Chemically Cross-Linked Polysaccharide-Based Hydrogels via Thiol-Norbornene Reaction as Sustainable Biomaterials

Hydrogels are 3D polymeric networks with high water content and are widely being investigated for biomedical applications such as tissue engineering. Polysaccharides have been used to fabricate hydrogels due to their natural abundance, biocompatibility, and immunogeniety. Additionally, polysaccharide-based hydrogels can provide mechanical and biological cues similar to those of the natural environments. In this work, thiol-norbornene chemistry was used to fabricate polysaccharide-based hydrogels including hyaluronic acid (HA), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), and cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs). Hydrogels with tunable physical and mechanical properties were achieved. The properties of these hydrogels were spatiotemporally modified by photopatterning. Also, high stem cell viability was achieved when cells were encapsulated in these hydrogels

Sour Milk: Women and the Hindu Nationalist Movement in India

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College

DA’WAH IN SOUTH AFRICA: Its Link to Governance and Democracy

The present article constitutes an update on the findings of earlier researchers. Its strong point lies in its interrogation of issues by employing social science theories of power in addition to theories of religion at appropriate places. In the process, triumphs and problems relating to da‘wah are revealed. There is also the incongruity between the commitments demanded by Islam and the existential truth of Muslims. This applies particularly to governance and democracy issues. Despite shortcomings, da‘wah continues apace. Possible solutions to these problems are presented at the end of this article.

Role of Cardiolipin Content and Acyl Chain Composition in Mitochondrial-Mimicking Monolayers

Cardiolipin (CL) is a mitochondrial phospholipid that plays a fundamental role in maintaining inner membrane (IMM) structure-function. In several metabolic diseases, CL is shown to undergo alterations in content and acyl chain composition, though there is still debate as to which alteration is the major contributor to pathology. Therefore, this study distinguished the roles of CL content and acyl chain composition on influencing IMM biophysical organization. We utilized Langmuir monolayers to study lipid packing properties of CL, from which we conducted secondary analyses on membrane properties such as elasticity, thermodynamics of mixing, and miscibility. Our data demonstrated that a decrease in CL content and extreme acyl chain remodeling impaired biophysical properties of mitochondrial-mimicking monolayers. However, modest acyl chain remodeling did not have a significant impact on these properties. These findings are crucial for the better design of CL-specific, mitochondrial-targeted therapeutics for metabolic diseases.Bachelor of Science in Public Healt

Building the Islamic moral self: Sufi Abed’s Bustan Fatimah ma‘a Bustan ‘A’ishah

Sufi Abed Mian Usmani (1898-1945) of Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, authored some ten religious books in Urdu and Gujerati, which appeared to have a considerable impact on the local community there, as well as more broadly for South African Muslims of Indian descent, and even for some Muslims of India. However, apart from two academic contributions, his work and legacy remain largely unexplored. This essay aims to build upon those contributions by analysing another of his hitherto unexamined Urdu works, namely, Bustan Fatimah ma' Bustan 'A'ishah (The garden of Fatimahwith the garden of 'A'ishah). It argues that these two works, when seen as a totality, seek to build the moral self

Exploring the potential of ChatGPT as a supplementary tool for providing orthopaedic information

Purpose: To investigate the potential use of large language models (LLMs) in orthopaedics by presenting queries pertinent to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery to generative pre-trained transformer (ChatGPT, specifically using its GPT-4 model of March 14th 2023). Additionally, this study aimed to evaluate the depth of the LLM’s knowledge and investigate its adaptability to different user groups. It was hypothesized that the ChatGPT would be able to adapt to different target groups due to its strong language understanding and processing capabilities. Methods: ChatGPT was presented with 20 questions and response was requested for two distinct target audiences: patients and non-orthopaedic medical doctors. Two board-certified orthopaedic sports medicine surgeons and two expert orthopaedic sports medicine surgeons independently evaluated the responses generated by ChatGPT. Mean correctness, completeness, and adaptability to the target audiences (patients and non-orthopaedic medical doctors) were determined. A three-point response scale facilitated nuanced assessment. Results: ChatGPT exhibited fair accuracy, with average correctness scores of 1.69 and 1.66 (on a scale from 0, incorrect, 1, partially correct, to 2, correct) for patients and medical doctors, respectively. Three of the 20 questions (15.0%) were deemed incorrect by any of the four orthopaedic sports medicine surgeon assessors. Moreover, overall completeness was calculated to be 1.51 and 1.64 for patients and medical doctors, respectively, while overall adaptiveness was determined to be 1.75 and 1.73 for patients and doctors, respectively. Conclusion: Overall, ChatGPT was successful in generating correct responses in approximately 65% of the cases related to ACL surgery. The findings of this study imply that LLMs offer potential as a supplementary tool for acquiring orthopaedic knowledge. However, although ChatGPT can provide guidance and effectively adapt to diverse target audiences, it cannot supplant the expertise of orthopaedic sports medicine surgeons in diagnostic and treatment planning endeavours due to its limited understanding of orthopaedic domains and its potential for erroneous responses. Level of evidence: V

Docosahexaenoic acid regulates the formation of lipid rafts: A unified view from experiment and simulation

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6) is an n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) that influences immunological, metabolic, and neurological responses through complex mechanisms. One structural mechanism by which DHA exerts its biological effects is through its ability to modify the physical organization of plasma membrane signaling assemblies known as sphingomyelin/cholesterol (SM/chol)-enriched lipid rafts. Here we studied how DHA acyl chains esterified in the sn-2 position of phosphatidylcholine (PC) regulate the formation of raft and non-raft domains in mixtures with SM and chol on differing size scales. Coarse grained molecular dynamics simulations showed that 1-palmitoyl-2-docosahexaenoylphosphatylcholine (PDPC) enhances segregation into domains more than the monounsaturated control, 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (POPC). Solid state 2H NMR and neutron scattering experiments provided direct experimental evidence that substituting PDPC for POPC increases the size of raft-like domains on the nanoscale. Confocal imaging of giant unilamellar vesicles with a non-raft fluorescent probe revealed that POPC had no influence on phase separation in the presence of SM/chol whereas PDPC drove strong domain segregation. Finally, monolayer compression studies suggest that PDPC increases lipid-lipid immiscibility in the presence of SM/chol compared to POPC. Collectively, the data across model systems provide compelling support for the emerging model that DHA acyl chains of PC lipids tune the size of lipid rafts, which has potential implications for signaling networks that rely on the compartmentalization of proteins within and outside of rafts

Assistência à mulher com depressão pós-parto na atenção primária: uma revisão integrativa

A depressão pós-parto é uma doença de etiologia multifatorial, envolvendo alterações emocionais, cognitivas, comportamentais e físicas, levando assim ao surgimento de sinais e sintomas como cansaço, tristeza, culpa, irritabilidade, sensibilidade e insatisfação ao desempenhar o papel de mãe. Identificar na literatura científica, a assistência à mulher com depressão pós-parto na atenção primária. Trata-se de uma revisão integrativa da literatura, realizada nos periódicos publicados na Biblioteca Virtual de Saúde (BVS) e na base de dados PUBMED. A busca de dados foi construída a partir de descritores controlados e do operador booleano "AND", utilizando os seguintes descritores: “Saúde da mulher”, “Depressão Pós-Parto”, “Atenção Primária”, nos idiomas inglês e português, no período de 2018 a 2022. A pesquisa conciliou 28 estudos para análise e após verificação minuciosa, 7 artigos estão dentro dos critérios de inclusão dessa pesquisa. A depressão pós-parto é uma doença que exige tratamento e acompanhamento de uma equipe multiprofissional capacitada, sendo importante a detecção de forma precoce, tornando-se o tratamento eficaz, evitando dessa forma o agravamento no período puerperal

ESTÁS EN LA SINTONÍA DE LA GOZADERA: EN VIVO DESDE CUMBIAYORK, EL MOVIMIENTO SONIDERO DEL FUTURO

For 30 years, New York\u27s sonideros have been making noise on the central avenues of the city\u27s Mexican and Latino ecosystems. The movement, made up of the sonidero (translated literally as soundman ), his assistants, promoters, fans and dancers, has created a subculture that for a long time defined the relationship between the migrant and his native home in Mexico. Thirty years later, I explore how the movement has evolved, the traits that have distinguished it from the Mexican sonidero movement, and how it continues to flourish under a new generation of deejays

Israel is an apartheid state

Abstract: According to the Convention, Apartheid was understood as “inhuman acts” that were practiced “for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them.