A comprehensive evaluation of physical and environmental performances for wet-white leather manufacture

This paper presents the comprehensive evaluation results of physical and environmental performances for a novel wet-white (chrome-free) leather manufacturing. The tanning process is optimized as 15 wt% tannic acid (TA) combination with 4 wt% Laponite nanoclay, giving the leather with shrinkage temperature (Ts) above 86 °C. Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) measurements indicate that Laponite can be evenly and tightly bound within the leather matrix, which is further confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) spectroscopy analysis. The resultant wet-white leathers have reasonable good physical properties that can meet the standard requirements for furniture leather without containing hazardous Cr(VI) and formaldehyde. Further life cycle assessment (LCA) studies shows that tanning process is the main contributor to environmental impact categories in the wet-white tanning process, and tannic acid is the most significant substance factor. Compared to conventional chrome tanning, the wet-white tanning process exhibits much lower abiotic depletion potential (ADP), and reduced global warming potential (GWP) and human toxicity potential (HTP) impacts due to the nature of vegetable tanning; whereas, GWP excluding biogenic carbon and energy consumption are higher owing to prolonged run time.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Migration of dissolved organic carbon in biochars and biochar‑mineral complexes

The objective of this work was to determine the contribution of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from a biochar mineral complex (BMC), so as to better understand the interactions between DOC, biochar, clay, and minerals during thermal treatment, and the effects of BMC on amended soils. The BMC was prepared by heating a mixture of a H3PO4‑treated saligna biochar from Acacia saligna, clays, other minerals, and chicken manure. The BMC was applied to a sandy loam soil in Western Australia, where wheat was grown. Liquid chromatography‑organic carbon detection (LC‑OCD) tests were carried out on water extracts from the untreated biochar, the BMC, the BMC‑amended soil, and on a control soil to measure the DOC concentration. LC‑OCD tests provide a fingerprint of the DOC, which allows the fractions of DOC to be determined. Thermal processing enhanced the reaction of the A. saligna biochar with manure, clays and minerals, and affected the distribution of the DOC fractions. Notably, the process leads to immobilization of hydrophobic DOC and to an increase in the concentration of low‑molecular‑weight neutrals in the BMC. The application of the BMC to soil increases the DOC in the amended soil, especially the biopolymer fraction.The objective of this work was to determine the contribution of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from a biochar mineral complex (BMC), so as to better understand the interactions between DOC, biochar, clay, and minerals during thermal treatment, and the effects of BMC on amended soils. The BMC was prepared by heating a mixture of a H3PO4‑treated saligna biochar from Acacia saligna, clays, other minerals, and chicken manure. The BMC was applied to a sandy loam soil in Western Australia, where wheat was grown. Liquid chromatography‑organic carbon detection (LC‑OCD) tests were carried out on water extracts from the untreated biochar, the BMC, the BMC‑amended soil, and on a control soil to measure the DOC concentration. LC‑OCD tests provide a fingerprint of the DOC, which allows the fractions of DOC to be determined. Thermal processing enhanced the reaction of the A. saligna biochar with manure, clays and minerals, and affected the distribution of the DOC fractions. Notably, the process leads to immobilization of hydrophobic DOC and to an increase in the concentration of low‑molecular‑weight neutrals in the BMC. The application of the BMC to soil increases the DOC in the amended soil, especially the biopolymer fraction

Orbital Metastases from Breast Cancer with BRCA2 Mutation: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women in the United States. Of these women, 5-10% have an inherited form of breast cancer with a mutation in a major gene, such as the breast cancer susceptibility genes 1 or 2 (BRCA1 or BRCA2). Triple negative (the most common subtype of BRCA1-associated breast cancers) and Her2-positive breast cancer patients have more frequently been observed to develop central nervous system (CNS) metastases compared to other molecular subtypes of breast cancers. However, it remains an open question if BRCA2-associated breast cancers also have a higher propensity to develop CNS metastases. Here we report a rare case of recurrent BRCA2-associated breast cancer which manifested as orbital metastases. At the time of this publication, this is one of the first cases of BRCA2-associated breast cancer to present with orbital metastases. In this article, we discuss the diagnostic challenges and review the literature regarding this rare presentation

PENERAPAN APLIKASI QUIZIZZ DALAM PEMBELAJARAN

Pengabdian kepada masyarakat ini dilaksanakan di SMA Bakti Idhata Jakarta pada tahun 2022. Merupakan pengalaman yang luar biasa bagi saya untuk dapat membantu masyarakat dan memberi kembali dalam beberapa hal. Orang-orang di sana sangat ramah dan menyambut, dan secara keseluruhan itu adalah pengalaman hebat. Kegiatan ini dirancang untuk 15 guru. Tujuan dari kegiatan ini adalah untuk membantu siswa menemukan materi pembelajaran yang menarik dan menarik, sehingga dapat lebih memahami materi yang diajarkan dalam pembelajaran jarak jauh selama masa pandemi. Hal ini juga akan membantu memotivasi guru dan siswa untuk terus belajar selama new normal. SMA BAKTI Idhata bertujuan untuk mengurangi permasalahan yang dialami guru dengan menerapkan Quizizz sebagai media pembelajaran. Ini akan memberi guru cara yang lebih efektif untuk melakukan kuis dan menilai pemahaman siswa mereka. Quizizz mempromosikan kolaborasi, komunikasi, dan interaksi antar siswa melalui kuis. Ini adalah alat pembelajaran yang menarik dan interaktif yang dapat membantu siswa belajar lebih efektif. Secara keseluruhan kegiatan pengabdian kepada masyarakat bagi guru di SMA Bakti Idhata dapat dikatakan baik. Hal ini didasarkan pada tiga faktor yaitu jumlah peserta yang memenuhi target, pencapaian tujuan penyuluhan, dan kemampuan peserta dalam menguasai materi penyuluhan. Aplikasi Quizizz diharapkan dapat membantu siswa meningkatkan hasil belajar matematikanya. Media ini memiliki tampilan yang menarik perhatian siswa dan memotivasi mereka untuk mengerjakan berbagai soal yang diberikan oleh guru. Layar menampilkan skor siswa secara real-time, sehingga siswa dapat melihat urutan skor mereka. Hal ini membuat siswa antusias mengerjakan soal-soal yang diberikan oleh guru

The mental health impact of multiple deprivations under protracted conflict: a multilevel study in the occupied Palestinian territory

Building on the literatures examining the impacts of deprivation and war and conflict on mental health, this study investigates the impact of different forms of deprivation on mental health within a context of prolonged conflict in the occupied Palestinian territory(oPt). The study uses data from the Socio-Economic & Food Security Survey 2014 conducted by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, with an analytical sample of 7827 households in the West Bank(WB) and Gaza Strip(GS). The analysis is conducted for the combined sample, and for the WB and GS separately. The General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ12) score is our main outcome measure of poor mental health. The main predictor variables are various measures of deprivation (including subjective deprivation, material deprivation, food deprivation, and political deprivation), acute political, health, and economic shocks, and background socio-demographic characteristics. The results indicate significant variance at the locality level. We find significant positive associations between poor mental health and subjective, economic, political, and food deprivation; health, economic, and political stressors; age, and being a woman. Individuals who indicated that they felt somewhat or very deprived have significantly higher GHQ scores than individuals who indicated that they did not feel deprived (β=1·69 and 4·23 for those who felt deprived and who did not feel deprived, respectively, p<0·0001). Food consumption was inversely associated with GHQ score (β=−0·01, p<0·0001) and food insecurity was positively associated with GHQ score (β=0·19, p<0·0001). Health-related, political, and economic stressors were significantly positively associated with GHQ scores (β=1.36, 0·52, 0·23, and 0·19 respectively, p<0·0001). Age (β=0·089, p<0·0001) and being a woman were positively associated with GHQ score (β=0·25, p=<0.001), whereas education beyond secondary school level was inversely associated with GHQ score (β=−0·58, p<0·0001). The community effect suggests that spatial characteristics are influencing mental health, and warrant further investigation

Benign Metastasizing Leiomyoma to the Lung and Spine: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Benign metastasizing leiomyomas (BML) represent a rare phenomenon consisting of the extra-uterine spread of smooth muscle cells with similar histological, immunological, and molecular patterns to those of benign uterine leiomyomas. They are considered benign based off their low mitotic activity, lack of anaplasia or necrosis, and limited vascularization. This condition represents an interesting diagnostic and treatment challenge based on their rarity and indolent nature. Our case represents a unique finding of BML in the thoracic spine in a postmenopausal woman many years after hysterectomy and partial oophorectomy. There are currently no standard guidelines for treatment of BML, given the rare nature of this condition, with most patients treated with a combination of surgical resection and radiotherapy, followed by hormonal treatment and radiological surveillance serving as the primary backbone of current management plans. Given that these patients present a unique clinical challenge in terms of diagnosis and management, it is important to delineate and further examine these rare entities

Decreased perforin and granzyme B expression in senescent HIV-1-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes

AbstractCytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) senescence may be an important mechanism of immune failure in HIV-1 infection. We find that senescence of HIV-1-specific CTL clones causes loss of killing activity, preventable by transduction with telomerase. Furthermore, senescence is associated with reduced expression of the effector molecules granzyme and perforin, suggesting CTL “exhaustion” can result in hypofunction. These results agree with other studies showing that HIV-1-specific CTL exhibit abnormal phenotypes in vivo, and suggest the possibility that chronic turnover is an important mechanism of antiviral failure in HIV-1 infection

MethylC-analyzer: A comprehensive downstream pipeline for the analysis of genome-wide DNA methylation

DNA methylation is a crucial epigenetic modification involved in multiple biological processes and diseases. Current approaches for measuring genome-wide DNA methylation via bisulfite sequencing (BS-seq) include whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS), reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS), and enzymatic methyl-seq (EM-seq). The computational analysis tools available for BS-seq data include customized aligners for mapping bisulfite-converted reads and computational pipelines for downstream data analysis. Current post-alignment methylation tools are specialized for the interpretation of CG methylation, which is known to dominate mammalian genomes, however, non-CG methylation (CHG and CHH, where H refers to A, C, or T) is commonly observed in plants and fungi and is closely associated with gene regulation, transposon silencing, and plant development. Thus, we have developed a MethylC-analyzer to analyze and visualize post-alignment WGBS, RRBS, and EM-seq data focusing on CG. The tool is able to also analyze non-CG sites to enhance deciphering genomes of plants and fungi. By processing aligned data and gene location files, MethylC-analyzer generates a genome-wide view of methylation levels and methylation in user-specified genomic regions. The meta-plot, for example, allows the investigation of DNA methylation within specific genomic elements. Moreover, our tool identifies differentially methylated regions (DMRs) and investigates the enrichment of genomic features associated with variable methylation. MethylC-analyzer functionality is not limited to specific genomes, and we demonstrated its performance on both plant and human BS-seq data. MethylC-analyzer is a Python- and R-based program designed to perform comprehensive downstream analyses of methylation data, providing an intuitive analysis platform for scientists unfamiliar with DNA methylation analysis. It is available as either a standalone version for command-line uses or a graphical user interface (GUI) and is publicly accessible at https://github.com/RitataLU/MethylC-analyzer