Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Patterns and effects of missing comorbidity data for patients starting renal replacement therapy in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

BACKGROUND Renal Registries play a key role in assessing quality of care and outcomes of renal replacement therapy and comparisons of outcomes between groups should adjust for differences in comorbidities. This study aimed to describe patterns of missing comorbidity data and differences in survival between patients with comorbidity data returned and those with missing comorbidity data. METHODS Trends in comorbidity data returns by year (1998-2006) and within centres were examined using descriptive statistics. Survival of patients was described using Kaplan-Meier graphs (log-rank tests) and hazard ratios were calculated using Cox proportional hazard models. Last follow-up was at 31 December 2007. A range of sensitivity analyses were carried out, including multiple imputation. RESULTS Among 34,059 patients, there were 62% who had no comorbidity data. The completeness of comorbidity data increased markedly from 17% in 1998 to 47% in 2003, but had fallen back to 37% by the year 2006. Those with a missing comorbidity generally do considerably worse than those without the comorbidity and in most cases more closely follow the survival curve of those with the comorbidity. Multiple imputation analysis suggested that those with missing information on comorbidity have higher prevalence of comorbidity than seen in those with available data. Treating missing comorbidity entries as indication of absent comorbidity (i.e. a tick only if yes policy) would lead to an attenuation of the effect of comorbidity on survival. CONCLUSIONS Missing data lead to difficulties in performing between centre comparisons. A 'tick if present policy' in comorbidity data collection should be discouraged. Much more work is needed to fully understand why levels of missing comorbidity data are so high and to identify strategies to improve recording.
Association of lip print and sex among Nigerians

Background: The use of prints as a mean of personal identification is one of the common methods in forensic anthropology and the most popular prints are fingerprints. The second print of interest is lip prints, which are normal lines and fissures in the form of wrinkles and grooves present in the zone of transition of human lip. The study was aimed to determine association of lip prints types and sex among Nigerian population. Materials and Methods: A total of 820 subjects (414 males and 406 females) participated in the study. The lip prints were obtained on microscopic glass slide and developed using carbon black powder, after which the print was divided into 10 quadrants and analyzed using magnifying lens. The data were analyzed using Chi-square test and P Results: The result shows the percentage distribution of lip prints in males with highest prevalence of type V (31.28%) and the least of type I' (0.55%). In females type V (31.50%) was predominant while the least was type I' (0.59%). The statistically significant association of lip prints types with sex in all the lip quadrants ( P 0 ) quadrants. Conclusion: The lip print was found to be statistically associated with sex. Hence, lip prints can hold potential promise as supplementary tool in personal identification.
Artificial neural network metamodels of stochastic computer simulations

A computer simulation model can be thought of as a relation which connects input parameters to output measures. Since these models can become computationally expensive in terms of processing time and/or memory requirements, there are many reasons why it would be beneficial to be able to approximate these models in a computationally expedient manner. This research examines the use of artificial neural networks (ANN), to develop a metamodel of computer simulations. The development and use of the Baseline ANN Metamodel Approach is provided and is shown to outperform traditional regression approaches. The results provide a solid foundation and methodological direction for developing ANN metamodels to perform complex tasks such as simulation 'optimization', sensitivity analysis, and simulation aggregation/reduction.
A Bounding Procedure For Voltages In A General Network With Distributed And Lumped Parameters

For a general network with distributed paramtter lines (described by telegraph equation) and with nodes grounded by RC lumped elements, upper and lower bounds of voltage at any point are given. Thus the problem of bounding the delay time in such networks comes to solve a system of nonlinear algebraic inequalities. For tree-type circuits we give an algorithm doing this rapidly and providing reasonable tight bounds. The results are of interest for timing analysis of MOS interconnection structures.
Terahertz imaging applied to the examination of artistic objects

Abstract Terahertz (THz) radiation can be employed onsite for the analysis of museum artifacts related to art conservation science. This review presents two complementary portable THz imaging devices which have been employed at the Tokyo National Museum (Japan) and at the Museum of Aquitaine (France). A Japanese panel screen, African fetish figures, and a nearly 3500-year-old sealed Egyptian jar were imaged with THz waves, revealing their internal structures.
Sero-Epidemiological Study on Caprine Arthritis-Encephalitis Virus Infection in Goats in Two Localities in Egypt

Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis (CAE) is a chronic viral disease of domestic goats caused by a member of lentivirus of the family Retroviridae. In this study. The prevalence of caprine arthritis encephalitis virus in two governorates in Egypt was investigated. A total of 176 serum samples were collected from local (Egyptian Nubian, Egyptian baladi which is the native breed) and foreign breeds (barki and shami) of goats from ten flocks from different localities in Behera and Alexandria governorates. Enzyme-linked-immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA) was employed for detection of anti p28 antibodies directed against CAEV. Sero prevalence on the herd level was 30% (3/10 herds were positive). Sero prevalence on the individual level was 8.52%. All sero positive animals were from the breed Barki (15/106) at a percentage of 14.15%. Higher percentages of positive animals were recorded in females and at age between 4-5 years. All serologically positive cases (15) were in animals raised by open system (132), at a percentage of 11.36%. There was 100% correlation between the results of ELISA test in caprine serum and milk whey samples. In conclusion: The best of our knowledge this is the first study recorded the presence of caprine arthritis encephalitis in Egypt and further study to characterize the virus and wider seroprevalence study is required. The Milk whey ELISA test proved to be accurate simple non-invasive technique for surveillance of the disease on herd bases.
A Phase II trial of intravenous gemcitabine and 5‐fluorouracil with subcutaneous interleukin‐2 and interferon‐α in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma

The objective of this study was to determine the response rate and toxicity of gemcitabine and continuous‐infusion 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU) in combination with subcutaneous interleukin‐2 (IL2) and interferon‐α (IFNA) in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
A study on ocular injuries following road traffic accidents

Background: Ocular injuries in road traffic accidents (RTA) constitute a major but preventable cause of visual morbidity worldwide and so it is of public health importance. Aim of the study was to assess the visual outcome in patients attending tertiary care hospital with ocular injuries following RTA and compare various associated risk factors. Methods: A prospective study was done with 60 cases of ocular injuries following road traffic accidents in Assam Medical College and Hospital to find out the visual outcome and compare various risk factors . Detailed history and clinical evaluation was done with follow up at 1 st and 3 rd week. Results: Maximum cases were seen in the age group of 30-40 years, more in males (76.66%); with 78.33% in two wheelers. Out of the 60 cases, 38.33% occurred at night, 21.66% was under the influence of alcohol. 15.27% of patients presented with diminished vision, out of which 15% cases reported with severe ocular morbidity like vitreous haemorrhage, lens dislocation, sclera-corneal tear etc. Conclusions: Younger age group was mostly affected with male preponderance, alcohol and two wheelers being quite important risk factors. Early treatment of ocular injuries and use of protective wear result in better visual outcomes.
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE MYELINATED AXONS IN THE FASCICULUS GRACILIS AND FASCICULUS CUNEATUS: LIGHT MICROSCOPY STUDY

Fueron estudiados los fasciculos gracil y cuneiforme de la medula espinal del Rattus norvegicus, mutante de la linea Wistar a nivel del primer y sexto segmentos cervicales, empleando la microscopia optica, con la finalidad de evaluar el grado de mielinizacion para las edades cero, 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 120 dias post-natal. Se observo que el fasciculo gracil se presenta al nacimiento practicamente amielinico, con gran actividad de mielinizacion ocuriendo posterior al quinto dia. A los 20 dias, a nivel del primer segmento cervical, mas de la mitad de la mielinizacion ya se completo en relacion a la mielinacion del animal adulto con 120 dias. Al nacimiento, el fasciculo cuneiforme es portador de fibras mielinizadas, manteniendose siempre con mayor grado de mielinacion que el fasciculo gracil para cada edad evaluada. A los 20 dias, el fasciculo cuneiforme, a nivel del primer segmento cervical, se apresento con mas de 3/4 de la mielinizacion completa en relacion al animal adulto de 120 dias. En este estudio se observo que hay una gradiente de mielinizacion rostro-caudal, pues el grado de mielinizacion fue siempre mayor en el primer que en el sexto segmento cervical. Asi, la mielinizacion de los fasciculos gracil y cuneiforme de la medula espinal del Rattus norvegicus mutante de la linea Wistar, se presento en su mayor parte, concordante con los resultados obtenidos por otros investigadores, demostrando que la mutacion ocurrida en este animal, la cual se expreso bajo el fenotipo de piel glabra, no afecto de forma segnificativa el aspecto de la mielinizacion
Novel risk scoring for pre-procedural prediction of contrast-induced nephropathy and poor long-term outcomes among patients with chronic total occlusion undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention

Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is a known complication of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We aimed to develop a simplified risk scoring system based upon pre-procedure characteristics for predicting CIN and poor long-term outcomes in patients with chronic total occlusion (CTO) undergoing PCI. We prospectively enrolled 629 consecutive patients with CTO who were scheduled to undergo PCI. The patients were randomized in a 3 : 2 ratio to create a training ( n = 356) and a validation cohort ( n = 273). The primary endpoint was CIN, which was defined as an absolute increase in serum creatinine (SCr) ≥0.5 mg/dL over baseline within 48–72 h after contrast medium exposure. The incidences of CIN in the training and validation dataset were 2.8 and 2.6%, with a significant trend across increasing risk score values (all P 1.5 mg/dL), showed good discriminating power in both the training ( C -statistic = 0.838) and the validation dataset ( C -statistic = 0.876). In addition, on log-rank analysis, patients with high-risk scores exhibited a worse survival rate ( P < 0.001) or major adverse clinical events ( P = 0.002) than patients with low-risk scores. Among patients with CTO undergoing PCI, the present simple pre-procedural risk score showed excellent predictive ability for identifying patients at high risk of CIN and poor long-term outcomes, thus, allowing the interventional team to make adequate adjustments to the procedures.
Periodontal status and treatment needs among cardiac patients at Muhimbili National Hospital , Dares-Salaam , Tanzania

Background: Periodontal diseases have been reported to be associated with cardiovascular diseases. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the periodontal status and treatment needs among adult cardiac patients in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. Methodology: A hospital based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. A self-administered questionnaire was used to obtain socio-demographic information, followed by clinical examination for dental plaque, gingival bleeding, calculus, periodontal pockets (PPT) and gingival recession. To enable determination of periodontal treatment needs, data for periodontal conditions was transformed into Community Periodontal Index and Treatment Needs (CPITN) codes. Chi-square test was used to determine the associations of periodontal conditions with demographic variables studied. Level of significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The prevalence of periodontal conditions was high for gingival bleeding (100%), dental plaque (99.4%)and calculus (99.7%), but very low for periodontal pockets ≥ 3.5 mm (9.4%). Statistically significant higher mean percent site with plaque, calculus and gingival bleeding was seen in posterior teeth (t-tests = -16.07, 12.22, and -4.8; p< 0.001 respectively). Gingival recession and loss of attachment was statistically significantly higher in upper teeth (t-test= -3.45, p< 0.001), anterior teeth (t-test= 6.3 and 5.5; p< 0.001 respectively). Periodontal treatment needs was 100.0%, 99.7%, and 0.9% for oral hygiene instructions (OHI), scaling and root planing (SRP), and periodontal surgery respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence of plaque, calculus and gingival bleeding was high among cardiac patients examined, but low for periodontal pocketing, gingival recession and loss attachment. The periodontal treatment needs were mainly oral hygiene instructions, scaling and root planning. Surgical periodontal therapy was limited to the few.
Associações entre carga de trabalho de enfermagem e ocorrência de úlcera por pressão em pacientes internados em unidade de terapia intensiva

A Ulcera por Pressao (UP) e reconhecida como um problema de saude que envolve toda a equipe de profissionais. mas principalmente a enfermagem no contexto da Unidade de Terapia Intensiva (UTI). que visa o atendimento integral ao paciente grave, incluindo-se o diagnostico. intervencoes e avaliacao (los cuidados especiticos de enfermagem. O excesso da carga de trabalho pode ser um dos fatores desencadeantes da UP, principalmente quando o dimensionamento da equipe de enfermagem nao e feito conforme a demanda de cuidados de enfermagem. Este estudo observacional do tipo analitico com delineamento de coorte, teve como objetivo geral analisar associacoes entre carga de trabalho de enfermagem e ocorrencia de ulceras por pressao em pacientes internados em unidade de terapia intensiva. Esta pesquisa foi desenvolvida na UTI geral de um hospital de grande porte de Belo Horizonte. Minas Gerais. Brasil. A coleta de dados foi realizada nos meses de agosto a novembro de 2011. constituindo uma amostra de 66 pacientes. Foi aplicado o indice Nursing Activities Score (NAS) para medida de horas de cuidados requeridas pelos pacientes. a Escala de Bru1eu para medir o risco de desenvolvimento de Ulcera por Pressao (UP) e os pacientes foram acompanhados ate a alta, obito, transferencia da UTI ou ocorrencia da UP. Os dados desta pesquisa foram obtidos atraves da analise diaria dos prontuarios, da visita diaria ao leito dos pacientes e consulta aos enfermeiros assistenciais. Os dados foram submetidos a analise descritiva e inferencial sendo utilizado o software R versao 2.13. () para analise estatistica. utilizando a Equacao de Estimacao Generalizada (GEE) com matriz de trabalho simetrica composta. algoritimo de Backward e teste de Spearman. Os Resultados mostraram que os 'idosos constituiram a maioria (60.6%), representando 66.7% daqueles que desenvolveram UP com Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.04 (p=0.057). O sexo masculino predominou (54,5%), representando 77,8% das ocorrencias da LIP. As mulheres apresentaram fator de protecao para UP com OR = 0.19 (p=0.01 7). Os pacientes que evoluiram a obito (14) representaram 44% dos acometidos com OR =3.53 (p= 0.029). A elevacao no escore de Braden mostrou fator de protecao para UP (p= 0.002). Em analise de regressao multivariada foi demonstrado que para cada 10 pontos acrescidos no escore do NAS eleva-se a chance de ocorrencia de UP em 1.07 vezes (p=O.009) caracterizando associacao entre carga de trabalho de enfermagem e ocorrencia de UP nos pacientes internados na UTI.
A survey of the use of portable audio devices by university students

A survey was made for the use of portable audio devices by university students to determine the relationship between the sustained use of portable audio devices and hearing health in university students. Another goal of the project was to increase awareness about noise-induced hearing loss by providing an information session to those who completed the survey. A 124-item online survey was designed to probe items that would provide information on users of portable audio devices in the students. Items were designed to investigate a number of topics including demographic characteristics, transportation usage patterns, work environments, hearing history etc. It was found that majority of university students own a portable audio device. This may mean that noise induced hearing loss may be a larger concern, if the use of portable audio devices is excessive and if it is combined with exposure to other noise source.
Perioperative Cardiovascular Risk: Assessment and Management

Cardiac events remain the primary cause of morbidity and mortality after elective surgery. The increasing age of the surgical population and an associated increase in the amount of preoperative cardiovascular disease indicate that perioperative cardiovascular morbidity will continue to be an important clinical problem. Many solutions have been proposed to reduce perioperative cardiovascular morbidity. This review summarizes what have been identified as appropriate methods for preoperative cardiac risk stratification and examines current knowledge about the management of perioperative cardiac risks in these patients.
A new approach for project scheduling with a limited resource

Eight priority rules for ranking activities of a project under a limited resource are proposed. The capabilities of these rules are compared using five measures of performance by employing the set of networks used by Elsayed and Nasr (1986). A new scheduling heuristic, SEARCH, that selects the shortest duration schedule produced by one of the eight priority rules is proposed.
The art of improvisation and the aesthetics of imperfection

Soulignant l'importance de l'improvisation en jazz a travers le temoignage de B. Evans, le pianiste de M. Davies en 1959 pour «Kind of blue», l'A. reprend la definition d'une esthetique de l'imperfection chez T. Gioia, et met en lumiere la pertinence de la distinction que celui-ci etablit entre l'art de l'improvisation comme regne de la spontaneite et l'art de la composition comme esthetique de la perfection.
Uncertainty Analysis in CFD for Flow Simulation Around Ship Using RANS and DES

Procedures for uncertainty analysis in CFD recommended by the ITTC(International Towing Tank Conference) have been used widely among methods of error estimate and credibility assessment in the field of ship.The method includes verification and validation which qualify the numerical and modeling uncertainty.Following the procedures,the results of uncertainty analysis for resistance and wave profile which are computed by RANS and DES methods(detached eddy simulation) was verified and validated.Numerical verification studies in grid convergence were performed using three grids with grid refinement ratio 4 2.The uncertainty results will lay the foundation for the development of CFD uncertainty analysis.The work demonstrates the usefulness of the proposed verification and validation procedures and establishes the levels of verification and validation of the simulation results in two different mathematical models.
A three-dimensional numerical model of a horizontal axis, energy extracting turbine : an implementation on a parallel computing system

In the last decade, there has been a resurgence of interest in tidal power as a renewable, and environmentally friendly source of electricity. Scotland is well placed in this regard, as the currents in the surrounding seas are primarily tidal; that is to say, driven by lunar and solar tides. Investigations into tidal streams as an energy source, their viability in particular locales, the efficient organisation of marine turbine farms, and most importantly, the effect of such farms on the environment, demand the use of computational fluid dynamics for effective modelling. They also require a turbine model sophisticated enough to generate realistic power output and wakes for a variety of flow conditions, yet simple enough to simulate a number of turbines on modest computing resources. What is presented here then, is the justification for such a model, the development and deployment of it during my PhD, and my validation of the model in a variety of environments.
Early Gene-Environment Interactions: Can They Inform Primary Preventive Strategies for Asthma?

The concept of using gene-environment studies to discover mechanisms of asthma in early life is deceptively simple and attractive. To do so would appear to require a straightforward examination of relationships between a polymorphism and asthma-related phenotypes in young children. However, in reality, the process is far from simple and lack of appreciation of the complexity of this area of research has been one of the reasons for such slow progress. To understand current knowledge of gene-environment interactions in early life requires insight into environmental factors that have been associated with early-onset asthma. Gaining such insight is difficult because the critical environmental factors that are causally associated with asthma at this stage are still unclear. This article discusses known environmental and epidemiological factors, along with examples of gene-environment interactions, followed by a general discussion of problems with current studies and a description of newer approaches being used to make progress in this complex area.
Efecto del tamaño de partícula sobre algunas propiedades físicas del tezontle de Guanajuato, México

El tamano de particula del sustrato tiene un importante efecto sobre sus caracteristicas fisicas, principalmente sobre la proporcion humedad-aire. El objetivo del presente estudio fue determinar el efecto del tamano de la particula sobre las propiedades fisicas del tezontle. En junio de 2005 se colectaron muestras de seis yacimientos de tezontle de Guanajuato, Mexico. Se tamizaron en fracciones de menor que 0.125, 0.125-0.25, 0.25-0.50, 0.50-0.71, 0.71-1.0, 1.0-2.0, 2.0-4.0, 4.0-6.5, 6.5-8.5 y 8.5-12.6 mm de diametro. A cada fraccion granulometrica se le determino: densidad aparente, densidad real, espacio poroso total, porosidad ocluida, capacidad de aireacion y capacidad de retencion de humedad en el laboratorio de sustratos de la unidad de horticultura protegida del Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agricolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP), ubicado en el Campo Experimental Bajio, en Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico. Los valores de densidad aparente y densidad real aumentaron a medida que disminuyo el tamano de particula. La capacidad de aireacion se redujo significativamente a medida que el diametro de particula disminuyo de 0.50 a 0.25 mm. La capacidad de retencion de humedad aumento a partir de la fraccion 0.71-0.50 mm, con valor maximo entre 0.25- 0.50 mm de diametro y el espacio poroso total y porosidad ocluida se incrementaron a medida que aumento el tamano de particula. Se observo una relacion inversa significativa (p menor que 0.01) entre la capacidad de aireacion y la capacidad de retencion de agua.