Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Epidemiological aspects of prematurity in the Eastern region of Saudi Arabia

Objectives: To assess the epidemiological characteristics of prematurity and survival rate in preterm infants diagnosed at a university hospital in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. Methods: A retrospective study was carried out of 476 preterm infants who were admitted with the diagnosis of prematurity to King Fahd Hospital of the University, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, between June 2008 and 2013. Demographics, birth weight, and neonatal survival rate were analyzed. Results: Four hundred and seventy-six preterm infants were admitted with a total prevalence of 7.5%. Descriptive analysis revealed 55% were males. Extremely preterm infants (<28 weeks’ gestation) comprised 9% and very preterm infants (28 to <32 weeks’ gestation) comprised 20%. Extremely low-birth-weight (ELBW) infants (<1000 g) comprised 11%. One hundred and fifty-seven (32%) infants were small for gestational age. Out of the total number of ELBW infants, 58% of them were discharged. The overall mortality was 7.6%. The mortality rate of male infants was 53%. The survival to discharge according to gestational age ranged from 30-97.6%. Conclusion: The estimated prevalence of preterm births in a university hospital in eastern province of Saudi Arabia, is consistent with various studies from different parts of the world.
Modulating the Activity of Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex by Anodal tDCS Enhances the Trustee’s Repayment through Altruism

Trust and trustworthiness are essential to an efficient economy and play crucial roles in social life. Previous evidence from behavioral experiments has revealed that the trustworthiness of individuals is closely related with their altruistic preference. It has been demonstrated that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is associated with decisions involving trustworthiness. Moreover, vmPFC lesion patients showed less trustworthiness and altruism than control subjects, indicating the indispensable role of this specific brain area in human social interactions. However, the causal relationship between this neural area and trustworthiness, as well as altruism, has not been fully revealed. The potential neural basis behind the behavior of trustees’ repayment has also seldom been discussed. In the present study, we aimed to provide evidence of a direct link between the neural and behavioral results through the application of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the vmPFC of our participants. We found that activating the vmPFC could promote both the trustworthiness and altruism of our participants. We also show that enhancing the excitability of the vmPFC using tDCS increased the trustworthiness of the participants, and this promoting effect might be attributable to the enhancement of individuals’ altruistic preference. In addition, we revealed that the enhancing effect in trustworthiness and altruism might be specific to the activation of the vmPFC by applying tDCS over another brain region within the prefrontal cortex as a control site. Crucially, our findings provide direct evidence supporting the critical role of the vmPFC in cooperative behaviors in economic interactions, especially the trustees’ repayment in the trust game and the dictators’ altruistic transfer in the dictator game.
Mutation Induced Extinction in Finite Populations: Lethal Mutagenesis and Lethal Isolation

Reproduction is inherently risky, in part because genomic replication can introduce new mutations that are usually deleterious toward fitness. This risk is especially severe for organisms whose genomes replicate “semi-conservatively,” e.g. viruses and bacteria, where no master copy of the genome is preserved. Lethal mutagenesis refers to extinction of populations due to an unbearably high mutation rate (U), and is important both theoretically and clinically, where drugs can extinguish pathogens by increasing their mutation rate. Previous theoretical models of lethal mutagenesis assume infinite population size (N). However, in addition to high U, small N can accelerate extinction by strengthening genetic drift and relaxing selection. Here, we examine how the time until extinction depends jointly on N and U. We first analytically compute the mean time until extinction (τ) in a simplistic model where all mutations are either lethal or neutral. The solution motivates the definition of two distinct regimes: a survival phase and an extinction phase, which differ dramatically in both how τ scales with N and in the coefficient of variation in time until extinction. Next, we perform stochastic population-genetics simulations on a realistic fitness landscape that both (i) features an epistatic distribution of fitness effects that agrees with experimental data on viruses and (ii) is based on the biophysics of protein folding. More specifically, we assume that mutations inflict fitness penalties proportional to the extent that they unfold proteins. We find that decreasing N can cause phase transition-like behavior from survival to extinction, which motivates the concept of “lethal isolation. ” Furthermore, we find that lethal mutagenesis and lethal isolation interact synergistically, which may have clinical implications for treating infections. Broadly, we conclude that stably folded proteins are only possible in ecological settings that support sufficiently large populations.
Rapid-Scan Dual-Polarization WSR-88D Observations of Oklahoma Hailstorms on 26 March 2017

During the afternoon and evening of 26 March 2017, two supercell hailstorms occurred within 100 km of three WSR-88Ds (KOUN, KCRI and KTLX) in central Oklahoma. There were 15 reports of large hail from the two storms, ranging from 25–83 mm in diameter. One of the radars (KOUN) collected rapidly-updating 90° sector scans of the two storms, with volume update times < 2 min. The other radars (KCRI and KTLX) collected full 360° elevation scans, with volume update times of 6–7 min. The study presented here examines and compares the radar observations of the two storms from the three WSR88Ds to determine the benefits of shorter volume update times and the extent of variations between the three radars for several storm intensity and dual-polarization parameters.
Characterization of pentraxin 3 in the horse and its expression in airways

The long pentraxin 3 (PTX3) plays an important role in host defence and its over-expression may contribute to airway injury. The aim of the present study was therefore to characterize in more detail PTX3 and its expression in the horses’ airway. Six healthy horses and six horses affected by recurrent airway obstruction (R.A.O.) were submitted to a dusty environment challenge. PTX3 DNA and cDNA were cloned and sequenced. PTX3 expression was evaluated by RT-qPCR, Western blotting and immuno-histochemistry in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cells, BALF supernatant and bronchial epithelial cells. An alternative splicing of the second exon of PTX3 occurred, resulting in two forms of the protein: “spliced” (32 kDa) and “full length” (42 kDa). PTX3 was detected in BALF macrophages, neutrophils and bronchial epithelial cells. It was over-expressed in the BALF supernatant from R.A. O. -affected horses in crisis. However, dust was unable to induce PTX3 in BALF cells ex vivo, indicating that dust is an indirect inducer of PTX3. Dust exposure in-vivo induced PTX3 in BALF macrophages but there was no significant difference between healthy and R.A. O. -affected horses. Conversely, PTX3 was over-expressed in the bronchial epithelial cells from R.A. O. -affected horses in crisis. These data indicate a differential regulatory mechanism in inflammatory and bronchial epithelial cells and offer therapeutically interesting perspectives.
Evaluation and Impact of a Polluted Stream on the Integrated Management of a Drinking Water Resource: A Case Study of the Middle Vaal River, South Africa

The Koekemoerspruit is a possible pollution source of the Middle Vaal River, an important drinking water source in South Africa. This case study aimed to establish the water quality of the Koekemoerspruit, to evaluate the impact of the Koekemoerspruit on the Vaal River, and to use this information to identify shortcomings in the monitoring program. Monthly and weekly samples from both the Vaal River and the Koekemoerspruit were analyzed at an accredited testing laboratory based on ISO 17025 for 20 chemical methods. A dataset from 2002 to 2015 was statistically analyzed by means of Statistica software, the Mann-Kendall test and the Sens’s slope to determine descriptive statistics and significant trends respectively. The sites’ water quality was evaluated by comparison with both national drinking water standards and environmental target water quality objectives. Results indicated that the target water quality objectives for orthophosphate, nitrate and nitrite, and ammonia concentrations were considerably exceeded in the Koekemoerspruit. The drinking water quality of the Koekemoerspruit and the Middle Vaal was noncompliant with South African standards. Color, electrical conductivity, turbidity, sulfate, recoverable cyanide and arsenic at one site posed aesthetic, operational, acute and chronic health risks. Color, mean ammonia and total chlorophyll concentrations displayed significant trends of increase over time and increased drastically after 2012 at the site where water enters the Middle Vaal River. However, the Koekemoerspruit did not seem to have a significant impact on the overall water quality of the Middle Vaal River, except for total chlorophyll concentrations. Moreover, the review and recommendations for optimizing the water quality monitoring program proved that original monitoring objectives have been achieved. The reviewed monitoring program has consequently been adopted in the water safety plan to address the shortcomings that were identified during this case study.
Replacement Times of a Spectrum of Elements in the North Atlantic Based on Thorium Supply

The measurable supply of 232Th to the ocean can be used to derive the supply of other elements, which is more difficult to quantify directly. The measured inventory of an element divided by the derived supply yields a replacement time estimate, which in special circumstances is related to a residence time. As a proof of concept, Th‐based supply rates imply a range in the replacement times of the rare earth elements in the North Atlantic that is consistent with the chemical reactivity of rare earth elements related to their ionic charge density. Similar estimates of replacement times for the bioactive trace elements (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cd, Cu, and Co), ranging from <5 years to >50,000 years, demonstrate the broad range of elemental reactivity in the ocean. Here we discuss how variations in source composition, fractional solubility ratios, or noncontinental sources, such as hydrothermal vents, lead to uncertainties in Th‐based replacement time estimates. We show that the constraints on oceanic replacement time provided by the Th‐based calculations are broadly applicable in predicting how elements are distributed in the ocean and for some elements, such as Fe, may inform us on how the carbon cycle may be impacted by trace element supply and removal.
Analytic derivation of gluons and monopoles from SU ( 2 ) lattice Yang-Mills

In this series of three papers, we generalize the derivation of photons and monopoles by Polyakov, and Banks, Myerson and Kogut, to obtain gluon-monopole representations of SU(2) lattice gauge theory. The papers take three different representations as their starting points: the representation as a BF Yang-Mills theory, the spin foam representation and the plaquette representation. The subsequent derivations are based on semiclassical expansions. In this first article, we cast d-dimensional SU(2) lattice gauge theory in the form of a lattice BF Yang-Mills theory. In several steps, the expectation value of a Wilson loop is transformed into a path integral over a gluon field and monopole-like degrees of freedom. The action contains the tree-level Coulomb interaction and a nonlinear coupling between gluons, monopoles and current. At the end, we compare the results from all three papers.
Middleware Support for Quality of Context in Pervasive Context-Aware Systems

Middleware support for pervasive context-aware systems relieves context-aware applications from dealing with the complexity of context-specific operations such as context acquisition, aggregation, reasoning and distribution. The middleware decouples applications from the underlying heterogeneous context sensors, and offers advantages such as rapid development of context-aware applications and efficient usage of the context sensors. Context sensors have inherent limitations with respect to the quality of the context information they produce. Without breaking the decoupling, the middleware needs to explicitly model and quantify this quality of context in order to allow application to adapt their behavior based on the quality of context, for efficiency reasons and to enable quality-of-context-aware privacy policies. In this paper we identify and define five quality-of-context indicators for context-aware middleware, and discuss different alternatives for their quantification. These quality-of-context indicators are: precision, freshness, spatial resolution, temporal resolution and probability of correctness
Less local pain on intravenous infusion of a new propofol emulsion

Background: Local pain at the site of intravenous (iv) injection of propofol remains a considerable problem in clinical anaesthesiology, and particularly so in infants. The aim of the present study was to compare the influence of two different emulsions of propofol on local pain following iv administration.
Quantitative Anatomic Analysis of the Native Ligamentum Teres

Background: While recent studies have addressed the biomechanical function of the ligamentum teres and provided descriptions of ligamentum teres reconstruction techniques, its detailed quantitative anatomy remains relatively undocumented. Moreover, there is a lack of consensus in the literature regarding the number and morphology of the acetabular attachments of the ligamentum teres. Purpose: To provide a clinically relevant quantitative anatomic description of the native human ligamentum teres. Study Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Methods: Ten human cadaveric hemipelvises, complete with femurs (mean age, 59.6 years; range, 47-65 years), were dissected free of all extra-articular soft tissues to isolate the ligamentum teres and its attachments. A coordinate measuring device was used to quantify the attachment areas and their relationships to pertinent open and arthroscopic landmarks on both the acetabulum and the femur. The clock face reference system was utilized to describe acetabular anatomy, and all anatomic relationships were described using the mean and 95% confidence intervals. Results: There were 6 distinct attachments to the acetabulum and 1 to the femur. The areas of the acetabular and femoral attachment footprints of the ligamentum teres were 434 mm2 (95% CI, 320-549 mm2) and 84 mm2 (95% CI, 65-104 mm2), respectively. The 6 acetabular clock face locations were as follows: anterior attachment, 4:53 o’clock (95% CI, 4:45-5:02); posterior attachment, 6:33 o’clock (95% CI, 6:23-6:43); ischial attachment, 8:07 o’clock (95% CI, 7:47-8:26); iliac attachment, 1:49 o’clock (95% CI, 1:04-2:34); and a smaller pubic attachment that was located at 3:50 o’clock (95% CI, 3:41-4:00). The ischial attachment possessed the largest cross-sectional attachment area (127.3 mm2; 95% CI, 103.0-151.7 mm2) of all the acetabular attachments of the ligamentum teres. Conclusion: The most important finding of this study was that the human ligamentum teres had 6 distinct points of attachment on the acetabulum (transverse, anterior, and posterior margins of the acetabular notch and cotyloid fossa attachments: ilium, ischium, and pubis) and 1 on the femur. On the acetabulum, the anterior attachment was substantially larger than the posterior attachment and was located at a mean clock face position of 4:53 o’clock. Clinical Relevance: These quantitative descriptions of the ligamentum teres can be used by clinicians to arthroscopically identify the attachments of the ligamentum teres, guiding arthroscopic surgical interventions designed to address ligamentum teres pathology.
Endovenous laser ablation of great saphenous veins using a 1470 nm diode laser and the radial fibre – follow-up after six months

Background Endovenous laser ablation (EVLA) is an efficient method to treat insufficient great saphenous veins (GSV) with high occlusion rates.1–5 Most studies used 810, 940 or 980 nm diode lasers and a bare fibre.1,2,6 Moderate postoperative pain and bruising are frequent findings.2,6 Laser systems with higher wavelengths like 1470 nm with a higher absorption in water show less pain and bruising after the procedure.7–9 A newly-developed fibre (radial fibre, Biolitec) emits the laser energy radially around the tip directly into the venous wall contrary to the bare fibre.9 The aim of this study was to demonstrate the outcome and side-effects after EVLA of GSV with a 1470 nm diode laser (Ceralas E, Biolitec) by using the radial fibre. Methods Non-randomized, prospective study including 50 unselected limbs of 50 patients with a duplex sonographically verified incompetent GSV. EVLA was performed with a 1470 nm diode laser (Ceralas E, Biolitec) and a radial fibre. In the same session all insufficient tributaries were treated by phlebectomy. Tumescent local anaesthesia with 0.05% lidocaine was applied perivenously. Laser treatment was carried out in a continuous mode with a power of 15 W. Compression stockings (30 mmHg) were applied for one month. Postinterventional checkups took place one, 10, 30 days and six months after the procedure. Results Three patients were lost to follow-up. The average linear endovenous energy density (LEED) was 90.8 J/cm vein (SD 35.3). At the six month follow-up all treated veins remained occluded and no new reflux in the treated segments occurred. No recurrent varicose veins had occurred so far. No severe complications such as deep venous thrombosis could be detected. In four patients at 30 days and three patients at six months local paresthesia occurred in the region of EVLA. Forty-four percent of patients did not have any pain after the treatment and 50% did not take any analgesic tablets at any time after the procedure. Postoperative ecchymoses in the track of the treated GSV was rare. In 80% of the limbs, no ecchymoses was observed after the treatment. Conclusion EVLA of GSV with a radially emitting laser fibre by using a 1470 nm diode laser is a safe and efficient treatment option.
Normobaric Hyperoxia Slows Blood–Brain Barrier Damage and Expands the Therapeutic Time Window for Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator Treatment in Cerebral Ischemia

Background and Purpose— Prolonged ischemia causes blood–brain barrier (BBB) damage and increases the incidence of neurovasculature complications secondary to reperfusion. Therefore, targeting ischemic BBB damage pathogenesis is critical to reducing neurovasculature complications and expanding the therapeutic time window of tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) thrombolysis. This study investigates whether increasing cerebral tissue PO2 through normobaric hyperoxia (NBO) treatment will slow the progression of BBB damage and, thus, improve the outcome of delayed tPA treatment after cerebral ischemia. Methods— Rats were exposed to NBO (100% O2) or normoxia (21% O2) during 3-, 5-, or, 7-hour middle cerebral artery occlusion. Fifteen minutes before reperfusion, tPA was continuously infused to rats for 30 minutes. Neurological score, mortality rate, and BBB permeability were determined. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 was measured by gelatin zymography and tight junction proteins (occludin and cluadin-5) by Western blot in the isolated cerebral microvessels. Results— NBO slowed the progression of ischemic BBB damage pathogenesis, evidenced by reduced Evan blue leakage, smaller edema, and hemorrhagic volume in NBO-treated rats. NBO treatment reduced matrix metalloproteinase-9 induction and the loss of tight junction proteins in ischemic cerebral microvessels. NBO-afforded BBB protection was maintained during tPA reperfusion, resulting in improved neurological functions, significant reductions in brain edema, hemorrhagic volume, and mortality rate, even when tPA was given after prolonged ischemia (7 hours). Conclusions— Early NBO treatment slows ischemic BBB damage pathogenesis and significantly improves the outcome of delayed tPA treatment, providing new evidence supporting NBO as an effective adjunctive therapy to extend the time window of tPA thrombolysis for ischemic stroke.
Computation of spatio-temporal parameters in level walking using a single inertial system in lean and obese adolescents

Abstract In recent years, the availability of low-cost equipment capable of recording kinematic data during walking has facilitated the outdoor assessment of gait parameters, thus overcoming the limitations of three-dimensional instrumented gait analysis (3D-GA). The aim of this study is twofold: firstly, to investigate whether a single sensor on the lower trunk could provide valid spatio-temporal parameters in level walking in normal-weight and obese adolescents compared to instrumented gait analysis (GA); secondly, to investigate whether the inertial sensor is capable of capturing the spatio-temporal features of obese adolescent gait. These were assessed in 10 obese and 8 non-obese adolescents using both a single inertial sensor on the lower trunk and an optoelectronic system. The parameters obtained were not statistically different in either normal-weight or obese participants between the two methods. Obese adolescents walked with longer stance and double support phase compared to normal-weight participants. The results showed that the inertial system is a valid means of evaluating spatio-temporal parameters in obese individuals.
School Decentralization: Helping the Good Get Better, but Leaving the Poor Behind

The decentralization of public services is a major feature of institutional innovation. The main argument in support of decentralization is that it brings decisions closer to the people, thereby alleviating information asymmetries and improving accountability. However, decentralization can also degrade service provision in poor communities that lack the ability to voice and defend their preferences. In this paper, we analyze the average and distributional effects of school decentralization on educational quality in Argentina. We find that decentralization had an overall positive impact on student test scores. The decentralization gains, however, did not reach the poor. Thus, although "bringing decisions closer to the people" may help the good get better, the already disadvantaged may not receive these benefits.
Boron-10 loaded BC523A liquid scintillator for neutron detection in the border monitoring

A BC523A liquid scintillator loaded with boron-10 was tested as a detector for both fast and thermal neutrons. Pulse shape discrimination (PSD) method based on a zero-crossing principle was applied to distinguish between neutron and gamma radiation. High quantum efficiency Photonis XP5500B photomultiplier was used to enhance light detection from the scintillator. This allowed a good registration of the energy spectrum of neutron capture events on boron-10, corresponding to about 60 keVee. The applied PSD method proved to be useful for n/y discrimination. A good resolving power of the method was achieved even without gating on neutron capture events. A comparison with a standard BC501A liquid scintillator was done to evaluate thermal neutrons detection efficiency in BC523A.