Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The impact of anxiety and depression on outcomes of pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD

Anxiety and depression are highly prevalent comorbidities in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and related to a negative course of disease. We examined the impact of anxiety and depression on functional performance, dyspnea and quality of life in patients with COPD at start and end of an intensive 3-week outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation program (PR). Before and after PR, 238 patients with COPD (mean age = 62 years) underwent a 6-minute walking test (6MWT). In addition, anxiety, depression, quality of life and dyspnea at rest, after 6MWT and during activities were measured before and after PR. Except for dyspnea at rest, improvements were found for all outcome measures after PR. Multiple regression analyses showed that before and after PR, anxiety and depression were associated with greater dyspnea after 6MWT and during activities and with reduced quality of life, even after controlling for effects of age, sex, lung function and smoking status. Furthermore, before and after PR anxiety was related to greater dyspnea at rest, whereas depression was associated with reduced functional performance in the 6MWT. The results demonstrate that anxiety and depression are significantly associated with increased dyspnea and reduced functional performance and quality of life in patients with COPD. These negative associations remain stable over the course of PR, even when improvements in most of these outcomes are achieved during PR. The findings underline the clinical importance of diagnosing and treating anxiety and depression in patients with COPD.
Modelling of sound systems

This paper is an introduction to the computer modelling of systems of speech sounds. It focuses mainly on modelling that studies (the prerequisites of) evolution, so pure speech recognition is not treated. However, both cultural and biological evolution are considered as well as aspects of learning and social interactions that might be relevant to the evolution of speech. It will be argued that speech sounds are a relatively well-studied and simple-to-model aspect of language that nevertheless has interesting aspects in common with syntax. Compositionality is probably among the most exciting of these.
RESULTS OF A NEUTRAL PH CLEANER THAT REMOVES COMPLEX FOULING AND METALS FROM MEMBRANES

Fifty years after the commercialisation and widespread use of membranes for water treatment the biggest single unresolved operational issue is fouling. The topic is well researched and the major components of fouling have been identified. There have been fewer studies on complex foulants which contain multiple components including metals. The metals present in the feed water to the membranes come from various sources. They can be dissolved or as a suspension in the originating body of sea water, well water or surface water. Metal impurities can be present as a direct result of chemical addition of coagulants and pH control chemicals and as a by-product of corrosion. Multi component foulants with metals are very difficult to remove and require multiple cleaning procedures at varying pH. The extremes of acid and alkaline conditions can have a detrimental effect on the membrane reducing lifespan and salt rejection. The authors have conducted over 1200 membrane autopsies in the last decade. The autopsy identifies the nature of foulants and cleaning tests establish the best chemistry and protocols for foulant removal. This paper uses the data collected to demonstrate the detrimental effect of metal foulants on membrane performance and integrity. The effectiveness of cleaning procedures on removing complex multi component foulants containing metals is reviewed. The results of cleaning procedures using a new non-hazardous, pH neutral, organic, non EDTA, chelating cleaner will be presented. The neutral pH cleaner is less aggressive to the membrane and is a significant addition to cleaning pH sensitive cellulose acetate membranes that have strict pH limitations.
Numerical solution of boundary layer flow of MHD nanofluid over a stretching surface with chemical reaction and viscous dissipation effects

A numerical study has been carried out in the analysis of two dimensional, incompressible and steady convective flow over a stretching surface in the presence of chemical reaction along with viscous dissipation. A mathematical model which resembles the physical flow problem has been developed. Similarity transformations are used to convert the fundamental partial differential equations into a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The resulting system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations are then solved by using the shooting method along with Adams-Moultan method. The numerical solution obtained for the velocity, temperature and concentration profiles has been presented through graphs for different choice of the physical parameters.
Allelopathic Action of the Níger (Guizotia abyssinica Cass.) on Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill)

Soybean ( Glycine max (L.) Merrill) is an agricultural crop with a large increase in production in the last three decades and is an essential component in the manufacture of animal and human food. Understanding the interactions between crop and other plant species used as green manure that can improve yield and so reduce environmental damage. Forages can release secondary metabolites in the environment that influence in a beneficial or harmful way to other plants, characterizing the allelopathy process. The Niger ( Guizotia abyssinica Cass.) is used in agricultural systems because it releases allelochemicals, especially flavonoids. Therefore, this study is aimed to evaluate the allelopathic effects of the Niger straw on the germination and initial growth of soybean seedlings. The treatments consisted of aqueous extracts of niger stems, leaves and roots in different concentrations (0; 25; 50; 75 and 100%). For each treatment, five replications were performed, each composed by a 25 seeds distributed in gearbox kept in incubator chamber for 7 days at 25oC and 12 hours photo period. The experimental design was completely randomized and the data were evaluated by analysis of variance and the means of treatments compared by Tukey’s test at 5% significance. The results show a reduction in germination and initial growth of soybean seedlings submitted to aqueous extract of niger stem and roots. In contrast, the aqueous extract of the Niger leaves increased the length of soybean seedlings. The allelopathic effects of the Niger probably occur due to the presence of flavonoids in the tissues of this plant species.
Disturbances of ES cell differentiation following treatment of xenobiotics indicate a potential of embryotoxicity for early pre-implantation stages of mammalian development. The Embryonic Stem cells

Disturbances of ES cell differentiation following treatment of xenobiotics indicate a potential of embryotoxicity for early pre-implantation stages of mammalian development. The Embryonic Stem cells Test (EST) has been proposed as a screening assay for potentially embryotoxic substances and for their classification into three different classes of in vivo embryotoxicity (strong, weak and not embryotoxic) (Genschow et al., 2002; Spielmann et al., 1997).
Discussion paper, Task 6

The current Guidebook (GB) discusses NMVOC (Non-Methane Volatile Organic Compounds) from manure 4 management but do not include emission factors for NMVOC. In the UNECE protocol to address reducing 5 VOC emissions and their transnational flows (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), 6 1991) a list of the principal NMVOCs, from the main emission sources, and a classification of the VOCs 7 according to their importance, is included. The protocol classifies NMVOCs into three groups, according to 8 their importance in the formation of ozone episodes, considering both the global quantity emitted and the 9 VOCs reactivity with OH-radicals, (UNECE, 1991 Table 1 and 3). Over 200 volatile compounds originating 10 from cattle, pigs and poultry have been identified (Shiffmann et al., 2001), although only ca. 20 compounds 11 were considered significant by Hobbs et al. (2004) and US EPA (2012) covering up to 80-90 % of the total 12 emission. Some of the major NMVOCs released from agricultural barns can be seen in Appendix A. 13
Reducing Risk for Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) continues to be the leading cause of death in America despite contributions from largely preventable, behaviorally based risk factors. Four of the primary behavioral risk factors are poor diet, physical inactivity, tobacco use, and alcohol abuse. These negative health behaviors are highly prevalent in American college students, a subgroup of emerging adults. Thus, this article aims to propose a new conceptual framework for understanding the need for prevention and intervention of CVD in emerging adults. Following a brief review of the recent literature on the prevalence and nature of these behaviors in college students, existing and potential interventions are discussed with the goal of identifying targets for CVD prevention in young adults. As emerging adults, college students are uniquely situated for behavior change, as their environment and life stage provide the ideal opportunity to reform negative and develop healthy behaviors that will reduce their risk for CVD development.
Assessment of nutritional anthropometric parameters in adult patients undergoing orthognathic surgery

Purpose: This paper reports the assessment of nutritional anthropometric parameters of three patients who were submitted to orthognathic surgery followed by intermaxillary fixation and liquid diet. Case description: This prospective case series describes the changes in nutritional parameters of three adult subjects aged 20 to 24 years, including one male and two females, who received elective orthognathic surgery followed by intermaxillary fixation with orthodontic elastics for 14 days. The hospitalized patients were instructed to go on a liquid diet with hypercaloric and hyperprotein intake. After discharge, the patients continued the liquid diet up to 28 days postoperatively. Data on weight loss, body mass index, triceps skinfold thickness, midarm circumference, and midarm muscle area were collected one week before surgery, one week after surgery, and four weeks after surgery. All three patients had severe weight loss (>2 % weight loss per week). Conclusion: The interaction between nutritionist and oral surgeon is essential in order to plan an adequate dietary intervention after orthognathic surgery to minimize occasional weight loss. Key words: Adult; oral surgery; nutritional status; weight loss
Functional magnetic resonance imaging of regional homogeneity changes in parkinsonian resting tremor

Objective To explore regional homogeneity changes in parkinsonian resting tremor in the resting brain using magnetic resonance imaging.Materials and Methods Nine Parkinson's disease patients with left resting tremor and eight age matched healthy volunteers participated in the experiment.After a six minute resting state fMRI acquisition,Kendall's coefficient of concordance(KCC) was used to measure regional homogeneity(ReHo)in PD patients with tremor and controls.Results Compared with that of the healthy controls,we found increased ReHo in the contralateral precuneus,inferior frontal gyrus,middle frontal gyrus,superior parietal gyrus,and ipsilateral anterior cingulate cortex in the parkinsonian resting tremor patients.Decreased ReHo was found in the cerebellar vermis.Conclusion These findings of ReHo changes in parkinsonian resting tremor in the resting state can provide new evidence in the diagnosis of the disease.
Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli originated from chicken carcasses modulate their transcriptome to translate virulence genes in human cells

ABSTRACT: The aim was to determine the spread of genetically similar profiles of Campylobacter in chicken carcasses and evaluate their ability to produce transcripts for ciaB, dnaJ, p19 and sodB genes, before and after cultivation in Caco-2 cells. The strains used were isolated from 420 samples of chicken carcasses chilled and frozen ready for marketing. The species were identified by PCR-multiplex, the phylogeny was determined by RAPD-PCR and the presence of transcripts was performed by RT-PCR. We identified 74 (17.6%) of Campylobacter strains, being 55 (74.3%) C. jejuni and 19 (25.7%) C. coli. The phylogenetic relationship demonstrated heterogeneity between isolates of the same species, with absence of clones, indicating the high level of diversity of circulating genotypes. The gene transcription showed conflicting results before and after the culture in Caco-2 cell, so that before cultivation isolates showed greater capacity to transcribe genes related to survival and after the interaction with human cells, the strains showed higher potential to transcribe genes associated with virulence. The result of this study contributes to the understanding of how these seemingly fragile microorganisms are the most prevalent bacterial agents in human gastroenteritis.
Technical thinning age of eucalyptus trees grown in crop-forest integration systems

Abstract: The objective of this work was to determine indicator methods that help to establish the first thinning age of trees to be used in crop-livestock-forest integration systems based on the relationships between eucalyptus growth and soybean and corn production. The experiment followed a completely randomized block design, with four replicates and three production systems (crop monoculture, forest planting monoculture, and crop-forest integration). The percentage of entries and Veiga’s methods, as well as the target growth rates, were assessed to set the thinning age to be adopted for integration systems. The percentage of entries method, the age of the maximum mean annual volume increase, or tree age when diameter growth stagnation occurs did not prove adequate as a reference for thinning, when yields of agricultural crops are not jointly monitored. Methods focusing on controlling the basal area and target diameter increase are feasible to define the technical age for thinning implementation and control.
Pre-clinical evaluation of the forces during limb lengthening using manual and automated devices

Limb lengthening procedures use fixation devices to extend the constantly regenerating bone and surrounding soft tissues. Automated devices have been developed that aim to provide a more gradual tissue extension, resulting in better quality of treatment for the patient. Benefits include pain reduction and probable enhanced tissue outcomes. The development of one such new smart lengthening device is described. An integrated numerical model of tissue mechanics during lengthening is presented. It represents the mechanical environment in which the devices extend. The mechanism of the automated device is also modelled using Matlab software and validation was achieved through experimental testing. Validation of the tissue model includes the design of an experimental hydraulic system with the ability to control the peak loads and relaxation over time. A simplified mechanobiological model for the longer term healing effects is proposed. Calibration of the tissue model to clinical data allows for direct comparison of the load and extension of identical tissues, one being lengthened by a traditional device, the other an automated device. This simulation can be extended to include a range of lengthening rates and frequencies of distraction alongside various patient dependent tissue properties. The models also provide the opportunity to assess the effects of iterative changes to the device parameters (such as stiffness) on its performance as well as analyse the effect that these changes have on tissue extension and loading. Use of these models to optimise the device design alongside optimisation of the extension regime can result in improved device design and consequently improved patient outcomes.
Hypoxia inducible factor-1-alpha (HIF-1α) is related to both angiogenesis and inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis

Objectives Despite the important role of the transcription factor HIF-1α in angiogenesis and inflammation, only a few studies on HIF-1α expression have been performed in RA patients. The aim of the present study was to identify the layer in synovial tissue of RA patients where HIF1a is expressed and to find out whether HIF-1α expression is related to both angiogenesis and inflammation in synovium from RA patients. Methods A reproducible staining method for HIF-1α was developed. HIF-1α -positive cells were quantified in synovial tissue from patients with RA. As control we used synovial tissue from patients with osteoarthritis (OA). The number of HIF-1αpositive cells was compared with the number of blood vessels present and was correlated with the amount of inflammation. The amount of inflammation was determined by counting inflammatory cells, by estimating the proliferation marker Ki67 in inflamed tissue, and by using a recently published synovitis score which gives an accurate estimate of the amount of inflammation present. Results HIF-1α was expressed weakly in the lining layer and strongly in the sublining layer in RA synovial tissue. In contrast, HIF-1α was only weakly expressed in OA synovial tissue. The number of HIF-1α -positive cells correlated strongly with the number of blood vessels in RA synovial tissue and with inflammatory endothelial cell infiltration (blood vessels), cell proliferation (Ki67) and the synovitis score.
Human herpesvirus‐8/Kaposi's sarcoma‐associated herpesvirus in organ transplant patients with immunosupression

Several recent studies have demonstrated Kaposi's sarcoma‐associated herpes virus (KSHV), also known as putative human herpes virus‐8 (HHV‐8), DNA in various epidemiologic forms of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), including AIDS‐associated, classic, and endemic types. Risk of developing KS in non‐HIV‐infected immunosuppressed hosts, such as patients following solid organ transplantation, is also significantly higher compared to normal individuals. We have retrospectively evaluated 28 organ transplant patients with KS (23 cutaneous and five visceral) for the presence of KSHV genome by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of DNA isolated from formalin‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded archival tissue samples. 27/28 KS patients were positive for the presence of KSHV. In four KS patients, tissue samples with no histologic evidence of KS were also analysed for KSHV. No evidence of positivity in three samples was noted, but one patient had weak positive amplification products on DNA samples isolated from a gastric biopsy with chronic gastritis and lymph node with sinus histiocytosis. These data support the association of KSHV with KS developing in non‐HIV‐infected immunosuppressed patients, similar to other forms of KS, and suggest that KSHV may play a significant role in the development of all forms of KS.
Predictive Efficiency of ARIMA and ANN Models: A Case Analysis of Nifty Fifty in Indian Stock Market

ARIMA (p,d,q) model and ANN have been widely used to predict time series data with evidence of relative superiority of ANN. Various combinations of ARIMA (p d q) as well as ANN has been used for comparative predictive accuracy. This paper attempts to identify superior combinations in ARIMA model as well as ANN model for predicting Indian Stock Market namely NSE Nifty fifty using daily data of ten year period. Through the simultaneous use of AAE, RMSE, MAPE and MSPE statistical tools, the predictive accuracy of ARIMA (p d q) and ANN model has been compared. The results indicate ARIMA (2,1,2) and ANN ( 4-10-1) with both train functions GDX and BFG are best predictors with ANN dominating over ARIMA model in the final outcome.
The prevalence of obesity among female teachers of child-bearing age in Ghana

Obesity has increasingly become a public health problem in both developed and developing countries. In Ghana, the prevalence of obesity has been found to be high particularly among women. The rising trend of obesity in Ghana is worrying as studies have shown an increased risk of morbidity, disability and mortality associated with obesity. This study examined the prevalence of obesity among Ghanaian teachers of child-bearing age. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 400 female teachers between the ages of 18 and 49 years from two sub-metropolitan areas in Accra District, Ghana. A questionnaire was used to gather information on the socioeconomic status, body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), alcohol intake, physical activity and food intake. Appropriate statistical methods were used to determine the association between variables. The mean age, BMI and WHR were 35.9 ± 8.2 years, 27.2±5.3 kgm-2 and 0.79±0.07 respectively. About 34% of the women were overweight while 27% were found to be obese with 17.8% centrally-obese. The WHR ratio, however, classified majority (57%) of the women as low risk. There was a strong positive correlation between BMI and WHR with age. This means that as women aged, both BMI and WHR increased. The prevalence of obesity for a woman above 35years was about four times higher than the prevalence among the younger age group (<25years) and two times higher than that of the middle age group (26-35years). This study found that at any age group underweight, overweight and obesity co-existed. Socioeconomic variables such as marital status, income and parity showed a positive association with BMI and waist circumference. Consumption of fruits and vegetables was observed to be low among respondents. This study recommends that measures such as healthy eating guidelines supported by vigorous physical activities should be put in place in schools to help teachers maintain healthy body weights (BMI 19-25) in order to prevent the risk of obesity and its related life threatening effects.