Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
New MRI Finding in Migraineurs: Mesial Temporal Sclerosis

Background: Based on our experience, a noticeable number of migraineurs without history of epilepsy disclose mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) on their brain MRI. Objective: This prospective study was conducted to assess the frequency of MTS in migraineurs and also determine the ratio of unilateral and bilateral cases. Material and Methods: In this cross sectional study, the frequency of MTS in MRI of 84 migraine patients, who had symptoms for at least 2 years, assessed. Brain MRI was done with T1 and T2 weighted protocols. Two radiologists separately interpreted findings, defining MTS as presence of any of hippocampal atrophy, increased T2 signal of hippocampus, decreased T1 signal of hippocampus or loss of internal architecture. Patients who radiologists had not agreement on their diagnoses excluded. Stat analysis done using ‘N - 1’ chi squared test. Results: Eleven patients were excluded due to non-accordant interpretation of MRI findings by the two examining radiologists. MTS was detected in 14 out of 73 patients (19%). Bilateral involvement of mesial temporal lobe was seen in 6 (8%) patients (M 67%, F 33%). Five cases (7%) had unilateral left MTS (M 67%, F 33%) while 3 (4%) were affected with right-sided MTS (M 33%, F 67%). These findings highly suggest association of MTS and Migraine (P-value <0.0001). Conclusion: While MTS is a prevalent finding in migraineurs, incidental finding of MTS in MRI should suspect physicians of migraine as well as temporal lobe epilepsy. MTS can be proposed as an etiology of migraine but most likely, consequence of it.
The horizontal zonation of two species of intertidal barnacle in South Africa

Along the west and south coasts of South Africa, the two most abundant intertidal barnacles Octomeris angulosa Sowerby and Tetraclita serrata Darwin have similar vertical ranges, but tend to be segregated along a horizontal gradient of wave exposure. This horizontal pattern is described and the mechanisms producing the pattern at Glencairn in False Bay are examined. Survival rates of Tetraclita were significantly higher in Tetraclita-dominated areas than in Octomeris-dominated areas, whereas survival rates of Octomeris were higher in Octomeris-dominated areas. Five hypotheses to explain differences in survival were examined. There was no support for three of the hypotheses, i.e. the Structure of Cirri, Competition and Predation hypotheses. There was support for the Wave Tolerance and Temperature Stress hypotheses. The results suggest that: (1) physical factors vary along the horizontal gradient: wave height and wave strength are greatest at the exposed end, whereas temperatures and desiccation rates are highest at the calm end; (2) Octomeris is better adapted to withstand strong wave forces because it forms a strong, single-layered matrix; and (3) Tetraclita is better adapted to hot and dry conditions because its shell appears to have many characteristics that reduce heat-loading. Tetraclita and Octomeris therefore occur alone at either end of the gradient and overlap in the middle, where conditions are intermediate.
Disability and risk factors for unemployment in chronic fatigue syndrome: a comparison with multiple sclerosis

ABSTRACT Aim: To compare disease impact on functioning in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: Fifty-four patients with CFS after giardiasis, 43 patients with moderate MS and 96 healthy controls were included. Comprehensive evaluation included the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and these neuropsychological tests: Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT), Selective Reminding Test and Symbol Digit Modalities Test. Long-term sickness disability was also registered. Results: Eighteen CFS patients were partly employed and among MS patients eight were partly and six fully employed. CFS and MS patients scored worse on the FSS and all subscores of SF-36 than controls (all p < .05). CFS patients scored worse (all p < .01) than patients with MS on these measurers: FSS, vitality subscale of the SF-36 and the HADS, whereas MS patients scored worse (p < .01) than CFS patients on most neuropsychological tests. Long-term sickness disability in CFS was associated with short illness duration, and the SF-36 physical function and general health subscales, whereas long-term sickness disability in MS was associated with FSS, PASAT, Symbol Digit Modalities, and the SF-36 physical function, bodily pain, role limitations due to physical problems, and social functioning subscales (all p ≤ .05). Conclusion: The main self-reported disabilities in CFS patients were associated with severe fatigue, low physical function and low social functioning, whereas disability in MS patients seems more multifactorial. Level of unemployment was higher in CFS patients compared to MS patients.
Food availability and parasite infection influence the correlated responses of life history traits to selection for age at pupation in the mosquito Aedes aegypti

We selected six lines of mosquito Aedes aegypti for earlier or later pupation and measured the correlated responses of several life history traits: adult size, two fecundity measures and pre‐adult survival. We further examined the influence of two environmental parameters – larval food availability and infection by the microsporidian parasite Edhazardia aedis– on the correlated responses. Pre‐adult survival did not respond to selection for age at pupation in any environment. For all of the other traits, the environment influenced the correlated response, though the contribution of the different environmental aspects differed among traits. While the correlated response of adult size was influenced only by larval food availability, the likelihood that a female laid eggs was influenced by parasite infection, and the correlated response of the number of eggs was influenced by the interaction of the two environmental parameters. Generally, a deteriorating environment moved the correlated response from one favouring later pupation to one favouring earlier pupation. Larval food availability and parasite infection also influenced the association between the mean wing length and fecundity of the selected lines. At high food availability, there was a positive relationship between adult size and fecundity, while infected mosquitoes reared at low food availability showed the opposite trend. We discuss these results in light of the coevolutionary potential of the host–parasite interaction.
Structures/textures of living/fossil microbialites and their implications in biogenicity: An astrobiological point of view

Atacama's microbialites, able to live in such extreme environment, are possible candidates as models for searching life in other planets or moons. At present, little is known about their microstructure and composition. This study analyzes, mainly, the terrestrial microstructures in a dimensional field longer than 0.1 mm, through an original approach using photographs and macro pictures, appropriately magnified and consequently little defocused, in comparison with analogous images shot by NASA Rovers on Martian outcroppings. A method able to permit comparison of structures and textures of terrestrial microbialites to the microscopic photo images (MI) shot by the cameras mounted on the NASA rovers that since more ten years are present on the Red Planet (Opportunity, Spirit, Curiosity). The study highlights occurrence of widespread structures likes microspherules (or clots), often organized into some higher order settings,such are donuts, polispherules, filaments and, above all, intertwined filaments of microspherules, all showing features of an imperfect geometrical repetitiveness. The structural analysis has been connected with a textural study by a multifractal analysis, that is able to distinguish terrestrial biogenic stromatolites from abiogenic pseudo-stromatolites, and giving us a tool that might be applied for astrobiological purposes.
Bacteriological Contamination of Groundwater from Zango Local Government Area, Katsina State, Northwestern Nigeria

Bacteriological contamination of drinking water is responsible for the occurrence of waterborne diseases such as typhoid fever, dysentry, cholera, meningitis and diarrhea. Little is known about the microbiology of well water in Nigeria as most analyses focuses on physical and chemical parameters. Faecal contamination of the wells comes from the presence of human and animal faeces. Groundwater has been recognized as playing a very important role in the development of our rural populace as most dwellers depend solely on water from hand dug wells and boreholes for their daily needs. In this study bacteriological quality of groundwater from hand dug wells were analysed in Zango Local Government Area of Katsina State with the aim of evaluating their suitability for domestic purposes. A total of 87 groundwater samples from the wells were collected for both dry and rainy season and analysed at National Research Institute for Chemical Technology Laboratory Zaria, Nigeria. The results indicate faecal contamination of the hand dug wells. The poor sanitary condition in the area and the closeness of some hand dug wells to pit-latrines, soakaways and dumpsites were identified as the factors responsible for the microbial contamination of the groundwater from the shallow aquifers. Boiling of water is recommended and subsequent hand dug wells should be cited far away from pit-toilet and soakaways to avoid contamination by leachates.
EXPRESSION OF C-JUN FOLLOWING OPTIC NERVE INJURY IN DANIO RERIO

Unlike mammals, fish and amphibians exhibit remarkable regenerative properties of the central nervous system. This study focused on the changes in c-jun expression consequent to optic nerve injury in Danio rerio (zebrafish). Known for its function in regulating transcription, c-jun binds with other transcriptional regulators to affect nerve regeneration and cell death in ways that seem paradoxical. I sought to determine if c-jun was differentially expressed in the retina following optic nerve injury as compared to fish which had undergone a similar operation but whose optic nerve had not been injured (sham-operated). Based on previous studies, I hypothesized that expression of c-jun in the retina would significantly increase in fish that suffered injury to the optic nerve compared to those that only underwent collateral tissue damage. Following RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis with reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), quantification of c-jun expression was determined by quantitative real time-PCR (qRT-PCR). Expression levels were normalized to expression of a reference gene (ß-actin), yielding relative expression levels. A two way analysis of variance was carried out in order to determine whether there were significant differences in gene expression 3 hours, 24 hours and 168 hours after injury between sham-operated and optic nerve injured fish. Significant differences (p < 0.05) between sham-operated and optic nerve injured retinas were observed at 24 hours and at 168 hours. The significant differences in expression of c-jun corroborated and extended past studies (Veldman et al., 2007, Herdegen et al., 1993). Furthermore, my findings raised the possibility that c-jun expression may be important for optic nerve regeneration. If the ability of fish to regenerate optic nerve has a genetic basis, then one may be able conduct gene therapy treatment in glaucoma patients by identifying the genes that are differentially expressed following optic nerve injury.
Bank risk and effectiveness of insider ownership: the case of Korean banks

This paper examines how the effectiveness of insider ownership in inducing the managers of the banks to take on riskier strategies, and therefore, aligning the interests of managers with those of outside stockholders is related to the degree of the firm’s current exposure to risk. Using the panel regression analysis of Korean banking industry over the period of 2000-2008, the authors find very consistent and strong evidences that the effectiveness of insider ownership in inducing the managers of the banks to take on riskier strategies is stronger when the bank’s current exposure to risk or risk characteristic is lower (the bank belongs to lower risk category groups). These finding are intuitively clear considering that for the managers of the banks in safer positions, the expected gain of increased risk taking from the insider ownership would be greater than the expected cost associated with it such as the loss of their jobs from failure and acquiring bad reputation for their incompetent management abilities, and the loss of perquisite consumption. The findings in this paper suggest the effectiveness of insider ownership in aligning the interests of managers and outside stockholders could be understood in terms of cost-benefit relationship associated with insider ownership. This paper finds a very strong and consistent evidence that the greater the risk, the greater the cost relative to benefit will be. Not only the level of insider managerial ownership but also the level of current exposure to risk of the firm needs to be considered as another very important factor to reduce agency problem caused by the conflict of interest between stockholders and managers and to increase firm value.
Modelling larval dispersal of Pecten maximus in the English Channel: a tool for the spatial management of the stocks

The great scallop Pecten maximus supports one of the most important and valuable commercial fisheries around the British Isles and in the northwest of France, but the resource is mainly managed at the scale of each local fishing ground through a combination of European, national and local measures. To analyse the larval dispersal pathways and connectivity patterns among fishing grounds of the great scallop in the Celtic Sea and the English Channel, a particle tracking model was developed. The model combined a 3D physical circulation model that simulated currents and temperature fields and a scallop larval submodel that took into account a temperature-dependent planktonic larval duration and an active vertical swimming behaviour. Due to the lack of stock assessment at the regional scale, the location of the main fishing grounds was established by combining different sources (e.g. grey literature, unpublished scientific surveys, vessel monitoring data, fishermen) while the spawning biomass of each stock was estimated from landings data. Results indicated that each local stock could not be considered as a single independent management unit and that all stocks except that of the Bay of Brest were connected to neighbouring stocks, suggesting that the management should be defined in a metapopulation context. Three major groups of strongly interconnected stocks including two or three stocks exhibiting high retention and self-recruitment rates and some peripheral stocks with a low self-recruitment rate were defined: the North Brittany and Channel Islands, the eastern English Channel, and the SW of England. Our results were discussed in terms of the definition of management units in comparison with genetic and phenotypic data, and in terms of resource management in a transnational context.
Mortality Related to Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Is Increasing in the United States

Population‐level nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) death rate data are sparse. We described death rates for adults with NAFLD in the United States using mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System multiple‐cause mortality data (2007‐2016). Decedents who had NAFLD were identified by International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes K75.81, K76.0, K74.0, K74.6, and K76.9. Among NAFLD decedents, cause‐specific deaths (e.g., cardiovascular disease [CVD], cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC], non‐liver cancer, diabetes mellitus [DM]) were identified by underlying cause of death ICD‐10 codes. Trends were evaluated by average annual percentage change (AAPC) in age‐standardized death rate (ASDR) per 100,000 persons. Among the 25,129,960 decedents aged ≥20 years, 353,234 (1.4%) decedents had NAFLD (212,322 men; 260,765 non‐Hispanic whites, 32,868 non‐Hispanic blacks, 46,530 Hispanics, 5,025 non‐Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Natives [AIANs], 7,023 non‐Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islanders [APIs]), with a mean age at death of 64.47 ± 13.17 years. During the study period, the ASDR for NAFLD increased by 15% (12.94 to 14.90; AAPC, 1.98%; P < 0.001]), while women (AAPC, 2.99% vs. 1.16% men; P = 0.003), non‐Hispanic whites (AAPC, 2.48%), non‐Hispanic AIANs (AAPC, 2.31%), and Hispanics (AAPC, 0.74%) experienced the highest annual increases. Stable trends were noted for non‐Hispanic blacks and non‐Hispanic APIs. Among subgroups, Mexican (AAPC, 1.75%) and Asian Indians (AAPC, 6.94%) experienced annual increases. The top six underlying causes of death (155,894 cirrhosis, 38,444 CVD, 19,466 non‐liver cancer, 10,867 HCC, 8,113 DM, and 5,683 lung disease) accounted for 67.5% of NAFLD‐related deaths. For cause‐specific deaths, ASDR increased for HCC (AAPC, 3.82%), DM (AAPC, 2.23%), non‐liver cancer (AAPC, 2.14%), CVD (AAPC, 1.59%), and cirrhosis (AAPC, 0.96%). Conclusion: NAFLD‐related deaths in U.S. adults are increasing. Cirrhosis is the top cause‐specific death, followed by CVD. Women, non‐Hispanic whites, and non‐Hispanic AIANs (subgroups Mexicans and Asian Indians) experienced the highest increases in deaths. Policies addressing the societal burden of NAFLD are needed.
A Review Focused on Tourism

This paper presents a review of the methods of the science of networks with an application to the field of tourism studies. The basic definitions and computational techniques are described and a case study (Elba, Italy) used to illustrate the effect of network typology on information diffusion. A static structural characterization of the network formed by destination stakeholders is derived from stakeholder interviews and website link analysis. This is followed by a dynamic analysis of the information diffusion process within the case destination demonstrating that stakeholder cohesion and adaptive capacity have a positive effect on information diffusion. The outcomes and the implications of this analysis for improving destination management are discussed.
Multivariate methods in examining macroeconomic variables effect on Greek stock market returns, 1997-2004

The ability to identify which factors best capture systematic return co-variation is central to applications of multifactor pricing models. In the framework of the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT), this paper estimates the set of factors that influence Greek stock market returns. The estimation procedure follows both the classic APT and the identification of the factors outliers through factor analysis. Using eight years of data from 1997 to 2004, the examined period is split in two sub-periods, prior and after the entrance of Greece to the European Monetary Union.
Evaluation of the antioxidant activity of the leaves, stem-barks extracts and fractions of Ochna schweinfurthiana F.Hoffm (Ochnaceae)

The present study evaluates the in vitro antioxidant activity of the leaves and stem-barks extracts and fractions of Ochna schweinfurthiana. To this effect, the different extracts were obtained by maceration in four solvents namely ethyl acetate, methanol, acetone and water- ethanol mixture (20-80). The methanol extract which exhibited the best antioxidant activity was partitioned in hexane and ethyl acetate. The ethyl acetate fraction was fractionated by column chromatography with the aid of methyl dichloride/methanol (〖CH〗_2 〖Cl〗_2/ MeOH) solvent system at different polarities. The antioxidant activity of the extracts and fractions was assessed by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrilhidrazil (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power assay (FRAP) and the total polyphenol content was evaluated using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. The results were analyzed using SPSS 20 presented as mean ± standard deviation. The results phytochemical screening confirmed the abundance of flavonoids and catechic tannins in the methanol and water-ethanol extracts whose content vary between 37.83 ± 1.6 mg ascorbic acid equivalent (EAA)/g dry weight (dw) and 96.4 ±2.33 mg EAA/g dw. The leaves methanol extract possess the best antiradical power (AP) of 0.00114 ± 0.00001 g/mg and the best ferric reducing antioxidant power (542.33±16.51 mg EAA/g dw). The F3 fraction obtained using〖 CH〗_2 〖Cl〗_2/MeOH 5/1 elution system possess the best AP of 0.00125 ± 0.00001 g/mg identical to that of ascorbic acid (AP = 0.00125 ± 0.00002 g/mg) and the strongest ferric reducing antioxidant power (508.66 ± 18 mg EAA/g dw). A positive correlation between the two antioxidant tests and the polyphenols content was obtained. Thus, Ochna schweinfurthiana could be used by the population to prevent some diseases caused by oxidative stress, due to its high antioxidant effect. Key words: Ochna schweinfurthiana, extracts, fractions, antioxidant activity.
Preparation of Sour Grape (Vitis Vinifera) Beverages and Evaluation of their Storage Stability

‘Thompson seedless’ grapes (Vitis vinifera) possessing 1.0% acidity were used in the preparation of beverages with and without carbonation. Sour grape juice was extracted, bottled and clarified by racking for three months. Palatable blended grape beverages were also prepared using sour grape juice with phalsa / purple grape juice. Process parameters such as quantity of juice, blending proportions and brix / acid ratio for different beverages were optimized. Squashes were prepared by maintaining brix at 45° and acidity 0.75%. Readyto-serve (RTS) beverages were standardized with brix 15° and acidity 0.14%. The appearance, color and flavor characteristics of sour grape beverages were improved by blending with purple grape juice and phalsa juice at 2:1 and 1:1 ratios respectively. A set of carbonated beverages in the above combinations were also prepared to check their compatibility and acceptability. A marginal rise in total sugars and decrease in acidity were observed in all beverages after 6 months of storage. Sensory evaluation indicated that carbonated beverages were highly acceptable than plain beverages throughout the storage period. Highest scores of 7.4 and 7.5 were recorded for blended grape beverages with purple grape and phalsa juice respectively even after a storage period of 6 months.
X-ray measurement of residual stresses and texture development during a rolling sequence of zirconium alloy cladding tubes – influence of plastic anisotropy on mechanical behaviour

Texture and residual stress analysis using X-ray diffraction have been carried out on zirconium alloy cladding tubes after cold pilgering, an industrial mechanical process. The final rolling pass has been completely characterized by X-ray diffraction. An interpretation of the effect of intergranular stresses on the development of analysed stress has been made using a modified elastoplastic self-consistent model in order to account for the effect of the high intrinsic plastic anisotropy of hexagonal close-packed crystals. The contribution and magnitude of the first- and second-order residual stresses were correctly evaluated using information from the model. The main features of the rolling sequence were qualitatively reproduced by the simulations, considering prismatic slip as the main active deformation mode in this alloy under large strain.