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Silicene, a two-dimensional hexagonal silicon layer, exhibits exceptional electronic and thermoelectric properties. However, its application in semiconductors is hindered by its zeroband gap, which could be overcome by modifying its electronic properties through doping. In this paper, Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations were performed to investigate the band gap opening in silicene by studying the effect of magnesium and sulphur doping on its electronic, structural and thermal properties. Pristine silicene has a lattice constant of 3.86 Å and a zero-band gap. Upon doping with 12.5% S and Mg atoms, the lattice constant modifies to 3.45 Å and 3.93 Å, respectively, resulting in a direct band gap opening. For 25% Mg and S doping, the result shows that Mg and S effectively alter the band structure and the band gap of silicene monolayer at various configurations. The maximum band gap was 0.98 eV and 1.22 eV for Mg and S doping into the meta position to the reference point R, respectively. The power factor significantly increases with doping, reaching 1.20 x 1011 WK-2m-1 and 1.40 x 1011 WK- 2 m-1 for 12.5% Mg and S doping compared to 7.4 x 1010 WK-2m-1 for pristine silicene. This substantial enhancement indicates improved thermoelectric performance, making silicene a promising candidate for thermoelectric applications. Results demonstrate that tuning the band gap through doping can simultaneously enhance the power factor, highlighting the potential of Mg/S-doped silicene for efficient energy harvesting and conversion.

Introduction: Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols have been implemented to decrease opioid use and decrease patient hospital length of stay (LOS, days). Serratus anterior plane (SAP) blocks anesthetize the T2 through T9 dermatomes of the breast and can be applied intraoperatively. The purpose of this study was to compare postoperative opioid (OME) consumption and LOS between a control group, an ERAS group, and an ERAS/local anesthetic cocktail group in patients who underwent implant-based breast reconstruction. Methods: In this study, 142 women who underwent implant-based breast reconstruction between 2004 and 2020 were divided into Group A (46 patients), a historical cohort; Group B (73 patients), an ERAS/no-block control group; and Group C (23 patients), an ERAS/anesthetic cocktail study group. Primary outcomes of interest were postanesthesia care unit (PACU), inpatient and total hospital OME consumption, and PACU LOS. Results: A significant decrease was observed from Group A to C in PACU LOS (103.3 vs. 80.2 vs. 70.5; p = 0.011), OME use (25.1 vs. 11.4 vs. 5.7; p < 0.0001), and total hospital OME (120.3 vs. 95.2 vs. 35.9; p < 0.05). No difference was observed in inpatient OMEs between the three groups (95.2 vs. 83.8 vs. 30.8; p = 0.212). Despite not reaching statistical significance, Group C consumed an average of 50–60 % less opioids per patient than did Group B in PACU, inpatient, and total hospital OMEs. Conclusion: Local anesthetic blocks are important components of ERAS protocols. Our results demonstrate that a combination regional block with a local anesthetic cocktail in an ERAS protocol can decrease opioid consumption in implant-based breast reconstruction.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the death of 7.1 million people worldwide as of 7 July 2024. In Nigeria, the first confirmed case was reported on 27 February 2020, subsequently followed by a nationwide spread of SARS-CoV-2 with morbidity and mortality reaching 267 173 and 3155, respectively, as of 7 July 2024. At the beginning of the pandemic, only a few public health laboratories in Nigeria had the capacity for SARS-CoV-2 molecular diagnosis. The National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI), already experienced in influenza diagnosis, responded to the public health challenge for the diagnosis of COVID-19 samples from humans. The feat was possible through the collective utilisation of NVRI human and material resources, including biosafety facilities, equipment, reagents and consumables donated by international partners and collaborators. Within 6 months of the reported COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria, over 33 000 samples were processed in NVRI facilities covering five states. Thereafter, many field and laboratory projects were jointly implemented between NVRI and collaborating sectors including the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), which brought together professionals in the health, veterinary, education and socio-sciences. In addition, One Health grants were secured to enhance surveillance for coronavirus and other zoonoses and build capacity in genomics. Bio-surveillance for coronaviruses and other emerging zoonotic pathogens at the human–animal interface was activated and continued with sample collection and analysis in the laboratory for coronaviruses, Lassa fever virus and Mpox. One Health approach has shown that inter-sectoral and multinational collaboration for diagnosis, research and development in animals, and the environment to better understand pathogen spillover events at the human–animal interface is an important global health priority and pandemic preparedness.

Abstract Objective In this study, we sought to determine whether faecal shedding occurs among SARS-COV-2 positive Ghanaians, as reported elsewhere. Hence we assayed for SARS-COV-2 in the stools of 48 SARS-COV-2 confirmed patients at the Ho Municipal Hospital in Ghana. Results Of the 48 COVID-19 patients, 45 (93.8%) had positive tests for SARS-CoV-2 faecal shedding. About 60% reported no respiratory symptoms, while only 2% (1 patient) reported gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in the form of nausea. Other symptoms reported included headache (57.9%), weakness (57.9%), cough (52.6%), blocked/runny nose (47.4%), fever (31.6%), sore throat (31.6%), and shortness of breath (21.1%). One person complained of nausea (5.3%) Semi-quantitative comparison of the SARS COV-2 viral loads in matched respiratory and faecal samples using the cycle threshold (CT) values revealed no statistical differences. Furthermore, the duration between collection of respiratory and faecal samples did not have any direct influence on the differences in the CT values. This suggests that treatment and use of sewage for environmental surveillance of SARS COV-2 could be a potential public health countermeasure.

Abstract Background The introduction of auxiliaries such as composite attachment has improved the force delivery of clear aligner (CA) therapy. However, the placement of the attachment may give rise to a flash, defined as excess resin around the attachment which may affect CA force delivery. This in vitro study aims to determine the differences in the force generated by the attachment in the presence or absence of flash in CA. Materials and methods Tristar Trubalance aligner sheets were used to fabricate the CAs. Thirty-four resin models were 3D printed and 17 each, were bonded with ellipsoidal or rectangular attachments on maxillary right central incisors. Fuji Prescale pressure film was used to measure the force generated by the attachment of CA. The images of colour density produced on the films were processed using a calibrated pressure mapping system utilising image processing techniques and topographical force mapping to quantify the force. The force measurement process was repeated after the flash was removed from the attachment using tungsten-carbide bur on a slow-speed handpiece. Results The intraclass correlation coefficient showed excellent reliability (ICC = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.92–0.98). The average mean force exerted by ellipsoidal attachments with flash was 8.05 ± 0.16 N, while 8.11 ± 0.18 N was without flash. As for rectangular attachments, the average mean force with flash was 8.48 ± 0.27 N, while 8.53 ± 0.13 N was without flash. Paired t-test revealed no statistically significant difference in the mean force exerted by CA in the presence or absence of flash for both ellipsoidal (p = 0.07) and rectangular attachments (p = 0.41). Rectangular attachments generated statistically significantly (p 0.05).

Persons living in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) were disproportionately affected by COVID-19. We used wastewater surveillance to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection in this setting by collecting and testing 24-hour composite wastewater samples 2–4 times weekly at 6 LTCFs in Kentucky, USA, during March 2021–February 2022. The LTCFs routinely tested staff and symptomatic and exposed residents for SARS-CoV-2 using rapid antigen tests. Of 780 wastewater samples analyzed, 22% (n = 173) had detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA. The LTCFs reported 161 positive (of 16,905) SARS-CoV-2 clinical tests. The wastewater SARS-CoV-2 signal showed variable correlation with clinical test data; we observed the strongest correlations in the LTCFs with the most positive clinical tests (n = 45 and n = 58). Wastewater surveillance was 48% sensitive and 80% specific in identifying SARS-CoV-2 infections found on clinical testing, which was limited by frequency, coverage, and rapid antigen test performance.

Developing Critical Thinking Skills (CTS) has been a primary educational goal in developed countries for several decades. However, even though Mexico recently embraced this educational trend in higher education, there is uncertainty about CTS development occurring under current conditions. Despite the abundance of quantitative studies examining the impact of higher education on the development of CTS, there is a need to understand the conditions that support these improvements. This qualitative study sought to address this gap by exploring one of the critical factors influencing CTS development, namely, teaching practice, from the students’ perspective. We used inductive methods to analyze data from 42 students (28 females and 14 males (M age = 21.7 years, SD = 2.4) purposefully sampled from Mexican public universities. We collected the data through in-depth interviews. The findings of inductive analysis revealed that students perceived learning experiences as crucial for CTS development. More specifically, students believed that the student-centered approach remained essential for CTS development, whereas the teacher-centered approach was partly perceived as an obstacle to such development. These results indicate that it is imperative for educational institutions in Mexico to re-evaluate and enhance their pedagogical approaches in a timely manner to foster the development of critical thinkers.

The study examined the utilization of sprouted finger millet-maize composite flour in breakfast cereal production, with a focus on its physicochemical, functional, and sensory attributes. The study followed a one factor design in which maize flour (MF) was substituted with sprouted finger millet (SFMF) at varying proportions (0%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, and 90%) to investigate the physicochemical and functional characteristics. The tristimulus colour (L* value), pH, amount of water and oil absorption capacity, proximate composition, emulsion capacity and stability, swelling power and solubility index of composite flour samples were analyzed. Breakfast cereal samples made from composite flour were analyzed for sensory characteristics and tristimulus colour (L* value). Notably, the moisture and ash content of the composite flour samples displayed significant increases (p ≤ 0.05) as the proportion of Sprouted Finger Millet Flour (SFMF) incorporation rose, while carbohydrate and protein contents decreased significantly (p ≤ 0.05). Functional properties demonstrated significant increases (p ≤ 0.05) in the composite flour samples, except for bulk density, which decreased significantly (p ≤ 0.05) with increasing SFMF content. The L* values for the composite flours significantly (p ≤ 0.05) decreased. In sensory evaluations of the breakfast cereal samples, those with 40% and 50% SFMF received the highest overall acceptability, colour, and taste scores (p ≤ 0.05). The findings of this study suggest that nutritious breakfast cereal can be produced using finger millet-maize composite flour, characterized by elevated levels of ash and crude fiber, alongside low carbohydrate and moisture content.

Abstract Ribavirin ampoule formulation remains a major challenge in managing Lassa fever disease. Lassa fever is an endemic viral hemorrhagic fever in the West Africa subregion, which has high-dose ribavirin as the standard of care. The high-dose therapy required makes the 200 mg/ml ampoule dosing of ribavirin a daunting task to administer, especially during disease outbreaks. This commentary highlights the challenges and makes a passionate call for vial dosage adjustment to fit the high-dose requirement of Lassa fever disease.

BackgroundSexual minority cisgender men and transgender (SMMT) individuals, particularly emerging adults (aged 18-34 years), often report hazardous drinking. Given that alcohol use increases the likelihood of HIV risk behaviors, and HIV disproportionately affects SMMT individuals, there is a need to test interventions that reduce hazardous alcohol use and subsequent HIV risk behaviors among this population. Ecological momentary interventions (EMIs), which use mobile phones to deliver risk reduction messages based on current location and behaviors, can help to address triggers that lead to drinking in real time. ObjectiveThis study will test an EMI that uses motivational interviewing (MI), smartphone surveys, mobile breathalyzers, and location tracking to provide real-time messaging that addresses triggers for drinking when SMMT individuals visit locations associated with hazardous alcohol use. In addition, the intervention will deliver harm reduction messaging if individuals report engaging in alcohol use. MethodsWe will conduct a 3-arm randomized controlled trial (N=405 HIV-negative SMMT individuals; n=135, 33% per arm) comparing the following conditions: (1) Tracking and Reducing Alcohol Consumption (a smartphone-delivered 4-session MI intervention), (2) Tracking and Reducing Alcohol Consumption and Environmental Risk (an EMI combining MI with real-time messaging based on geographic locations that are triggers to drinking), and (3) a smartphone-based alcohol monitoring–only control group. Breathalyzer results and daily self-reports will be used to assess the primary and secondary outcomes of drinking days, drinks per drinking day, binge drinking episodes, and HIV risk behaviors. Additional assessments at baseline, 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months will evaluate exploratory long-term outcomes. ResultsThe study is part of a 5-year research project funded in August 2022 by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The first 1.5 years of the study will be dedicated to planning and development activities, including formative research, app design and testing, and message design and testing. The subsequent 3.5 years will see the study complete participant recruitment, data collection, analyses, report writing, and dissemination. We expect to complete all study data collection in or before January 2027. ConclusionsThis study will provide novel evidence about the relative efficacy of using a smartphone-delivered MI intervention and real-time messaging to address triggers for hazardous alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors. The EMI approach, which incorporates location-based preventive messaging and behavior surveys, may help to better understand the complexity of daily stressors among SMMT individuals and their impact on hazardous alcohol use and HIV risk behaviors. The tailoring of this intervention toward SMMT individuals helps to address their underrepresentation in existing alcohol use research and will be promising for informing where structural alcohol use prevention and treatment interventions are needed to support SMMT individuals. Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT05576350; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05576350 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)PRR1-10.2196/55166

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Contingency management (CM) procedures yield measurable reductions in cocaine use. This poster describes a trial aimed at using CM as a vehicle to show the biopsychosocial health benefits of reduced use, rather than total abstinence, the currently accepted metric for treatment efficacy. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: In this 12-week, randomized controlled trial, CM was used to reduce cocaine use and evaluate associated improvements in cardiovascular, immune, and psychosocial well-being. Adults aged 18 and older who sought treatment for cocaine use (N=127) were randomized into three groups in a 1:1:1 ratio: High Value ($55) or Low Value ($13) CM incentives for cocaine-negative urine samples or a non-contingent control group. They completed outpatient sessions three days per week across the 12-week intervention period, totaling 36 clinic visits and four post-treatment follow-up visits. During each visit, participants provided observed urine samples and completed several assays of biopsychosocial health. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Preliminary findings from generalized linear mixed effect modeling demonstrate the feasibility of the CM platform. Abstinence rates from cocaine use were significantly greater in the High Value group (47% negative; OR = 2.80; p = 0.01) relative to the Low Value (23% negative) and Control groups (24% negative;). In the planned primary analysis, the level of cocaine use reduction based on cocaine-negative urine samples will serve as the primary predictor of cardiovascular (e.g., endothelin-1 levels), immune (e.g., IL-10 levels) and psychosocial (e.g., Addiction Severity Index) outcomes using results from the fitted models. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: This research will advance the field by prospectively and comprehensively demonstrating the beneficial effects of reduced cocaine use. These outcomes can, in turn, support the adoption of reduced cocaine use as a viable alternative endpoint in cocaine treatment trials.

ABSTRACT Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is associated with low bone and muscle mass, increased fracture risk, and impaired skeletal muscle function. Myostatin, a myokine that is systemically elevated in humans with T1D, negatively regulates muscle mass and bone formation. We investigated whether pharmacologic myostatin inhibition in a mouse model of insulin‐deficient, streptozotocin (STZ)‐induced diabetes is protective for bone and skeletal muscle. DBA/2J male mice were injected with low‐dose STZ (diabetic) or vehicle (non‐diabetic). Subsequently, insulin or palmitate Linbits were implanted and myostatin (REGN647‐MyoAb) or control (REGN1945‐ConAb) antibody was administered for 8 weeks. Body composition and contractile muscle function were assessed in vivo. Systemic myostatin, P1NP, CTX‐I, and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) were quantified, and gastrocnemii were weighed and analyzed for muscle fiber composition and gene expression of selected genes. Cortical and trabecular parameters were analyzed (micro‐computed tomography evaluations of femur) and cortical bone strength was assessed (three‐point bending test of femur diaphysis). In diabetic mice, the combination of insulin/MyoAb treatment resulted in significantly higher lean mass and gastrocnemius weight compared with MyoAb or insulin treatment alone. Similarly, higher raw torque was observed in skeletal muscle of insulin/MyoAb‐treated diabetic mice compared with MyoAb or insulin treatment. Additionally, muscle fiber cross‐sectional area (CSA) was lower with diabetes and the combination treatment with insulin/MyoAb significantly improved CSA in type II fibers. Insulin, MyoAb, or insulin/MyoAb treatment improved several parameters of trabecular architecture (eg, bone volume fraction [BV/TV], trabecular connectivity density [Conn.D]) and cortical structure (eg, cortical bone area [Ct. Ar.], minimum moment of inertia [Imin]) in diabetic mice. Lastly, cortical bone biomechanical properties (stiffness and yield force) were also improved with insulin or MyoAb treatment. In conclusion, pharmacologic myostatin inhibition is beneficial for muscle mass, muscle function, and bone properties in this mouse model of T1D and its effects are both independent and additive to the positive effects of insulin. © 2023 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Infectious diseases are responsible for illness, deaths and economic losses in human and animals. The situation is worse in developing countries with limited resources, poor infrastructures and technology necessary for disease prevention and control. Consequently, causative agents of diseases may emerge from animal reservoirs and are transmitted from animals to human as zoonoses or sustained human-to-human transmission may occur. About 60% of infectious diseases are zoonotic and over 75% of emerging and re-emerging diseases in human are acquired from animal hosts. Globally and in Nigeria, zoonotic diseases previously controlled such as yellow fever, Orthopoxvirus (monkey pox virus), Lassa fever, anthrax etc. are re-emerging and new ones like Avian influenza, Ebola, and respiratory coronaviruses (SARS, MERS and 2019-nCoV) are emerging. In addition, the transboundary nature and inter-continental introductions of many of these pathogens threaten the national economy and public health. Other zoonotic diseases like rabies, brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis are intractable due in part to negligence. Hence, the burden of zoonotic diseases in Nigeria is high and unabated despite available preventive vaccination for a disease like rabies. Some of these important zoonoses are discussed in detail in this paper with emphasis on effective control through the application of modern technology for surveillance, early and accurate diagnosis, biosecurity and preventive vaccination. These tools are however insufficiently deployed in Nigeria. It is therefore imperative to prioritise public health policies with focus on research, development and innovations for better impact on human and animal health with sequelae on national transformation.

BackgroundWastewater surveillance provided early indication of COVID-19 in US municipalities. Residents of long-term care facilities (LTCFs) experienced disproportionate morbidity and mortality early in the COVID-19 pandemic. We implemented LTCF building-level wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 at 6 facilities in Kentucky to provide early warning of SARS-CoV-2 in populations considered vulnerable. ObjectiveThis study aims to evaluate the performance of wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 at LTCFs in Kentucky. MethodsWe conducted a mixed methods evaluation of wastewater surveillance following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for evaluating public health surveillance systems. Evaluation steps in the CDC guidelines were engaging stakeholders, describing the surveillance system, focusing the evaluation design, gathering credible evidence, and generating conclusions and recommendations. We purposively recruited stakeholders for semistructured interviews and undertook thematic content analysis of interview data. We integrated wastewater, clinical testing, and process data to characterize or calculate 7 surveillance system performance attributes (simplicity, flexibility, data quality, sensitivity and positive predictive value [PPV], timeliness, representativeness, and stability). ResultsWe conducted 8 stakeholder interviews. The surveillance system collected wastewater samples (N=811) 2 to 4 times weekly at 6 LTCFs in Kentucky from March 2021 to February 2022. Synthesis of credible evidence indicated variable surveillance performance. Regarding simplicity, surveillance implementation required moderate human resource and technical capacity. Regarding flexibility, the system efficiently adjusted surveillance frequency and demonstrated the ability to detect additional pathogens of interest. Regarding data quality, software identified errors in wastewater sample metadata entry (110/3120, 3.53% of fields), technicians identified polymerase chain reaction data issues (140/7734, 1.81% of reactions), and staff entered all data corrections into a log. Regarding sensitivity and PPV, using routine LTCF SARS-CoV-2 clinical testing results as the gold standard, a wastewater SARS-CoV-2 signal of >0 RNA copies/mL was 30.6% (95% CI 24.4%-36.8%) sensitive and 79.7% (95% CI 76.4%-82.9%) specific for a positive clinical test at the LTCF. The PPV of the wastewater signal was 34.8% (95% CI 27.9%-41.7%) at >0 RNA copies/mL and increased to 75% (95% CI 60%-90%) at >250 copies/mL. Regarding timeliness, stakeholders received surveillance data 24 to 72 hours after sample collection, with delayed reporting because of the lack of weekend laboratory staff. Regarding representativeness, stakeholders identified challenges delineating the population contributing to LTCF wastewater because of visitors, unknown staff toileting habits, and the use of adult briefs by some residents preventing their waste from entering the sewer system. Regarding stability, the reoccurring cost to conduct 1 day of wastewater surveillance at 1 facility was approximately US $144.50, which included transportation, labor, and materials expenses. ConclusionsThe LTCF wastewater surveillance system demonstrated mixed performance per CDC criteria. Stakeholders found surveillance feasible and expressed optimism regarding its potential while also recognizing challenges in interpreting and acting on surveillance data.

Edible oils from Canarium schweinfurthii pulp, Balanites aegyptiaca seeds, Sesamum indicum seeds, and Cocos nucifera nuts were assessed for their physicochemical properties and fatty acids profiles using standard methods and GC-MS respectively. The physicochemical properties of the oils were as follows: 1.021 ± 0.36-1.029 ± 0.66 Kg/m3 for relative density, 140.25 ± 5.61-155.68 ± 1.34 mg KOH/g for saponification value, 1.45 ± 0.08-1.47 ± 0.35 for refractive index, 7.00 ±0.36-19.00 ± 1.64 mEq/kg for peroxide value, 0.75 ± 0.84-2.72 ± 1.26 mg KOH/g for acid value, and 39.97 ± 0.07-96.44 ± 2.53 mg I2/g for iodine value. The fatty acids composition revealed that C. schweinfurthii pulp, B. aegyptiaca seed, S. indicum seed, and C. nucifera nut oils contain 80.92%, 66.44%, 68.32%, and 24% of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), 7.89%, 18.44%, 21.84% and 6.50% of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and 11.18%, 15.15%, 10.19% and 69.49% of saturated fatty acids respectively. The results illustrated the abundance of unsaturated fatty acids compounds in C. schweinfurthii pulp, B. aegyptiaca seed, and S. indicum seed oils while C. nucifera nut oil contained more saturated fatty acid compounds. A good number of fatty acids have skin permeation potentiality, and this is derived from their chemical structure, these oils show great multiplicity in their fatty acids’ composition depending on the plant species, and upon further processing can be employed for diverse industrial and pharmaceutical applications.

The construction projects are hardly completed on schedule and budget, and poor claims and dispute management are among the factors responsible for this performance issue. Critical claims in construction remain unresolved by negotiation and understanding between the parties but end up in advanced dispute resolution techniques. Quantity Surveyors are experts in contract administrations and are involved in all the stages of the construction projects, have not been given adequate attention in construction claim management studies. This study assesses the perception of Quantity Surveyors on the Critical claims and their impact on construction project delivery in Nigeria. The snow sampling technique was used to administer the structured questionnaire. With a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of over 0.80, the gathered data were analysed using mean score analysis and the Mann-Whitney H test. It was found that the critical claims in construction are payment-related claims (mean=4.92; SD=0.2780), contractual claims (mean=4.55; SD=0.8837), change claims (mean=4.54; SD=0.8423), extra work claims (mean=4.43; SD=0.9974), delay claims (mean=4.36; SD=1.1683), and different site condition claims (mean=4.36; SD=1.0826). Also, the major impacts of claims in construction project delivery are delays in project completion cost overrun, poor quality of work, the adversarial relationship among parties, loss of profits, and loss of job opportunities. Effective contract administration and management are central to claim management and events capable of causing drawbacks to the progress of the work should be avoided by the contracted parties

Background: The cumulative socioeconomic status (SES) model posits that childhood and adult experiences accumulate to influence disease risk. While individual SES indicators such as education and income are independently associated with incident type 2 diabetes (T2D), the association of cumulative SES and incident T2D is unclear, especially in African American adults. Methods: We utilized cohort data of African American participants (n = 3681, mean age 52.6 years) enrolled in the Jackson Heart Study from 2000 to 2013 free of T2D or cardiovascular disease at baseline (2000–2004). Cumulative SES scores at baseline were derived using six SES indicators (education, wealth, income, occupation, employment status, and mother's education) categorized as low, middle, and high. Incident T2D was defined at exam 2 (2005–2008) or exam 3 (2009–2013) based on fasting glucose ≥126 mg/dL, HbA1c ≥ 6.5, reported diabetic medication use, or self-reported physician diagnosis. Proportional hazards regression, allowing for interval censoring, was used to estimate the association between cumulative SES and incident T2D (hazard ratio(HR), 95% confidence interval (CI)) after adjustment for covariates. Sex and age differences were tested using interaction terms. Results: There were 544 incident T2D cases. The association between low (versus high) cumulative SES and incident T2D was not significant (HR 1.04 [95% CI 0.85, 1.28]) and did not differ by sex (p value for interaction>0.05). However, there were differences by (age p value for interaction = 0.0052 for middle-aged adults and 0.0186 for older adults). Low (versus high) cumulative SES was associated a greater hazard of incident T2D among those 20–46 years (HR 1.12 [95% CI 1.03, 1.21]), 47–59 years (HR 1.25 [95% CI 1.06, 1.47]) and those 60–93 years (HR 1.39 [95% CI 1.09, 1.78]) after adjustment for sex and family history of diabetes. Associations attenuated after adding behavioral and lifestyle risk factors. Conclusion: The association of low cumulative SES and incident T2D differed by age, which may suggest interventionist should consider impacts of SES on T2D by age.

Summary: Here, we describe a fast and cost-effective procedure to generate a large array of mutant proteins and immediately screen for those with altered protein function. This protocol is a modification from three existing approaches: fusion PCR, Saccharomyces cerevisiae in-yeast recombination, and semi-quantitative growth assays. We also describe a mating step to reduce the occurrence of false positive findings due to ectopic mutations. The only requirement is that the protein elicits a phenotype in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. : Publisher’s note: Undertaking any experimental protocol requires adherence to local institutional guidelines for laboratory safety and ethics.

In this genomic epidemiology study from Ghana, the authors sequence ~1,000 SARS-CoV-2 whole genomes from March 2020 to September 2021. They describe changes in the predominant circulating lineages over time and infer how variants of concern were likely introduced into the country.

This work examines a mathematical model of COVID-19 among two subgroups: low-risk and high-risk populations with two preventive measures; non-pharmaceutical interventions including wearing masks, maintaining social distance, and washing hands regularly by the low-risk group. In addition to the interventions mentioned above, high-risk individuals must take extra precaution measures, including telework, avoiding social gathering or public places, etc. to reduce the transmission. Those with underlying chronic diseases and the elderly (ages 60 and above) were classified as high-risk individuals and the rest as low-risk individuals. The parameter values used in this study were estimated using the available data from the Johns Hopkins University on COVID-19 for Brazil and South Africa. We evaluated the effective reproduction number for the two countries and observed how the various parameters affected the effective reproduction number. We also performed numerical simulations and analysis of the model. Susceptible and infectious populations for both low-risk and high-risk individuals were studied in detail. Results were displayed in both graphical and table forms to show the dynamics of each country being studied. We observed that non-pharmaceutical interventions by high-risk individuals significantly reduce infections among only high-risk individuals. In contrast, non-pharmaceutical interventions by low-risk individuals have a significant reduction in infections in both subgroups. Therefore, low-risk individuals’ preventive actions have a considerable effect on reducing infections, even among high-risk individuals.

The impact of weld heat input on the mechanical characteristics of this steel was investigated in this study. The weld sample was an ASTM A304 grade A Flat Bar with a thickness of 5.00 millimetres. With the use of a data logger, a K-type thermocouple was installed in the drilled holes to measure the temperature fields at each of the places throughout the welding operation. The welding sample was created by varying three process parameters in the MIG welding process. Welding current, weld passes, and point of interest thermocouple position away from the weld centreline are the parameters. The experiment was designed using Taguchi's L9 orthogonal array to limit the number of experimental runs (DOE). To study the influence of weld heat input, the samples were subjected to mechanical and microstructure testing. The hardness test revealed that when the weld pass on the weld zone, HAZ, and base metal increases, the hardness value falls. The tensile test finding indicated that the tensile strength of samples 80A and 100A rises as the weld pass increases, however sample 60A decreases as the weld pass increases. The impact resistance increased when the weld pass was increased, according to the findings of the impact tests. The distance away from the weld centreline of the region subjected to a certain peak temperature increases as weld heat input increases, according to the weld thermal cycle. The value of the temperature fields increases dramatically as the heat source passes through the specific cross-section, where thermocouples are positioned. Later on, the temperature begins to drop at a slower rate. It's also obvious that when the distance between the measurement point and the weld centreline grows, the temperature drops.

Plain carbon steel is the cheapest and most readily available metal in Nigeria for agri-tech processing equipment. It is used for its low cost and ease of access. They are, however, vulnerable to corrosion due to their use in a corrosive medium, such as fluid extracted from cassava tubers. The corrosion resistance of heat-treated mild steel and Chromium-plated mild steels used as tools in the cassava processing environment was investigated in this study. The untimely failure of this material while in service is caused by malignant ions found in food and raw farm products, which attack the steel components, causing gradual failure of the processing machinery. According to the findings of this study, annealed mild steel materials, whether coated or uncoated, are preferred. The study results revealed that the control annealed mild steel sample has the lowest corrosion rate of 0.027 mm/yr, while the corrosion rates of the heat-treated hardened, normalized, and tempered samples increase by 0.054, 0.067, and 0.10 mm/yr, respectively. The effect of coating time on the amount of chromium deposition was reflected in chromium-plated heat-treated samples that were heat-treated for 10 to 20 minutes at 5 minutes intervals. The corrosion rate was lowest in annealed chromium-plated samples, with an average grain size of 118.46 um and a corrosion rate of 0.04 mm/yr. According to the findings of this study, annealed mild steel materials, whether coated or uncoated, are preferable for use in the cassava processing operation.

Periodontal disease (PD) is prevalent in type 2 diabetic condition (T2DM). Objectives: We assessed the associations between serum or gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) endothelial and inflammatory mediators and chronic PD among T2DM Hispanic adults. Methods: We enrolled 248 Puerto Rican residents with T2DM aged 40–65 years. The exposures included serum inflammatory mediators (IL-1b, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α), endothelial adhesion molecules, RANKL levels, and the GCF content of these analytes from a subset of 158 samples. The outcomes included the percent of sites with a probing pocket depth (PPD) ≥ 4 mm and clinical attachment loss ≥ 4 mm. Adjusted logistic regression models were fit to the categorized outcomes. Results: Increased serum IL-10 (Adj. OR: 1.10, p = 0.04), sICAM-1 (Adj. OR: 1.01; p = 0.06), and elevated serum IL-1β (Adj. OR: 1.93; p = 0.06) were statistically significant or close to being significantly associated with a percent of sites with PPD ≥ 4 mm. An increase in GCF IL-1α (Adj. OR: 1.16; p < 0.01) and IL-1β (Adj: 2.40; p = 0.02) was associated with periodontal parameters. Conclusions: Our findings suggested that oral and systemic endothelial and inflammatory mediators are associated with periodontal clinical parameters among Hispanic adults with T2DM.

Orthodontic clear aligners, along with their attachments, are used for the corrective alignment of teeth during orthodontic treatment. Although the clear aligner technique has gained widespread popularity due to its aesthetic quality, studies that examine and map the measurement of forces applied to clear aligner attachments are lacking. This investigation describes the topographical visualisation of the force in clear aligner attachments. We describe a method using Prescale® pressure film and an image processing technique to obtain the topographical visualisation of a clear aligner’s distributed force on the attachment in an in-vitro study using resin models. The variation of colour density due to the distributed force is calibrated with a force gauge for validation. The image processing technique is demonstrated through the histogram-based K-means clustering method with 3D visualisation of the distributed force. This method involves pressure film calibration, followed by sample preparation and image processing analysis. The proposed topographical pressure mapping system illustrates the distributed force on the clear aligner attachment as the force applied is directly proportional to intensit. For active aligners, the mean force ranged from 6.2–6.3 N, and for passive aligners, the mean force ranged from 4.8–4.9 N. Therefore, the net force exerted on a single clear aligner attachment in a resin model for this study was 1.3–1.4 N. The preliminary findings of this work can be developed further to be a reference in future clinical orthodontic clear aligner and attachment research.

Background. Health resources are key determinants of healthcare coverage. Community members who utilise healthcare have significant insights into the availability of health resources in providing healthcare. Aim. This study sought to explore community (health committee) members’ perspectives on health resource gaps in lower-level health facilities in the municipality. Methods. The qualitative descriptive study explored the perspectives of community members who served on the health committee. Thirty-four community health committee members at community-based health planning and services (CHPS) compounds, maternity-unit CHPS, and health centres were studied. Results. The study found three high-level categories of resource gaps deemed relevant to community members—infrastructural gaps, equipment gaps, and safety-quality gaps. Conclusion and Recommendation. There are perceived gaps in health resources from the community members’ perspective. It is recommended that the Lawra Municipal Health Directorate and other health directorates with similar health resource challenges take steps to fill health resource gaps to ensure universal health coverage.

Background: Parents’ communication with their adolescents on sexual and reproductive health essentially decreases adolescent perilous sexual conduct. Available evidence supports a strong relationship between parents’ attitude and their communication with adolescents on sexual and reproductive issues. Aims: This study assessed the attitude of parents towards sexual and reproductive health communication with their adolescents in the Wa West District. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 420 respondents. A multistage sampling technique was used to select study respondents. Data were collected employing trained research assistants using a structured questionnaire and analysed with IBM SPSS version 25. Results: The majority (96.2%) of the respondents had a positive attitude towards adolescent sexual and reproductive health communication There was a significant relationship between the sex of respondents and attitude toward sexual and reproductive health (SRH) communication with adolescents (P

Conservation of trees which belong to renewable natural resources in developing countries through judicious utilization in building industry has been seriously left unattended to over the years. The utilization of this unprocessed wealth materials which could serve as one of the alternative constituents in construction materials is now a global concern. Therefore, the needs to investigate the strength and water sorption property of wood waste as a partial replacing material in brick production for building construction arise. Sawdust, sand and cement were mixed together at three different mixing ratios of 1 : 1 : 1, 1 : 1 : 2 and 1 : 1 : 3. The brick samples were replicated three times and subjected to water absorption, density and compressive strength tests. The results show that the effect of the equal volume of sand and sawdust with a subsequent increase in the cement portion at each mixing ratio level gave compact bricks without sudden fracture, reduced unit weight of bricks and subsequent lower water sorption properties of the bricks. The bricks show potentials to be used for wall partitioning. The introduction of sawdust also serves as partial sand replacement in concrete brick making.

Welding as an energy-consuming process is inevitable as-welded joint can be subject to various loads without failure. Therefore, this paper presents the welding thermal cycle of Cr-Mo steel bar (ASTM A304) of dimensions 100 by 50 and various thicknesses of 5, 10- and 15-mm. Pure tungsten with 2% thoriated TIG electrodes sizes 1.6 mm X 175 mm, 2.4 mm X 175 mm, and 3.2 mm X 175 were used without filler materials for the welding process. A double V-groove weld joint, with a moving heat source, was employed to determine the temperature fields and transformation in the single-pass butt-welded joint. A calibration process was attached at each point of interest using a datalogger type K-type thermocouple 3-channel–LU-MTM-380SD during the welding process on the Cr-Mo steel bar. The results showed that the welding temperature became higher at the welding centreline and decreased towards the edges of the bar. An indication that a weld thermal cycle is a veritable tool, a function of heat input to access likely consequence of the welding process at both welded and parent metal portions of steel bar. Design of Experiment using Taguchi L9 orthogonal array matrix L9(3^4), Factors:4 and Runs:18 in Minitab 17 Taguchi Design Method that suited the experimental method used. Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array to restrict the number of experimental runs was used for the design of the experiment (DOE). Mechanical and Microstructure tests were carried out on the samples to investigate the effect of weld heat input. The hardness test result showed that samples C15 and D15 have the highest hardness values 165.0HV and 164.0HV respectively at Base metal (BM) 20mm away from weld centreline and it was also observed that samples C15 and D15 have the highest impact values 48.53J and 48.7J respectively. The microstructure of the C15 at the weld zone WZ, which consists majorly of pearlite and less ferrite, BM shows the appearance of alpha ferrite and pearlite and heat-affected zone HAZ consists majorly of pearlite and a very small proportion of ferrite resulted in increased hardness and impact values at the HAZ.

Speculative design, as a diverse set of methods that aim to offer critique, can be challenging to engage productively. In this design case, we share how a prior, stalled design project--an ambitious vision of interdisciplinary design education partnered with business and housing development projects in Santa Fe, New Mexico--provided compelling precedent as we sought to reframe during the COVID-19 pandemic. We recognized that solution-focused ways of working in the prior project left the design problem undefined. As we began the design work detailed in this case, we leveraged the perspectives and design knowledge of our interdisciplinary team of faculty and students. While design cases often emphasize the designed training or program, we focus on our reframing process, sharing vignettes as we prepared to and participated in activities at a design workshop, and then used our own design practices to engage in problem framing workshops. In sharing these accounts, we characterize the pandemic as a trickster and speculative co-designer, who revealed much about how our efforts were entangled with institutional structures. Across these punctuated vignettes of design work, we highlight how an initial broad problem frame invited this trickster to participate and how the application of problem framing tools wrested framing agency from the trickster. Collectively, this anchored our attention to systemic inequities in ways that troubled notions of sustainability.

Construction projects in especially developing countries are characterised by failure to meet project baselines (time, cost, quality). This is worsened by the inefficiencies in the application of contractors' selection criteria during the bidding processes of both civil and building construction projects. The application of contactor section criteria and their benefits in civil engineering projects is an area that is underexplored in construction management literature in the Nigerian context. This study aims to assess the major criteria influencing the selection of contractors on civil engineering construction projects and to determine the impacts of the contractor selection criteria. A well-structured quantitative research questionnaire was purposively administered to experienced construction experts in both clients and consultants organisations to gather data. The gathered data were analysed using frequency, percentage, relative Importance index (RII), Severity index (RI) and Mann-Whitney Test. It was found that the major criteria that are considered during contractors’ selection in civil engineering construction projects are; managerial capability and competent supervisory staff, technical ability, financial soundness, competitive tender/bid price, and health and safety policy/performance. Also, the major benefits of contractors selection criteria in civil engineering construction projects are; enable the client or project owner to select contractors who are performers for the project, facilitate the achievement of project success and the objectives within the scheduled time and cost, to minimise project risks, maximize overall value to the project owner or client, and selection of contractor with sound financial management capabilities. The study recommended that clients and consultants should adopt the major criteria in the selection of suitable contractors for civil engineering construction projects.