1.5 – 46) and 8 (1.3 – 47.6)] , respectively . Conclusion :Pre pregnancy maternal overweight and obesity were associated with an increased risk of preeclampsia . Risks were similar to those reported in developed countries. الخلفية : يُعتَبَر ما قبل الإرجاج من بين الأسباب الرائدة للمراضة و الوفيات الوالدية حول العالم , و يصيب حوالي 4.6% من جميع الحمول . أظهرت الدراسات في البلدان المتقدمة أنّ مشعر كتلة الجسم (BMI) المرتفع ما قبل الحمل يزيد من خطر ما قبل الإرجاج . الهدف : دراسة العلاقة بين BMI الوالدي ما قبل الحملي و حدوث ما قبل الإرجاج لدى عينة من السيدات الحوامل السوريات المراجعات لمستشفى تشرين الجامعي . المواد و الطرق : شملت هذه الدراسة المستقبلية 120 حامل بعمر حملي أقل من 12 أسبوع من المراجعات لقسم العيادات الخارجية أو المقبولات في قسم التوليد و أمراض النساء في مستشفى تشرين الجامعي , اللاذقية , في الفترة الممتدة ما بين كانون ثاني 2019 – كانون ثاني 2020 . تمت متابعة الحوامل حتى نهاية الحمل لتحديد النتائج . تمّ تصنيف المشاركات في البحث إلى 4 فئات حسب قيمة BMI : ناقص الوزن (BMI> 18.5 كغ/م2) طبيعي الوزن (BMI 18.5– 24.9 كغ/م2), زائد الوزن (BMI : 25- 29.9 كغ/م2 ) , بدانة (BMI< 30 كغ/م2) . تم استخدام الانحدار اللوجستي لضبط العوامل المتداخلة . جرى تقييم خطر ما قبل الإرجاج باستخدام نسبة الأرجحية (OR) و بفواصل ثقة (CI) 95% . النتائج : كانت نسب توزع المرضى حسب قيمةBMI على الشكل التالي: ناقص الوزن (8.3%) , طبيعي الوزن (55%) , زائد الوزن (20%) و بدانة (16.7%) . تطوّر ما قبل الإرجاج لدى 12 سيدة حامل (10%). بالمقارنة مع الحوامل ذوات الوزن الطبيعي , امتلكت الحوامل زائدات الوزن و البدينات خطراً هاماً إحصائياً لحدوث ما قبل الإرجاج بنسبة أرجحية 8.42 (بفاصل ثقة 95% : 1.5 – 46 ) لزيادة الوزن و بنسبة أرجحية 8 (بفاصل ثقة 95% : 1.3 – 47.6 ) للبدانة . الخلاصة : ترافقت زيادة الوزن و البدانة الوالدية ما قبل الحمل بزيادة خطر حدوث ما قبل الإرجاج . و كانت الأخطار مشابهة لما هو منشور في البلدان المتقدّمة .

Objective. Nature has a significant impact on general well-being. However, till date, little psychophysiological evidence is available on the benefits of nature-based activities in adults. The primary goal of this study was to determine the physiological and psychological benefits of horticultural activity in adults. The participants were instructed to perform the making of a flower basket (horticultural activity) and a computer task (i.e., control activity) was compared. Methods. A total of 40 Chinese females (mean age 22.2 ± 0.9 years) participated in this experiment. The Blood pressure, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the electroencephalograms (EEGs) were used to measure the participants’ psychophysiological responses. Results. Analysis of the STAI data showed a lower anxiety score after performing the horticultural activity than after performing the control activity. Furthermore, in the EEG evaluation, variations in the brainwaves were observed after both activities. Conclusions. The study results suggest that horticultural activity induced physiological and psychological relaxation in adults.

Faith in any religion takes significant importance in a country where intolerance and extremism are high. Acceptance and tolerance are keys for adjustment in religious activities and are pertinent for smooth running and dynamism. In contrast to it, intolerance and non-acceptance in religious activities is a burning issue with respect to adjustment problems faced by minorities in a country. This study aims to explore the adjustment problems faced by minorities, especially by Christians and Sikhs for the performance of their religious activities in district Peshawar and Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The prime aim and goal of the study is to illustrate the ways minorities are targeted (Christians and Sikhs) and have to adjust with Muslim majorities for the performance of their religious activities, along with making efforts to strengthen various modes of social interaction within themselves in the targeted area. For the measurement of variable, five-level Likert scale was used, and the chi-square test was applied to find out the association level of an independent variable with the dependent variable. Based on the Sekaran table, a total of 372 respondents were selected from the local minorities to analyse the adjustment problems faced by minorities in the performance of their religious activities. The findings of the study reveal that Christians and Sikhs usually celebrate their religious festivals and rituals publicly which highlights the strong social interaction between majorities and minorities in the target area. But still, slight issues of disturbances with their religious rituals and festivals were found in some places of the target area.

This paper is a multidisciplinary analysis of the relationship between India and Pakistan. The authors contend that much would be gained by Pakistan and India if normalization between the two could be achieved. By examining the failures of past negotiations and examining current conditions, the paper puts forth areas where there exist common interests and what they believe could be a path to peace between these nation-states. The work suggests there are numerous factors that have contributed to the current state of affairs between India and Pakistan. Some of the factors are more obvious than others like the Partition trauma and Kashmir. The paper then highlights some of the more obscure issues which include anti-other education in Pakistani and Indian schools. All need to be considered as we try to unravel the knot of distrust between these two countries and look to establish common ground in areas which require urgent attention and push for reconciliation.

We present, in this paper, a bidirectional capacitive data link. Enhancement of the spatial pulse position modulation used on the downlink is introduced, and a load-shift keying modulation is implemented for the uplink. Different grounds on the transmitter and the receiver are discussed, and a compatible solution is proposed. A human skin electrical model is extracted using the agilent impedance analyzer 4294A while doing in vivo measurements on cheek skin and then applying curve fitting to the data between 2 and 20 MHz. Multiple geometries for the link are analyzed, and a 5-mm × 5-mm plate size is used for the design of the transceiver. The signal-to-noise ratio along with the capacity of the channel is analyzed theoretically while computing the limits for the downlink and the valid operating frequency to highlight the core parameters that affect the crosstalk interference between channels. The tradeoff in using the uplink on the same channel as the downlink is also discussed and analyzed. The operating frequency is 10 MHz, a bit-rate of 20 Mb/s is demonstrated on the uplink, and 10 Mb/s is demonstrated on the downlink. An in vivo human skin model for a 5-mm × 5-mm plate size with 21.2-mm separation is extracted, and the capacity's equation of the channel is computed using the equations for the analysis of the system.

In many leading industrial applications such as aerospace, military, automotive, and deep-well drilling, extreme temperature environment is the fundamental hindrance to the use of microelectronic devices. Developing an advanced technology with robust electrical and material properties dedicated for high-temperature environments represents a significant progress allowing to control and monitor the harsh environment regions. It may avoid using cooling structures while improving the reliability of the whole electronic systems. As a wide bandgap semiconductor, gallium nitride is considered as an ideal candidate for such environments, as well as in high-power and high-frequency applications. We review in this paper the main reasons that offer superiority to GaN devices over better-known technologies such as silicon (Si), silicon-on-insulator, gallium arsenide (GaAs), silicon germanium (SiGe), and silicon carbide (SiC). The theory of operation and main challenges at high temperature are discussed, notably those related to materials and contacts. In addition, the main limitations of GaN, including the technological (thermal and chemical) and intrinsic (current collapse and device self-heating) features are provided. In addition, the GaN devices recently developed for high-temperature applications are examined.