42 research outputs found
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Current perspective on e-cigarette use and respiratory variables: mechanisms and messaging
No full textGenetic Variability, Correlation and Path Analysis Studies in Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.]
No full textThe present investigation was carried out at Kalyani Simanta District Seed Farm, Kalyani, Nadia under BCKV during Pre-kharif season of 2018-19. Ten genotypes of cowpea were grown in randomized block design with three replications. The genotypes were studied for twelve characters viz, plant height at maturity, number of flower inflorescence-1, number of primary branches plant-1, leaf area, number of pods plant-1, pod weight, number of grains pod-1, pod length, biological yield plant-1, area of primary leaf, hundred grain weight and grain yield plant-1. The experimental studies revealed substantial amount of genetic variability among the genotypes under study. In general, phenotypic coefficients of variation were higher in magnitude than genotypic coefficient of variation. The characters pod yield plant-1 and plant height at maturity showed comparatively higher estimates of genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation indicating high level of variability and ample scope for effective improvement. The higher estimates of heritability coupled with high genetic advance as percentage of mean indicated additive gene action for the above characters. Correlation studies revealed strong positive association of pod yield plant-1, hundred grain weight with grain yield plant-1. The path analysis studies indicated that the characters number of pods plant-1 and days to first pod maturity bearing direct positive effect on grain yield, could be the selection criteria for genetic improvement of grain yield plant-1 in cowpea population under study. Thus, the genotypes PL-3, PL-5, Mousumi Laffa are observed as desirable among the population for future use in breeding programme, as these genotypes had good performance for the important quantitative traits
Waterpipe-specific pictorial health warning labels are effective in reducing subjective measures, behavioral responses and toxicant exposure among young adults: A crossover study
No full textBackground This study aims to assess the impact of six evidence-based Waterpipe (WP)-specific pictorial health warnings (HWs) placed on the WP device on puffing behavior, toxicant exposure, subjective smoking experiences, harm perception, motivation and intention to quit among young WP smokers in Florida. Methods In a crossover experiment, a total of 100 WP smokers completed two 45-minute ad-libitum WP smoking sessions (without HW vs. with HW on the device) after a 12-hour abstinence. Exhaled Carbon Monoxide (eCO) was measured before and after each session, while puff topography was recorded throughout the smoking session. Additionally, participants completed survey questionnaires before and after the WP smoking sessions to assess subjective smoking experiences, harm perception, motivation to quit, and intention to quit. Results Study participants had a mean age of 22.5 years (SD = 3.4), and most (56.6%) were male.The mean e-CO boost (34.16 vs. 26.58) (p = 0.006) was higher in the no-HW condition compared to the HW condition. Differences were also observed between the two conditions for puff topography. For example, median smoking time (46.4 min vs 45.3 min; p < 0.001), median puffing time (4.35 min vs. 4.22 min; 0.004), average puff duration (3.13 sec vs. 2.90 sec; 0.029), and the total number of puffs (95.0 vs. 84.0; 0.039) were lower in the HW compared to no-HW conditions. Subjective measures also demonstrated differences between the two conditions, including greater suppression of the urge to smoke (14.98 vs. 7.51; p < 0.001), reduced puff liking (4.01 vs. 3.63; p = 0.010), and reduced puff satisfaction (4.11 vs. 3.65; p = 0.009) following exposure to HW compared to no-HW conditions. Motivation to quit (p = 0.058), intention to quit (p = 0.659), and harm perception (p = 0.301) increased after smoking the WP with HW; however these were not statistically significant. Conclusion Using an evidence-based approach, a large sample size for clinical studies, and an efficient and sensitive within-subject design, this study demonstrates that pictorial HWs on WP devices effectively reduce smoking behavior, toxicant exposure, and subjective experiences while increasing harm perception, intention, and motivation to quit WP smoking.</p
A small molecule chemical chaperone optimizes its unfolded state contraction and denaturant like properties
No full textProtein aggregation is believed to occur through the formation of misfolded conformations. It is expected
that, in order to minimize aggregation, an effective small molecule chaperone would destabilize these
intermediates. To study the mechanism of a chemical chaperone, we have designed a series of mutant
proteins in which a tryptophan residue experiences different local environments and solvent exposures. We
show that these mutants correspond to a series of conformationally altered proteins with varying degree of
misfolding stress and aggregation propensities. Using arginine as a model small molecule, we show that a
combination of unfolded state contraction and denaturant like properties results in selective targeting and
destabilization of the partially folded proteins. In comparison, the effect of arginine towards the folded like
control mutant, which is not aggregation prone, is significantly less. Other small molecules, lacking either of
the above two properties, do not offer any specificity towards the misfolded proteins
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Menthol flavour enhances vaping experiences: a randomised crossover clinical trial
No full textObjectiveThis study examined the effect of menthol flavour on e-cigarette users’ satisfaction, enjoyment and sensory experiences.MethodsA randomised crossover trial was conducted among 77 current e-cigarette users aged 21–35 in Miami, Florida, USA. Participants used the same e-cigarette device in two separate sessions, differing by flavour (menthol/tobacco) in random order. Each session involved ad libitum 60 min vaping after 12-hour plasma nicotine-validated abstinence. The primary outcomes were satisfaction, pleasure, enjoyment, appeal and sensory experiences measured after each session.ResultsHigher scores were observed in measures of satisfaction, product liking, interest to use in future, willingness to use again, enjoyment, puff liking, taste and craving reduction during the menthol-flavoured e-cigarette session compared with tobacco flavour (all p<0.05). Additionally, participants in the moderate to high-dependence group had overall better subjective experiences (eg, user satisfaction (psychological reward, β=5.34, p<0.001), appeal and sensory experience (puff liking, β=0.64, p=0.04)) in the menthol condition (vs tobacco) compared with low-dependent users. Women also had better experience (eg, user satisfaction (psychological reward, β=3.82, p=0.01)) than men in the menthol condition (vs tobacco).ConclusionsIn this randomised crossover clinical trial, menthol-flavoured e-cigarettes significantly enhanced e-cigarette use experience compared with tobacco flavour. These findings provide important evidence that menthol flavour plays a substantial role in making e-cigarettes more appealing, suggesting that menthol in e-cigarettes poses a risk to nicotine-naïve youth to initiate e-cigarette use and keep those young people currently using, addicted. Therefore, it could be a potential target for regulatory action to limit e-cigarette use among young people.Trial registration number NCT05338801
Increased screen time and its association to migraine and tension-type headache: a cross-sectional investigation among Bangladeshi students
No full textBackground Increasing prevalence of screens among young people is a notable characteristic of the modern digital era. The study aimed to explore the prevalence and associated factors of migraine headache (MH) and tension-type headache (TTH) among Bangladeshi students continuing online education.Methods A total of 771 students were selected conveniently and using the quota sampling method. A pretested semistructured and self-administered questionnaire containing the background information, Headache Screening Questionnaire-English Version, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing scale and Insomnia Severity Index was used for data collection. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to explore the relationship between different headaches and screen use.Results The prevalence of MH, TTH and mixed headache (both MH and TTH) in the study population was 26.07%, 47.08% and 14.75%, respectively. Longer duration of online study (>12 months, adjusted ORs (AORs): 2.83, 95% CI 0 1.00 to 8.00), history of eye problem (AOR: 1.48, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.17), insomnia (AOR: 1.53, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.33) and moderate-to-severe depression (AOR: 2.35, 95% CI 1.55 to 3.56) were significantly associated with migraine headache. Conversely, longer duration of online study (>12 months, AOR: 2.87, 95% CI 1.40 to 5.86), moderate-to-severe depression (AOR=1.47, 95% CI 1.05 to 2.10) and use of multiple devices (AOR<1) for online study were significantly associated with TTH. In addition, longer duration of screen exposure (for >12 months, AOR: 4.56, 95% CI 0.99 to 20.93), moderate-to-severe depression (AOR: 2.25, 95% CI 1.37 to 3.72) and family history of headache (AOR: 2.66, 95% CI 1.65 to 4.29) were associated with mixed headache.Conclusion Considering the current prevalence of TTH and MH among students and their relationship with screentime, providing health education on the proper use of electronic devices can be a promising strategy in mitigating the negative consequences
Analyzing 8-Oxoguanine in Exhaled Breath Condensate: A Novel Within-Subject Laboratory Experimental Study on Waterpipe Smokers
No full textIntroduction: This study aimed to analyze exhaled breath condensate (EBC) for 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoGua), an oxidative stress biomarker among waterpipe (WP) smokers. Methods: In a within-subject pre-post exposure design, thirty waterpipe smokers completed two 45 min laboratory sessions. EBC was analyzed for 8-oxoGua before and after WP smoking. Median differences between time points (pre vs. post) were assessed using the Wilcoxon sign rank test, with significance defined as p < 0.05. Results: The analysis included 59 WP smoking sessions. Participants had a median age of 24 years (IQR: 21–25), with 62.1% being female. Most had a bachelor’s degree or less (62.1%), and over half were students (55.2%), while 34.5% were employed. The average age for first WP use was 18.6 years, with participants reporting a median of three WP smoking sessions per month. Results indicate a median increase in 8-oxoGua among participants from 5.4 ng/mL (IQR: 8.8) before the smoking session to 7.6 ng/mL after (IQR: 15.7; p < 0.001). Conclusions: This study is the first to examine 8-oxoGua in EBC. Findings provide strong evidence of WP smoking’s contribution to oxidative stress in the airways. It justifies the use of EBC to study the exposure to markers of oxidative stress with emerging tobacco use methods such as the waterpipe
Manoj Basur Koyekti Chhotogalpo : Deshbhag, Sampradayik Danga O Hindu-Musalman Somporker Antorboyan/ মনোজ বসুর কয়েকটি ছোটগল্প : দেশভাগ, সাম্প্রদায়িক দাঙ্গা ও হিন্দু-মুসলমান সম্পর্কের অন্তর্বয়ান
No full textThe forties are very significant in Bengali literature. The partition, riots and the crisis of refuges life are reflected in every form of literature. The impact of partition and ritos is reflected a little more in the stories. The brutality of the riots, violence and hatred, and the pain of partition have been reflected in the writings of many story taller’s. Manoj Basu is one of the few storytellers who embodied the riots and partition in the pens of the fortis and fifties. Compassion for the homeland and relatives, that is, the people, is the main feature of Manoj Basu\u27s literature. Just as there is a thorough picture of how public life was disrupted in the Hindu-Muslim riots and the partition after independence. Manoj Basu\u27s stories also show the picture of people coming together, forgetting the memories of the riots and partition. The riots created districts between the two Nations, Hindus and Muslims, and partition increased it. Therefor after partition, communal classes and unrest increased even more. storyteller Manoj Basu has sympathetically portrayed the people in danger during riots and partition in his stories after independence. And so we see the harmony of Hindu-Muslim relations in his stories. He believed that oneday all the darkness would pass, the storm would stop and light would shine again, all the unrest would end. That is why he has faith in people and he wanted to protray that in his stories. In stories like \u27Hindu Muslim Danga\u27, ‘Dangar Ekti Kahini\u27, ‘Dangar Daag\u27, ‘Hindu Muslim’, ‘Simanta\u27, ‘Epar Opar\u27, ‘Tanter Maku\u27 etc. The author has protrayed the picture of Hindu Muslim relations during the riots and partitions during the contemporary and post partition period with experience. His stories have become an intertextual account of Hindu Muslim relations. Manoj Basu wanted to show the good heart of a person can never die. Even if riots and partition temporary separate people, it can never be permanent. When the fire of hatred and jealousy dies down, faith in each other returns because people always stand by each other losing faith in people is a sin— this message of hope is echoed in Manoj Basu\u27s stories
HybridContextQA: A hybrid approach for complex question answering using knowledge graph construction and context retrieval with LLMs
No full textAugmenting domain-specific knowledge with Large Language Models (LLMs) to answer complex conditional questions is an important area of research. LLMs are good at answering general domain questions, however, their performance decreases when applied to a specific domain with complex conditional questions. We hypothesize that extracting context from relevant documents and Knowledge Graphs (KGs), and then feeding this combined knowledge to the LLM prompts, can provide better context to answer the complex conditional questions.
To test our hypothesis, we propose a hybrid approach called Hybrid Context for Complex Question-Answering (HybridContextQA) that can extract relevant context from documents as well as from a KG. To implement this, we create a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)-based hybrid context retrieval pipeline. This pipeline creates a KG from the provided documents and stores it in a Neo4j graph store. An LLM is used to automatically create a KG from the provided documents. The pipeline also stores the context extracted from the documents in vector form in a vector database. This combined context from KG and vector store can then be used for answering the complex conditional questions of that domain using an LLM.
We perform our experiments on a complex question-answering (QA) dataset called ConditionalQA. This dataset contains complex questions with conditional answers. We also compare the proposed approach with other approaches such as Code Prompt, Text Prompt, and Think-on-Graph. We find that the HybridContextQA approach performs better than the existing approaches for multiple LLMs, including Mistral and Mixtral.
We also conduct comprehensive experiments to analyze the contribution of the context from KG and vector form. We release the code implementing the HybridContextQA approach and the end-to-end pipeline with LLM promptsThis publication has emanated from research supported in part by a grant from Science Foundation Ireland under Grant number SFI/12/RC/2289_P2 {Insight} and a grant from Fidelity Investments. For the purpose of Open Access, the authors have applied a CC BY public copyright license to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.peer-reviewe
