Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of physical activity in regulating appetite and body fat

Recent articles in the press have questioned the role of physical activity in regulating appetite and controlling bodyweight. These articles can be confusing and misleading for the public. Yet this is a complex area and there is disagreement about the importance of physical activity even among academics. Uncertainty and misunderstanding in this area may be related to the heterogeneity of the term ‘physical activity’, which encompasses sporting pursuits with extremely high levels of energy expenditure over prolonged periods of time, as well as everyday tasks involving much lower levels of energy expenditure on an intermittent basis. This latter form of physical activity includes what has been termed ‘non-exercise activity thermogenesis’. In the right circumstances, physical activity can make a major contribution to the maintenance of a healthy weight even in the absence of dietary control although a combination of the two is almost certain to be more effective. In the long-term, evidence suggests that for most people exercise is likely to lead to only modest weight loss. This may be due to an insufficient amount of physical activity being performed together with compensatory changes in eating and exercise behaviours. This is hard to prove because energy intake and energy expenditure are difficult to quantify in free-living situations. Individual differences in the way people respond to exercise due to both environmental (e.g. social class, education level, income, eating and exercise behaviours of family and peers, weather) and genetic factors also contribute to uncertainty about the effectiveness of physical activity for weight control. Nevertheless, physical activity remains a vital component of a healthy lifestyle due to its positive influence on energy balance as well as its potential to reduce the risk of lifestyle-related diseases.
Risk factors and early detection of gastroparesis in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Nowadays, diabetes mellitus is considered as one of the greatest global problems in internal medicine as it results in multiple organ damage and irreversible changes in the vital functional systems of the body. Unfortunately, there are no statistical data on the prevalence of gastrointestinal autonomic neuropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Ukrainian population; making an early accurate diagnosis can be a clinical challenge since its manifestations are often considered as the manifestations of other diseases. Multifaceted clinical manifestations of gastroparesis cause difficulties in making a timely diagnosis, which can lead to an unfavourable prognosis. Diabetic gastroparesis symptoms were found in 45.5% of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: mild gastroparesis was observed in 29 (18.6%) patients; moderate gastroparesis was seen in 32 (20.5%) subjects; the signs of severe diabetic gastroparesis were present in 10 (6.4%) patients only. According to the assessment of the Neuropathy Disability Score, in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (disease duration of more than 10 years) and severe manifestations of polyneuropathy, the presence of risk factors for hypoglycemia as well as cigarette smoking are predictors of the development and progression of diabetic gastroparesis symptoms. They include a positive family history of diabetes mellitus, chronic microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus, concomitant cardiovascular diseases. Diabetes mellitus duration of more than 10 years, severe manifestations of polyneuropathy, increase in the incidence of hypoglycemic episodes as well as cigarette smoking should be considered as risk factors for gastroparesis in type 2 diabetes mellitus. We developed a mathematical model to assess the risk of developing gastroparesis in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus using the results of a questionnaire (the Gastroparesis Cardinal Symptom Index, the Hypoglycemia Fear Survey-Total), and the Neuropathy Disability Score. For future research into diabetic gastroparesis, we recommend that a multicenter study is performed with an increased sample size because the early detection of delayed gastric emptying in this study was as high as we expected. Importantly, a case study of the complete disease history and questionnaires for the early diagnosis of delayed gastric emptying are required for studying the exact risk factors of autonomic neuropathy of the stomach in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Focused ion beam (FIB): A novel technology for advanced application of micro- and nanoanalysis in geosciences and applied mineralogy

The Focused Ion Beam (FIB) tool has been successfully used as both a means to prepare site-specific TEM foils for subsequent analysis by TEM, as well as a stand-alone instrument for micromachining of materials. TEM foil preparation with FIB technique has drastically changed traditional TEM specimen preparation because it allows site-specific foil preparation. FIB consists of cutting electron transparent foils through Ga-ion milling on a bulk sample. Optical microscopy together with a micromanipulator is used to transfer the foil from the specimen to a TEM grid coated with a holey carbon support film. No further carbon coating is required. This novel technology offers significant benefits in precision and speed of preparing site-specific TEM foils from inclusions in minerals, grain boundaries, microfossils, thin films on substrates and various coatings. FIB cut TEM foils can be investigated with modern TEM techniques such as various diffraction techniques, analytical electron microscopy (AEM) including line scan and elemental mapping, electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM). With the FIB instrument (FEI FIB200) operated since fall 2002 at GFZ Potsdam we have prepared and investigated several hundreds of high quality TEM foils from silicates, carbonates, metals alloys, ceramic materials and diamond.
Sensorineural Hearing Loss and Its Relationship with Duration of Chelation Among Major β-Thalassemia Patients

Introduction Thalassemia is a common genetic disorder worldwide, also occurring frequently in Karachi, Pakistan. Beta (β)-thalassemia major patients need repeated transfusions which cause iron overload. Patients are treated with chelating agents to reduce the high serum ferritin level and to decrease morbidity and mortality due to increased iron levels. This combined therapy also leads to some complications. One of them is the sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). To date, no data is available in Pakistan regarding SNHL among major β-thalassemia patients on chelating therapy. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed in collaboration with the Thalassemia Center and Dr. Ruth Pfau at the Department of Ear, Nose, and Throat, Civil Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. The variable to detect hearing was pure tone air and bone conduction thresholds at the frequencies of 250 - 4,000 Hz. Clinical data, such as chelating agent dose, duration, and hearing status, were recorded. Demographic characteristics, like age, gender, height, and weight, were noted. The hemoglobin and serum ferritin levels of the subjects were also included. Results Forty-five percent of cases of thalassemia were suffering from SNHL. In the right ear, the Pearson correlation of chelating agent dose (mg) with SNHL was mildly positive and statistically significant (r = 0.261, p < 0.001), (r = 0.337, p < 0.001), (r = 0.198, p = 0.005), and (r = 0.207, p = 0.003) at the frequencies of 250, 500, 1,000, and 2,000 Hz, respectively, and the Pearson correlation of chelating agent used (in months) with SNHL was mildly positive and statistically significant (r = 0.232, p = 0.001), and (r = 0.301, p < 0.001) at frequencies 250 to 500 Hz, respectively. In the left ear, the Pearson correlation of chelating agent dose (mg) with SNHL was mildly positive and statistically significant, (r = 0.191, p = 0.007), (r = 0.202, p = 0.004), (r = 0.297, p < 0.001), (r = 0.183, p = 0.010) and (r = 0.221, p = 0.002) at frequencies 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 4,000 Hz, respectively, and Pearson correlation of chelating agent used (months) with SNHL was mildly positive and statistically significant only at the frequency of 2,000 Hz (r = 140, p = 0.049). Conclusion Chelation therapy and regular blood transfusions, apart from prolonging the life of thalassemic patients, also leads to some complications. With this survey, it was concluded that almost half of the patients had normal hearing, while the other half had sensorineural hearing loss after the use of deferasirox. It is inferred that the incidence of SNHL is not only dose-related but the duration of use of a chelating agent is also a contributing factor.
Applications of artificial intelligence in e-commerce and finance

L'Intelligence Artificielle est presente dans tous les aspects de notre vie a l'ere du Big Data. Elle a entraine des changements revolutionnaires dans divers secteurs, dont le commerce electronique et la finance. Dans cette these, nous presentons quatre applications de l'IA qui ameliorent les biens et services existants, permettent l'automatisation et augmentent considerablement l'efficacite de nombreuses tâches dans les deux domaines. Tout d'abord, nous ameliorons le service de recherche de produits offert par la plupart des sites de commerce electronique en utilisant un nouveau systeme de ponderation des termes pour mieux evaluer l'importance des termes dans une requete de recherche. Ensuite, nous construisons un modele predictif sur les ventes quotidiennes en utilisant une approche de prevision des series temporelles et tirons parti des resultats prevus pour classer les resultats de recherche de produits afin de maximiser les revenus d'une entreprise. Ensuite, nous proposons la difficulte de la classification des produits en ligne et analysons les solutions gagnantes, consistant en des algorithmes de classification a la pointe de la technologie, sur notre ensemble de donnees reelles. Enfin, nous combinons les competences acquises precedemment a partir de la prediction et de la classification des ventes basees sur les series temporelles pour predire l'une des series temporelles les plus difficiles mais aussi les plus attrayantes : le stock. Nous effectuons une etude approfondie sur chaque titre de l'indice S&P 500 en utilisant quatre algorithmes de classification a la pointe de la technologie et nous publions des resultats tres prometteurs
Institutional Repository Specific Absorption Rates in the human head due to circular metallic earrings at 1800 MHz

This paper investigates Specific Absorption Rates (SAR) in the human head due to circular metallic earrings at 1800MHz. A Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) code was used to analyse different sizes and positions of circular earrings near a homogenous cubic phantom. Results showed good agreement with measurements using the flat section of the SAM twin phantom with the DASY4 measurement system. The excitation was a half wave dipole. Metallic loops with a circumference of approximately one wavelength and positioned 14mm away from the phantom increased the 10g SAR by 5 times. The FDTD code has also been used to analyse the effect of metallic earrings when ‘pierced’ through the ear of an anatomically realistic digital human head based on the Visible Human Project. The head is not symmetric and both ears were considered to allow comparison between different heads. The shape of the ear and the size of the earring were found to be very significant when earrings were hung from the human ear.
Retirement Preparedness in Saudi Arabia

This paper studies the behavior towards retirement of a sample of workers from Al Jouf Region in Saudi Arabia. This is, in particular, to identify socioeconomic factors put forward in preparing for retirement. Data collected via questionnaires are analyzed using factor analysis. Beyond the general perception which associates retirement to something negative, the concepts of freedom, family connectedness and leisure are frequently highlighted by respondents. The results show the lack of financial planning despite the possible deterioration of their economic situation worried by most respondents. Moreover, investment in financial products attracts future retirees in spite of their lack of knowledge of the related risks.
Dietary and Geographic and Cultural Factors as Predictors of DentalCaries Risk among Children in Saudi Arabia â A Systematic Review

The widespread prevalence of dental caries in Saudi Arabia has been a cause for concern. As the largest country in the Middle East region and with a population of over 20 million, geographic and socio demographic challenges play a role in understanding caries risk in the country. The aim of this systematic review was to use the PRISMA guidelines to conduct a systematic review of the dietary, geographic and socio demographic factors that could influence the prevalence of dental caries in Saudi Arabia. A review of the MEDLINE, Pubmed Central, Google Scholar and EBSCO databases revealed 47 relevant articles. This review discusses the through the findings of the above mentioned articles the dietary, geographic and socio demographic factors that could influence the prevalence of dental caries in children in Saudi Arabia.
Averaging over networks: properties, evaluation, and minimization

The expectation of a function of random variables is modelled as the value of the function in the mean value of the variables plus a penalty term. This penalty term is calculated exactly, and the properties of different approximations are analyzed. In particular, for quadratic functions, the penalty term is shown to have a supervised and an unsupervised part. Then, two algorithms for minimizing the expected error of a feedforward network of random weights are compared. One of them is stochastical, while the other is deterministic and more flexible. Given a particular feedforward network architecture and a training set, the deterministic algorithm here presented accurately finds the weight configuration that makes the network response most resistant to a class of weight perturbations. Finally, the study of the most stable configurations of a network unravels some undesirable properties of networks with asymmetric activation functions
Severe Acidemia, Leukocytosis and Low Hematocrit Levels at Admission as Mortality Predictors of Elderly Intensive Care Unit Patients

Aim: Rapid prediction of prognosis is helpful in reflecting the disease severity and patient mortality. This is especially important in critically ill elderly patients who have high mortality risk. This study aimed to investigate the effects of admission laboratory results and medical histories on the prediction of prognosis in critically ill elderly patients. Material and Methods: Patients who were ≥65 years and admitted to a medical intensive care unit (ICU) between 2011 and 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Results: The study included 449 patients and mortality rate was 47.4%. Nonsurvivors had lower pH, HCO3 and albumin levels, and lower hematocrit and platelet counts, but higher aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, C-reactive protein (CRP), creatinine, phosphorus, magnesium and bilirubin levels, and higher leukocyte count than survivors. The rates of chronic kidney disease, being in a bedridden state and having cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) before ICU admission were significantly high in nonsurvivors. Multivariate analysis showed that pH <7.20, albumin ≤2 gr/dL, low hematocrit and high CRP levels, high leukocyte count, bedridden state, and CPR were mortality predictors. After including the admission diagnoses and endotracheal intubation into the model, pH <7.20 (odds ratio [OR], 4.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.59-11.70), albumin ≤2 gr/dL (OR, 3.61; 95% CI, 0.99-13.03), hematocrit level (OR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.910.99) and leukocyte count (OR 1.06; 95% CI, 1.01-1.11) retained their prognostic importance for mortality. Conclusions: Severe acidemia, low albumin and hematocrit levels, and high leukocyte count at admission help clinicians to foresee the prognosis in severely ill elderly patients. They keep their importance even in the presence of other fundamental mortality predictors.
Absorptive capacity and innovation in low-tech companies in emerging economies

Innovation capacity is on the focus of policy makers in emerging economies. Although some studies show the antecedents of innovation capacity for developed economies and high technological industries, scant research outcomes exist for different settings. This study tries to shed some light on the drivers of innovation capacity for low technological companies in emerging economies. Using the absorptive capacity as a driver of technological and non-technological innovation capacity, this study proposes a SEM model to contribute to the literature of innovation capacity including technological and non-technological innovation, and the relationship between them, in low-techonology industries in an emerging economy. A sample of 706 manufacturing companies from Peru is used. The academic contribution of this study states that absorptive capacity favors technological and non-technological innovation capacity and that non-technological innovation affects technological one. Accordingly, managerial contribution suggests improving absorptive capacity levels to internal R&D activities but also to organizational and marketing innovation activities.
Trade Policies and Ethnic Discrimination in Mexico

Given that the indigenous population in Mexico is the poorest segment of its society, this paper explores how inequality has been affected by the trade liberalization put into effect after the eruption of the debt crisis in the early eighties and the coming into force of NAFTA. The focus is on the agricultural sector for two reasons: first, the regions with the highest concentration of indigenous population are specialized in agriculture; second, agriculture has been identified as the main loser from trade liberalization. The paper presents direct and indirect evidence on discrimination at the municipal level and concludes that trade reforms contributed to a worsening of the relative position of the indigenous people, or an increase in horizontal inequality.
Targeting CD 83 for the treatment of graft-versus-host disease ( Review )

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a common and often fatal complication of bone marrow transplantation. Antigen-presenting cells from donor and recipient play a critical role in the initiation and maintenance of GVHD. CD83, which is expressed in activated lymphocytes and dendritic cells, is regarded as a marker of mature dendritic cells. Targeting CD83 using soluble CD83 molecules or antibodies has been demonstrated to have therapeutic effects against GVHD in preclinical models. Understanding the biological function of CD83 and the underlying mechanisms through which targeting CD83 attenuates GVHD is likely to greatly improve current treatments and provide new methods for the treatment of GVHD.
Body image distortion and dissatisfaction in incarcerated women

ABSTRACT Objective To investigate the prevalence of Body Image distortion and dissatisfaction and evaluate the associated factors in incarcerated women in a closed regime. Methods Cross-sectional observational study, conducted with female inmates (n=107) in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Personal sociodemographic data were collected through an interview, and the height and weight were measuredto obtain the body mass index. Body image was assessed using a scale of silhouettes fi gures for Brazilian adults. Prevalence Ratios with their respective 95% Confi dence Intervals and Bland-Altman method were used in thestatistical analysis. Results A total of 83.3% of the participants were affected by body image distortion and 91.6% by body image dissatisfaction. More than a half (58.9%) wanted a lower Body Mass Index (9.01±5.25Kg/m2), however, 32.7% wanted to increase the body size (6.43±4.34Kg/m2). The sociodemographic characteristics, nutritional status (PR=0.99; 95%CI:0.89-1.11), and the time of imprisonment (PR=1.06; 95%CI:0.94-1.19) were not associated with Body Image dissatisfaction. No associations were observed between body image distortion and the time ofimprisonment (PR=1.17; 95%CI:0.96-1.42) or nutritional status (PR=1.10; 95%CI:0.89-1.36). Conclusion Most female inmates were dissatisfied with their bodies and distort their body image, indicating the need for these aspects to be included in the health promotion actions in the prison system.
PROBING THE z > 6 UNIVERSE WITH THE FIRST HUBBLE FRONTIER FIELDS CLUSTER A2744

The Hubble Frontier Fields program combines the capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) with the gravitational lensing of massive galaxy clusters to probe the distant universe to an unprecedented depth. Here, we present the results of the first combined HST and Spitzer observations of the cluster A-2744. We combine the full near-infrared data with ancillary optical images to search for gravitationally lensed high-redshift (z ≳ 6) galaxies. We report the detection of 15 I814 dropout candidates at z ∼ 6–7 and one Y105 dropout at z ∼ 8 in a total survey area of 1.43 arcmin2 in the source plane. The predictions of our lens model also allow us to identify five multiply imaged systems lying at redshifts between z ∼ 6 and z ∼ 8. Thanks to constraints from the mass distribution in the cluster, we were able to estimate the effective survey volume corrected for completeness and magnification effects. This was in turn used to estimate the rest-frame ultraviolet luminosity function (LF) at z ∼ 6–8. Our LF results are generally in agreement with the most recent blank field estimates, confirming the feasibility of surveys through lensing clusters. Although based on a shallower observations than what will be achieved in the final data set including the full Advanced Camera for Survey observations, the LF presented here goes down to MUV ∼−18.5, corresponding to 0.2L⋆ at z ∼ 7 with one identified object at MUV ∼−15 thanks to the highly magnified survey areas. This early study forecasts the power of using massive galaxy clusters as cosmic telescopes and its complementarity to blank fields.
Prevalence and risk factors of polycystic ovarian syndrome among an ethnically diverse overweight/obese adolescent population

Abstract Background More remains to be known about polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) among overweight/obese adolescents across different ethnicities especially in regards to mental illness as an associated comorbidity. Objective To determine the prevalence of PCOS among overweight and obese adolescents and to evaluate known risk factors for PCOS in a diverse population. Methods Charts of patients at an Adolescent Clinic between April 1, 2016 and July 30, 2018 were filtered using: obese, overweight and body mass index (BMI) >85%. Charts were reviewed to identify the presence of PCOS using National Institutes of Health (NIH) criteria, race/ethnicity and known risk factors for PCOS [lipid, BMI, glycated hemoglobin (HA1c), blood pressure (BP)] and mental health conditions associated with PCOS (anxiety/depression and self-harm/suicidal ideation). Results Patients with PCOS were more likely to have elevated lipids (19.6% vs. 9.9%, p = 0.05), be obese (67.4% vs. 50.9%, p = 0.03), and have acanthosis nigricans (68.9% vs. 28.2%, p =< 0.001). PCOS was more common among non-Hispanic patients (77.9%) vs. Hispanic patients (57.8%). There was no difference in the prevalence of depression/anxiety (37% vs. 33%, respectively, p = 0.590) or self – harm/suicidal ideation (17% vs. 17%, p = 0.96) in patients with and without PCOS. In a logistic regression model, after adjusting for all demographics and clinical features, ethnicity, acanthosis nigricans and BMI were significant risk factors for PCOS. Conclusion Patients with PCOS are more likely to be obese, hyperlipidemic, have acanthosis nigricans and be of non-Hispanic ethnicity. However, there was no difference in the prevalence of depression/anxiety and self-harm/suicidal ideation among adolescents with or without PCOS.