Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Emergency Laparoscopic Surgery in High-risk Patients

Most of the abdominal surgical emergencies can be effectively treated by laparoscopic techniques. Nowadays, the number of high-risk patients is growing, mainly due to the increased life expectancy of the population. This condition is often a contraindication to minimally invasive surgery. This review article provides a clarification of the concept of high-risk patient and his eligibility to laparoscopic surgery, even in abdominal emergencies. Literature review of these topics was performed in PubMed/ MEDLINE up to September 2014. Our hypothesis is that laparoscopic surgery in urgency is not contraindicated for the high-risk patient, which may indeed benefit from it.
The Effects of Governance Mechanisms on the Financial Information Quality

This study investigates the impact of some mechanisms corporate governance, in this case, the Board of Directors and its characteristics, the auditing quality and ownership structure, on the earnings management. For this purpose, we used a sample of 16 Tunisian listed companies. The earning management was operationalized by the level of the discretionary accruals. Besides, another variable relative to the company’s size was used. When looking at the achieved results, we highlight that that earning management is positively related to the ownership structure and the size of the company. However, no association was found between the Board of Directors, the quality of audit on the one hand, and the level of the discretionary accruals on the other hand.
PUVA phototherapy-induced secondary amyloidosis in patients with mycosis fungoides: a rare adverse effect of phototherapy.

Amyloidosis is a common disorder in adults. Secondary amyloidosis in patients with mycosis fungoides (MF) after photochemotherapy with 8-methoxypsoralen followed by ultraviolet A (PUVA) treatment has not been reported. Our aim is to describe the clinical and histological features of PUVA phototherapy-induced secondary amyloidosis. Materials and methods: Sixty-one patients with MF treated with PUVA phototherapy were analyzed clinically and pathologically and by staining with Congo red and crystal violet. Results: Of 61 patients, 5 met the study criteria. Secondary amyloidosis was detected in 5 patients treated with PUVA. The secondary amyloidosis appeared after a mean of 56 exposures (range: 30-81) and a mean cumulative PUVA radiation dose of 131.7 J/cm2 (range: 31-305.5). The mean follow-up duration from the date of occurrence of the secondary amyloidosis was 18.2 weeks (range: 10-30). Histologically, vacuolar interface changes, colloid bodies, and melanophages were seen in all 5 patients. There were 4 patients who had perivascular lymphocytic infiltration and 1 patient had lichenoid lymphocytic infiltration. Conclusion: It should be noted that secondary amyloidosis can be present in patients who have been treated with PUVA therapy and it can be a result of the apoptotic effect of PUVA on the basal keratinocytes.
Assessment of vaginal microbiota in Brazilian women with and without bacterial vaginosis and comparison with Nugent score.

INTRODUCTION Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is characterized by the depletion of Lactobacillus spp. population and increase of other species, especially Gardnerella vaginalis and Atopobium vaginae. This study aimed to investigate the vaginal microbiota structure of Brazilian women with and without BV according to Nugent Score and to assess the correlation among Nugent score and the quantification of BV-associated bacteria. METHODOLOGY Polymerase Chain Reaction-Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) assay was employed to characterize the vaginal microbiota structure. Quantification of Lactobacillus spp. , G. vaginalis, A. vaginae, Mobiluncus sp. and M. hominis were determined by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). RESULTS Clustering by PCR-DGGE revealed differences in microbial structure of the different patient groups. Gardnerella vaginalis, A. vaginae, M. hominis and Mobiluncus sp. were detected at high loads in BV-associated microbiota. Quantification of Lactobacillus spp. showed an inverse correlation with Nugent score while the loads of G. vaginalis, A. vaginae, M. hominis and Mobiluncus sp. indicated a direct correlation with this method. CONCLUSIONS Despite Nugent score is considered the gold standard for BV diagnosis, qPCR stands out as a useful tool for bacteria quantification and an alternative for BV diagnosis. Vaginal microbiota is a complex microbial community although there is a common core among BV and non-BV women. Investigation of vaginal microbiota structure may contribute to the development of tools for diagnosis improvement and therapeutic regimen optimization.
DESCRIPTIVE VERSUS DIALOGIC REFLECTION AND POSITIVE VERSUS NEGATIVE STANCE IN THE REFLECTIVE WRITING OF TURKISH PROSPECTIVE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS

While there is a wide body of research that reports the benefits of engaging prospective English Language teachers in reflection during the practicum courses of their teacher education, there are relatively few studies which describe the nature of prospective teachers written reflections on examples of their own teaching during campus-based methodology courses. However, it has been suggested that engaging prospective English Language teachers in reflective practice early on in their teacher education could be beneficial in helping them to develop their critical thinking skills and to make the most of their future teaching experiences. Thus, the current study was conducted to describe the individual reflective profiles emerging from the analysis of the written reflections of 28 Turkish prospective English Language teachers on a video-recorded microteaching experience carried out as part of a methodology course. A mixed method approach was adopted to this aim. First, qualitative analysis of the written reflections revealed reflective categories showing how the participants reflected on their teaching experience. Second, frequency analysis was used to reveal the distribution of these reflective categories for each participant. The data analysis showed that the individual participants displayed different patterns of reflection in terms of descriptive and dialogic reflection, and positive and negative stance.
Multi-scale environmental factors explain fish losses and refuge quality in drying waterholes of Cooper Creek, an Australian arid-zone river

Many rivers experience intermittent flows naturally or as a consequence of water abstraction. Climate change is likely to exacerbate flow variability such that dry spells may become more common. It is important to understand the ecological consequences of flow intermittency and habitat fragmentation in rivers, and to identify and protect habitat patches that provide refugia for aquatic biota. This paper explores environmental factors influencing dry season fish losses from isolated waterbodies in Cooper Creek, an unregulated arid-zone river in the Lake Eyre Basin, Australia. Multivariate ordination techniques and classification and regression trees (CART) were used to decompose species-environment relationships into a hierarchically structured data set, and to determine factors explaining changes in fish assemblage structure and species losses over a single dry season. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) explained 74% of fish assemblage change in terms of waterhole morphology (wetted perimeter, depth), habitat structure (bench development, off-take channels), waterhole quality (eroded banks, gross primary production), the size of surrounding floodplains and the relative isolation of waterholes. Classification trees for endemic and restricted species reaffirmed the importance of these waterhole and floodplain variables as drivers of fish losses. The CCA and CART models offer valuable tools for identification of refugia in Cooper Creek and, possibly, other dryland rivers.
Hermeneutics in organization studies

Copyright Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. This is an Accepted Manuscript of a chapter published in The Routledge Companion to Philosophy in Organization Studies in November 2015, available online: https://www.routledge. com/The-Routledge-Companion-to-Philosophy-inOrganization-Studies/Mir-Willmott-Greenwood/p/book/9780415702867
The Effects of Agglomeration on Wages: Evidence from the Micro‐Level

This paper estimates individual wage equations in order to test two rival non-nested theories of economic agglomeration, namely New Economic Geography (NEG), as represented by the NEG wage equation and urban economic (UE) theory , in which wages relate to employment density. The paper makes an original contribution by evidently being the first empirical paper to examine the issue of agglomeration processes associated with contemporary theory working with micro-level data, highlighting the role of gender and other individual-level characteristics. For male respondents, there is no significant evidence that wage levels are an outcome of the mechanisms suggested by NEG or UE theory, but this is not the case for female respondents. We speculate on the reasons for the gender difference.
Spatio Temporal Density Mapping of a Dynamic Phenomenon

Visualizing density and distribution information is a key support for understanding spatio-temporal phenomena represented by point data. However, the temporal information is not yet adequately handled in existing density map approaches. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for the creation of a 2D density surface - using contour intervals - for dynamic points or phenomena. Our method is based on a rainbow color scheme, which enables the user to visually extract spatio-temporal changes of point density and distribution. Furthermore, we present various possibilities for extending and improving our approach.
Stream bottom sediments as a means to assess metal contamination in the historic mining district of Almadén (Spain)

Located in the southern half of Spain, Almadén is the world’s largest Hg district and mercury has been mined there for over 2000 years. Its slag heaps and old metallurgy plants represent a risk to watercourses that flow through the district and receive the run-off from the mines. This study collected sediment samples along the length of the main watercourses in the mining district. High levels of heavy metals were detected, with Hg levels varying between 1.77 and 255.88 mg kg−1, Pb levels between 20.59 and 131.07 mg kg−1 and Zn levels between 59.06 and 131.07 mg kg−1. The dispersion of these heavy metals in rivers as a result of mining activities has caused sediment quality degradation. As such, when measured using reference indexes such as the SeQI and the EF, sediment quality for the entire district is practically poor, due to anthropogenic contributions, with the concomitant threat to the surrounding environment.
Comparison of fractional excretion of sodium, uric acid and urea nitrogen in diagnosis of pediatric acute prerenal failure

Background and aim: various factors, in terms of faster diagnosis of acute renal failure have been studied so far, but these studies have been done mostly on adults. Therefore, in this paper we made a comparison of fractional excretion of sodium (FeNa), uric acid (FeUa) and urea nitrogen (FeU) in acute prerenal failure in children to find out which one is more sensitive in diagnosis of acute prerenal failure. Material and Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 5 CC blood was taken from 29 children of 1 month to 15 years old, diagnosed with acute pre-renal failure; the amount of creatinine, sodium, uric acid and urea nitrogen was measured in their plasma. After taking a standard urine specimen, all the mentioned items were measured in patients’ urine and put into the formula of FeNa, FeUa and FeU and compared. Results: In this study, 75.8% FeU, 68.9% FeUa and 58.6% FeNa are agreeable to prerenal criteria and the most sensitivity is assigned to FeU. Among the three groups, FeNa is more affected by treatment with diuretic. The difference between FeNa in the receiver group of normal saline and the receiver group of diuretic is more than those groups which did not receive any. Conclusion: Fractional excretion of urea nitrogen in children, especially in the receivers of diuretic is more sensitive in diagnosis of acute prerenal failure. Moreover, this index is more sensitive in diagnosis of acute prerenal failure than the other indexes.
Evaluation of cookies produced from blends of wheat, cassava and cowpea flours

Cassava ( Manihot esculenta Crantz) and cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) were processed into flours and used to substitute wheat flour for preparation of cookies. The chemical, including proximate composition and anti-nutritional factors, and functional and pasting properties of the blends were determined. Cookies were produced from the blends with 100% wheat flour as a control. The anti-nutritional factors, physical properties and organoleptic attributes of the cookies were evaluated. An increase in the level of cassava flour substitution resulted in a decrease in the protein content of the composite flour. However, addition of cowpea flour resulted in an increase in the protein content. There were significant (p 0.05) different from the control in overall acceptability. This indicates the feasibility of producing nutritious cookies with desirable organoleptic qualities from cassava, wheat and cowpea composite flour.
Arbitrage hedging in markets for the US lean hogs and the EU live pigs

The paper describes an attempt to gain insight into the relationship between cash and futures markets for US lean hogs and EU live pigs, and the opportunity of arbitrage hedging. In doing so, the authors use newer methods of threshold cointegration analysis for time series from 1999 until 2008. Besides the existence of a long-run equilibrium, asymmetric price adjustments can be demonstrated. This is especially the case for the EU live pigs, where price variations of the basis are higher and exhibit lower standard deviation. The results also perfectly show that cash prices follow the futures market more than the other way round. Furthermore, a grid search has revealed that the residual-based threshold in either market is near zero and therefore coherent with economic interpretation. Thus, at least theoretically, arbitrageurs in those markets are able to exploit the price differences between the two markets and reap no-risk monetary benefit. Hence, the results are in line with the statement that "speculating the basis" generates a better return. (authors' abstract)
Dynamics of Transversely Vibrating Pipes under Non-classical Boundary Conditions

The transverse of free vibration of pipes conveying fluid has been examined by using Euler-Bernoulli beam theory to show the effect of varied boundary conditions on pipes dynamic behaviors. The equation of motion of the pipe conveying fluid is obtained with a new approach with the assumptions of ideal fluid, which moves in the vertical direction with pipe and the pipe makes small oscillations, by Hamilton's variation principle. The flow in the pipe was modeled by considering well-known Euler equation. The dimensionless equations are solved for two different set of non-classical boundary conditions. The natural frequency equations and the critical flow velocity equations are obtained and the relation between the mass ratio and vibration frequency is examined by solving the differential equations. The values of natural frequencies caused by the fluid velocity are presented graphically.
Therapeutic Potential of PI3K/Akt/mTOR Signalling Pathway: Effective Combination Therapy for Cancer

Cell signalling mechanism plays a vital role in cell functioning. Imbalance and disregulation between these signals, such as phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase/protein kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin signalling pathway; may lead to uncontrolled cell proliferation. Generation of drug resistance is the hurdle in current cancer treatment. Designing an effective combination therapy for inhibition of two or more proteins of a given pathway might help to overcome the drug resistance and side effect related issues in cancer treatment. In this regard, application of computational tools firstly to predict newer combinations against phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase, protein kinase b and mammalian target of rapamycin involved in a single pathway have been proposed. The results obtained using the computational tools were shortlisted based on Glide score and binding interactions of the drugs to the receptors of the pathway. One of the predicted combinations was further subjected to biological evaluation using the Western blot assay. The experimental results revealed synergistic effects that supported the predictions. The study also provided insights for the application and development of computational tools to predict newer combinations in a given network pharmacology.
The distribution of the lecanid rotifers (Rotifera: Monogononta: Lecanidae) in North-Eastern India

Thirty species (thirty fwo taxa) of the genus Lecane (Family: Lecanidae), including Lecane jaintiaensis sp. n. , are examined from No~th-Easiern India. Seven taxa are new bo India while trventy five taxa represent new records from this region. Remarks are made on the distribufion and ecology of the different taxa.
Polycythemia Rubra vera-Clinical Profile & Predictors of Thrombotic Complications

Polycythemia Rubra Vera (PRV) is one of the chronic myeloproliferative disorders (neoplasms), characterized by clonal proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells [2] with variable morphologic maturity and hematopoietic efficiency. The disease has a course with inter current thrombotic complications [1,3] and may end up in myelofibrosis or transformation to a haematological malignancy [4]. Major aim of the treatment is to prevent thrombotic complications and to retard the progression of the disease [5]. Identification of risk factors for thrombotic complications and prompt management can significantly reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with this disease.
Epidemiological Profiles of Murders and Murder Victims in Peninsular Malaysia from 2007 to 2011 as Reported by a Newspaper

A five year (2007 2011) retrospective study on murder and murder victims in Peninsular Malaysia was carried out to build epidemiological profiles of victims and explore several mechanical profiles of murder. The data were based on reported murder incidents in Peninsular Malaysia by one of the local newspaper (News Straits Times). Throughout the five years, males outnumbered females as victims of murder. The age group most affected was 20 to 29 years old (23.3%) and the highest prevalence was among the Indian ethnic group (22.6%). The majority of the victims were local people. Most of the incidents involved single persons (92.6%) as murder victims. Most of the incidents occurred either between 6.00 pm and 12.00 am (30.2%) or between 12.01 am and 6.00 am (18.2%). The incidents appeared to frequently occur at home (36.6%), although most of the bodies were recovered in remote areas (43.5%) such as cemeteries and isolated estates. Sharp objects (31.0%) and sharp force trauma (30.1%) were the most preferred murder weapon and cause of deaths. The chest and abdomen (31.1%) were the most targeted body parts in killing victims, followed by the head (20.3%). This study also revealed expressive motivation (31.6%) as the apparent dominating cause of murder compared to instrumental motivation (19.4%). The emerged profiles were discussed in relation to murder, criminology and victimology contexts.
CAPILLARY PRESSURE-SATURATION CURVES: TOWARD SIMULATING DYNAMIC EFFECTS WITH THE LATTICE-BOLTZMANN METHOD

The capillary pressure-saturation curve is widely used to characterize hydraulic properties of porous media. It is often assumed that curves measured under equilibrium conditions can be applied to transient flow conditions, and vice versa. However, capillary pressure-saturation curves are not unique. For instance, experimental evidence suggests that capillary pressure-saturation curves exhibit dynamic effects depending on the flow conditions in the the porous system prior to and during the time of measurement. The extent to which dynamic flow conditions affect the measured capillary pressure is currently debated and the exact cause of the observed dynamic effects is not fully understood. In this study a lattice-Boltzmann model was used to simulate dynamic effects in an effort to identify the pore-scale mechanisms responsible for the dynamic effects observed in macro-scale laboratory experiments.
Increasing user value through professional identity profiles, profile-based connection agents and games

Encouraging users of online communities to complete, maintain and improve their electronic profiles is a challenging task. Only if users see real value for themselves will they invest their time and energy in this activity, and become active contributing members of the online community. In this article we present some improvements to profiles and knowledge managementsystems specialized in lifelong learning and career development that we believe are necessary in order to increase user value and motivation. First, we reflect on the relevant information that should be provided in a 'professional identity' profile in order to increase user value in the area of career development. We show that social interaction, in addition to solitary introspection, is necessary to provide users with the knowledge they need to make a career change. We then report on our exploration of agents and games can help individuals get valuable feedback about their profiles, critically re-assess and redefine their lifelong learning and career development objectives and plans, and identify relevant users to connect with in order to exchange knowledge.
Specialized System Identific ation for Parafoil and Payload Systems

There are a number of peculiar aspects to parafoil and payload systems thatmake it difficult to apply conventional system identification procedures used for aerospace systems. Parafoil and payload systems are unique because typically there is very little sensor information available, the sensors that are available are separated from the canopy by a complex network of flexible rigging, the systems are very sensitive to wind and turbulence, the systems exhibit a number of nonlinear behaviors, and the systems exhibit a high degree of variability from flight to flight. The current work describes a robust system identification procedure developed to address the specific difficulties posed by airdrop systems. By employing a two-phase approach that separately considers atmospheric winds estimation and aerodynamic coefficient estimation, a nonlinear, 6-degree-of-freedom dynamic simulation model is generated using only Global Positioning System data from the flight test. The key to this approach is the use of a simplified aerodynamic representation of the canopy, which requires identification of only the steady-state response to control input to completely define the dynamic model. The proposed procedure is demonstrated by creating a simulation model usingGlobal Positioning Systemdata fromactual flight tests. To validate the procedure, the dynamic response of the simulationmodel is then compared to inertial measurement unit data that were not used in any way to develop the simulation model, with excellent results.