Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of Severity and Outcome of COVID-19 Cases by Haematological and Biochemical Markers at Tertiary Care Centre in India

Background: In December 2019, a cluster of pneumonia cases caused by a novel corona virus (2019-nCov), later named as severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was detected in China. In India, 30th January 2020 first positive case ofSARS-CoV-2was reported from Kerala. The reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is the standard method of choice for diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Certain biomarker molecules that are being evaluated for assessment of severity and prognosis are; D-dimer, C reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), complete blood counts (CBC) and serum ferritin. The elevated levels of these biomarkers were associated with extent of inflammation. Objective: This prospective study was designed to assess the severity and prognosis of pneumonia cases caused by SARS-CoV-2 using different haematological and biochemical biomarkers. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted among 242 participants attending covid-19 facility of BRD Medical College Gorakhpur, after confirmation by RT-PCR. Different haematological and biochemical biomarkers were analyzed using 5 ml fasting venous blood samples and these were analysed in auto analysers using standard protocol as per manufacturer’s instructions. Finally result was analyzed using standard statistical calculation by %positivity, confidence interval, p values and ≤ 0.05 is considered as statistically significant. Results: Among a total of 242 COVID-19 cases based on different haematological and biomarkers assessment; 92 were critically ill and 150 non-critically ill. The mean ±SD of various haematological parameters among critically ill cases were; haemoglobin (13.0±1.8),TLC (13846.13±3903.76),PLT (92213.48±61415.07),NLR(36.5±30.4). The mean ±SD of the biochemical parameters of critically ill participant was; CRP 44.7±35.4 (95%CI 25.06,2.93),D. dimer 2.9±2.6 (95%CI 1.69,0.10), serum ferritin 1204.7±750.7 (95%CI 581.8,60.1),LDH 397.2±180.8 (95% CI 133.01,0.0163). The level of different haematological and biochemical parameters was raised also in non-critically ill cases but at lower side. Out of these 242 cases; 106 (43.8%) were died and 136 (56.2%) survived but the mortality was high in critically ill cases. Conclusion: Our findings show that level of D-dimer, LDH, CRP, NLR and serum ferritin,can be used to assess the severity and prognosis of COVID-19 cases. Among these biomarkers; D-dimer levels correlate more precisely with severity and can be considered as a reliable prognostic marker.
Investigation of different organic fertilizers application on the soil water holding capacity

This study was conducted to investigate the impacts of organic fertilizers on soil water holding capacity in four different suctions (0, 0.05, 0.33 and 15 bar) and their impacts on water retention curve in three different soil textures in five governing climates of Iran, which were cultivated under wheat and maize for two consecutive years. Furthermore, the role of organic materials in aggregation process was surveyed. The influence of organic materials on soil water holding capacity was evaluated in five treatments, including 10000, 20000 kg/ha of animal manures; 10000, 20000 kg/ha of compost, and control treatment in factorial and completely randomized statistical design. The results revealed that the addition of materials resulted into an increase in the mean weight diameter of soils aggregates with more concentration on 250-500 and 500-1000µ diameter. Additionally, the improvement of soil aggregation was more in sandy loam soil and less in clay loam soil. Interestingly, the role of organic materials in increasing soil water holding capacity in different plants and consecutive years was not significant. By adding organic materials in field capacity and permanent wilting point, soil volumetric moisture increased far better than other studied soil moisture points. Sandy loam texture and semi-arid climates indicated the greatest variability to the additional organic materials. In conclusion, compost fertilizer in arid and semi-arid climates with sandy loam texture had the most influence on soil water holding capacity, particularly in FC and PWP moisture points
Differentiable SLAM-nets: Learning Task-Oriented SLAM for Visual Navigation

This paper introduces the Differentiable SLAM Network (SLAM-net) that encodes a particle ﬁlter based SLAM algorithm in a differentiable computation graph, and learns task-oriented neural network models by backpropagating through the SLAM algorithm. Because of its ability to learn task-oriented models, differentiable SLAM can potentially overcome a number of important limitations of traditional SLAM methods, such as dynamic environments, sparse visual features, maps that allow downstream path planning or semantic tasks. Preliminary results in simulated indoor environments show a strong performance for SLAM-net, both for visual localization and downstream visual navigation. Our navigation architecture with SLAM-net improves the state-of-the-art for the Habitat PointNav Challenge 2020 task by a large margin (37 % to 64 % success). For an extension of this work visit the project website: http://sites.google. com/view/slamnet
N.S. Alqahtani, M. Mohammadnezad, R.A. Alzaheb: Association between Overweight and Vitamin D Status among Saudi Male Adolescents Association between Overweight and Vitamin D Status among Saudi Male Adolescents

Saudi subjects of all ages have frequently reported a low vitamin D status, but as yet, no attempt to examine the association of this status to their weight has been made. This research aimed to generate data on a male adolescent sample’s vitamin D level and to explore any association to their weight status. 213 Saudi male adolescents aged 14–19 years were recruited for this cross-sectional project. Their height and weight and serum 25hydroxyvitamin D 25)OH(D were measured. Possible associations between the participants’ vitamin D status and the prevalence of overweight and obesity among them were statistically analyzed. The results, the mean serum of 25 )OH(D concentration was 11.9±4.41 ng/mL. The respective prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency were 94.4% and 5.6%. Most study participants were found to be overweight )61.5%(, and one third )36.6%( were obese. No statistically significant association between overweight and obesity and vitamin D status was found. Saudi male adolescents have a high incidence of vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency. The results underline the urgent need to identify practical ways to improve Saudi adolescents’ vitamin D status. These results will help to develop health promotion programs for improving the health situation in the Kingdom according to the Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.
OP-IJEJ180123 2005..2014

Background: Propensity score adjustment is a popular approach for confounding control in observational studies. Reliable frameworks are needed to determine relative propensity score performance in large-scale studies, and to establish optimal propensity score model selection methods. Methods: We detail a propensity score evaluation framework that includes synthetic and real-world data experiments. Our synthetic experimental design extends the ‘plasmode’ framework and simulates survival data under known effect sizes, and our real-world experiments use a set of negative control outcomes with presumed null effect sizes. In reproductions of two published cohort studies, we compare two propensity score estimation methods that contrast in their model selection approach: L1-regularized regression that conducts a penalized likelihood regression, and the ‘high-dimensional propensity score’ (hdPS) that employs a univariate covariate screen. We evaluate methods on a range of outcome-dependent and outcome-independent metrics. Results: L1-regularization propensity score methods achieve superior model fit, covariate balance and negative control bias reduction compared with the hdPS. Simulation results are mixed and fluctuate with simulation parameters, revealing a limitation of simulation under the proportional hazards framework. Including regularization with the hdPS reduces commonly reported non-convergence issues but has little effect on propensity score performance. Conclusions: L1-regularization incorporates all covariates simultaneously into the propensity score model and offers propensity score performance superior to the hdPS marginal screen.
Influence of silicon on grain discoloration and upland rice grown on four savanna soils of Brazil

Abstract In silicon (Si)‐deficient soils, calcium silicate fertilization can reducerice diseases and increase yields. Experiments were conducted in the greenhouse to investigate the effects of Si on rice yield and grain discoloration in four different savanna soils from Brazil, Typic Acrustox‐isohyperthermic (LEa), Typic Acrustox‐isohyperthermic (LVa), Rhodic Acrustox‐isohyperthermic (LRd), and Ustoxic Quartzipsammentic‐isohyperthermic (AQa). Five Si rates (0,120,240, 480, and 960 kg ha‐1) were applied to each soil. Silicon applications increased total grain weights and dramatically reduced grain discoloration independent of soil type. In addition, Si concentration increased in the leaves.
Institutional Quality and Sukuk Development: A Study of Five OIC Countries

The objective of this study is to shed some light on the effect of institutional quality on the development of the global sukuk market. Specifically, this study examines the impacts of the institutional quality that adopts three dimensions of the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI), i.e., Rule of Law (RL), Regulatory Quality (RQ), and Government effectiveness (GE) on the global sukuk development of the top-five countries of sukuk issuance, i.e., Malaysia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, and Bahrain. Drawing on a quantitative study with the data in the forms of global sukuk issuance from 2002 to 2017, panel-data regression (OLS) and General Method of Moment (GMM) were applied. This study showed that RL and GE have a significantly positive effect on sukuk issuance; however, RQ did not influence the development of the global sukuk market. These results imply that a country that is capable to maintain the institutional quality, especially in terms of rule of law and government effectiveness, will most likely be the country that can successfully develop the sukuk market. These results play a crucial role in filling a research gap among previous studies and provide an empirical evidence of the government’s role and its influence on the sukuk development.
TREATED WASTEWATER REUSE IN IRRIGATION : DETECTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF POTENTIALLY PATHOGENIC VIBRIO SPP

Background: Agadir city (Morocco) is located in a semi-arid area, surface water resources are scarce and ever-increasing demand for irrigation water leads to the overpumping of groundwater. The use of treated wastewater for irrigation of agricultural lands and urban landscapes contribute to the preservation of freshwater reservoirs. However, this practice could result in a microbiological contamination risk to soil and vegetation. Pathogenic Vibrios frequently detected in wastewater has emerged as a serious threat to human health. The present study was initiated to evaluate the eventual occurrence of potentially pathogenic. Methods: Vibrio species were searched in a golf course (GW) irrigated with treated wastewater. In order to better assess risks due to the use of treated wastewater, another golf course (GG) irrigated with groundwater was served as the control. From January to August 2016, groundwater, treated wastewater, turfgrass, and soil samples were collected and analyzed. 162 presumptive Vibrio organisms were isolated on TCBS agar plates and tested by PCR. Results: The result showed that all positive Vibrio strains were isolated from GW and from the wastewater treatment plant, while all samples taken from GG were negative for the species studied. 64 (67%) isolates were positive for V. cholerae, 30 (31%) for V. alginolyticus, and 2 (2%) for V. parahaemolyticus. Vibrio strains were detected much higher in treated wastewater (44%) than in the soil (27%), turfgrass (18%), and groundwater (11%). All V. cholerae strains were negative for the ctxA gene. Likewise, V. parahaemolyticus strains were also negative for tdh and trh genes. Conclusion: In conclusion, the irrigation of GW with treated wastewater has led to contamination of soil and turfgrass with Vibrio spp. The contamination was seemingly due to the presence of these bacteria in irrigation water.
Determinants of Chinese Listed Commercial Banks’ Profitability—Under A GMM Approach

This paper investigates macroeconomic determinants of listed Chinese commercial banks’ profitability based on the period from 2007 to 2016. We use the system generalized method of moment (GMM). The estimation results are different from earlier studies of bank profitability on both international banks and Chinese banks which suggests that attention should turn to Chinese special economic environment. Generally, bank profitability is affected by macro and bank-specific factors.
The relationship between financial leverage and equity returns in Arab stock markets

APA Citation Shalaby, S. (2020). The relationship between financial leverage and equity returns in Arab stock markets [Master’s thesis, the American University in Cairo]. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt. edu/etds/1481 MLA Citation Shalaby, Sahar. The relationship between financial leverage and equity returns in Arab stock markets. 2020. American University in Cairo, Master's thesis. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt. edu/etds/1481
A cross-sectional study on trends, awareness, and attitudes of patients towards replacement of missing teeth in university hospitals, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Introduction: Timely restoration of edentulous spaces is needed to prevent the adverse consequences of missing teeth. Patients may suffer real or perceived detrimental effects following the loss of one or more teeth which substantially reduce the quality of life affecting the patient emotionally, socially, physically and psychologically. Materials and methods: It was a cross-sectional descriptive survey conducted in dental university hospitals in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia. Patients aged 20-65 years and seeking dental care in any university clinics were included in this study. Results: A total sample of 537 patients was employed and participants were divided on the basis of age groups, which showed that 24.5% were 20-29 years of age, 25.5% were 30-39 year old, 27% were 40-49 year old and 23% were between 50-65 years. Conclusion: The overall attitude of Saudis towards the replacement of missing teeth was found to be positive.
Effect of income diversification on the financial performance of quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria

Corporate diversification is a center of research in strategic management and finance. Many firms are experiencing a decline in their traditional activities' dues to environmental challenges, including competition, inadequate infrastructural facilities, and economic instability. The study examines the effect of income diversification on the financial performance of quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Specifically, it determines the impact of product income segment diversification and non-product income segment diversification on quoted manufacturing firms' financial performance in Nigerian. The study adopted an ex-post facto research design using secondary data of 42 firms from the 63 quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria for 11 years (2007-2017) period. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is utilized for data analysis. The study found that both product income segment diversification and non-product income segment diversification significantly affect the financial performance (ROA and ROCE variables) of quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The study concluded that quoted manufacturing firms' financial performance in Nigeria is significantly affected by product income segment diversification and non-product income diversification. The study recommended that manufacturing firms should strategically diversified to increase their income generation in both the product segment and non-product segment to improve their financial performance.
Iranian Eocene Green Tuffs as Natural Pozzolan for Use in Cement Industries

Eocene Green Tuffs are widespread in Central Alborz in the north of Iran. In parts, they are used as natural Pozzolan. In this study, the Pozzolanic activities of tuff samples from Qazvin to Semnan in Alborz Mountain were examined. The Pozzolanic activity patterns vary in different beds and even change laterally. Chemical examination of the samples indicated that they all belong to acidic rock group and were consistent with related standards. Pozolanic activity calculated for samples using hydraulic factor, thermal analysis and ion concentrations. Data obtained based on thermal analysis, presented a range of Pozzolanic activities for tuffs with similar chemistry and appearance. It was found in this research that mineralogy and texture controlled Pozzolan activity. Tuffs with high activity had glass in their matrix, but weathering and recrystallization reduced the activity. Petrographical examinations play an essential role in evaluating the availability of tuffs as natural Pozzolan in Central Alborz.
Beacon Proximity Based Service to Find Nearby Parking Spaces

The Internet of Things (IoT) is often embedded as a crucial part of many smart systems, especially in car park recommendation systems. Such recommendations require the knowledge of the current location of the car driver through a mobile application, yet existing mobile sensors such as GPS and Barometer sensor are not significantly qualified or stabilized to deliver a current location. Therefore, this research proposes using an installed IoT location based service, named Beacon, to act as a proximity sensor to transmit current car locations to recommend nearby parking spaces to the driver via a mobile application. The proposed system is explained in detail and implemented to test its accuracy. In the experiment, the accuracy of nearby parking space recommendations was assessed and compared with previous studies. 
Implementation of a Mathematical Modelling of a Rotary Cement Kilns

Rotary cement kiln is the main equipment in the cement industry that has complex dynamic behavior, where any changes will affect the quality of the product and the consumed energy. A one-dimensional model of rotary kiln is needed to understand kiln’s behavior and improve kiln operating and design to achieve the optimum condition of product quality and energy required. In this study, the onedimensional mathematical model of a dry rotary cement kiln with pulverized coal combustion is developed. This model consists of a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations and nonlinear algebraic equations that describe material and energy balance equations. The model has been solved numerically by using Matlab R2015a, and it has been validated by comparing the result with published experimental data. Based on the result, the steady-state simulation shows that the behavior of the model developed is appropriate with the results presented in the literature. It can be concluded that the model is accurate (error < 6%) to describe the profile of temperature and bed composition along with the kiln. It can be used to obtain a better understanding of kiln’s behavior and improve the kiln operating and design to achieve the optimum condition.
The links between Autistic traits, Theory of Mind and Moral Judgement

Current research in the field of Autism investigating the link between Theory of mind and moral judgment indicates that impairments in using mental state information, e.g. intentions, beliefs and perspectives, affect an individual’s ability to make moral judgments (Moran et al., 2011; Zalla, Barlassina, Buon & Leboyer, 2011). Although research within a non-clinical sample has observed links between levels of autistic traits and poorer Theory of Mind (Best, Moffat, Power, Owens and Johnstone, 2008), it has not yet been investigated whether these traits are linked to moral judgment and subsequently whether this relationship could be explained by poorer Theory of mind, as seen in clinical samples. The present study aimed to look specifically at the link between levels of autistic traits, Theory of mind and moral judgement competence in a sub-clinical undergraduate university sample. 36 participants (32 female) were recruited through opportunity sampling (mean age 23 years). Participants completed three self-report questionnaires: Autistic Spectrum Quotient, Toronto Alexithymia Scale 20 and Moral Judgment Test, followed by a computer-based perspective taking task measuring Theory of Mind. The main finding supports the idea that poorer moral reasoning is a key characteristic of Autism, however, this relationship is not dependent on Theory of Mind ability. These findings are discussed with respect to the limitations of measuring Theory of Mind in the general population. The links between Autistic traits 4
New liquid crystals derived from thiophene connected to the 1,2,3-triazole heterocycle

In this work, six new compound derivatives from thiophene were synthesised. The three symmetrical compounds were synthesised containing two heterocyclic 1,2,3-triazole on each side of thiophene, 2,5-disubstituted and the three non-symmetrical compounds were synthesised containing alkyne groups as a spacer in replacing one of these heterocycles. The structural modifications were made by changing the number of alkoxy groups in order to understand the relation between structure and mesomorphic behaviour. Some of the compounds presented liquid crystalline properties, smectic and nematic mesophases. The non-symmetrical compounds allowed for a low emission in the blue region.
Solution of massless spin 1, 3/2, 2 field equation in Kerr geometry and generalization to type D space-time

The spin 1, 3/2, 2 massless field equations are considered by the Newman Penrose formalism in Kerr space-time. The components of the field are subjected to algebraic constraint involving the Weyl spinor Ψ that drastically reduces the number of non zero components of the field φ. The spin 1 expanded field equations coincide with those electromagnetic field in general curved space-time and have been widely studied in Kerr metric. The field equations are exactly solved for spin s = 3/2, 2. For s = 3/2 the solution has the property of propagating as it happens for another solution that was obtained under a different tetrad frame. For s = 2 there results that φ2 is static and proportional to Ψ2, the other non zero φ-components having different time dependence. The study is extended to type D metric and higher spin value. In that context the expanded massless field equations are recast, by induction, in a compact recurrent form. The constraint algebraic relation implies that only two components of fermion field and only three components in case of boson field, are allowed to be non zero. The corresponding first order PDF’s are determined. When specialized to Kerr metric the general type D scheme implies, for solution of boson field of spin s, that the component φs is again static while the other components are time dependent as well as do all the components for fermion fields.