Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Decreased eGFR Is Associated With Ischemic Stroke in Patients With Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is increasingly indicated as a cause of cardioembolic syndrome, in particular, cardioembolic ischemia stroke. However, the potential risk factors for stroke among DCM patients remain under investigated. DCM patients hospitalized from June 2011 to June 2016 were included. The cases were defined as the group of DCM patients with stroke compared with those without stroke. Clinical characteristic data were collected and compared between the two groups including demographic data, complicated diseases, echocardiography index, and laboratory parameters and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). A multivariate logistic regression analysis model adjusted by sex and age was used to explore the related risk factors for stroke in DCM patients. A total of 779 hospitalized patients with DCM were included. Of these, 55 (7.1%) had experienced a stroke. Significantly lower eGFR levels (68.03 ± 26.22 vs 79.88 ± 24.25 mL/min/1.73 m2, P = .001) and larger left atrial diameters (45.32 ± 7.79 vs 43.25 ± 7.11 mm, P = .04) were found in the group of patients having DCM with stroke compared to those without stroke. When the eGFR was categorized as eGFR >60, 30<eGFR≤ 60 and eGFR ≤ 30, there were more patients with 30<eGFR≤ 60 (30.9% vs 17.7%) and eGFR≤ 30 (9.1% vs 3.3%) in the ischemic stroke group (P = 0.003). A multivariate logistic regression analysis model adjusted by sex and age showed that 30 <eGFR≤60 (odds ratio [OR]: 2.07, 95% confidence interval [CI]: [1.05-4.07], P = .035) and eGFR≤30 (OR: 4.04, 95% CI: [1.41-11.62], P = .009) were statistically associated with ischemic stroke in patients with DCM. It is concluded that decreased eGFR is significantly associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke in patients with DCM.
Shock Index Predicts Outcome in Patients with Suspected Sepsis or Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A Systematic Review

Background: To improve outcomes for patients who present to hospital with suspected sepsis, it is necessary to accurately identify those at high risk of adverse outcomes as early and swiftly as possible. To assess the prognostic accuracy of shock index (heart rate divided by systolic blood pressure) and its modifications in patients with sepsis or community-acquired pneumonia. Methods: An electronic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Allie and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Open Grey, ClinicalTrials.gov and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (WHO ITRP) was conducted from conception to 26th March 2019. Eligible studies were required to assess the prognostic accuracy of shock index or its modifications for outcomes of death or requirement for organ support either in sepsis or pneumonia. The methodological appraisal was carried out using the Downs and Black checklist. Evidence was synthesised using a narrative approach due to heterogeneity. Results: Of 759 records screened, 15 studies (8697 patients) were included in this review. Shock index ≥ 1 at time of hospital presentation was a moderately accurate predictor of mortality in patients with sepsis or community-acquired pneumonia, with high specificity and low sensitivity. Only one study reported outcomes related to organ support. Conclusions: Elevated shock index at time of hospital presentation predicts mortality in sepsis with high specificity. Shock index may offer benefits over existing sepsis scoring systems due to its simplicity.
Social Anxiety Disorder Assessment and Pharmacological Management

Social phobia is one of the most common disorders in the general population, with a lifetime prevalence of 11% to 15%, and is highly prevalent in primary care settings. Only 5% of social phobic patients seek treatment, despite numerous related complications when the disorder goes untreated. It is advisable, therefore, that clinicians be prepared to recognize and effectively manage patients with this anxiety disorder. We provide a brief review of the assessment, differential diagnosis and pharmacological treatment of social phobia. We based our suggestions for treatment on the results of randomized clinical trials found in the PUBMED/MEDLINE database from 1966 to February of 2001 as well as on our clinical experience with social phobic patients. Of the three classes of drugs with established efficacy in the treatment of social phobia (irreversible MAOIs, SSRIs and benzodiazepines) the SSRIs are considered the treatment of choice because of their tolerability, side effect profile and safety. Two other classes of drugs are considered of controversial efficacy (reversible type-A MAOIs and beta-blockers), while several new drugs have shown positive initial results (gabapentin, venlafaxine and nefazodone). When SSRI treatment is ineffective, psychiatrists should not shy away from prescribing benzodiazepines or MAOIs if the risks of abuse/ dependency (with benzodiazepines) or hypertensive crises (with MAOIs) are outweighed by the suffering and impairment associated with severe cases (German J Psychiatry 2002;5:40-48).
Physical activity and cognitive function in older persons

Strategies to improve cognitive aging are highly needed. Among those, promotion of exercise and physical activity appears as one of the most attractive and bene cial intervention. Indeed, results from basic and clinical studies suggest that exercise and physical activity have positive effects on cognition in older persons without cognitive impairment, as well as in those with dementia. Despite inconsistent results, aerobic exercise appears to have the strongest potential to enhance cognition. However, even limited periods of walking (45 minutes, three times a week, over a 6-month period) have also been shown to enhance cognition, particularly executive functions. Changing long-term lifestyle habits in these older persons remains a critical challenge and attractive programs susceptible to gain adherence are needed to succeed in achieving improved cognitive aging.
Segmentation by Visitor Motivation in Cultural Festivals : A Case Study of the Souk Okaz Festival

This research aimed to uncover the underlying dimensions of motivations for visitors attending the Souk Okaz Festival in Tife, Saudi Arabia, using a factor analysis. And to segment the festival market using a cluster analysis based on delineated motivation factors, and describe motivational groups in terms of demographic variables of visitors. The data was collected through a structured questionnaire. 284 usable questionnaires were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Mean score, Cronbach’s alpha test, factor analysis, cluster analysis, One-way ANOVA, scheffe multiple-range tests and Chi-squared were used. The findings of this study reveal that Saudi people are motivated by multiple motivations to visit festivals, including: culture knowledge; escape; family togetherness; socialisation and excitement. Cultural knowledge was the most important motivation for Saudi people to visit festivals. Cluster analysis suggests that a three clusters solution was most distinctive and acceptable solution for the data of tourists visiting Souk Okaz festival, (multi-purpose seekers group, culture seekers group, and excitement seekers group). The result of this study revealed that only one of the socio-demographic characteristics (marital status) is statistically significant difference between the groups.
Determining relation among Shape of Perforation and Convective Heat transfer from Lateral fin arrangement using Simulation by Computational Fluid Dynamics

Heat transfer removal from surfaces has a great importance in many engineering application including high heat generation rate from heat source, excessive rubbing or high speed flow problem from solid surface. Fins are being used as an enhancer to facilitate the dissipation of heat from such surfaces in order to maximize the thermal applicability of material. Although size, shape and arrangement of fin can be utilized further to enhance the heat transfer phenomenon. In this article shape factor of perforation is studied for optimizing heat transfer and navel method are introduced to find out the optimum shape for which heat transfer can be maximize for given flow condition.
Evaluation of Phospho-calcic Profile of Dakar Chronic Hemodialysis and Comparison with KDIGO Recommendations

The bone and mineral disorders related to chronic kidney disease (BM-CKD) are common among chronic hemodialysis patients with increased overall mortality due to secondary hyperparathyroidism and vascular calcifications. Patients and method: This is a retrospective, descriptive and analytical multicenter study made in the hemodialysis unit of the Aristide Le Dantec hospital in Dakar and 2 private hemodialysis units concerned with 135 patients. The objective of the study was to determine the epidemiological, clinical and laboratory phosphocalcic disorders of chronic hemodialysis patients in Dakar. Then these data were compared with the latest targets KDIGO 2009 to make recommendations for good practice against doctors. Results: The average age was 50 years with a sex ratio of 1.04. Average time in hemodialysis patients was 47 months. The dialysis medium frequency per week was 2.86 per week. The average duration of dialysis was 4.1 hours. All centers used dialysate bath at 1.5 mmol/l calcium. The main causal nephropathy was represented by the common nephroangiosclerosis (51.1%), nephropathy indeterminate (14.8%) and chronic glomerulonephritis (10.4%). The overall prevalence of calcium phosphate disorders was 23% for hypocalcemia, hyperphosphatemia for 30.8%, 42.6% for hyperparathyroidism, 16.3% for the decline in reserves of native vitamin D and 8.1% for high total alkaline phosphatase (TAP). The average frequency of dosing of these different parameters calcium phosphate was 4.1 months for serum calcium and phosphate, 11.4 months for PTH, 19.7 months for the 25OH Vitamin D and 46.2 months for Total alkaline phosphatase. Regarding the percentage of patients who were in the KDIGO standards, there was 63.7% for serum calcium; 60.9% for phosphate; 44.7% for iPTH; 21.5% for the 25OH Vitamin D and 9.6% for total alkaline phosphatase. Phosphate binders were prescribed in 28.1% of cases for the calcium carbonate and in 11.9% of cases for sevelamer. Oral vitamin D was prescribed in 15.6% of cases, calcitriol in 17% of cases and cinacalcet in 7.4% of cases. Parathyroidectomy was performed in 4.4% of cases. Control status phosphocalcic of chronic hemodialysis is a hot topic. Its complications are responsible for a global and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Preventing BM-CKD requires good control of hyperphosphatemia and secondary hyperparathyroidism.
Are Women Better Loan Officers ?

What if any is the impact of the gender of a loan officer on loan default risk? Using a unique data set for a microbank in Albania over the period 1996 to 2006, we find that loans handled by female loan officers show significantly lower default rates than loans handled by male loan officers, controlling for a variety of borrower, loan, and loan officer characteristics. This effect comes in addition to a lower default rate of female borrowers and cannot be explained by experience differences between female and male loan officer. Our result seems to be driven by differences in monitoring intensity, as we do not see significant differences in the acceptance rates of loan officers of different genders. JEL Classification: G21; J16
Do Swedish Banks Enjoy Economies of Scale or Economies of Scope ?

A number of authors argue that universal banks in the long run will have difficulties to maintain their profitability in the competition with specialised institutions with leaner cost levels. Specialised institutions, that have been established after deregulations, are willing to offer more competitive interest rates than the universal banks. The argument refers mainly to the ongoing change on the liability side of banks’ balance sheets, where the amount of core deposits that are paid low interest rates, are dwindling in the big universal banks, compared to the amount of purchased funds (e.g. Certificates of Deposits, CDs) and large-denomination deposits, that are paid money market interest rates.
Isolation and Molecular Characterization of Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV) Variants Circulating in Commercial Poultry in Pakistan

Received: Revised: Accepted: Published online: December 14, 2016 April 10, 2018 April 12, 2018 September 04, 2018 Avian infectious bronchitis is a contagious viral disease of chicken. It is present everywhere in the world where poultry is reared. This study was designed to detect, isolate and sequence the circulating Infectious bronchitis viruses (IBVs) in poultry in Pakistan. Out of 905 clinical specimens tested, 358 were found positive for IBV, having serotype distribution of Mass (43%), 4/91 (51%), and different variants of IBV (5%), respectively. One of the variants recovered from broiler-breeder (BB) flock and designated as Pak-973, was further propagated and characterized on molecular basis. Virus neutralization test did not neutralize it with the reference antisera IBV serotypes M41, 4/91, D274, D1466 and IT-02, identifying it as a distinct serotype. Furthermore, Haemagglutination Inhibition test (HI) has proven useful in differentiating various serotype of IBV. In addition to this, partial Spike 1 (S1) gene was amplified by reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR) and subjected to sequencing for determining its genetic diversity. Sequenced data was submitted in the GenBank and the IBV isolate named as KX013102_NARC/973_Pakistan_2015. The phylogenetic analysis of Pak-973 showed a maximum homology of 93% with the Indian IBV variant KF360983_23/B/2008_India. However, an overall nucleotide homology with some other Indian isolates is between 82-93%. This study revealed the presence of IBV variant isolates in the field in Pakistan during 2015. ©2018 PVJ. All rights reserved
NOVEL METHODS AND RESULTS OF LANDSCAPE RESEARCH IN EUROPE, CENTRAL ASIA AND SIBERIA Monograph in 5 Volumes Vol. II Understanding and Monitoring Processes in Soils and Water Bodies

Soil compaction is a global problem causing huge costs to society. Soil compaction reduces soil pore space and changes pore geometry, thereby adversely impacting a range of key soil ecological functions. Although progress has been made in quantifying effects of soil compaction and in developing tools for minimizing compaction risks, our understanding of some of the key features of the soil compaction process is limited. This chapter gives an overview of current knowledge and research with focus on stress transmission, stress-strain relationships and compaction mapping, and identifies some opportunities for future research. Резюме. Уплотнение почвы глобальная проблема, вызывающая огромные издержки для общества. Уплотнение почвы уменьшает поровое пространство и изменяет геометрию пор, тем самым отрицательно влияя на ряд ключевых экологических функций почвы. Несмотря на достигнутый прогресс в количественном определении последствий уплотнения почвы и в разработке инструментов для минимизации рисков уплотнения, наше понимание некоторых ключевых особенностей процесса уплотнения почвы ограничено. В этой главе дается обзор текущих знаний и исследований с акцентом на передачу напряжения, на зависимости между напряжением и деформацией и на составление карт уплотнения почвы, а также определены некоторые возможности для будущих исследований.
ELeFyS : A Greek Illustrated Science Dictionary for School

This paper reports on the design and compilation of ELeFyS (Εικονογραφημένο Λεξικό Φυσικής για το Σχολείο, ΕΛεΦυΣ), a Greek specialized school dictionary of science. Since its conception ELeFyS has been intended as a reference tool for the parallel development of scientific and linguistic literacy in a school context. To fulfil such an objective, generic entries include scientific terms that fall within the school subject of physics and are likely to be encountered in the upper grades of primary and lower grades of secondary school; however, the dictionary coverage is not restricted to terminology, but is also expanded to the terms/headwords’ respective general sense(s) and use(s). Moreover, encyclopedic and cultural material is given as further stimuli for critical thinking. Under this scope, ELeFyS works both as a lexicographic product and a multi-functional teaching resource. In sum, it constitutes a novel endeavor of combining pedagogy and specialization in order to meet the complex linguistic and cognitive/scientific needs of school children in the late primary and the early secondary school grades. Such a complex aim of determining both communicationand knowledge-oriented lexicographic functions is being realized thanks to the enduring collaboration of a linguist and a science expert, well-rooted in long teaching experience. In what follows, we focus on the policy decisions made at the outset of the lexicographic project and the entry-building process.
FEED EFFICIENCY ANO POSTWEANING GROWTH OF SEVERAL SPANISH SELECTED LINES

Abstr.act A comparison of weight at 63 days, growth rate and feed efficiency has been carried out along three seasons on four selected lines (two dam lines selected for litter size at weaning and two si re lines, currently selected for postweaning daily gain). Sire lines {Une R {2598 g) and Une C {2251)) were heavier 1han dam lines at 63 days (Une V (2116 g) and Une P {2086 g)). The growth rate was also higher on the lines selected for {Line R {52.0 g/d) and Line e {45.6 g/d)) than on the lines selected for reproductiva traits (Une P (41.4 g/d) and Une V (41.0 g/d)}. Postweaning feed efficiency of Une R {2.71) was the best. However, no differences were found between línes V (2.84) and e {2.91). Une P had the largest value (3.15).
Weakly Supervised Triplet Learning of Canonical Plane Transformation for Joint Object Recognition and Pose Estimation

We propose a method for jointly performing object recognition and pose estimation using training samples of canonical planes to reduce the effort of data label supervision. Collecting a sufficient number of training samples is important to realizing high performance. However, labeling pose parameters is time consuming. We thus train our network model using only object class labels without explicitly labeling pose parameters. To recognize objects and estimate their poses, we design a network with a spatial transformer in a contrastive learning manner such that the canonical plane of an object is always transformed to a certain pose and the features are consistent with those of the object class. Experiments show that our method has improved accuracy in object recognition and lower error in pose estimation compared with simply using triplet learning or a spatial transformer network on a publicly available dataset.
New Venture Valuation and Venture Capital Perspective: An Industry Level Analysis

Valuation of new venture is a key pointer for decision making for both, the entrepreneur as well as the funding venture capitalists (VC). The value depends on certain assumptions which could significantly vary from either perspective as VCs aim at enhancing stake by parting with little money and vice versa for the entrepreneur. Although there exists traditional valuation methods in corporate finance literature none are free from drawbacks when applied for startup valuations due to varied interpretations of missing accounting information, non-existence of comparable companies, problems in estimating risk and discount factors. The objective of this research is to reduce this complexity by integrating industry structure variables in the valuation methods. As per well-established industry organization literature the industry structure variables affects firm performance. This implies that if a new venture is part of an industry characterized by high growth, high product differentiation and low concentration then the venture is expected to have adequate opportunities for superior future performance which is reflected in valuation of the firm. The empirical analysis of this research aims to identify the industry structure effects for a startup which could aid in assessing the performance and hence a robust valuation.
WorkingPaper No . 54 Can a standardized aptitude te predict st training successof apprentices ?

We investigate the effects of works councils on apprenticeship training. The German law attributes works councils substantial information and co-determination rights on training-related issues. Thus, works councils may also have an impact on the cost-benefit relation of workplace training. Using detailed firm-level data containing information on the costs and benefits of apprenticeship training in Germany, we apply econometric matching methods to identify works council effects. We find that firms with works councils make a significantly higher net investment in apprenticeship training compared to firms without such an institution. However, we also find that the fraction of workers still employed with the same firm five years after training is significantly higher in the presence of works councils, enabling firms to recoup training investments over a longer time horizon. All works council effects, however, are much more pronounced for firms covered by collective bargaining agreements. JEL Classification: J24, J50, M53.
THE PRACTICE OF BREASTFEEDING OF TEEN MOTHERS IN TH E FIRST SIX MONTHS OF LIFE OF THE CHILD

Teen pregnancy has been an important issue in public health. At this time, breastfeeding prints challenges to assist the nursing mother/adolescent and his child. The aim of this study was to analyze breastfeeding of adolescent mothers in the first six months of the child's life. This is a quantitative, descriptive and longitudinal study conducted with 165 adolescent mothers living in a municipality in the countryside of the state of São Paulo. The data collection was conducted through a questionnaire in the household during the period of June 2008 to June 2009. In the data analysis was used the Friedman Test. The results indicated the first ten days of postpartum as the greatest difficulty with breastfeeding, especially in the management and the perception of insufficient breast milk production. Of the teenage mothers, 8,7% were exclusively breastfed (EBF) at the end of the 6th month and offering artificial milk occurred since the early postpartum. It was concluded that mothers / adolescents had a successful start of the EBF, but the maintenance has not materialized. It became evident the need to watch teen nurse in a holistic and humane way, understanding their difficulties peculiar to each moment of the puerperal period.
Optimization with traf fi c-based control for designing standalone streetlight system : A case study

Standalone street lighting as a preferred application for road lighting faces two important issues: supply performance and energy cost. According to past research, optimization of hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) in street light supply seems the best known approach to deal with these issues. However, the complex design of street light supply with non-linearity of power units and uncertainty of load pattern makes optimization a challenge. This study employs genetic algorithm (GA) optimization to deal with these complex and uncertain systems. In order to optimize streetlight supply, it takes into account the energy cost for a single-objective problem and both the energy cost and supply performance for a multi-objective problem. This study also integrates traffic-based lighting control to overcome the power consumption issue in the load side affecting the optimum design of the streetlight supply. The system including real weather data, real traffic conditions and optimization algorithm are simulated using MATLAB. Based on the results, the proposed method reduces the power consumption by around 47% for a one-year simulation study. Moreover, the optimal design of streetlight supply potentially minimizes power loss by approximately 39% and energy cost by about 29%. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.