Experts’ Views on Behaviour Change Techniques for Smoking Cessation in Pregnancy: A Qualitative Study

Smoking during pregnancy is a global health problem which has devastating health implications. Behavioural support is an important part of smoking cessation support for pregnant women. Research has identified barriers and facilitators (B&Fs) and effective behaviour change techniques (BCTs) to aid women’s quit attempts. However, the extent to which and how these BCTs are used in practice is unclear. The research aims to establish experts’ views on how behavioural support can be optimised and techniques operationalised in clinical practice, by identifying ways to address known B&Fs to smoking cessation in pregnancy. A focus group discussion took place with six experts which highlighted how BCTs can be used in practice to support women in their quit attempt. A thematic analysis was conducted to elicit overarching themes. Five themes were found: involving the family, empowering women, using incentives to boost motivation, using practical techniques to help women with their quit attempt and managing expectations about nicotine replacement therapy. Empowering women to make their own decisions and encouraging small positive changes in smoking habits, using visual aids (e.g. growth charts) to inform women of harms of smoking to the baby and treating families holistically were deemed important

L'accumulation des métaux lourds au niveau des cultures : Cas des cultures maraîchères du bassin de Sebou au Maroc

Le Bassin de Sebou présente une importance socio-économique pour le Maroc. En effet, il est sujet de diverses utilisations ; eau potable, eau d’irrigation et eau industrielle. Toutefois, ce bassin subit des pressions multiples, notamment par la pollution métallique. Considérant le risque de bioaccumulation des métaux par les cultures, base de la chaîne  alimentaire, cette étude a été conduite pour évaluer la charge métallique au niveau dudit Bassin. Elle a porté sur les trois supports; eau d’irrigation, sols agricoles et cultures maraîchères dont les graines (blé, mais), fruits (courgette), feuilles (laitue) et racines (navet). C’est ainsi que ces échantillons ont été prélevés durant la période 2006-2010 et les sept éléments métalliques Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb et Zn ont été analysés par ICP. Les résultats obtenus ont révélé des concentrations faibles à moyennes dépassant parfois les normes requises notamment pour le Cr et le Cd. L’origine possible de cette charge métallique peut être les rejets urbains et particulièrement industriels, notamment ceux des activités artisanales outre l’activité agricole intense et ses pratiques inappropriées.Mots-clés : bassin de Sebou, pollution métallique, métaux lourds, cultures maraîchères

In silico evaluation of antiviral activity of flavone derivatives and commercial drugs against SARS-CoV-2 main protease (3CLpro).

In this paper the in silco evaluation of the antiviaral activity against the current spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome novel coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) of several anti-viral components such as Chloroquine, Simeprevir, Lopinavir and a series of five natural and synthesized flavone derivative was investigated.Results of the molecular docking revealed that among of the five flavones studied and Chloroquine, Simeprevir and Lopinavir, three compounds correlate with a high affinity for the same binding sites with the major protein 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro) and a small negative binding energy compared with the control N3 molecule in protein 6LU7 and the control WK1 molecule in protein 2OP9. This may disrupt the 3CLpro main protease function and efficiency

Directing human attention with pointing

© 2014 IEEE. Pointing is a typical means of directing a human's attention to a specific object or event. Robot pointing behaviours that direct the attention of humans are critical for human-robot interaction, communication and collaboration. In this paper, we describe an experiment undertaken to investigate human comprehension of a humanoid robot's pointing behaviour. We programmed a NAO robot to point to markers on a large screen and asked untrained human subjects to identify the target of the robots pointing gesture. We found that humans are able to identify robot pointing gestures. Human subjects achieved higher levels of comprehension when the robot pointed at objects closer to the gesturing arm and when they stood behind the robot. In addition, we found that subjects performance improved with each assessment task. These new results can be used to guide the design of effective robot pointing behaviours that enable more effective robot to human communication and improve human-robot collaborative performance

Deciphering the SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant: Antiviral Compound Efficacy by Molecular Docking, ADMET, and Dynamics Studies

This research was conducted to discover potential antiviral compounds effective against the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 through computational screening methods. Our investigation encompassed nine established antiviral medications—Ritonavir, Remdesivir, Lopinavir, Ivermectin, Favipiravir, Ribavirin, Clofoctol, Chlorpromazine, and Artemisinin—and a flavone derivative, 2-(4-((6-hydroxyhexyl)oxy)phenyl)-4H-chroman-4-one (4c). These compounds were evaluated for their binding affinity to the Delta variant’s spike protein and their stability within the complex. We also examined their ADMET profiles and pharmacokinetic properties. he study found that all compounds exhibited strong binding to key amino acid residues within the spike protein’s active site, potentially inhibiting the enzyme’s function. Binding energy values ranged from -3.966 to -6.392 kcal/mol for the for the known drugs, with the flavone derivative exhibiting the highest binding affinity of -7.895 kcal/mol and an optimal ADMET profile. Molecular dynamics simulations further confirmed the stability of the 4c-spike protein complex. Our results indicate that the flavone derivative 4c is a promising lead for the development of novel antiviral therapies targeting the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2

Molecular analysis of the TMPRSS3 gene in Moroccan families with non-syndromic hearing loss

Autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing impairment (ARNSHI) is the most common type of inherited hearing impairment, accounting for approximately 80% of inherited prelingual hearing impairment. Hearing loss is noted to be both phenotypically and genetically heterogeneous. Mutations in the TMPRSS3 gene, which encodes a transmembrane serine protease, are known to cause autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing impairment DFNB8/10. In order to elucidate if the TMPRSS3 gene is responsible for ARNSHI in 80 Moroccan families with non-syndromic hearing impairment, the gene was sequenced using DNA samples from these families. Nineteen TMPRSS3 variants were found, nine are located in the exons among which six are missense and three are synonymous. The 10 remaining variations are located in non-coding regions. Missense variants analysis show that they do not have a significant pathogenic effect on protein while pathogenicity of some variant remains under discussion. Thus we show that the TMPRSS3 gene is not a major contributor to non-syndromic deafness in the Moroccan population

Nanocellulose fibers: A Review of Preparation Methods, Characterization Techniques, and Reinforcement Applications

Cellulose, which occurs naturally in abundance, has the benefit of being the most widely used biomass material on a global scale. It is generated from natural fibers and can be processed to produce various types of nanocellulose fibers, each with its hierarchical configuration. This review summarizes current advances in the production of nanocellulose particles, focusing on the analytical techniques most widely used for their preparation, extraction, and characterization. These techniques include FT-IR, TGA, FESEM, and XRD. The review also demonstrates that research into nanocellulose fibers has progressed exponentially over the last decade (over 400 references). Many manufacturing techniques have been developed to use nanofibers in multiple applications as advanced sustainable materials. The presented data will reinforce the applications of nanocellulose fibers for various purposes

Fast b-tagging at the high-level trigger of the ATLAS experiment in LHC Run 3

The ATLAS experiment relies on real-time hadronic jet reconstruction and b-tagging to record fully hadronic events containing b-jets. These algorithms require track reconstruction, which is computationally expensive and could overwhelm the high-level-trigger farm, even at the reduced event rate that passes the ATLAS first stage hardware-based trigger. In LHC Run 3, ATLAS has mitigated these computational demands by introducing a fast neural-network-based b-tagger, which acts as a low-precision filter using input from hadronic jets and tracks. It runs after a hardware trigger and before the remaining high-level-trigger reconstruction. This design relies on the negligible cost of neural-network inference as compared to track reconstruction, and the cost reduction from limiting tracking to specific regions of the detector. In the case of Standard Model HH → bb̅bb̅, a key signature relying on b-jet triggers, the filter lowers the input rate to the remaining high-level trigger by a factor of five at the small cost of reducing the overall signal efficiency by roughly 2%

Existence of global strong solutions in critical spaces for barotropic viscous fluids

This paper is dedicated to the study of viscous compressible barotropic fluids in dimension $N\geq2$. We address the question of the global existence of strong solutions for initial data close from a constant state having critical Besov regularity. In a first time, this article show the recent results of \cite{CD} and \cite{CMZ} with a new proof. Our result relies on a new a priori estimate for the velocity, where we introduce a new structure to \textit{kill} the coupling between the density and the velocity as in \cite{H2}. We study so a new variable that we call effective velocity. In a second time we improve the results of \cite{CD} and \cite{CMZ} by adding some regularity on the initial data in particular $\rho_{0}$ is in $H^{1}$. In this case we obtain global strong solutions for a class of large initial data on the density and the velocity which in particular improve the results of D. Hoff in \cite{5H4}. We conclude by generalizing these results for general viscosity coefficients