Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing postsurgery body mass index reduction and identifying factors associated with greater body mass index reduction in a sample of obese patients who underwent weight-loss surgery in Saudi Arabia

Background: Although evidence exists that bariatric surgery can provide substantial weight loss and body mass index (BMI) reduction. However, there is a limited data about this topic among the Saudi population. The purpose of this study was to assess postsurgery BMI and identify factors associated with greater BMI reduction. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted of 318 obese patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) at King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the period between January 1, 2001 and March 31, 2017. The outcome assessed was a reduction in BMI within 12 months after surgery, and a reduction of ≥20, indicating a greater BMI loss. Results: Patients with BMI value >40 had markedly decreased from 81.5% at the baseline to 25.6% at 12 months. Greater BMI loss occurred in 12.03% of the patients. Mixed-model and Tukey multiple comparison tests show a great decrease in BMI over time, but no significant differences in BMI between surgery types: LSG and RYGB. According to bivariate logistic analysis, greater BMI reduction was noted in the male gender (odds ratio [OR] = 2.493, P = 0.017) and patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) (OR = 3.130, P = 0.029). A multivariate logistic analysis showed that young age (adjusted OR = 3.755, P = 0.028) and OSA (adjusted OR = 5.034, P = 0.023) were associated with a greater BMI reduction at 12-month postsurgery. Conclusions: The study has shown that bariatric surgery led to a significant reduction in BMI, which may result in resolving a number of obesity-related comorbidities. Being young and OSA were associated with significant reduction. The procedure types, RYGB and LSG, yielded similar reduction in BMI. It is important to evaluate baseline data as it may influence BMI reduction and aid management.
Bacteriology and risk factors of bacterial keratitis in Ethiopia

Background: In East Africa, particularly in Ethiopia, bacterial keratitis is a major cause of blindness. The purpose of this study was to identify the spectrum of bacterial aetiology and risk factors of bacterial keratitis and to assess the in-vitro antimicrobial susceptibility of these bacterial isolates at Jimma University Specialized Hospital in Oromia, Southwest Ethiopia. Methods: A prospective study was employed from January 2012 to June 2012 from which a total of 24 patients with bacterial keratitis were included in the study. Corneal scrapings collected were transported and microbiologically processed using standard operating procedure. Results: Four different predisposing factors for bacterial keratitis were identified, of which corneal trauma (38%), blepharitis (29%), herpetic keratitis (20%), and use of contaminated medications (20%). Bilateral corneal infection was found in 21% of the cases. A total of 24 corneal scrapings were collected for microbiological evaluation, of which 20 (83%) had bacterial growth. The isolated bacterial pathogens were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (42%), Staphyloccus aureus (21%), Serratia marcescens (15%), followed by Streptococcus pneumoniae (10%). Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern revealed that 85% of Gram-negative bacilli were susceptible to gentamicin and ciprofloxacin, while 86% of Gram-positive cocci were susceptible to vancomycin and Ciprofloxacin. Conclusions: Corneal trauma was the most common risk factor for bacterial keratitis followed by blepharitis. Bacteriological analysis of corneal scrapings also revealed that P. aeruginosa was the most common isolate followed by S. aureus; and the antibiotic with the highest susceptibility was ciprofloxacin. As drug resistance among bacterial pathogens is an evolving process, routine surveillance and monitoring studies should be conducted to provide an update and most effective empirical treatment for bacterial keratitis.
CASE STUDY: Effect of feeding rate and weaning age of dairy calves fed a conventional milk replacer during warm summer months

ABSTRACT Feeding rate of a 21% CP, 21% fat milk replacer (MR) and weaning age of Holstein dairy calves (initially 42 ± 1.1 kg of BW) were examined during summer months (averaging 24°C). In previous cool-weather ( 0.05) in postweaning performance. Starter intake did not differ (P > 0.05) among MR rates and was low compared with other trials in this laboratory, likely because of heat stress. Feeding 0.66 kg of DM supported more (P
Inhibition of convulsive status epilepticus-induced abnormal neurogenesis by sodium valproate

Background: Status Epilepticus (SE) is a life-threatening neurological emergency with high morbidity and mortality. The mechanism underlying the preventive effect of sodium valproate (VPA) on SE remains unclear. Objectives: The current study aims to explore the potential effects of VPA on Neural Stem Cells (NSCs) proliferation, migration and neurogenesis in hippocampus of Wistar rats after Convulsive Status Epilepticus (CSE). Materials and Methods: A rat model of CSE was initially established. Effective dosage of VPA was screened out. Then, all test rats were divided into control group (Normal rats), CSE group (Model rats) and CSE+VPA group (Model rats treated with VPA). The induced success rate of Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) in hippocampus was detected. New-born NSCs and neurons in hippocampus were analysed by immunohistochemical staining. Results: The effective dosage of VPA in controlling CSE for 35 d old (D35) rats was 300 mg/kg 6 times per day. CSE significantly promoted neurogenesis with obviously increasing new-born NSCs and neurons in Subgranular Zone (SGZ) and Subventricular Zone (SVZ), which showed a migration tendency to the CA1 area. VPA intervention could effectively prevent the effect of CSE. Conclusion: VPA is effective to inhibit the abnormal proliferation and migration of NSCs and new-born neurons induced by CSE in SGZ and SVZ. Neurogenesis proves a pivotal regulatory element during CSE in rats.
The Role of Palliative Care in the Management of Patients with Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Single Institution Experience

Abstract Introduction: Advanced HCC at initial presentation is as high as 15%. Those patients present with a complex group of symptoms that need to be addressed to improve their quality of life. Objective: Analyze the characteristics of patients with advanced HCC and determine their need for Supportive andPalliative care. Methods: The current study included a retrospective review of all patients with advanced HCC accepted under the palliative care program at the NCCCR, Doha, Qatar from 2012 till 2015. A detailed descriptive analysis of those patients was performed. Results: 40 patients constituted the cohort of this study. Ratio was 3:1. 75% of patients were above 60 years. Previous HBV or HCV was present in 95% of patients. Most common symptoms were fatigue, pain, anorexia, drowsiness, anxiety and depression. Incidence of advanced HCC was 25% of all HCC cases and 11% of all cases accepted under the palliative care program in the past 4 years. Ascites was present in 80% of patients, and hepatic encephalopathy in 82% of patients. Distant metastases (to bones and lungs) occurred in 45% of patients. The rest of patients (55%) had multifocal liver lesions. Median OS was 7 months. Majority of our patients (94%) died in the hospital. Conclusion: Advanced HCC is as common as 25% at initial presentation. Patients with such diagnosis present with symptoms that would require early engagement with aspecialized palliative care program to address those symptoms. The aim of treatment for those groups of patients should be solely to improve their quality of life.
Exploring Innovative Teaching Methods To bring up the interest of students to learn Physics in Malaysia in the near future

Currently, the Malaysian Physics curriculum aims to provide opportunities for students to acquire science knowledge and skills, besides developing thinking skills & strategies, and to apply this knowledge and skills in their everyday life, but also to inculcate in their noble values and the spirit of patriotism (KBSM, 2012). In order to achieve the objective of Physics curriculum of Malaysia, it is first very important to explore the factors affecting the interest and performance of Malaysian students in Physics, and from here identify the possible steps that can be taken to improve the situation. Some suggestions are given by the author for future methods that educators may implement to increase the number of students taking Physics in higher education.
Backchannel relevance spaces

This contribution introduces backchannel relevance spaces – intervals where it is relevant for a listener in a conversation to produce a backchannel. By annotating and comparing actual visual and vocal backchannels with potential backchannels established using a group of subjects acting as third-party listeners, we show (i) that visual only backchannels represent a substantial proportion of all backchannels; and (ii) that there are more opportunities for backchannels (i.e. potential backchannels or backchannel relevance spaces) than there are actual vocal and visual backchannels. These findings indicate that backchannel relevance spaces enable more accurate acoustic, prosodic, lexical (et cetera) descriptions of backchannel inviting cues than descriptions based on the context of actual vocal backchannels only.
A Formal Model of Crash Recovery in a Distributed System

A formal model for atomic commit protocols for a distributed database system is introduced. The model is used to prove existence results about resilient protocols for site failures that do not partition the network and then for partitioned networks. For site failures, a pessimistic recovery technique, called independent recovery, is introduced and the class of failures for which resilient protocols exist is identified. For partitioned networks, two cases are studied: the pessimistic case in which messages are lost, and the optimistic case in which no messages are lost. In all cases, fundamental limitations on the resiliency of protocols are derived.
A Community Based Study Of Psychiatric Disorders Among The Elderly Living In Delhi

Background: Most studies on the mental health in the elderly have focused on the elderly in a hospital and institutional setting and the community elderly has been neglected at large. Aim: To study the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among the elderly based on different demographic characteristics. Method: A cross-sectional study of 250 elderly living in 'charge 2' census area of New Delhi were administered the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the Hindi Mental State Examination (HMSE) after taking their socio-demographic profile. Residents screening positive were administered the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R and a DSM-III-R derived algorithm for Dementia. Results: One hundred and thirty elderly (52%) screened positive with GHQ and 33 elderly (13.2%) with HMSE. Based on case identification interview, prevalence of psychiatric disorders was 49.2%. Depression (23.6%), Dementia (11.6%) and Anxiety disorder (10.8%) were the most common disorders. Conclusions: The elderly population constitutes a high-risk group for developing mental illness. The high prevalence of psychiatric disorders in this growing population of low-income elderly presents a challenge to the delivery of mental health service.
Sudden cardiac death – what do we know and how do we prevent it?

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is an important clinical problem with a complex and multifactor background. Trends in its prevention have been dynamically developing over the last decades. Patients with ischemic heart disease, especially after myocardial infarction, represent the largest group at an elevated risk of SCD. Many congenital and hereditary diseases are associated with an increased risk of SCD, particularly among young people. Although far from perfect, left ventricular ejection fraction remains the only widely recognized, relatively objective and credible method of assessing the risk of SCD among patients with heart failure. Other methods for assessing the risk are waiting for the final confirmation of their usefulness in clinical trials. The implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and its newer version – totally subcutaneous S-ICD – remain the most effective methods of SCD prevention. The only class of drugs with well-proven efficiency in most patients at risk of SCD is β-blockers.
Gallbladder actinomycosis: Is it a complication after radiofrequency ablation with transarterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma?

A 64-year-old man with a history of gallstones, common bile duct stones, chronic hepatitis B virus infection, and hepatic cirrhosis with a Child-Pugh score B was satisfactorily treated for hepatocellular carcinoma with radiofrequency ablation and transarterial chemoembolization. His course, however, was complicated by gallbladder actinomycosis 14 months after treatment, resulting in acute cholecystitis. Such a chain of events suggests that gallbladder actinomycosis may develop after radiofrequency ablation and transarterial chemoembolization in patients who are known to have gallstones and that asymptomatic gallstones should be treated before the application of nonsurgical, but invasive procedures for hepatocellular carcinoma.
Multiline Chemotherapy for Elderly Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: A Single Center Experience

Introduction: Colorectal Cancer (CRC) is the third leading cancer in the world, the prevalence of which increases with age. Although the treatment principles for metastatic CRC are similar in elderly and younger patients, chemotherapy toxicity requires consideration because of age-related physiological and functional changes and comorbidities. Thus, a combination of chemotherapy and biological drugs is recommended for the treatment of healthy elderly patients, as in younger patients. While young patients are more suitable for multiline treatment, older patients are typically under-treated. We aimed to elucidate whether multiline chemotherapy prolongs survival in patients aged ≥ 70 years with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance score of 0 or 1 by maintaining treatment as long as tolerated and to investigate treatment approaches in elderly patients by assessing factors that affect survival. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the medical records of 136 patients (age ≥ 70 years) who presented to our clinic between May 2009 and January 2018. We assessed the OS using the Kaplan–Meier method and evaluated the difference in the survival time between the groups using the log-rank method. Results: The median OS was 13.1 months for patients receiving one to two line(s) of chemotherapy and 34.1 months for those receiving >2 lines of chemotherapy; the difference was statistically significant (P=0.001). Conclusion: This study suggests maintaining palliative systemic therapy in patients with an ECOG performance status score of 0 or 1, as it exhibits a significant difference in survival rates.
Empirical Bi-Action Tables: A Tool for the Evaluation and Optimization of Text-Input Systems. Application I: Stylus Keyboards

We introduce a technique that, given any text input system A and novice user u, will predict the peak expert input speed of u on A, avoiding the costly process of actually training u to expert level. Here, peak refers to periods of ideal performance, free from hesitation or concentration lapse, and expert refers to asymptotic competence (e.g., touch typing, in the case of a two-handed keyboard). The technique is intended as a feedback mechanism in the interface development cycle between abstract mathematical modeling at the start (Fitts' law, Hick's law, etc.) and full empirical testing at the end. The utility of the technique in iterative design is contingent on what we call the monotonicity principle: For each user u, if our prediction of peak expert input speed for u is higher on system A than on system B, continuous text input by u after training to expert level will be faster on A than on B. Here, continuous refers to actual real-world use, subject to errors, physical fatigue, lapses of concentration, and so forth. We discuss the circumstances under which monotonicity is valid. The technique is parametric in the character map-that is, in the map from actions (keystrokes, gestures, chords, etc.) to characters. Therefore, standard heuristic algorithms can be employed to search for optimal character maps (e.g., keyboard layouts). We illustrate the use of our technique for evaluation and optimization in the context of stylus keyboards, first benchmarking a number of stylus keyboards relative to a simple alphabetic layout and then implementing an ant algorithm to obtain a machine-optimized layout.
What Does It Take? Auto/biography as Performative PhD Thesis

Erst vor Kurzem habe ich meine performative ("kreative") Doktorarbeit an der School of Creative Communication (mittlerweile Faculty of Design and Creative Practice) der University of Canberra (Australien) abgeschlossen, an der solche Arbeiten erst seit 2002 moglich sind. Seit ich die Arbeit 2006 abgegeben habe, denke ich uber einige Dinge nach, die im Laufe des dreieinhalbjahrigen Forschungsprozesses meine Aufmerksamkeit erregt haben. Im Verlauf meines Kontakts mit anderen Promovierenden und Kolleg/innen von drei englischen Universitaten wurde mir dann nach und nach klar, dass viele der Probleme, die sie erlebt haben, meinen eigenen ahnelten und insoweit nicht einfach der innovativen Phase des eigenen Arbeitens geschuldet sind/waren, sondern Teil eines weitergehenden Szenarios zu sein scheinen. An meiner eigenen Universitat beinhalten die Anforderungen an eine "kreative Doktorarbeit" eine "kreative" Komponente (ein Aquivalent von ca. 60.000 Worten) und eine theoretische Komponente ("Exegese") von ca. 30.000 Worten. Der materielle Output meiner Arbeit (http://erl.canberra.edu.au/public/adt-AUC20070510.151236/index.html) besteht aus zwei Banden: Einer, Tissue, ist autobiografisch und befasst sich mit dem Zusammenhang von Autobiografie, Gedachtnis und Identitat. Der andere, Re-Picturing My Life, umfasst die theoretische Komponente, indem ich mich mit unterschiedlichen Paradigmen befasst und beispielsweise auch Fragen der Methodologie, der Bedeutung von Kunst als/in der Forschung sowie Theorien zu Gedachtnis, Identitat, Autobiografie und zu menschlichen Interaktionen mit Objekten behandelt habe. In diesem Beitrag prasentiere ich einige Text- und Bildauszuge, um eine Vorstellung von meiner Doktorarbeit zu geben. Und ich reflektiere die Besonderheiten eines performativen Ansatzes im Kontext akademischer Forschung – die Ausdauer, Bestimmtheit und der Humor, die erforderlich sind, um in dieser ehrenvollen Umgebung eine Doktorarbeit erfolgreich abschliesen zu konnen. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0802451
‘Live in Your World, Play in Ours’: The Spaces of Video Game Identity

This article discusses how console video games map televisual space as both simulated and contiguous with the non-virtual space of the gamers and their own bodies. Gamer identification, identity politics in video games, video game stars and video game violence are also explored here. Murphy argues that video games utilize televisual technology to produce interactive experiences for gamers, whose own bodies are physically impacted by game play in subtle ways. How video gamers interact with the virtual bodies of their player-characters is key to understanding how video games facilitate a different interaction with televisual space than that enacted through viewing television programming.
ACL PREVENTION PROGRAMS AND IT'S EFFECTIVENESS IN REDUCING THE RATE OF INJURY IN THE COLLEGE AND HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE

ACL PREVENTION PROGRAMS AND IT’S EFFECTIVENESS IN REDUCING THE RATEOF INJURY IN THE COLLEGE AND HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE By Tara Bailey Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the absence or utilization of ACL injury prevention programs at NCAA universities, NAIA, junior colleges, and high schools. Methods: A survey was used to determine if the use of an ACL injury prevention program could be considered useful to decrease the rate of ACL injury. Demographics were distributed to 1,000 certified members of the National Athletic Trainers Association who were currently employed at the collegiate or high school level. Results: Results showed that non-contact ACL injuries were more frequent (t = 3.749, p=.000) than contact ACL injuries. The study found significance with those participants who stated ‘some of their athletes’ participated in a program compared to all athletes (p=.006) and no athletes. No significance was found if the instructor of the program had received any type of education in ACL injury prevention (t=-0.686, p=0.495), and at what time the program was utilized (F(2, 61)=. 15, p=. 862). The study was unable to determine if certain exercises were beneficial when included in an ACL injury prevention program. Conclusion: The results of this study provided further evidence that non-contact ACL injuries are more frequent than contact ACL injuries. The study exemplifies that there needs to be further research committed to determining what stretches, activities, and exercises are the most effective in reducing the frequency of ACL injuries in the high school and collegiate athlete.
Local Stopping Rules for Gossip Algorithms

The increasing importance of gossip algorithms is beyond dispute. Randomized gossip algorithms are attractive for collaborative in-network processing and aggregation because they are fully asynchronous, they require no overhead to establish and form routes, and they do not create any bottleneck or single point of failure. All nodes maintain independent asynchronous random clocks, and when a node’s clock ticks it initiates a new round of gossip: it randomly selects a neighboring node, exchanges information with the neighbor, and the two nodes compute local updates. When these updates involve averaging the values of the two nodes that gossiped, the algorithm solves the widely-studied average consensus problem which is the focus in this thesis. To analyze the energy-accuracy tradeoff for randomized gossip, previous studies have focused on analyzing the worst-case number of transmissions required to reach a specified level of accuracy, over all initial conditions. In a practical implementation, though, rather than always running for the worst-case number of transmissions, one would like to fix a desired level of accuracy in advance and have the algorithm run for as many iterations as are necessary to achieve this accuracy with high probability. This thesis describes and analyzes an implicit local stopping rule with theoretical performance guarantees. After a node’s estimate has not changed significantly for a number of consecutive iterations, it ceases to initiate new gossip rounds. To avoid stopping early and biasing the computation, stopped nodes still participate in gossip rounds when contacted by a neighbor. We provide theoretical guarantees on the final accuracy of the estimates across the network as a function of the algorithm parameters. Through simulation, we show that applying the local stopping rule leads to significant savings in the number of transmissions for many relevant initial conditions. In practical applications one often wishes to track a time-varying average, rather than compute a static quantity. In this scenario, we illustrate that our local stopping rule can be viewed as an event-triggered gossip algorithm. Simulations illustrate the benefits of the proposed approach.