| 1. |
- Klassen, Anne F., et al.
(författare)
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Psychometric findings and normative values for the CLEFT-Q based on 2434 children and young adult patients with cleft lip and/or palate from 12 countries
- 2018
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Ingår i: CMAJ. - : CMA Joule Inc.. - 0820-3946. ; 190:15, s. 455-462
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Patients with cleft lip and/or palate can undergo numerous procedures to improve appearance, speech, dentition and hearing. We developed a cleft-specific patientreported outcome instrument to facilitate rigorous international measurement and benchmarking. METHODS: Data were collected from patients aged 8-29 years with cleft lip and/or palate at 30 hospitals in 12 countries between October 2014 and November 2016. Rasch measurement theory analysis was used to refine the scales and to examine reliability and validity. Normative CLEFT-Q values were computed for age, sex and cleft type. RESULTS: Analysis led to the refinement of an eating and drinking checklist and 12 scales measuring appearance (of the face, nose, nostrils, teeth, lips, jaws and cleft lip scar), health-related quality of life (psychological, social, school, speech distress) and speech function. All scales met the requirements of the Rasch model. Analysis to explore differential item functioning by age, sex and country provided evidence to support the use of a common scoring algorithm for each scale for international use. Lower (worse) scores on CLEFT-Q scales were associated with having a speech problem, being unhappy with facial appearance, and needing future cleft-related treatments, providing evidence of construct validity. Normative values for age, sex and cleft type showed poorer outcomes associated with older age, female sex and having a visible cleft. INTERPRETATION: The CLEFT-Q represents a rigorously developed instrument that can be used internationally to collect and compare evidence-based outcomes data from patients aged 8-29 years of age with cleft lip and/or palate.
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| 2. |
- Kumar, Rohan, et al.
(författare)
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Transforming the transportation sector : Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions through electric vehicles (EVs) and exploring sustainable pathways
- 2024
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Ingår i: AIP Advances. - : American Institute of Physics (AIP). - 2158-3226. ; 14:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Transportation-related emissions in Pakistan have been rapidly increasing in recent years. This study aims to determine how important it is to electrify road transportation in Pakistan to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transportation sector. Motivated by the need to tackle the growing environmental issues related to conventional fuel-powered automobiles, this research explores the application of electrification techniques in the context of Pakistan’s transportation system. During the 2019 fiscal year, the transportation industry in Pakistan consumed 23 × 106 tonnes of energy from the burning of fossil fuels and produced 52.9 × 106 metric tons of CO2, which made up 31% of the country’s total carbon emissions. In this research, different scenarios, such as business as usual, low carbon, strengthen low carbon, and Pakistan National Electric Vehicle Policy 2040, are evaluated for the transportation sector of the country. Using the LEAP model, this study projects the effects of electrification on Pakistan road transportation over 30 years. When estimating how electrification will affect road transportation in Pakistan over the next 30 years, several factors were taken into account, including policy frameworks, changing consumer behavior, technology advancements, and infrastructure improvements. The analysis covered the emission levels, adoption hurdles, and possible advantages of transitioning to electric vehicles (EVs). The outcomes illustrate that adopting EVs can produce substantial drops in fuel consumption and environmental emissions, providing a sustainable solution to mitigate global warming. This work is directly associated with various Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG3 (good health and well-being), SDG7 (affordable and clean energy), and SDG13 (climate action). The results of this study highlight the considerable potential for GHG reduction associated with the widespread adoption of EVs, offering crucial insights to stakeholders and policymakers.
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| 3. |
- Nawaz, Saima, et al.
(författare)
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Polyaniline inside the pores of high surface area mesoporous silicon as composite electrode material for supercapacitors
- 2022
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Ingår i: RSC Advances. - : ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY. - 2046-2069. ; 12:27, s. 17228-17236
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mesoporous silicon (mSi) obtained by the magnesiothermic reduction of mesoporous silica was used to deposit polyaniline (PANI) in its pores, the composite was tested for its charge storage application for high performance supercapacitor electrodes. The mesoporous silica as confirmed by Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) has a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of 724 m(2)g(-1) and mean pore size of 5 nm. After magnesiothermic reduction to mSi, the BET surface area is reduced to 348 m(2)g(-1) but the mesoporousity is retained with a mean pore size of 10 nm. The BET surface area of mesoporous silicon is among the highest for porous silicon prepared/reduced from silica. In situ polymerization of PANI inside the pores of mSi was achieved by controlling the polymerization conditions. As a supercapacitor electrode, the mSi-PANI composite exhibits better charge storage performance as compared to pure PANI and mesoporous silica-PANI composite electrodes. Enhanced electrochemical performance of the mSi-PANI composite is attributed to the high surface mesoporous morphology of mSi with a network structure containing abundant mesopores enwrapped by an electrochemically permeable polyaniline matrix.
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| 4. |
- Ramachandraiah, Harisha, et al.
(författare)
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Dean flow-coupled inertial focusing in curved channels
- 2014
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Ingår i: Biomicrofluidics. - : AIP Publishing. - 1932-1058. ; 8:3, s. 034117-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Passive particle focusing based on inertial microfluidics was recently introduced as a high-throughput alternative to active focusing methods that require an external force field to manipulate particles. In inertial microfluidics, dominant inertial forces cause particles to move across streamlines and occupy equilibrium positions along the faces of walls in flows through straight micro channels. In this study, we systematically analyzed the addition of secondary Dean forces by introducing curvature and show how randomly distributed particles entering a simple u-shaped curved channel are focused to a fixed lateral position exiting the curvature. We found the lateral particle focusing position to be fixed and largely independent of radius of curvature and whether particles entering the curvature are pre-focused (at equilibrium) or randomly distributed. Unlike focusing in straight channels, where focusing typically is limited to channel cross-sections in the range of particle size to create single focusing point, we report here particle focusing in a large cross-section area (channel aspect ratio 1: 10). Furthermore, we describe a simple u-shaped curved channel, with single inlet and four outlets, for filtration applications. We demonstrate continuous focusing and filtration of 10 mu m particles (with > 90% filtration efficiency) from a suspension mixture at throughputs several orders of magnitude higher than flow through straight channels (volume flow rate of 4.25ml/min). Finally, as an example of high throughput cell processing application, white blood cells were continuously processed with a filtration efficiency of 78% with maintained high viability. We expect the study will aid in the fundamental understanding of flow through curved channels and open the door for the development of a whole set of bio-analytical applications.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Asim, M, et al.
(författare)
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Synthetic lethality between androgen receptor signalling and the PARP pathway in prostate cancer
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 8:1, s. 374-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Emerging data demonstrate homologous recombination (HR) defects in castration-resistant prostate cancers, rendering these tumours sensitive to PARP inhibition. Here we demonstrate a direct requirement for the androgen receptor (AR) to maintain HR gene expression and HR activity in prostate cancer. We show that PARP-mediated repair pathways are upregulated in prostate cancer following androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT). Furthermore, upregulation of PARP activity is essential for the survival of prostate cancer cells and we demonstrate a synthetic lethality between ADT and PARP inhibition in vivo. Our data suggest that ADT can functionally impair HR prior to the development of castration resistance and that, this potentially could be exploited therapeutically using PARP inhibitors in combination with androgen-deprivation therapy upfront in advanced or high-risk prostate cancer.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Qureshi, Tayyab, et al.
(författare)
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Structural and thermal investigation of lignocellulosic biomass conversion for enhancing sustainable imperative in progressive organic refinery paradigm for waste-to-energy applications
- 2024
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Ingår i: Environmental Research. - : Elsevier. - 0013-9351 .- 1096-0953. ; 246
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The depletion of finite fossil fuel reserves and the severe environmental degradation resulting from human activities have compelled the expeditious development and application of sustainable waste to energy technologies. To encapsulate energy and environment in sustainability paradigm, bio waste based energy production is need to be forged in organic bio refinery setup. According to world bioenergy association, biomass can cover 50 % of the primary energy demand of the world. Therefore, the present study focuses on reforming the energy mix for a clean energy generation, where, sample composition of cotton stalk was acidified in dilute (5% wt.) hydrochloric acid (HCL) for analyzing material burnout patterns in biomass conversion systems utilized in organic bio refinery sector. Advanced thermochemical burning technique, which includes pyrolysis and combustion was applied at four different leaching times from 0 to 180 min under nitrogen environment from 0 degrees C to 500 degrees C and air from 500 degrees C to 900 degrees C, respectively. Different analyses including proximate, ultimate, gross calorific value (GCV), thermos-gravimetric, kinetic, XRD, FTIR, SEM-EDS were used for analyzing the degradation of demineralized cotton stalk at different treatment rates. Proximate study demonstrated that cotton stalk leaching for 180 min has efficiently infused HCL, leading in a significant increase in fixed carbon and higher heating value of 20.23 % and 12.48%, respectively, as well as a reduction in carbon footprint of around 54.80%. The findings of proximate was validated by GCV analysis and CHNS analysis as value of carbon and hydrogen has shown increasing behavior with the time delay in demineralization Thermo-gravimetric and derivative thermo-gravimetric data analyses shows an increasing trend of conversion efficiency, with the maximum increase of 98 % reported for sample 3H. TT.DEM. XRD characterization has reported 23 degrees to 25 degrees angle for all the observed peaks. Sample 3H.TT.DEM has shown maximum angle inclination along with matured crystalline peak. The latter observations has been validated by FTIR spectroscopy as sample 3H.TT.DEM has reported maximum O-H group formation. Sample 3H.TT. DEM has reported lowest activation energy of 139.51 kJ*mole-1 and lowest reactivity of 0.000293649%*min 0C, due to moderate and stable reactiveness. In SEM examination, increment in pore size and number of pores within the structural matrix of cotton stalk was observed with the enhancement in acidulation process. Furthermore, in EDS analysis, 3H.TT.DEM has shown most balanced distribution of the elements. In this research, sustainable transformation of biomass is envisioned to improve the waste bio refinery system, significantly contributing to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 7, 12 and 13.
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| 9. |
- Rehman, Shafiqur, et al.
(författare)
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Study of Limit Concentrations of DBDS and Sulfur Mercaptan in Power Transformers
- 2016
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Ingår i: 2016 IEEE ELECTRICAL INSULATION CONFERENCE (EIC). - : IEEE conference proceedings. - 9781467387064 ; , s. 37-39
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The study presents the results of experimental investigation of finding out the limit concentrations of DBDS and sulfur mercaptan for safe and prolonged operation of power transformers in the local environmental conditions of Saudi Arabia. For experimental investigation of limit concentrations of DBDS and sulfur mercaptan, new oil free of sulfur compounds was acquired. Four specimens of this were spiked with 2.2, 3.9, 5.4 and 10.2 ppm of DBDS and another four with free sulfur mercaptan RSH concentrations of 0.00, 0.52, 1.07, 2.13, and 7.10 ppm. The covered conductor deposition (CCD) tests were performed in accordance with IEC 62535 method on all the specimens. The experimental results indicated that the concentration of DBDS should always be <5 ppm and sulfur mercaptan <1 ppm in the new oils before putting in to the service.
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| 10. |
- Sadia, Aatika, et al.
(författare)
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Calcium complexes of oxicams: new dimensions in rheumatoid arthritis treatment
- 2022
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Ingår i: Future Medicinal Chemistry. - : FUTURE SCI LTD. - 1756-8919 .- 1756-8927. ; 14:23, s. 1771-1788
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Various metals have been complexed with drugs to improve their cellular impact. Inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are characterized by unbalanced production of proinflammatory cytokines (PICs) and prostaglandins with decreased levels of vitamin D and calcium. The inflammation can be suppressed through targeting the formation of PICs or related enzymes by various treatment strategies that involve the use of corticosteroids, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and NSAIDs. We present a detailed review on the impact of calcium complexes of oxicams as an advanced treatment strategy for RA. The calcium complexes demonstrate promising capabilities to cure the disease, improve the strength of bones and suppress PICs in RA.
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