Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antibiotic overuse and allergy-related diseases: an epidemiological cross-sectional study in the grasslands of Northern China

Background Several studies have shown that the use of antibiotics early in life significantly increases the risk of asthma in children. It is unclear whether antibiotics are more commonly used in patients with allergy-related diseases. Methods A multistage, clustered and random sampling with a field-interviewer-administrated survey study was performed to investigate if there was multiple use of antibiotics (MUA) in patients with allergic rhinitis (AR), conjunctivitis, chronic urticaria (CU), and asthma in the grasslands of northern China. MUA was defined as antibiotic usage for at least 3 days and for more than 3 times a year in the past 2 years. Results A total of 5,787 subjects completed the study, with 1,079 subjects (18.6%) identified as MUA. MUA was more common in patients with AR (23.7% vs 16.2%, P<0.001), conjunctivitis (22.5% vs 17.1%, P<0.001), asthma (31.8% vs 17.7%, P<0.001), and CU (25.9% vs 18.3%, P<0.01) than in subjects without allergic diseases. There is an increasing percentage of MUA in patients with a single, two, and three or more diseases both in children (20.1%, 25.0%, and 31.4%, respectively, P=0.014) and in adults (19.1%, 23.4%, and 32.9%, respectively, P<0.001). MUA is significantly associated with AR (OR=1.7, 95% CI: 1.3–2.1, P<0.001), conjunctivitis (OR=1.6, 95% CI: 1.2–2.1, P=0.001), asthma (OR=2.3, 95% CI:1.6–3.3, P<0.001) and CU (OR=2.1, 95% CI: 1.2–3.6, P=0.006) in children aged 2–17 years; and in adults (≥18 years old) for AR (OR=1.7, 95% CI: 1.4–2.1, P<0.001), conjunctivitis (OR=1.3, 95% CI:1.1–1.6, P=0.002), and asthma (OR=2.0, 95% CI: 1.5–2.7, P<0.001). Conclusion Antibiotic overuse might be associated with increased risk of allergy-related disease. It is important that implementation of the evidence-based international guidelines for the management of allergy-related diseases needs to be improved, in order to avoid unnecessary use of antibiotics.
Comparative Evaluation of Selected Metals in the Blood, Scalp Hair and Nails of Cancer Patients and Healthy Subjects

xxxv CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION 01-29 1.1 Cancer 01 1.2 Selected Types of Cancers 02 1.2. 1 Lung Cancer 02 1.2. 2 Lymphoma 03 1.2. 3 Oral Cancer 05 1.2. 4 Ovarian Cancer 05 1.2. 5 Prostate Cancer 06 1.3 Biological Significance of Metals 07 1.4 Physiological Role of Selected Metals in Human Health 09 1.4. 1 Calcium 09 1.4. 2 Cadmium 10 1.4. 3 Chromium 11 1.4. 4 Cobalt 12 1.4. 5 Copper 13 1.4. 6 Iron 14 1.4. 7 Potassium 15 1.4. 8 Lithium 16 1.4. 9 Magnesium 17 1.4. 10 Manganese 18 1.4. 11 Sodium 19 1.4. 12 Nickel 19 1.4. 13 Strontium 20 1.4. 14 Lead 21 1.4. 15 Zinc 22
The impact of raw fermented milk products on perceived health and mood among Dutch adults

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to evaluate health conditions prior to and at least two months after the start of consuming raw fermented milk (RFM) products. Design/methodology/approach One-Item health score, 1-item immunity score, immune status (ISQ), mood, bowel and skin conditions were rated for the period prior and post switching to RFM products. A linear mixed model was used to evaluate the post to prior RFM health and mood scores, taking into account gender, location of living and health group. Data from 390 participants (mean age of 54 years old) were included for the analysis, of which 277 (45 per cent) were allocated to the poor health group. Participants were allocated to the poor health group if they reported being immune depressed or suffering from a chronic disease prior to RFM; otherwise, they were allocated to the normal health group. Findings The highest intake of RFM was from RF kefir. Post RFM, people consumed around 1 glass (200 ml) of RF kefir per day. After switching to RFM, significant improvements on health and mood scores were reported. The strongest improvements after switching to RFM consumption were seen in subjects from the poor health group. With the exception of skin score, all measured health items significantly improved (p < 0.001). Health, immunity, bowel and mood scores increased with around 20 per cent in the poor health group and around 8 per cent in the normal health group. Women had more health complaints prior to RFM and had stronger health improvement post RFM compared to men. Bowel and mood scores were overall lower in women than in men. Living location had no significant impact on RFM-related health changes. This consumer survey suggests that positive health and mood changes are associated with the consumption of RFM products. Originality/value The consumption of RFM products improved the self-reported health status of adults. Immune-depressed people or people suffering from a chronic disease prior to RFM reported the strongest impact on their health, immunity, bowel and mood scores post switching RFM consumption compared to people with a normal health.
Optimal minimax routing in ATM networks

A model for characterizing the cell loss probabilities of an ATM network is developed. The three types of cell losses considered are losses in the switch fabric, losses due to buffer overflow, and congestion control losses. The problem of determining routing assignments to minimize the maximum link cell loss probability is formulated as an optimization problem. Even though the problem is not a convex program, an algorithm is presented that determines a global optimal solution. The algorithm consists of a one-dimensional search procedure and a procedure for solving a generalized multicommodity flow problem with gains. The algorithm is shown to be reasonably efficient when tested on several networks. <<ETX>>
Presepsin level in predicting patients’ in-hospital mortality from sepsis under sepsis-3 criteria

Background: Early recognition of septic patients with poor prognosis is important for clinicians to prescribe personalized therapies which include timely fluid resuscitation therapy and appropriate antimicrobial therapy. We aimed to evaluate the effect of the presepsin level on predicting the prognosis of patients with sepsis under the sepsis-3 criteria. Methods: Patients who were diagnosed as sepsis under the sepsis-3 criteria were recruited and assigned to the survivor group and the non-survivor group according to their in-hospital mortality. The two groups’ baseline characteristics were analyzed with Pearson’s chi-square (χ2) test or Kruskal–Wallis test. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the independent predictors of in-hospital mortality from sepsis. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of presepsin in predicting patients’ in-hospital mortality from sepsis. The correlation between presepsin and the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score was measured with Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. P-values of less than 0.05 were considered to indicate statistical significance. Results: Overall, 138 patients were included in this study. The presepsin level of the non-survivor group was significantly higher than that of the other group (P=0.000). Binary logistic regression showed that the presepsin level was an independent risk factor of patients’ in-hospital mortality from sepsis (OR =1.221 P=0.026). The presepsin level was positively associated with the SOFA score (ρ=0.396, P=0.000). ROC curve analysis revealed the presepsin level was highly accurate in predicting patients’ in-hospital mortality from sepsis (AUC =0.703, P=0.000). The AUC value of a combination of presepsin and the SOFA score was significantly larger than that of the SOFA score alone (AUC: 0.817 vs 0.793, P=0.041). Conclusions: Presepsin is a prognostic biomarker with high accuracy in predicting the prognosis of sepsis under the sepsis-3 criteria.
A comparative study of oral labetalol versus oral nifedipine in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy

Introduction: In developed countries, 16 percent of maternal deaths were attributed to hypertensive disorders. Of hypertensive disorders, the preeclampsia syndrome is the most dangerous. Material and Methods: The Present study was conducted in Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology M.Y. H, Indore from Sept 2015 to Sept 2017.A total number of 150 patients were randomly allocated into Group A Labetalol and Group B Nifedipine, Then the effects were compared. Results: In the current study, the control of B.P. was better with nifedipine than with labetalol. Preterm labor was less with nifedipine which may be due to tocolytic effect of nifedipine but overall perinatal outcome was good in both the groups. Nifedipine gave better results in cases of hypertensive emergency. Both drugs had minimal side effects and drug compliance was better. Conclusion: Nifedipine is as safe and effective as labetalol for the management of hypertensive disorders as well as in hypertensive emergency during pregnancy.
A formal framework for conversion from binary to residue numbers

Residue number systems (RNS) offer unlimited opportunities for high performance arithmetic provided efficient forward and reverse converters can be constructed for the moduli set at hand. All forward conversion proposals to date require some read-only memory (ROM) along with computational elements like full adders (FA). Also, there is no single coherent approach for forward conversion design-each study proposes its own conversion philosophy. There is a clear need for a single parameterizable forward conversion model that can capture most of the important design parameters in the solution space. In this paper, we take the first step toward such a universal model. We show that by formulating the forward conversion problem in terms of modular exponentiation and addition, we can achieve memory free conversion. Furthermore, we generalize our solution such that bit serial and bit parallel implementations can be derived by simply varying a parameter. This allows the designer of the forward converter to ask "what if" questions and explore an optimal forward conversion solution. Apart from the formulation itself, the paper makes two other contributions. First, it demonstrates an entirely new set of converters that use no lookup. Second, we show how conversion complexity can be reduced significantly by sharing some of the circuitry over several forward converters.
Antimicrobial and Antiradical Activity of Extracts Obtained from Leaves of Three Species of the Genus Pyrus

In this study, extracts were obtained from leaves of Pyrus communis L. , Pyrus elaeagrifolia Pall. , and Pyrus pyrifolia (Bum.) Nak. These extracts were tested for antiradical and antibacterial activity, as well as for the amount of total phenolic compounds, hydroquinone and arbutin. The antiradical activity was measured using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical and antibacterial activity with the disk diffusion method. The amount of phenolic compounds was determined using Folin Ciocalteu’s phenol reagent, but the amount of hydroquinone and arbutin was measured with high performance liquid chromatography. The strongest antiradical activity was observed for ethyl acetate extract from leaves of P. communis L. , and the lowest for the poorly soluble fraction (precipitate) from leaves of P. elaeagrifolia Pall. The highest number of antiradical units per gram of raw materials was noted for leaves of P. communis. The strongest antibacterial activity was measured for ethyl acetate extracts. The calculation of Spearman rank correlation coefficients indicated the existence of a positive correlation between contents of hydroquinone in extracts and their antibacterial activity for almost all investigated bacterial strains. The strains of fungi such as Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were completely resistant to the action of extracts.
The Protective Effect of Dietary Phytosterols on Cancer Risk: A Systematic Meta-Analysis

Backgrounds/Aims Many studies have explored the association between dietary phytosterols and cancer risk, but the results have been inconsistent. We aimed to provide a synopsis of the current understanding of phytosterol intake for cancer risk through a systematic evaluation of the results from previous studies. Methods We performed a literature search of PUBMED, EMBASE, CNKI, and Wanfang, and studies published before May 2019 focusing on dietary total phytosterols, β-sitosterol, campesterol, stigmasterol, β-sitostanol, and campestanol, as well as their relationships with cancer risk, were included in this meta-analysis. Summaries of the relative risks from 11 case-control and case-cohort studies were eventually estimated by randomized or fixed effects models. Results The summary relative risk for the highest versus the lowest intake was 0.63 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.49–0.81) for total phytosterols, 0.74 (95% CI = 0.54–1.02) for β-sitosterol, 0.72 (95% CI = 0.51–1.00) for campesterol, 0.83 (95% CI = 0.60–1.16) for stigmasterol, 1.12 (95% CI = 0.96–1.32) for β-sitostanol, and 0.77 (95% CI = 0.65–0.90) for campestanol. In a dose-response analysis, the results suggested a linear association for campesterol and a nonlinear association for total phytosterol intake. Conclusion Our findings support the hypothesis that high phytosterol intake is inversely related to risk of cancer. Further studies with prospective designs that control for vital confounders and investigate the important anticancer effects of dietary phytosterols are warranted.
Crying newborns: The colic and reflux situation in New Zealand as depicted by online questionnaire

Infantile colic is prevalent among newborns and typically defined in terms of repeated bouts of inconsolable crying occurring several days of the week. There appears no universal cause for colic and none of the multifarious behavioural, dietary and pharmaceutical treatments are of benefit in all cases. This study collected data from 154 New Zealand parents with colicky and reflux infants by online questionnaire. Male and female infants were represented approximately equally in the sample, and respondents consisted of parents who breast fed and bottle fed, and considered themselves demand or routine baby feeders. Feeding frequency ranged from 5 to 14 sessions per day, and there was a weak, but significant, relationship between frequency of crying bouts and daily feeds. Almost 90% of newborns had started colicky behaviours by one month of age and although colic is often thought to settle naturally by 3 to 4 months, 24% of children had not resolved by 11 months. Behavioural interventions (example, burping; cranial massage; baby massage), natural products (example, herbal teas) and over the counter remedies (example, gripe water; colic powders) stopped colic completely in very few infants (< 3%), although most treatments improved the situation for some children. Prescription drugs (example, ranitidine; omeprazole) were perceived to be more efficient, with 23% of parents indicating that colicky behaviour had ceased, and 82% indicating these treatments were helpful. One note of concern is that over half of the parents that had given their child prescription medicines had increased the dosage over time. Respondents indicated that antenatal/pregnancy classes did not provide adequate education in topics such as winding babies, colic, reflux, and irregular sleeping patterns in newborns. The results of the survey reinforce a need for pre-natal education about the prevalence of these excessive crying behaviours in infants and which interventions could be attempted immediately.
Computer-Mediated Communicative Competence: How Email Facilitates Second-Language Learning

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is an important medium by which teachers and students interact both inside and outside of the classroom. Unfortunately, CMC has received little attention in terms of second-language (L2) acquisition. This paper reviews a variety of recent research on CMC’s role in language teaching to provide a basis for understanding how the medium can aid L2 teaching and learning. The review shows that CMC’s role in L2 teaching is effective when the process is blended with explicit instruction and autonomous practice. However, this paper also illustrates how L2 learners lack pragmatic competence when using CMC that results in misunderstandings when student-to-teacher or native-to-non-native interaction occurred. The review concludes with pedagogical considerations for L2 teaching and learning.
Chiral geometry in symmetry restored states: Chiral doublet bands in 128Cs

The pairing-plus-quadrupole Hamiltonian is diagonalized in a symmetry restored basis, i.e., the triaxial quasiparticle-states with angular momentum and particle number projections, and applied for chiral doublet bands in 128Cs. The observed energy spectra and electromagnetic transition probabilities are reproduced well without introducing any parameter. The orientation of the angular momentum in the intrinsic frame is investigated by the distributions of its components on the three principle axes as well as those of its tilted angles. The evolution of the chirality with spin is illustrated and the chiral geometry is demonstrated in the angular momentum projected model for the first time.
Mechanical Ventilation Training During Graduate Medical Education: Perspectives and Review of the Literature.

Background Management of mechanical ventilation (MV) is an important and complex aspect of caring for critically ill patients. Management strategies and technical operation of the ventilator are key skills for physicians in training, as lack of expertise can lead to substantial patient harm. Objective We performed a narrative review of the literature describing MV education in graduate medical education (GME) and identified best practices for training and assessment methods. Methods We searched MEDLINE, PubMed, and Google Scholar for English-language, peer-reviewed articles describing MV education and assessment. We included articles from 2000 through July 2018 pertaining to MV education or training in GME. Results Fifteen articles met inclusion criteria. Studies related to MV training in anesthesiology, emergency medicine, general surgery, and internal medicine residency programs, as well as subspecialty training in critical care medicine, pediatric critical care medicine, and pulmonary and critical care medicine. Nearly half of trainees assessed were dissatisfied with their MV education. Six studies evaluated educational interventions, all employing simulation as an educational strategy, although there was considerable heterogeneity in content. Most outcomes were assessed with multiple-choice knowledge testing; only 2 studies evaluated the care of actual patients after an educational intervention. Conclusions There is a paucity of information describing MV education in GME. The available literature demonstrates that trainees are generally dissatisfied with MV training. Best practices include establishing MV-specific learning objectives and incorporating simulation. Next research steps include developing competency standards and validity evidence for assessment tools that can be utilized across MV educational curricula.
Prevalence and Risk Factors of Episiotomy and Perineal Tear in the Maternity Teaching Hospital of Erbil City, Iraq

Background and Objectives: During childbirth, women are at risk for experiencing perineal trauma to the genitalia resulting in a tear of the perineum or the surgical process of an episiotomy. Knowing the prevalence and the risk factors associated with perineal trauma may help in the reduction of episiotomy and prevention of occurrence of tear. The aim of the study was to find out the prevalence and risk factors associated with perineal trauma among women ages 15-48.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Maternity Teaching Hospital of Erbil, Kurdistan region, Iraq. All records of mothers (n = 1500) who had been admitted to the delivery room for vaginal delivery during the month of May (2015) were reviewed. Chi-square test of association and binary logistic regression were used to interpret the data.Results: The overall rates of episiotomy, tear, their combined presence, and an intact perineum were: 47.8%, 7.2%, 26.1% and 18.9%, respectively. Incidence of having an episiotomy, tear, or combination of both, were significantly associated with women of young ages and women who were primigravida parity. There was a statistically significant association between high birth weight and the occurrence of perineal trauma. There was no association between perineal trauma and residency (urban/rural), occupation, gender of baby and time of delivery. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that having an episiotomy increased the risk of a tear by more than 30%. Conclusions: The prevalence of episiotomy was found to be 73.9% which is much higher compared to the World Health Organization recommendation which is 10%. Perineal trauma were associated with factors such as age, parity, and birth weight. Episiotomy is a risk factor for a vaginal tear. We recommend further research to inform the development and implementation of restrictive episiotomy policies to reduce and prevent occurrences of perineal trauma.
Experimental Description of Multimode MIMO Channels utilizing Optical Couplers

The concept of MIMO (multiple input multiple output) transmission over multimode fibers has attracted increasing interest within the last years. Theoretically, the performance of the optical MIMO multimode channel is well predictable. However, the realization of the optical MIMO channel requires substantial further research. In this work the efficiency of optical couplers in MIMO systems is studied in a 1,4 km multimode testbed. Optical couplers have long been used as passive optical components being able to combine or split SISO (single-input single-output) data transmission from optical fibers. Comparing the different couplers those which maintain the different optical mode groups support the MIMO transmission more efficiently.
Posterior Malleolar Ankle Fractures

Background: There is increasing acceptance that the clinical outcomes following posterior malleolar fractures are less than satisfactory. We report our results of posterior malleolar fracture management based on the classification by Mason and Molloy. Methods: All fractures were classified on the basis of computed tomographic (CT) scans obtained preoperatively. This dictated the treatment algorithm. Type-1 fractures underwent syndesmotic fixation. Type-2A fractures underwent open reduction and internal fixation through a posterolateral incision, type-2B fractures underwent open reduction and internal fixation through either a posteromedial incision or a combination of a posterolateral with a medial-posteromedial incision, and type-3 fractures underwent open reduction and internal fixation through a posteromedial incision. Results: Patient-related outcome measures were obtained in 50 patients with at least 1-year follow-up. According to the Mason and Molloy classification, there were 17 type-1 fractures, 12 type-2A fractures, 10 type-2B fractures, and 11 type-3 fractures. The mean Olerud-Molander Ankle Score was 75.9 points (95% confidence interval [CI], 66.4 to 85.3 points) for patients with type-1 fractures, 75.0 points (95% CI, 61.5 to 88.5 points) for patients with type-2A fractures, 74.0 points (95% CI, 64.2 to 83.8 points) for patients with type-2B fractures, and 70.5 points (95% CI, 59.0 to 81.9 points) for patients with type-3 fractures. Conclusions: We have been able to demonstrate an improvement in the Olerud-Molander Ankle Score for all posterior malleolar fractures with the treatment algorithm applied using the Mason and Molloy classification. Mason classification type-3 fractures have marginally poorer outcomes, which correlates with a more severe injury; however, this did not reach significance. Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.