408 research outputs found
Diagnostic challenges leading to underdiagnosis of dissociative disorders
No full textMuhammad Aadil,1 Maria Shoaib2 1Department of Psychiatry, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA; 2Department of medicine, Dow Medical College, Karachi, PakistanWe read the article “Is the Dissociative Experiences Scale able to identify detachment and compartmentalization symptoms? Factor structure of the Dissociative Experiences Scale in a large sample of psychiatric and nonpsychiatric subjects” by Mazzotti et al with great interest and would like to add our views in its support.1View the original paper by Mazzotti and colleagues
Future Foods in the Face of Hunger and Surplus: From Sustainable Production to Responsible Consumption
No full textMillimeter-wave enabled PAM-4 data transmission over hybrid FSO-MMPOF link for access networks
No full textIn this paper, we propose a full duplex architecture based on a hybrid link composed of free space optics (FSO) and multimode plastic optical fiber (MMPOF) for short range wireless access networks. The proposed architecture employs mode group division multiplexing (MGDM) and wavelength reuse techniques to transmit data between central unit (CU) and radio access units (RAUs). An optical frequency comb source to generate multiple optical sidebands is realized by using a single laser source to provide 60 GHz millimeter-wave (mm-wave) signals at each RAU by simultaneously transmitting PAM-4 signal on linearly polarized (LP) modes of each optical sideband. Data rate of 2x12 Gbps at mm-wave frequency of 60 GHz is achieved for both downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmissions. The transmission of 2x12 Gbps PAM-4 signal over hybrid FSO-MMPOF link is investigated at different values of refractive index structure parameter (C^2_n ) by employing log-normal (LN) FSO channel model to support three RAUs in a ring topology. The acceptable receiver sensitivities below -5 dBm and -0.6 dBm for DL and UL transmissions are achieved, respectively. The proposed hybrid architecture can be a potential candidate for future communication networks
Unexplored relationship of sleep disturbances linked to suicidal ideation and behavior in postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome
No full textMuhammad Nabeel Shafqat,1 Muhammad Aadil,2 Maria Shoaib31Department of Medicine, University of Medical Sciences “Serafin Ruiz de Zarate” Villa Clara (UCMVC), Villa Clara, Cuba; 2Department of Psychiatry, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA; 3Department of Medicine, Dow Medical College, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, PakistanWe read with great interest the currently published article written by Pederson and Brook1 entitled “Sleep disturbance linked to suicidal ideation in postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome”. Awareness of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) has increased in recent years. However, sleep disturbance has not been thoroughly investigated as a cause of increased suicidal risk in patients with POTS. We would like to applaud the authors on conducting this novel cross-sectional study to understand and highlight the potential relationship between sleep disturbances and increased risk of suicide in patients suffering from POTS.1View the original paper by Pederson and Brook
Linearly polarised modes enabled PAM-4 data transmission over few-mode fibre for data centre interconnect
No full textThis Letter proposes a high data rate optical transmission system for data centre interconnects, where the authors employ vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL) and graded index few-mode fibre (GI-FMF) having modal bandwidth of around 24.3 GHz.km to enhance the link capacity and range. Additionally, they consider PAM-4 modulated data transmission at the rate of 2×100 Gbps using a pair of VCSELs and employing mode group division multiplexing of two linearly polarised (LP) modes LP01 and LP11 of the GI-FMF. Digital signal processing techniques are applied at the receiver to process the received PAM-4 signals for equalisation in order to mitigate the channel impairments. Furthermore, standard OM3 and OM4 fibres are considered as a benchmark to compare the transmission performance of the designed GI-FMF. They observe that the designed GIFMF supports longer transmission distance for both LP01 and LP11 modes upto 900 and 450 m at 50 and 100 Gbps data rates, respectively, while achieving lower receiver sensitivities for forward error correction limit of 3.8 × 10-3. The proposed optical transmission system can be a potential applicant in future data centre networks supporting transmission rates in 800 Gbps to 1.6 Tbps range.</p
"Medical students" burn out – need of student mentor and support groups and emotional resilience skills training to be a part of medical school curriculum
No full textMaria Shoaib,1 Anoshia Afzal,1 Muhammad Aadil,2 1Department of Medicine, Dow Medical College, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan; 2Department of Psychiatry, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA We would like to applaud the authors of the article “Potential predictors of psychological distress and well-being in medical students: a cross-sectional pilot study” for conducting a cross-sectional pilot study to understand the predictors of psychological distress and well-being and for assessing their extent using latest scales that have not been extensively used for this purpose before.1 We would like to add some views in its support. View the original paper by Bore and colleagues. 
Recent Advances in the Production of Exopolysaccharide (EPS) from Lactobacillus spp. and Its Application in the Food Industry: A Review
No full textExopolysaccharide (EPS) show remarkable properties in various food applications. In this review paper, EPS composition, structural characterization, biosynthesis pathways, and recent advancements in the context of application of EPS-producing Lactobacillus spp. in different food industries are discussed. Various chemical and physical properties of Lactobacillus EPS, such as the structural, rheological, and shelf-life enhancement of different food products, are mentioned. Moreover, EPSs play a characteristic role in starter culture techniques, yogurt production, immunomodulation, and potential prebiotics. It has been seen that the wastes of fermented and non-fermented products are used as biological food for EPS extraction. The main capabilities of probiotics are the use of EPS for technological properties such as texture and flavor enhancement, juiciness, and water holding capacities of specific food products. For these reasons, EPSs are used in functional and fermented food products to enhance the healthy activity of the human digestive system as well as for the benefit of the food industry to lower product damage and increase consumer demand. Additionally, some pseudocereals such as amaranth and quinoa that produce EPS also play an important role in improving the organoleptic properties of food-grade products. In conclusion, more attention should be given to sustainable extraction techniques of LAB EPS to enhance structural and functional use in the developmental process of food products to meet consumer preferences
High-power lithium-ion battery characterization dataset for stochastic battery modeling
No full textHigh-power lithium-ion battery (LIB) applications, such as electric racing cars and electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircrafts, are growing rapidly. Degradation in LIBs such as lithium plating, particle cracking, and SEI breakdown is accelerated at high C-rate at different temperatures and depth-of-discharges (DOD); however, high-power cells are designed to better withstand these operating conditions as compared to high-energy cells. Despite this, publicly available datasets of high-power batteries are limited. In this work, we present a characterization dataset of 12 high-power NMC cells which includes capacity tests, high C-rate pulse tests, and impedance tests, all of which are conducted at temperature set points of 5 °C, 25 °C, and 40 °C. Additionally, the dataset captures cell-to-cell variations, enabling the development of stochastic battery models that account for parameter uncertainty and its impact on the cell terminal voltage
Suicidal and homicidal tendencies after Lyme disease: an ignored problem
No full textAitzaz Munir,1 Muhammad Aadil,2 Ahmad Rehan Khan3 1Department of Psychiatry, Howard University, Washington, DC, USA; 2Department of Psychiatry, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA; 3Department of Psychiatry, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, USA We would like to applaud the author for conducting such an important study by performing a comprehensive assessment of suicide and its association with Lyme-associated diseases (LADs).1 It is the first study of its kind, and it raises a need for further investigation on this subject. Suicide is a major health care issue in the USA, contributing to almost 42,773 deaths in the USA in 2014.2 There is no data available specific to suicide associated with LAD. Dr Bransfield inferred the possible prevalence of suicide associated with LAD by an indirect method which revealed that 414,540 patients with LAD have suicidal ideation, 31,100 attempt suicide and a total of 1,244 commit suicide in the USA per year from LAD.1,2 View the original paper by Bransfield. 
Agronomic response of sunflower subjected to biochar and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi application under drought conditions
No full textThere is growing interest in developing environment-friendly farming practices that can limit the impact of drought stress in agriculture. The main objective of this study was to investigate the combined effects of biochar and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on the agronomic responses of sunflower. Field experiments were conducted in the 2018 and 2019 growing seasons in semi-arid environments of Iran. The following treatments were adopted: i) three levels of biochar [0, 2.5 and 5 t ha–1 of biochar called Bl, Bm and Bh, respectively]; and ii) three irrigation levels (50, 30 and 10% of the maximum available water (MAW) called 50MAW, 30MAW and 10MAW, respectively)]; iii) two levels of AMF inoculation (with and without the addition of AMF called +AMF and –AMF, respectively). The experimental design was a randomized complete block design. At flowering, the leaf area index (LAI) was generally higher in the plants subjected to Bh-+AMF (on average 4.95), even if the LAI values changed according to biochar application (Bh > Bm > Bl) and the level of irrigation (50MAW > 30MAW > 10MAW). At harvesting, sunflower seed yield was highest in +AMF and in Bh (on average 53.9 and 51.2 g plants–1, respectively). Sunflower plants subjected to Bh-+AMF showed the highest seed yield under all irrigation levels (79.4, 57.1 and 32.3 g plant–1 in 50MAW, 30MAW and 10MAW, respectively). The application of biochar combined with AMF resulted in an increase in agronomic responses compared to untreated plants (Bl- –AMF) such as root biomass (+15%), stem diameter (+12%), plant height (+5%) and head diameter (+15%). Seed protein was higher in +AMF than –AMF (on average 20.7 vs 17.2 g m–2, respectively) and in Bh and Bm compared with Bl (on average 19.4 vs 18.2 g m–2, respectively). The oil content of seeds was affected by biochar application and AMF inoculation, especially under 50MAW and 30MAW irrigation levels; conversely, no differences were observed under the 10MAW irrigation level. Sunflower yield characteristics were positively correlated to the net photosynthesis rate and negatively affected by hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde content. The results showed that the adoption of biochar and AMF may represent as a successful strategy to balance crop productivity in a semi-arid environment. Although further research is required for a better understanding of the irrigation and fertilization schedule, these preliminary results could be extended to other crops which have similar requirements to sunflower.
Highlights
- The combined effects of biochar and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on sunflower are studied.
- Biochar application and mycorrhiza inoculation improved plant performance.
- Biochar and AMF positively affected the net photosynthesis rate of sunflower plants.
- The adoption of biochar and AMF may mitigate the effect of drought conditions.
- Biochar and AMF can support sunflower cultivation
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