Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Management of acute bacterial sinusitis: a prospective observational, multicenter study focusing on the safety and efficacy of Moxifloxacin

1HOD &Consultant ENT, DHQ Rawalpindi, Pakistan 2Prof & Consultant ENT, Jinnah Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan 3Assistant Professor & Consultant ENT, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan 4Professor Consultant ENT, Fatima Jinnah Medical University, Lahore, Pakistan 5Assoc Prof &Consultant ENT, Saifee hospital, Karachi, Pakistan 6Associate Professor &Consultant ENT, King Edward medical university, Pakistan 7Professor Consultant ENT Civil hospital, Karachi 8Professor, Consultant ENT, Ghurki Medical College, Gujranwala, Pakistan 9Manager Medical Affairs & Clinical Research, Hilton Pharma Pvt Ltd, Pakistan 10Sr. Director Medical, Regulatory & business development, Hilton Pharma Pvt ltd, Pakistan 11Sr. Lecturer, Al tibri medical college, Karachi, Pakistan International Journal of Open Access Otolaryngology Open Access Research Article
A study of the prevalence of generalized obesity, abdominal obesity, regional adiposity, and metabolic syndrome among young adults

Background: Overweight, obesity, and metabolic syndrome (MetS) are rapidly increasing in India. Aims and Objectives: This study demonstrated the prevalence of generalized, abdominal obesity including intra-abdominal and subcutaneous adiposity along with other associated factors in young adults. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 200 subjects. The anthropometric parameters (body mass index [BMI], waist circumference [WC], and skinfold thickness), fasting blood glucose (FBG), and blood pressure were recorded. Percentage of body fat (BF), total abdominal fat (TAF), intra-abdominal adipose tissue (IAAT), subcutaneous adipose tissue (SCAT), and basal metabolic rate (BMR) were measured by predictive equations. Data were analyzed using t-test, analysis of variance, and Pearsons correlation tests. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of generalized obesity (GO) (by BMI [>25 kg/m2]) was 11%. The prevalence of abdominal obesity according to WC was 17 %, whereas that measured by TAF was 8%. Increased IAAT was more in females (26.02%) as compared to males (8%) with overall prevalence 16.5%. The overall prevalence of SCAT was 27%, more in males (41.56%) as compared to females (17.89%). The prevalence of impaired FBG was 19% (prediabetic), MetS 5.5%, hypertension according to systolic blood pressure 6%, and according to diastolic blood pressure 13%. The predictive BMR was significantly higher with obese subjects as compared to healthy members in both sexes (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The prevalence of GO, abdominal obesity, regional adiposity, and MetS among young adults necessitates public health intervention.
Usefulness of Helicobacter Pylori Eradication for Platelet Recovery in Egyptian Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura Patients

Background: Recent studies have shown a relationship between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura( ITP ). Objectives: To clarify the relation between H. pylori and ITP, determine its prevalence in this disease and to evaluate the effect of its eradication on platelet recovery. Subjects and methods: 65 adult patients with ITP (platelet count < 100 x 10/l ) were investigated for the presence of H. pylori infection and its eradication by H pylori stool antigen (HpSA) enzyme immunoassay method (EIA) . H. pylori positive patients received standard triple therapy for seven days to eradicate infection. Platelet counts were monitored every 2 weeks and assessed 6 months after the end of H. pylori eradication therapy. Uninfected patients underwent immunosuppressive therapy and their platelet counts were followed up for the same duration. Results: 45/ 65 ITP patients, were H. pylori positive. They were significantly older and showed longer disease duration than H. pylori negative patients . There was significant increase in platelet count in both group after treatment and this increase was significantly higher in H. pylori positive group than negative one. Out of the 45 infected patients who received treatment, H. pylori was successfully eradicated in 39 patients. In 21 (53.8%) of these patients , significant good platelet response was detected when compared with unsuccessfully treated and H. pylori negative patients. Conclusion: Eradication of H. pylori infection led to good platelet response in ITP patients. Therefore, search for this infection must be attempted in ITP patients at diagnosis which will allow a good non immunosuppressive option for some of them. [Hosneia Kh. Akl, Hanan E. Mohamed, Hoda A. El-Hady Usefulness of Helicobacter Pylori Eradication for Platelet Recovery in Egyptian Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura Patients]Life Science Journal 2012; 9(1):825-829]. (ISSN: 1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite. com. 119
Inter-observer variability amongst surgeons and radiologists in assessment of Guy’s Stone Score and S.T.O.N.E. nephrolithometry score: A prospective evaluation

ABSTRACT Objective (a) To assess the inter-observer variability amongst surgeons performing percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) and radiologists for the Guy’s Stone Score (GSS) and S.T. O.N. E. (stone size [S], tract length [T], obstruction [O], number of involved calyces [N], and essence or stone density [E]) nephrolithometry score; (b) To determine which scoring system of the two is better for predicting the stone-free rate (SFR) after PCNL. Patients, subjects and methods Patients undergoing PCNL between February 2016 and September 2016 were prospectively enrolled. Preoperative computed tomography was done in all patients. The GSS and S.T. O.N. E. nephrolithometry score were independently calculated by eight surgeons and four radiologists. The patients were operated on by one of the surgeons (all were consultants). The Fleiss’ κ coefficient was used to assess agreement independently between the surgeons and radiologists. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed for predicting the SFR using the average of the scores of the surgeons and radiologists separately. Results A total of 157 patients underwent PCNL. The SFR was 71.3% (112/157 patients). The Fleiss’ κ scores ranged from 0.51 to 0.88 (overall 0.79) for the S.T. O.N. E. score and 0.53–0.91 for the GSS, suggesting moderate to very good agreement. The ROC curve for the S.T. O.N. E. nephrolithometry scores of surgeons (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.806) as well as the radiologists (AUC = 0.810) had a higher predictive value for the SFR than the GSS of the surgeons (AUC = 0.738) and the radiologists (AUC = 0.747). Conclusion There is overall good agreement between surgeons and radiologists for both the GSS and S.T. O.N. E. nephrolithometry score. The S.T. O.N. E. score had a higher predictive value for the SFR than the GSS. Abbreviations AUC: area under the curve; GSS: Guy’s Stone Score; KUB: kidneys, ureters and bladder; NCCT: non-contrast CT; PCNL: Percutaneous nephrolithotomy; ROC: receiver operating characteristic; SFR: stone-free rate; S.T. O.N. E. : stone size [S], tract length [T], obstruction [O], number of involved calyces [N], and essence or stone density [E]
Assessment of Physical Quality of Life Domain of Adolescents with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia at Teaching Hospitals in Baghdad City

Objective(s): To assess the physical quality of life's domain of adolescents with acute lymphocytic leukemia at teaching hospitals in Baghdad city and find out the relationships between the physical quality of life domain of adolescents with acute lymphocytic leukemia and their demographic characteristics. Methodology: The study started from the period of 20th November 2011 to 2nd July 2012. A non- probability (purposive) sample of 50 patients was selected from adolescents with ALL. The questionnaire was designed and composed of two parts: the first part includes three sections deal with the adolescent demographic data, disease related information and socio-economic status scale, second include physical quality of life domain. And determined reliability of the questionnaire through a pilot study and determined validity through a panel of (22) experts. The data was collected through questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The data were described statistically and analyzed through use of the descriptive and inferential statistical analysis procedures. Result: The findings of the present study indicate that (58%) were male, (56%) of the total sample are within the age groups (15-19) years, and (49%) of ALL adolescents were from family of low level of socioeconomic status. While physical domain of the quality of life for these adolescents affected at moderate level. Conclusion: The study concludes that the acute lymphocytic leukemia most occurs in male than in females. Acute lymphocytic leukemia most common occurs among adolescents in urban residential area. Also the study confirmed that the acute lymphocytic leukemia affects negatively on the physical QoL domain of adolescent. Recommendation: The study recommended the establishment of hematology and oncology center, an education program for adolescents with ALL started to help them live a better life
Understanding executive function in young autistic people: moving from the lab to the everyday

A wealth of empirical research has focused on the executive function (EF) ability of autistic people. This research initially focused predominantly on establishing whether EF difficulties could be causal to the development of autistic traits. More recently, the focus has been on establishing the role of EF in explaining the life chances of autistic people. In this thesis, I aimed to test whether the conclusions drawn from traditional laboratory-based EF assessments have a bearing on the everyday lives of autistic young people. To address this aim, In Chapter 2, I examined whether the group differences between autistic and non-autistic participants on EF assessments commonly reported in the literature result from differences in the latent executive constructs underlying task performance or from task-specific, non-executive characteristics. In Chapter 3, I assessed whether group differences in EF ability emerged on a representatively-designed measure of EF. In Chapter 4, I investigated whether other metrics of real-world functional adjustment were related to individual differences in performance on both the systematically-designed and on the representatively-designed EF tasks, described in Chapters 3 and 4, respectively. In Chapter 5, I sought to understand the personal and parental perspectives about the executive abilities of autistic young people and the realities of these (dis)abilities on everyday life. Finally, in Chapter 6, I discuss how the findings from this thesis relate to the extant literature before making five recommendations on approaches I believe will move the discipline of EF research with autistic people forward. Namely, that to understand how EF difficulties relate to the lives of autistic people, future research should; (i) validate systematically-designed tasks against real-world measures with autistic populations, (ii) employ representatively-designed tasks to capture functional abilities, (iii) triangulate objective assessment with subjective reports, (iv) conduct carefully controlled experiments to elucidate the mechanisms underlying everyday executive difficulties and (v) conceptualise of EF in autism within a dimensional, rather than a categorical, framework.
Epidemiology of Hepatitis B Virus Infection in South-South, Nigeria: A Review

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a small enveloped DNA virus of the Hepadnaviridae family associated with infection of the liver, and a major public health problem globally. The virus preferentially infects the liver leading to hepatic complications such as hepatic carcinoma and liver cirrhosis. About two billion people globally have been estimated to be infected with hepatitis B virus and approximately 350-400 million others reportedly suffer from the chronic forms. An estimated two million of these carriers die each year as a result of complications. The mode of transmission of the disease is largely through unprotected sex, mother-to-child transmission (MTCT), contaminated blood and blood products and use of contaminated sharp objects or instruments. Africa is a high endemic area with 7–26% prevalence rate of HBsAg. Nigeria has been placed among the group of countries Review Article Umego et al.; ISRR, 7(1): 1-17, 2018; Article no.ISRR. 36989 2 endemic for HBV infection with about 18 million infected. In recent years, the rates of prevalence of HBV have been increasing within the South-South part of the country. Serological and molecular techniques are currently employed not only in the diagnosis of this infection but also to assess the prognosis of the disease, guide therapy and monitor treatment responses. Treatment is highly supportive and two major groups of antiviral treatment licensed for the treatment of chronic HBV infection are pegylated interferon alpha and nucleoside or nucleotide analogues. Interrupting early transmission is key to breaking the cycle of ongoing HBV infection. In addition to active vaccination, the implementation of blood safety strategies including quality-assured screening of all donated blood and components used for transfusion may prevent transmission of HBV to a significant level.
Beyond Common Sense and Human Experience: Lay Perceptions of Witness Coercion

Perceptions of the use of coercive tactics in witness interviews were examined. Canadian community members (N = 293) were asked to read a transcript of a witness interview that included either (a) threats/overt coercion, (b) minimization/covert coercion, or (c) no coercion, and answer questions about the interview. Participants rated the threat transcript as being the most coercive, containing the most pressure, involving the most serious consequences for withholding information, and eliciting the most negative feelings from witnesses. Conversely, the minimization transcript tended to be rated less negatively than the threat transcript and was also rated as being the most effective for gathering information. Results indicate that laypeople recognize the issues with explicitly coercive police tactics, but are less clear on the problems with subtler forms of coercion. The implications for the truth-seeking function of the justice system and the role of expert testimony in the courtroom are discussed.
Genetic Parameters for Pre-Weaning Litter Traits in Heterogeneous Population of Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Raised in the Humid Tropics

Data from 302 progeny in a heterogeneous population of rabbits were used to estimate the heritability and correlations (phenotypic and genetic) of pre-weaning litter traits (litter size at birth LSB, litter size at weaning LSW, litter weight birth LWB, litter weight at weaning LWW, kit weight birth KWB, and kit weight weaning KWW). Heritability estimates for litter size ranged from 0.16 (LSW) to 0.22 (LSB). LWB and LWW were more highly heritable (0.52 and 0.55 respectively) than KWB and KWW (0.36 and 0.25 respectively). The genetic (rG ) and phenotypic (rP) correlations between litter size and litter weight at birth and weaning were 0.69 to 0.88 (rG) and 0.28 to 0.88 (rP). Generally, litter traits gave higher estimates than individual kit traits implying that selection criteria based on litter performance rather than on individual kit performance should be applied in genetic improvement of pre-weaning traits in rabbits raised in derived savanna zone.
Microbiology and clinical characteristics of acute cholangitis with their impact on mortality; a retrospective cross sectional study.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate microbiological and clinical characteristics of acute cholangitis along with their impact on mortality, and to compare the role of early versus late biliary drainage in the management of cholangitis. METHODS The retrospective study was conducted at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital Research Centre, Lahore, Pakistan, and comprised records of all patients presenting with acute cholangitis from June, 2012, to June, 2017. The risk factors, presence of bacteremia, resistance pattern of microbial pathogens and severity were assessed according to Tokyo guidelines in addition to associated mortality and recurrence at 3 months. Data was analysed using SPSS 20. RESULTS Of the 230 patients, 137(59.6%) were male. The overall mean age was 56±13 years. The most common isolated organism was Escherichia coli 54(70.1%). Clinical severity (p=0.001), late biliary drainage (p=0.001) and use of multiple stents (p=0.03) were associated with increased mortality. However, in multivariable analysis, only high body mass index (p=0.01) and Tokyo severity grades II (p=0.04) and III (p=0.001) were significant factors associated with mortality. CONCLUSIONS Early identification of risk factors, administration of appropriate antibiotics and establishing early biliary drainage were found to be the key management steps to reduce cholangitis-related mortality.
PLC Systems Under the Presence of a Malicious Wireless Communication Device: Physical Layer Security Analyses

This article investigates the physical layer security (PLS) of a broadband in-home power line communication (PLC) system when a malicious wireless communication device tries to eavesdrop upon private messages exchanged between two PLC devices. Such a security issue arises when electric power circuits, which are used for data communication, are constituted of unshielded power cables. This kind of investigation offers the direction for dealing with the PLS aspects of broadband in-home PLC systems. A data set of channel estimates and additive noises obtained from a measurement campaign carried out in several houses is used for providing practical results. The attained results show high values of the secrecy outage probability for all chosen values of the target secrecy rate and the total transmission power when the PLC devices are around 6 m away from each other and the eavesdropper is less than 2 m away from the PLC transmitter. Overall, the numerical results show that the vulnerability of broadband in-home PLC systems, in terms of PLS, may be relevant. Therefore, a rethinking of the use of unshielded power cables or new designs of broadband in-home PLC systems deserves special attention for ensuring PLS.
Family SMEs’ survival: the role of owner family and corporate social responsibility

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of owner family involvement in business on sustainable survival of family small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) and to empirically validate the intervening role of corporate social responsibility (CSR). ,The authors analyze data from 489 owner and nonowner executives of 150 family SMEs using PLS-SEM (Partial Least Square–Structural Equation Modeling). ,The authors found evidence that family involvement in business positively impacts the sustainable survival of family SMEs while corporate social responsibility partially mediates this relationship. Apart from effective family involvement in business, active involvement in social causes enhances a firm's ability to survive longer. ,This study was conducted in a geographic context and data were collected from family-managed and controlled firms. Further research is needed to generalize the findings to all types of family firms in the global context. In an Islamic society, family firms need to invest in social causes, human development, and environmental sustainability through zakat, sadaqat, and donations. ,The findings imply that family firms require stakeholder-centric competitive strategies and socially responsible behavior along with effective family control, commitment, enrichment, and successful succession since the path to sustainable survival goes through CSR. ,Survival is the biggest challenge facing family SMEs forcing them to achieve the ability to sustain longer. Rooted in transaction cost economics (TCE) theory of the family firm and stakeholder theory, this paper validates an integrative model for family SMEs' sustainable survival.
Should Listed Banks Be Concerned with Intellectual Capital in Emerging Asian Markets? A Comparison between China and Pakistan

The purpose of this study is to determine and compare the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) and banks’ performance in China and Pakistan. The data are acquired from listed banks in these two countries during 2010–2018. The Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC™) method is applied as a measure of IC. The results show that capital employed efficiency (CEE) makes the highest contribution to bank performance in both countries. In addition, the profitability of listed Chinese banks is driven by structural capital efficiency (SCE), while human capital efficiency (HCE) positively affects bank profitability and productivity in Pakistan. In addition, we find that the lagged effect of IC has a positive impact on future bank profitability. This study supports greater investment in IC in order to further improve bank performance in emerging Asian markets.
Tactful hands and vibrant mattering in the sand tray

This paper reflects on a slow-motion video clip of the hands of three young children as they play with toys in the sand tray. It foregrounds sand and toys that are handled, as well as hands that grasp and relinquish things. Through this movement of hands that tug and pull at things, it explores how things animate bodies, and how this produces the felt-sense of other desiring bodies. As hands tender things, they are animated by what they touch, and simultaneously things are animated through the give and take of pulls and pushes of desire expressed as kinetic force. The slowed film of hands in motion draws our attention from words, towards a (re)cognition of a sensed intelligence which is not pre-language, but is produced before language, as well as with language. Arguing that child development theories are inextricably bound up in narratives of human exceptionalism founded in language and moralism, I will make the case for reinstating sense as a mode of attention in order to counter a lack that is perceived until children learn language. By troubling the boundaries that we draw between the animal and the human, there is much to learn from very young children when we seriously attend to their capacity for sensory ways of knowing that are so often eclipsed by the dominance of language.
The substantiation of adoptive transfer of tolerogenic dendritic cells for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in mice

The tolerogenic properties of dendritic cells are of particular interest in the search for new approaches to the correction of Treg immunity in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. The PURPOSE is to study the effect of tolerogenic dendritic cells on the Treg immunity in mice with adjuvant arthritis at different stages. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Adjuvant arthritis (AA) was induced in CBA/H mice by sub-plantar injection of the Freund’s complete adjuvant. Dendritic cells were obtained ex vivo from bone marrow mononuclear cells. On the 7th, 14th or 21st days of adjuvant arthritis, animals were injected with tolerogenic dendritic cells. Their arthritis index and T-immune status (CD4+CD25+ and FOXP3+ cells) were assessed. RESULTS. Dysfunction of Treg immunity and clinical diagnostic parameters in animals at different stages of adjuvant arthritis have been demonstrated. On the 14th and 21st days of adjuvant arthritis, immunotherapy by obtained ex vivo dendritic cells, contributed to the increase of CD4+CD25+ and FOXP3+ cells content in the spleen and normalization of clinical diagnostic parameters in animals. In the acute stage of arthritis (7 days), adoptive therapy with tolerogenic dendritic cells was not effective. CONCLUSION. Adoptive application of tolerogenic dendritic cells has contributed to the reduction of clinical manifestation of the arthritis. The greatest therapeutic efficacy was demonstrated by dendritic cells transferred on the 14th day of the pathology development, which contributed to the normalization of the clinical status of recipients with adjuvant arthritis.