Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of progressive muscle relaxation on the vital signs and oxygenation indexes in patients under coronary artery bypass graft surgery: A triple blinded randomized clinical trial

Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases are the most common cause of death in the most countries and Iran, and are the main disability cause, those induced stress, anxiety and changes in vital signs in patients under coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. This study was conducted to determine the effect of progressive muscle relaxation on the vital signs and oxygenation indexes of patients under CABG. Materials and Methods: In the randomized triple-blind clinical trial, 80 patients under CABG surgery after sampling by convenience method, randomly selected and assigned by random allocation method to 40 patients either the control or intervention groups. An orientation session was held to explain the research goals and intervention. The intervention group did the progressive muscle relaxation technique, two 20-30 minutes' sessions daily for 2 months (120 sessions). Correspondingly, data collection tools were demographic information questionnaire, vital signs, oxygenation indexes, and self-report checklists. Results: Systolic blood pressure and respiratory rate within intervention group and main arterial pressure, pain and cardiac rhythm between two intervention and control groups had significant differences (P<0.05). Interaction effects time and group of systolic blood pressure and pain variables were significant (P<0.05). From oxygenation indexes perspective, PaO2/FiO2 and SPO2/FiO2 indexes within intervention group, PALVO2/FiO2 within control group, and PALVO2/ PaO2 within both intervention and control groups had significant differences (P<0.05). Except SPO2/FiO2 index, other oxygenation indexes had interaction effects of time and group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Applying progressive muscle relaxation technique on the various aspects of vital signs and oxygenation indexes of coronary artery bypass graft surgery was effective and using the technique to improve and stabilize of those is applicable and practical. © 2019, Semnan University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.
Improving pulse crops as a source of protein, starch and micronutrients

Abstract Pulse crops have been known for a long time to have beneficial nutritional profiles for human diets but have been neglected in terms of cultivation, consumption and scientific research in many parts of the world. Broad dietary shifts will be required if anthropogenic climate change is to be mitigated in the future, and pulse crops should be an important component of this change by providing an environmentally sustainable source of protein, resistant starch and micronutrients. Further enhancement of the nutritional composition of pulse crops could benefit human health, helping to alleviate micronutrient deficiencies and reduce risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. This paper reviews current knowledge regarding the nutritional content of pea (Pisum sativum L.) and faba bean (Vicia faba L.), two major UK pulse crops, and discusses the potential for their genetic improvement.
Assessment of Adrenal Function in Cirrhotic Patients with Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis

Background: One of the subjects that has become a big issue in recent years is adrenal Insufficiency in cirrhotic patients, it is evidenced that there is an argument association between cirrhotic patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis and adrenocortical dysfunction. Aim: to assess adrenal function in chronic liver disease patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis to measure hepato-adrenal syndrome problem in our patients. Subjects and Methods: cross sectional analytic study was carried out including 160 persons divided into 4 groups, 40 patients for each. Group1(healthy or control group), Group2 (Patients with compensated liver disease), Group 3 (patients with cirrhotic liver disease and sterile ascites and Group 4( patients with cirrhotic liver disease and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis), Then serum cortisol level was assessed for each group at 8a.m , 8p.m and post synacthen test then the comparison was held to assess adrenal function among them. Results: Our study revealed statistically significant differences between the comparative groups with pre and post synacthen test where adrenal insufficiency was clear. P-value was (0.001), mean value of total neutrophilic count (p=<0.001), relation between adrenal insufficiency and Child-Pugh score (p= <0.001). Conclusion: Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis plays a very major role in adrenal insufficiency.
Pulmonary vein encirclement using an Ablation Index-guided point-by-point workflow: cardiovascular magnetic resonance assessment of left atrial scar formation

Abstract Aims A point-by-point workflow for pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) targeting pre-defined Ablation Index values (a composite of contact force, time, and power) and minimizing interlesion distance may optimize the creation of contiguous ablation lesions whilst minimizing scar formation. We aimed to compare ablation scar formation in patients undergoing PVI using this workflow to patients undergoing a continuous catheter drag workflow. Methods and results Post-ablation cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging was performed in patients undergoing 1st-time PVI using a parameter-guided point-by-point workflow (n = 26). Total left atrial scar burden and the width and continuity of the pulmonary vein encirclement were determined on analysis of atrial late gadolinium enhancement sequences. Comparison was made with a cohort of patients (n = 20) undergoing PVI using continuous drag lesions. Mean post-ablation scar burden and scar width were significantly lower in the point-by-point group than in the control group (6.6 ± 6.8% vs. 9.6 ± 5.0%, P = 0.03 and 7.9 ± 3.6 mm vs. 10.7 ± 2.3 mm, P = 0.003). More complete bilateral pulmonary vein encirclements were seen in the point-by-point group (P = 0.038). All patients achieved acute PVI. Conclusion Pulmonary vein isolation using a point-by-point workflow is feasible and results in a lower scar burden and scar width with more complete pulmonary vein encirclements than a conventional drag lesion approach.
Nutrition management of spinal cord injured patients: an investigation of resources and interventions in UK spinal cord injuries centres

Introduction: Spinal cord injured (SCI) patients have complex physical and psychological needs. Malnutrition (including under- and over- nutrition) is common after SCI, and is associated with adverse clinical outcomes such as increased risk of infection. To date, limited information is available to guide clinicians to identify, prevent and manage nutrition related complications in SCI patients. This gap in evidence has promoted a series of research studies addressing the following research aims: (1) To review and understand the variations in nutritional management in SCI centres (2) To evaluate whether currently implemented nutrition interventions (e.g probiotics use in preventing antibiotic associated diarrhoea (AAD) and Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) are evidence based and to discuss the potential barriers to good nutritional care in SCI centres; (3) To evaluate three original studies (bariatric surgery case studies; the use of oral nutritional supplement (ONS) and vitamin and minerals (VMS) and; the use of Lactobacillus casei Shirota (LcS) in preventing AAD. A total of seven peer reviewed papers, utilising a range of mixed research methodologies (observational studies, case study, surveys, randomised-controlled trials and systematic review protocol) were undertaken to demonstrate the effectiveness of nutrition interventions in patients admitted to SCI centres with a critical commentary. Results: (1) Although most SCI centres use validated nutrition screening tool, the resource allocation for nutritional care appeared to be relatively limited; (2) Definition for AAD, CDI, under- / over-nutrition risk and choice of probiotics in preventing AAD / CDI are varied across SCI centres. (3) Three studies attempted to demonstrate an improvement in SCI patient’s quality of care are reported. These include: (i) the use of nutritional supplements in SCI patients at malnutrition-risk (undernutrition risk, serum albumin and haemoglobin level are predictors of oral nutrition supplements use); (ii) the first UK bariatric surgery in a morbidly obese SCI patient who failed all non-surgical interventions (an improvement in functional, anthropometrical and nutritional biochemistry was found after surgery) and (iii) the use of probiotics in preventing antibiotic associated diarrhoea (AAD). (Lactobacillus casei Shirota was found to prevent AAD when compared to a control, 17.1% v 54.9%, p<0.01). Conclusion: Our studies suggest that resources allocated in SCI centres varied. Without sufficient nutritional resources in SCI centres, malnutrition will be under-detected and under treated. In addition, carefully planned nutrition / dietetic interventions could improve outcomes in SCI patients if nutritional care is embedded in the SCI care-pathway. Development of clinical nutrition practice guidelines are warranted, and further well-designed randomised controlled trails are required to confirm whether the effect of nutrition (and probiotic) intervention is cost- and clinically-effective.
Maternal Vitamin D Status and Risk of Preeclampsia in Abuja, Nigeria

Aim: To determine the relationship between maternal serum 25(OH) D concentrations and development of preeclampsia. Study Design: A cross sectional comparative study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Abuja, between March 2016 and February 2017. Methodology: We included 55 women with preeclampsia and 55 healthy women. Data obtained included sociodemographic characteristics, clothing style and duration of exposure to sun light. ELISA method was used for evaluation of serum vitamin D levels. Results: The prevalence of VD deficiency in the population was 15%, while 16.8% and 73% of the participants had insufficient and normal levels respectively. The prevalence of VD deficiency in women with preeclampsia was 20.4% while that in healthy pregnant women was 9.4% (P=.19). The mean serum 25-OH-D level of women with pre-eclampsia was significantly lower than that of healthy women (34.5±14.9 vs. 43.5±15.1, P = .003). Preeclamptic women with vitamin D insufficiency delivered at a higher gestational age than those with vitamin D deficiency (37.67(2.77) weeks vs. 33.55(2.38) weeks respectively, P = . 007). In the adjusted analysis of cases with vitamin D defficiency, the odds of developing preeclampsia was not statistically significant [odds ratio (OR) = 3.27, CI = 0.99-10.83, P =. 05]. However, the odds of developing preeclampsia in women with Vitamin D insufficiency was statistically significant (OR = 3.20, CI = 1.02–10.06, = 0.046). Conclusion: In conclusion, an association between vitamin D deficiency and preeclampsia was not demonstrated in this study. The results however suggest that maternal vitamin D insufficiency in late pregnancy is an independent risk factor for preeclampsia.
Nasolabial cyst: Transnasal Marsupialization versus Sublabial Technique

Background: nasolabial cyst is relatively rare soft tissue lesion of nasal alar region. It is nonodontogenic in origin. Surgical sublabial excision is the treatment of choice for nasolabial cyst (NLC). However, it is associated with high complication rate. The transnasal marsupialization was introduced as an alternative modality of surgery. Aim of the work: to compare between both approaches to assess the intra-and post-operative outcome. Patients and Methods: twenty two patients presented by unilateral nasolabial cyst were included in the study and divided into two equal groups: endoscopic transnasal marsupialization (TM group; 11 patients) and sublabial surgical excision technique (SL group; 11 patients). For all patients, operative time, postoperative pain, postoperative complications and recurrence of the NLC were documented. Results: the operative time was significantly shorter in TM when compared to SL group (18.54±3.01 vs. 44.63±5.4 minutes respectively). Postoperative VAS was lower in TM when compared to SL group (3.09±0.83 vs. 6.09±1.13 respectively). The overall complications were significantly lower in TM group (18.2%) when compared to SL group (72.7%). Conclusion: the transnasal endoscopic marsupialization is preferred than conventional sublabial approach as it had shorter operative time, less postoperative pain and lower overall complications rate.
Impact of allopurinol on metabolic acidosis in patients with chronic kidney disease; a randomized controlledtrial

Introduction: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a disabling disease with multiple complications, like, increased serum levels of uric acid due to glomerular filtration rate (GFR) impairment. Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the effect of allopurinol on metabolic acidosis in patients with renal failure. Patients and Methods: This is a randomized controlled-trial study on 50 patients with CKD stage II-IV, who referred to Qaem and Montaserieh hospitals in Mashhad. Patients were selected and randomly divided into two equal groups of 25 subjects. In addition to standard treatments, the intervention group received 100 mg allopurinol tablet for three months and the control group received placebo. Demographic data were obtained from each individual. Serum uric acid level, creatinine, blood pH and bicarbonate levels were assessed at the initiation of treatment and at the end of the third month. Results: The mean age of patients was 54.04±12.62 years. Allopurinol administration resulted in a significant increase of serum bicarbonate levels and pH (P<0.001 for each) compared to the control group. A significant reduction in uric acid (P<0.05) and an increase in GFR (P<0.05) was observed in both groups. Conclusion: Allopurinol could ameliorate metabolic acidosis, glomerular filtration and uric acid in patients with CKD.
Fast and accurate hot-spot estimation in electrical machines

Temperature is one of the parameters that limits the output torque and reduces the lifespan of electrical machines. Models that can provide accurate estimation of the temperature field in the most critical components (e.g. windings) at lower computational effort can be useful to improve the design process and reduce the time to market. Depending on the application, engineers usually rely on hi-fidelity models, e.g. based on the finite elements method (FEM), or lower order models, e.g. thermal equivalent circuits (TECs). The aim of the present work is to provide new tools and methodologies to obtain the temperature distribution within the windings using reduced order hi-fidelity models or improved TEC that could account for any working condition, including AC effects. A new methodology, based on the multiple scales method (MSM), is introduced which homogenises the complex windings domain and allows for the estimation of its effective thermal properties. The homogenisation through the MSM is performed solving a single elementary cell. The MSM also allows for the reconstruction of the actual thermal field. Extensive numerical and experimental validation is provided, in particular for the case of electrical windings encapsulated with epoxy. The thermal homogenisation is then combined with an electromagnetic homogenisation technique to estimate winding losses including AC effects, such as proximity and skin effects. The coupled analysis is validated numerically on reference test problems, and experimentally, on a suitably built "motorette". The method is proven to correctly predict losses including thermal effects and to estimate magnitude and location of the temperature hotspot within the winding domain. This work also introduces a new approach for building thermal equivalent circuits that represents the most commonly employed modelling technique for electrical machine thermal analysis. Here the TEC approaches are thoroughly analysed, highlighting limitations. The proposed new technique extends the range of numerical accuracy, accounting for high Biot numbers (up to Bi = 2) and internal heat generation. The result of this approach is higher spatial resolution about the temperature field within the winding domain and thus enables improved information on hotspot location and magnitude. The method is experimentally validated and also applied to model an electrical machine for full-electric in-wheel vehicle propulsion.
Vena cava superior syndrome in the children with mediastinal tumors: Single-center experience

OBJECTIVE: Vena cava superior syndrome comprises various symptoms of compression of vena cava superior. The results of increased venous pressure in the upper body may cause edema of the head and neck associated with cyanosis, plethora and distended subcutaneous vessels. Vena cava superior syndrome is rare in childhood. Therefore, we planned this retrospective study. METHODS: The retrospective study was carried out on the children with mediastinal tumors in the Department of Pediatric Hematology-oncology, Erciyes University Faculty of Medicine, Kayseri, Turkey , from January 2010 to December 2017. Diagnostic procedures included hematological investigations, chestradiography, thoracic computed tomography, echocardiography and lymph node or mediastinal biopsy. RESULTS: In this study, 19 (five were female) of 41 patients with mediastinal tumors had Vena cava superior syndrome. Diagnosis included Hodgkin’s lymphoma in seven (37%), non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in six (32%), acute T- lymphoblastic leukemia in four (21%), neuroblastoma and anaplastic round cell sarcoma in one each respectively. All of the 19 patients’ facial swelling, venous distention and mediastinal widening. All patients received intravenous corticosteroids (0.6 mg/kg dexamethasone). Furthermore, the patient with anaplastic round cell sarcoma received emergency radiotherapy. No patients died because of Vena cava superior syndrome. CONCLUSION: Vena cava superior syndrome is a medical emergency that requiresurgent treatment. Vena cava superior syndrome studies in children are rare. In this retrospective study, we found that the most common cause of Vena cava superior syndrome was Hodgkin’s lymphoma different from literature.
Socioeconomic Status, Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Economic Cost of Childhood Diarrheal Diseases in Uganda

Socioeconomic Status, Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Economic Cost of Childhood Diarrheal Diseases in Uganda by Sarah Birungi Nahalamba MA, Nkumba University, 2008 BS Makerere University, 2000 Post Graduate Diploma, Uganda Management Institute, 2008 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Health Services
Machine Learning for Classifying Malware in Closed-set and Open-set Scenarios

Title: Machine Learning for Classifying Malware in Closed-set and Open-set Scenarios Author: Mehadi Seid Hassen Committee Chair: Philip K. Chan, Ph.D. Anti-malware vendors regularly receive large amount of suspected malware files to be examined. However, the sheer number of files makes manual analysis time-consuming. Therefore, it is important to automate this process. Two of the main automation approaches are malware classification and clustering, where similar malware samples are grouped into malware families. Grouping malware into families allows malware analysts to examine fewer representative samples from each family, hence streamlining the malware defense process. In this dissertation, we focus on two aspects of the automated malware defense. For the first part of our work, we focus on malware classification in a closed set scenario. The assumption in this scenario is that instances seen during testing are from the same set of classes that are seen in training. We explore ways to improve the scalability of feature extraction while retaining discriminative information about the malware sample. We propose a method for extracting features from function call graphs (FCGs). Our proposed approach achieves a linear time complexity compared to previous FCG-based approaches which have quadratic time complexity both in the size of the dataset and the size of the graph. Experimental results also indicate that our proposed feature also improves the classification accuracy compared to past research. For the second part of our work, we propose supervised and unsupervised approaches for handling open set scenarios. Unlike closed set scenarios where the training data distribution is the same as the test data distribution, in open set, test data contains instances from data
A novel quasi-Newton-based optimization for neural network training incorporating Nesterov's accelerated gradient

: This paper describes a novel quasi-Newton (QN) based accelerated technique for training of neural networks. Recently, Nesterov’s accelerated gradient method has been utilized for the acceleration of the gradient-based training. In this paper the acceleration of the QN training algorithm is realized by the quadratic approximation of the error function incorporating the momentum term as Nesterov’s method. It is shown that the proposed algorithm has a similar convergence property with the QN method. Neural network trainings for the function approximation and the microwave circuit modeling problems are presented to demonstrate the proposed algorithm. The method proposed here drastically improves the convergence speed of the conventional QN algorithm.
Lastverluste von Stirnradverzahnungen: Konstruktive Einflüsse, Wirkungsgradmaximierung, Tribologie

Ein Klassifizierung von Verzahnungen hinsichtlich Wirkungsgrad wird vorgestellt. Des Weiteren wird aus den herausgearbeiteten Zusammenhängen ein Konstruktionskatalog abgeleitet. Es werden Beispielverzahnungen vorgestellt, die gegenüber einer jeweiligen Ausgangsverzahnung mit Hilfe des Katalogs hoch effizient ausgelegt sind, gleichzeitig aber rechnerisch keine Einbußen an Tragfähigkeit aufweisen. Dabei ergeben sich Verlustreduzierungen von teils deutlich über 50 % der Gesamtverluste. Da die Verzahnungsauslegung stets einen Kompromiss zwischen Tragfähigkeit, Anregung, Bauraum und Wirkungsgrad finden muss, sind für effizientere Verzahnungen jedoch oft Einbußen entweder bei Bauraum, Tragfähigkeit oder Anregungsverhalten hinzunehmen.
A Consensus Matching Algorithm with FREAK Features

While the consensus matching algorithm is able to discover target disappeared for a while and then reappears to the scene, it fails for complicated scenes such as drastic change of illumination and image rotation. In order to overcome this drawback, we proposed an improved strategy for the original consensus matching scheme by replacing BRISK with FREAK and FAST with SURF. According to experiments, the adoption of SURF and FREAK results in better performance in the case of illumination change and image rotation, and the FREAK helps to reduce the complexity of the algorithm.