Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Children and handwashing: Developing a resource to promote health and well-being in low and middle income countries

Objective: Using a participatory action research (PAR) model, this paper reports on findings from a mixed-methods study which aimed to discover whether specifically developed health education resources (A Germ’s Journey) aid children’s understanding of health-hygiene principles, and how these findings can inform the future development of culturally relevant resources to teach children in low- and middle-income countries about the association between bacteria, handwashing and disease. Design: Educational health-hygiene workshops were conducted at 13 case study sites (n = 651) in collaboration with local organisations in Ahmedabad, India. During Phase 1 of the study, children’s and teacher–trainer workshops were conducted using UK resources. Following suggestions from local teachers, a Gujarati book was co-created and in Phase 2, workshops (using the Gujarati book) were delivered. Methods: Data were collected from children using quasi-experimental methods, using pre-workshop questions, follow-up questions, observations and baseline and post-workshop assessments. Data were collected from teachers using questionnaires. Results: Following teacher–trainer workshops during Phase 1 of the study, 100% of teachers stated that they would use the resources with their pupils in the future. Two months after participating in the workshops, 60%–73% of children knew how germs can cause illness, and 76%–80% knew how to remove germs from hands. When assessed during Phase 2 of the study, 54% of children scored higher after the intervention, showing an increased understanding of microbiology after using the resources. Conclusion: The results indicate that children had an improved understanding of the causes of bacterial disease and the health implications of not using adequate health-hygiene practices. Recommendations for the future development of resources include the use of a PAR model of research, co-creation with end users, and working alongside local organisations and participants in order to access ‘hard-to-reach’ areas.
Longitudinal change of FEV1 and inspiratory capacity: clinical implication and relevance to exacerbation risk in patients with COPD

Background and objective FEV1 is the gold standard for assessment of COPD. We compared efficacy of FEV1, inspiratory capacity (IC), and IC to total lung capacity (TLC) ratio in the evaluation of COPD and their association with exacerbation. Methods We analyzed the association of dyspnea severity, quality of life status, and lung function with lung function measurements and exacerbation risk in 982 patients enrolled in the Korea COPD Subgroup Registry and Subtype Research study. Exacerbation and longitudinal lung function change were evaluated in 3 years’ follow-up. Results The FEV1, IC, and IC to TLC ratio showed comparable negative correlations with dyspnea severity and quality of life status, and positive correlation with exercise capacity. In patients with >2 events/year, annual rate of change in FEV1 and IC tended to decline more rapidly in those with FEV1 <50% than in those with FEV1 >50% (−14.46±19.40 mL/year vs 12.29±9.24 mL/year, P=0.213; −4.75±17.28 mL/year vs −78.05±34.16 mL/year, P=0.056 for FEV1 and IC, respectively), without significance. Conclusion Longitudinal changes in IC and FEV1 were not significantly associated with exacerbation risk.
Analysis of Patients Who Present to Emergency Departments During Ramadan

INTRODUCTION: Fasting is one of the five basic obligations of Islam. Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan according to the lunar calendar. Fasting during Ramadan involves abstinence from food and drinks from sunrise to sunset. The present study investigated the effect of fasting during Ramadan in patients who presented to emergency departments. Results of this study may guide healthcare authorities in countries that provide health services to Muslim communities because of increased migration. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is the first prospective multicentre study to examine emergency department applications for Ramadan. The study was performed between 05.26. 2017 and 06.24. 2017. Patients were classified according to cardiopulmonary complaints, trauma-associated complaints, neurological complaints, gastrointestinal complaints, headache, renal colic, upper respiratory tract complaints, and malaise. Vital signs, age, gender, presentation type, complaint type, hospital stay duration, requested laboratory examination, radiological examination, treatment outcomes, application time, smoking status, and fasting status of the study patients were recorded by using a questionnaire. RESULTS: Fasting and non-fasting patients showed a significant difference with respect to presentation type, gastrointestinal complaints, upper respiratory tract complaints, hospitalization status, requested radiological and biochemical examinations, hospitalization duration, and application time (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: To the authors’ knowledge, the present study is the first to compare the complaints of fasting and non-fasting patients during Ramadan. The authors feel that this study is superior to several previous studies because it has been performed using a different perspective and provides more accurate and objective data than those reported in previous studies.
Hemorrhoidal Disease: Predilection Sites, Pattern of Presentation, and Treatment

Background: An engorgement and prolapse of the anal cushion lead to haemorrhoidal disease. There are different anatomical sites and presentation of this common pathology which affects the quality of life. Aims: To study the predilection sites, presentation and treatment of haemorrhoidal disease. Patients and Method: A cohort study of patients diagnosed with haemorrhoids at an Endoscopy centre in Port Harcourt, Rivers State Nigeria from February 2014- July 2017.The patients were divided into 2 groups: A - asymptomatic and B- symptomatic. Variables studied included: demographics, anatomic variations, grade of haemorrhoids, clinical presentation and treatment. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 20.0. Armonk, NY. Results: One hundred and twenty- one cases were included in study. There were 76 males and 45 males with age range from 15 -80 years (mean 51.9±13.1yrs). Bleeding per rectum was the most common presentation. The position frequency of haemorrhoids in decreasing order were: right posterior (34.1%); right anterior (28.2%); left lateral (17.1%); left posterior (7.6%). Multiple quadrants were affected in 58(72.5%) cases of external haemorrhoids. Grade I, II and III haemorrhoids were seen in 38 (31%), 31(26%) and 21(17%) cases respectively. Conclusion: The most common anatomical site of external haemorrhoids is the right posterior quadrant position; frequently, multiple sites are simultaneously affected. Goligher classification Grade 1 hemorrhoids are effectively treated by injection sclerotherapy using 50% dextrose solution; a cheap and physiologic sclerotherapy agent.
Patient's Desire and Preference for Provision of Information Toward Greater Involvement in Shared Care

Objectives: To determine the perceptions of patients on whether they receive sufficient information about their medical problems, their preferences to obtain information, and factors that may influence their preferences. Design and Settings: Cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study conducted in a primary health-care center affiliated with the National Guard Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Patients and Methods: Patients attending the center between October and December 2010 were interviewed using a questionnaire developed to meet the objectives of the study. Results: A total of 245 patients participated in the study. The mean (±standard deviation) age of the participants was 43 (±16) years. Reported cases of dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension among participants were 42%, 39%, and 31%, respectively. A minority of the participants indicated that they had a sufficient knowledge of their medical problems. The vast majority of the patients (92%) indicated that their preference to be informed about available treatment options and the plan for their future treatment. However, only 38% indicated that they had been told about the available treatment options, and less than half (48%) were informed about their future treatment plan. The proportion of male patients who preferred to know the treatment plan for their medical problems was significantly more than that of females (P < 0.001); nevertheless, female participants perceived that they had been better informed about their treatment plan than the male participants (P = 0.003). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that patients receive information about their medical problems much less than their expectations. Measures to promote patient education and their involvement in shared care process should be considered and implemented to minimize serious health outcomes.
Fluoroscopy-free double-J stent placement through ureteroscope working channel postuncomplicated ureteroscopic laser lithotripsy: A novel technique

Objectives: To report a technique for ureteroscopic laser lithotripsy (URSL) and retrograde placement of a double-J (DJ) stenting through the ureteroscope working channel without the use of a fluoroscope compared to the conventional technique. Patients and Methods: Between June 2015 and December 2017, 170 patients selected for URSL for treatment of ureteral stones and DJ insertion was evaluated. Patients are divided into two groups according to the use of fluoroscopy. In Group A (100 patients), fluoroscope is used and group B (70 patients) without fluoroscopy guidance. In group B, URSL is performed first and followed by DJ insertion by the semi-rigid ureteroscope 8.5-11 Fr under vision without fluoroscopy. Results: Stone free rate in 96% versus 94.3% for groups A and B respectively. This technique was successful in all the included patients: 166 retrograde DJ stenting post URSL for ureteric calculi and 4 cases for anuria. Group A are exposed to radiation with mean 26.6 seconds in URSL procedure and 4.8 seconds for DJ stenting. Group B was exposed to zero dose. For group A, the stents size was 6 Fr for 70% of patients and 15 % for 4.7 Fr and 15% for 7 Fr stenting. In Group B, stents of 4.7 Fr and length 24-26 cm were used in all patients. Failure of DJ insertion is reported in 9% for group A and 13 (18.5%) patients for group B. Conclusions: This study report the feasibility and efficacy of the completely fluoroscopy free URSL and DJ stenting to treat ureteric stones.
Symmetrical Motifs in Young Children's Drawings: A Study on Their Representations of Plant Life

Young children love drawing; this is without question. Besides that, drawings are also of interest to scholars and educators, since they seem to provide food for thought regarding children’s conceptual development during their early education. Different approaches are taken when it comes to analysing children’s drawings but insufficient attention has been given to the issue of the spontaneous depictions of symmetrical motifs in young children’s drawings. This pictorial phenomena might not go unnoticed by parents and teachers but the fact is that the scientific community has no reliable data regarding how children under 8 naturally draw symmetrical patterns to express themselves graphically. Accordingly, the present study analyses 116 drawings undertaken by children between 4 and 7 on a well-known natural issue in early childhood such as plant life. Pictorial motifs displaying both cyclic and dihedral symmetries were found in the pictorial sample under examination and the data gathered is put in perspective with the gender and educational level variables. The results of the study show that symmetry, particularly, dihedral symmetry, is a very common pictorial practice in the sample and, also, that the occurrence of symmetrical motifs displays a relationship with the independent variables considered in the study.
Prediction of music pairwise preferences from facial expressions

Users of a recommender system may be requested to express their preferences about items either with evaluations of items (e.g. a rating) or with comparisons of item pairs. In this work we focus on the acquisition of pairwise preferences in the music domain. Asking the user to explicitly compare music, i.e., which, among two listened tracks, is preferred, requires some user effort. We have therefore developed a novel approach for automatically extracting these preferences from the analysis of the facial expressions of the users while listening to the compared tracks. We have trained a predictor that infers user's pairwise preferences by using features extracted from these data. We show that the predictor performs better than a commonly used baseline, which leverages the user's listening duration of the tracks to infer pairwise preferences. Furthermore, we show that there are differences in the accuracy of the proposed method between users with different personalities and we have therefore adapted the trained model accordingly. Our work shows that by introducing a low user effort preference elicitation approach, which, however, requires to access information that may raise potential privacy issues (face expression), one can obtain good prediction accuracy of pairwise music preferences.
Estimation of the costs attributable to vitamin K antagonist treatment in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation from a French societal perspective

ABSTRACT Background: Little is known about the costs associated with vitamin K antagonist (VKA) treatment in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) in France. Objectives: To evaluate monthly per-patient costs attributable to VKA treatment in NVAF patients from a French societal perspective. Study design: Retrospective data were obtained from 7 international normalised ratio (INR) monitoring centres in France. Patients older than 18 years of age with NVAF treated with VKA were recruited. Additional patient-level data assessing resource use corresponding with VKA treatment were collected via self-completed questionnaires. Unit costs applicable to 2015 were multiplied by resource use and summed to generate VKA treatment costs. Results: 363 patients were included; 53% were men. The majority of patients received fluindione (72%). The number of INR tests per patient per month was 1.69 (95% CI, 1.59–1.80). The monthly patient cost was €39.72 (€36.23–43.21) from the French societal perspective. Direct medical costs comprised 76% of overall costs, with drug costs representing 7.4% (€2.4); direct non-medical and indirect costs comprised 10% and 14% respectively. Conclusions: Costs associated with VKA treatment in NVAF cannot be estimated only with drug costs. When direct and indirect attributable costs associated with VKA treatment are considered, the VKA treatment costs are more substantial.
An essential role for α4A-tubulin in platelet biogenesis

Alpha4A-tubulin is the predominant α-tubulin isotype in platelets. Mutations in α4A-tubulin cause abnormal platelet biogenesis and marginal band formation in mice and in a patient, establishing an essential role of this tubulin isotype. During platelet biogenesis, microtubules (MTs) are arranged into submembranous structures (the marginal band) that encircle the cell in a single plane. This unique MT array has no equivalent in any other mammalian cell, and the mechanisms responsible for this particular mode of assembly are not fully understood. One possibility is that platelet MTs are composed of a particular set of tubulin isotypes that carry specific posttranslational modifications. Although β1-tubulin is known to be essential, no equivalent roles of α-tubulin isotypes in platelet formation or function have so far been reported. Here, we identify α4A-tubulin as a predominant α-tubulin isotype in platelets. Similar to β1-tubulin, α4A-tubulin expression is up-regulated during the late stages of megakaryocyte differentiation. Missense mutations in the α4A-tubulin gene cause macrothrombocytopenia in mice and humans. Defects in α4A-tubulin lead to changes in tubulin tyrosination status of the platelet tubulin pool. Ultrastructural defects include reduced numbers and misarranged MT coils in the platelet marginal band. We further observed defects in megakaryocyte maturation and proplatelet formation in Tuba4a-mutant mice. We have, thus, discovered an α-tubulin isotype with specific and essential roles in platelet biogenesis.
Factors that affect outcome of pediatric shock waves lithotripsy with sedoanalgesia

Introduction: Performing shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) under intravenous sedoanalgesia and the ability to predict the effectiveness of SWL is essential in determining the most appropriate treatment for patients. Patients and Methods: This study consisted of 56 children aged between 1 and 16 years mean age 6.7 ± 4.3 years with renal and ureteric stones who underwent SWL. Incomplete child data were excluded from the study, leaving 47 patients. The procedure was performed under sedoanalgesia with diazepam and ketamine was given intravenously during SWL session. We study the effect of the following factors (age, site, size, opacity of stone, degree of pelvicalyceal dilation, previous urological surgery, number of shock waves, and number of sessions) on stone clearance after SWL. Results: Forty-seven children range from 1 to 16 years, mean age 6.7 ± 4.3 years. There were 39 (83%) with renal stone and 8 (17%) with ureteric stone. The mean size of stone was 12.2 ± 4.4 mm ranging 6–25 mm. Of 47 children, 36 (76.6%) were stone-free. Age below 6 years, pelvic stones, children without surgery, number of shock waves, and number of sessions were significant factors that affect the stone-free rate after SWL, while the stone size, opacity, and calyceal system dilatation were not statistically significant factors. Conclusions: The present analysis shows that stone-free status for children with urolithiasis depends on the age of presentation, previous history of ipsilateral stone treatment, stone location, and number of sessions. Pediatric lithotripsy under intravenous sedoanalgesia is feasible, general anesthesia is not mandatory, and any anesthetic complications were not encountered.
The impact of supply chain security practices on security operational performance among logistics service providers in an emerging economy: Security culture as moderator

Purpose – The security issue in supply chains is among the most pressing concerns that firms are currently facing. As a preliminary attempt to address this lack of empirical research, the primary purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between security practices and the security operational performance with respect to security culture as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach – With the resource-based view of the firm as the theoretical underpinning, the study utilizes survey data to test the propositions derived from the security literature and partial least squares for the analysis. Findings – The research reveals four crucial practices of supply chain security that collectively affect a firm’s security operational performance among Malaysian service providers. It is also interesting to observe that security culture positively moderates the relationship between facility management and the security operational performance of the firm. Research limitations/implications – Firms in emerging c.
Optimization of potassium fertilization/nutrition for growth, physiological development, essential oil composition and antioxidant activity of Lavandula angustifolia Mill

Lavandula angustifolia (Mill.) is a medicinal plant of great importance with a variety of applications in perfume and pharmaceutical industries or landscaping, but only limited information is available about its response to potassium supplementation. This experiment was conducted in order to determine the effects of potassium (K: 275-300-325-350-375 mg L-1) levels on the morphological and biochemical characteristics of lavender grown hydroponically. Results showed that K levels affected plant growth, mainly the root development while no differences were found for leaf chlorophyll content and stomatal conductance. Essential oil yield increased in the 300 mg L-1 in comparison to 275 or 325-375 mg L-1 of K application. The middle ranged K levels (300-325-350 mg L-1) enhanced leaf content in total phenols, flavonoids and antioxidant activity (DPPH, FRAP). Lipid peroxidation content (MDA) employed as damage index, was lower in the 325 mg L-1 of K treatment. No differences were observed in antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, APX) activity and H2O2 content among K applications. The main constituents of leaves essential oil (1,8-cineole, borneol, camphor, α-terpineol, myrtenal) and mineral accumulation were affected by K treatments. Lavender grown in 300 mg L-1 of K was appropriate for the essential oil uses/production while the 325 mg L-1 of K were more appropriate for lavender cultivation for fresh and dry matter uses.
Isolation of Neisseria meningitidis from the Genito-Urinary Tract and Anal Canal

During the first 3 months of 1975, a striking increase has been noted in the incidence of Neisseria meningitidis in cultures from the genito-urinary tract and anal canal of both males and females being screened for gonorrhea. The data for recovery of these organisms from these sites are presented and reviewed.
Prevalence and genetic diversity of coronaviruses in wild birds, Finland

ABSTRACT Introduction: Migratory birds act as hosts for a number of zoonotic viruses, and have the ability to disperse these viruses to distant geographic locations. Coronaviruses (CoVs) represent a family of zoonotic viruses with wide variety of animal hosts, including birds and humans. The infections caused by coronaviruses vary from mild to severe, depending on the viral species and the host. Since the coronaviruses exhibit extraordinary large RNA genome, also the rate of homologous recombination is high, which in turn contributes to the genetic diversity and interspecies host-switches of CoVs. The emergence of novel CoVs has been rich during the last decades, and wild birds seem to serve as reservoirs for a variety of CoV strains. We examined the CoVs circulating among wild birds in Finland. Materials and methods: Samples (cloacal swab, tracheal swab, oropharyngeal swab, or tissue) representing 61 bird species were collected during 2010-2013, and examined by RT-PCR targeting the RdRp gene for the presence of CoV RNA. Results: Altogether 51/939 (5.4%) of the examined birds were found positive by RT-PCR. Diverse gamma- and deltacoronavirus sequences were detected. Discussion: Gamma- and deltacoronaviruses circulate among wild birds in Finland. The number of CoV-positive birds detected each year varies greatly.
Dynamics and Complexity of a New 4D Chaotic Laser System

Derived from Lorenz-Haken equations, this paper presents a new 4D chaotic laser system with three equilibria and only two quadratic nonlinearities. Dynamics analysis, including stability of symmetric equilibria and the existence of coexisting multiple Hopf bifurcations on these equilibria, are investigated, and the complex coexisting behaviors of two and three attractors of stable point and chaotic are numerically revealed. Moreover, a conducted research on the complexity of the laser system reveals that the complexity of the system time series can locate and determine the parameters and initial values that show coexisting attractors. To investigate how much a chaotic system with multistability behavior is suitable for cryptographic applications, we generate a pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) based on the complexity results of the laser system. The randomness test results show that the generated PRNG from the multistability regions fail to pass most of the statistical tests.