Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Challenges in the Management of Epistaxis with Limited Resources Pondicherry India, 2016

Background: Epistaxis is a challenging and common condition. The lifetime incidence of epistaxis is difficult to determine.The management of epistaxis has evolved significantly in recent years. This study was conducted with limited resource to identify the etiological profile and to determine outcome of treatment of these patients. Methods: We conducted cross sectional survey among epistaxis patients attending health facilities using convenient sampling. Initial assessment includes haemodynamic status, type and severity of bleeding. All patients underwent radiological evaluation and Diagnostic nasal endoscopic (DNE). All patients were initially treated conservatively and surgical intervention is considered only when conservative means failed . Systemic and local risk factor estimation was done in a comprehensive examination. Univariate and stepwise regression analyses were done to identify the independent risk factors associated with the presence and severity of epistaxis. We calculated adjusted odds ratio with 95% CI to identify the factors associated with diabetic retinopathy. Results: The prevalence of epistaxis was 1.4% in the study population. It was more common among males. The commonest age group effected was more in the fourth decade of life. The commonest etiological factor was trauma (43.2%), hypertension (23.5%), infectious conditions (11.7%), D.N. S. with spur (8%) ,nasal polyp (7.4) and idiopathic causes (6.2%) . The causes for epistaxis in the first and second decades were trauma, infection and septal abnormalities. Hypertension, trauma and infected polypoidal mass accounted for the cases from fourth decade onwards. About 55.6% of patients had anterior nasal bleeding, 21.6% had posterior bleeding and 22.8% had both. No difference between unilaterality and bilaterality was noticed. Among cases with unilateral bleeding right sided bleeding was more than left sided Nearly 86% of the patients were managed by conservative measures like medical treatment (42%), cautery (.05%), anterior nasal packing (15.4%) and posterior nasal packing (9.3%) . About 4% of the patients required surgical intervention. The main interventions were septoplasty (6.2%), nasal bone fracture reduction (6.8%), excision of bleeding polyp with electrocautery of the base (3.7%) and polypectomy with FESS (3.7%). Conclusion: Most of the underlying causes of epistaxis are preventable. A clearer understanding of the causes, treatment and outcome of these patients is essential for establishment of preventive strategies as well as treatment guidelines
Hydration and thermal decomposition of cement/calcium-sulphate based materials

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Acute pancreatitis following treatment with protease inhibitors, which may be potential therapeutics for COVID-19: A real-world analysis of postmarketing surveillance data

Backgrounds: The potential therapeutic effects of protease inhibitors (PIs), such as lopinavir/ritonavir and darunavir, on COVID-19 are being tested in clinical trials. Although acute pancreatitis (AP) has been reported in patients treated with PIs, there have been few real-world studies comparing the occurrence and characteristics of AP after different PI regimens. Methods: Disproportionality analysis and Bayesian analysis were utilized for data mining of the Food and Drug Administration's Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database for suspected adverse events involving AP after PI from January 2004 to December 2019. The times to onset and fatality rates of AP following different PI regimens were also compared. Results: Based on 33,832 reports related to PIs, 285 cases (0.84% of total adverse drug reactions, ADRs) were associated with AP; in these reports, the number of AP cases reported for the top five PIs was as follows: ritonavir/dasabuvir/ombitasvir/paritaprevir, 64 (22.46%); ritonavir, 54 (18.95%); atazanavir, 52 (18.25%); lopinavir/ritonavir, 48 (16.84%); and darunavir, 26 (9.12%). Twelve out of the 15 studied PIs, including lopinavir/ritonavir, darunavir and nelfinavir, which are potential therapeutics for COVID-19, were associated with AP. Of all the reported adverse events involving AP related to PIs, 64.56% occurred in men, which was a much higher proportion than what was observed in women (28.42%). The median time to onset of AP was 103 (IQR: 26-408) days after the initiation of PI treatment. Patients treated with ritonavir/dasabuvir/ombitasvir/paritaprevir appeared to have an earlier onset of AP than those receiving atazanavir (31 [IQR: 17–68.25] days vs 187.5 [IQR: 80.5–556.5] days, p=0.0379) or ritonavir (31 [IQR: 17–68.25] days vs 177 [IQR: 56–539] days, p=0.0371). Compared with AP cases induced by all studied PIs, which had a fatality rate of 14.02%, AP cases associated with ritonavir (18.87%) and lopinavir/ritonavir (22.73%) appeared to be associated with a higher risk of death. Conclusions: Analysis of the FAERS data provides a more precise understanding of the occurrence and characteristics of AP after different PI regimens. Signals for AP associated with various PI regimens have been detected. The findings support continued surveillance, risk factor identification, and comparative studies.
Inhomogeneous line broadening and the threshold current density of a semiconductor quantum dot laser

Theoretical analysis of the gain and threshold current of a semiconductor quantum dot (QD) laser is given which takes account of the line broadening caused by fluctuations in quantum dot sizes. The following processes are taken into consideration together with the main process of radiative recombination of carriers in QDs: band-to-band radiative recombination of carriers in the waveguide region, carrier capture into QDs and thermally excited escape from QDs, photoexcitation of carriers from QDs to continuous-spectrum states. For an arbitrary QD size distribution, expressions for the threshold current density as a function of the root mean square of relative QD size fluctuations, total losses in the waveguide region, surface density of QDs and thickness of the waveguide region have been obtained in an explicit form. The minimum threshold current density and optimum parameters of the structure (surface density of QDs and thickness of the waveguide region) are calculated as universal functions of the main dimensionless parameter of the theory developed. This parameter is the ratio of the stimulated transition rate in QDs at the lasing threshold to the spontaneous transition rate in the waveguide region at the transparency threshold. Theoretical estimations presented in the paper confirm the possibility of a significant reduction of the threshold currents of QD lasers as compared with the conventional quantum well lasers.
363-374 Nissapatorn V.pmd

Soil-transmitted helminths (STH) is a group of parasitic nematodes, including Trichuris trichiura, Ascaris lumbricoides, Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus, which can cause gastrointestinal disorders in humans. STH is prevalent among neglected communities in both developing and developed countries. This present study aims to determine the current prevalence of STH infections in Aboriginal population after mass delivering of antihelminthic drugs was proposed by WHO in 2005 and a health education learning package (HELP) was initiated in Malaysia in 2012. A total of 235 human fecal samples were collected and a pre-tested questionnaire was given to gather information about the socio-demographic of the Aborigine communities living in Kedah and Selangor, Malaysia. The samples were screened by a direct-fecal smear and confirmed by formalin-ether sedimentation methods. From human faeces, 81.7% was found to be infected with one or more STH species. T. trichiura was the most commonly detected (76.6%), followed by hookworms (26.4%) and A. lumbricoides (19.1%). Triple infections were found in 6.4% of the studied population. Univariate analysis showed that individuals with age group, male, presence of indoor toilet, family size with <7 members and bad living habits (i.e., without antihelminthic drugs) were significantly associated with STH infections. The analysis further showed that walking barefoot was the significant contributing factor to hookworm infections. The high prevalence of human STH infections is alarming. Thus, the urgency in implementing health education related behavioral practice and hygiene to reduce disease burden in these rural communities are a crucial need.
Wheat domestication has dramatically affected the root-associated microbiome

Background: Plants-microbiome associations are the results of millions of years of co-evolution. Due to the accelerated plant evolution during domestication of crops and aided by cultivation in non-native highly managed soils, plant-microbe links created through co-evolution could have been lost. Therefore, we hypothesize that dramatic effects on the root-associated microbiome occurred during domestication of wheat.Results: To uncover domestication effects we analyzed root associated fungal and bacterial communities in a transect of wheat evolution including modern wheat cultivars, landraces, Triticum aestivum ssp. spelta and ancestors of wheat including T. turgidum ssp. dicoccum , T. monococcum ssp. monococcum and T. monococcum ssp. aegilopoides at three growth phases shortly after emergence of seedlings. We found that numbers of observed microbial taxa were highest in the landraces, which had been domesticated in low-input agricultural systems, and lowest in wheat ancestors that evolved in native soils. The root-associated microbial community of modern cultivars was significantly different from that of landraces and ancestors of wheat. Old wheat accessions enriched Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria , while modern cultivars enriched OTUs from Candidatus Saccharibacteria , Verrucomicrobia and Firmicutes . The fungal pathogens Fusarium , Neoascochyta and Microdochium were enriched in modern cultivars. The composition of root-associated microbial communities of modern wheat cultivars significantly followed patterns predicted by the neutral community assembly model. Our observations allowed us to suggest that a stronger selective pressure drives the root-associated microbiome of ancient wheat accessions than that of modern wheat cultivars.Conclusions: Here we demonstrate that the wheat root-associated microbiome has dramatically changed through a transect of evolution from wheat ancestors over landraces to modern cultivars. Colonization of roots of ancient accessions was slower than in modern cultivars, and the root-associated microbiome of ancient wheat accessions was driven by stronger selective pressure than that of the modern wheat cultivars. We identified several taxa including Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria enriched in old cultivars and fungal wheat pathogens that were enriched in modern cultivars.
814-823 Wan Nor Amilah WAW.pmd

Rapid and inexpensive assays for drug susceptibility testing (DST) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) are urgently required especially in developing countries where tuberculosis cases are prevalent. In response to this necessity, a direct microplate-based colorimetric assay which excludes the use of pre-testing culture isolate was evaluated. MTB susceptibility to the first line anti-tuberculosis drugs was tested directly on sputum specimens using tetrazolium microplate assay (TEMA) method and the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy as well as mean turn-around time of TEMA were compared to the standard absolute concentration method (ACM). TEMA was performed on 41 acid fast bacilli (AFB) positive sputum specimens by direct inoculation of the processed specimens into the microplate wells containing serialdiluted first line anti-tuberculosis drugs using tetrazolium dye as growth indicator. Indirect TEMA was performed on MTB isolates of the corresponding samples. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of isoniazid (INH), rifampicin (RMP), ethambutol (EMB) and streptomycin (SM) were obtained for direct and indirect TEMA with reference to the absolute concentration method (ACM). After establishing the breakpoint MIC of each drug using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve, reliable results from direct TEMA were obtained for INH and SM, with excellent levels of sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy (more than 90%). The predictive values for susceptibility were 100% for INH, EMB and SM as well as 96% for RMP. A shorter mean turn-around time of 14 days was observed for direct TEMA (P < 0.05). Thus direct TEMA is potentially rapid, reliable and inexpensive DST screening method of MTB in countries with high prevalence rates of drug resistance tuberculosis.
449-452 Zheng Y.pmd

Rodents act as an indicator for evaluation of environment contaminations and public health risks caused by parasites. A survey of parasites in wild rodents was conducted in 14 villages in Xijin County, where alveolar echinococcosis by Echinococcus multilocularis is epidemic. In total, 72 rodents including 25 mice, 16 Citellus dauricus (Daurian ground squirrel), 12 squirrels and 19 mole rat (Myospalax fontanieri) were captured. Infections (2.8%) of Taenia taeniaeformis, which is transmitted mainly between mice and cats, were found in mice in Wangping (WP) and Miaoping (MP) villages, but other cestodes’ infections were not observed. WP and MP isolates were principally similar in morphology but, unlike WP isolate, MP isolate had no hooks on the scolex. Using 18S rRNA as a biomarker, the phylogenetic analysis showed that WP and MP isolates grouped together with European and Asian isolates and formed a separate cluster. These results highlights the prevalence of T. taeniaeformis in cats or/and dogs and a risk of opportunistic infections in human populations. Wild rodents act as an intermediate or paratenic host of multiple cestodes, some of which have veterinary medical significance, and have been used as an indicator for evaluation of public health risks caused by zoonotic parasites (Reperant et al., 2009). A number of helminths including nematodes, trematodes and cestodes have been described in feral rodents (Panti-May et al., 2015; Paramasvaran et al., 2005; Reperant et al., 2009; Tung et al., 2013). For instance, Taenia taeniaeformis a canine cestode is known to be potentially zoonotic (Rossin, Malizia & Denegri, 2004); Echinococcus multilocularis is another canine cestode responsible for 0.3 – 0.5 million cases of alveolar echinococcosis in the world (Craig et al., 2007). Here parasites residing in the liver of rodents were focused on because E. multilocularis was previously found to be prevalent in Xiji County, located in the southwestern part of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China (Yang et al., 2008). Wild rodents were captured in June, 2015, by using traps set across the entire Xiji County. The animal experimental protocol was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China. All trapped animals were humanely slaughtered and the livers were carefully cut into pieces for detection of cysts. The dissected parasites were washed thrice using freshly-prepared ice-cold PBS and observed under optical microscopy (Olympus). Afterwards, parasites were immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen and grounded into powder, followed by
L-Diversity for Data Analysis: Data Swapping with Customized Clustering

Data anonymization should support the analysts who intend to use the anonymized data. Releasing datasets that contain personal information requires anonymization that balances privacy concerns while preserving the utility of the data. This work shows how choosing anonymization techniques with the data analyst requirements in mind improves effectiveness quantitatively, by minimizing the discrepancy between querying the original data versus the anonymized result, and qualitatively, by simplifying the workflow for querying the data.
Promises and limits of community-based organizations in bridging mismatches of scale: a case study on collaborative governance on federal lands

Federal land managers in the United States are tasked with managing a vast array of resources for current and future generations. However, coordinating action among multiple stakeholders across diverse landscapes is challenging given that the organizations and institutions set up to govern federal lands are often unable to overcome scale-related challenges. Unconventional oil and gas development is often a contentious issue on federal lands. Identifying how to bridge scale mismatches in this sector is critical for achieving management objectives. To gain a deeper understanding of the institutional landscape governing oil and gas, we took an in-depth case study approach and examined a case in the western United States where communities worked with federal land managers to cancel 25 existing oil and gas leases. We identified the most relevant scale mismatches pertaining to unconventional oil and gas development and assessed the role of community-based organizations in bridging scale mismatches to increase institutional fit. Our results demonstrate the importance of community-based organizations that can function as bridging organizations to engage a broad set of actors across scales. Our results also highlight the importance of creating shared visions across diverse stakeholder groups to foster collaboration. We conclude that overcoming scale mismatches requires a focus on shared values and the creation and maintenance of flexible governance networks.
Prediction of Needle Chlorophyll Model with Different Leaf Ages Based on BP Neural Network and PLSR

Background: To explore the changes of chlorophyll content in needles of different leaf ages of Picea koraiensis Nakai of different specifications, the study compared the prediction accuracy changes of chlorophyll in needles of Picea koraiensis Nakai by two modeling methods: the BP neural network and partial least squares regression (PLSR) methods. The effects of different spectral pre-processing and characteristic band selection methods on the performance accuracy of the model were tested, and the optimal combination model was selected to predict forest growth status and community structure productivity through the physiological and biochemical characteristics of needles at different leaf ages. Results: 1) the spectral pre-processing method could avoid systematic errors and eliminate background values; 2) the accuracy of the needle chlorophyll fitting model with different leaf ages was much higher than that of mixed needle chlorophyll model, verifying that needle chlorophyll with different leaf ages could better estimate the annual growth and examine the growth status of Picea koraiensis Nakai; 3) the accuracy of the BP neural network model was significantly higher than that of the PLSR model, with its R2 above 0.95, and the validation set’s R2 above 0.86; and 4) the fitting accuracy of different leaf age needle chlorophyll models of the spectral pre-processing model, variable selection model, PLSR model and BP neural network: triennial needles > annual and biennial needles. Conclusions: The BP neural network method was more accurate than the PLSR method in predicting pigment content model. In the process of model fitting, it was found that the pigment model fitted by fine classification of needles improves the accuracy of the model, which provides the basis and theoretical support for the establishment of the model by combining remote sensing technology with stoichiometry methods in the future.
Social learning for building community resilience to cyclones: role of indigenous and local knowledge, power, and institutions in coastal Bangladesh

Despite wide recognition of the role of social learning in building community resilience, few studies have thus far analyzed how the power–knowledge–institution matrix shapes social learning processes that in turn foster resilience outcomes. Drawing insights from the biopolitical lens of resilience, we take a critical stance on programmatic interventions for community resilience and social learning, arguing that local knowledge, beliefs, practices, and social memory (SM) are crucial elements in social learning processes for building community resilience to shocks and stresses. In addition, we explore how technologies shape social learning processes and build or strengthen community resilience. Our research, conducted in cyclone-prone coastal zones of Bangladesh, adopts a transformative interpretive framework (TIF) and a community-based participatory approach to empirical investigation. Findings of our research provide evidence that formal institutions frequently exclude indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) from social learning processes, and often subjugate communities to notions of resilience, as defined by nonlocals, that perceive people as subjects of institutional power and objects of scientific knowledge, rather than as active agents. We further found that local communities are able to obtain early warnings of cyclones through ILK of environmental phenomena, such as changing water temperature and animal behavior. Despite an abundance of ILK regarding past cyclones, the 2007 Cyclone Sidr was a surprising event to many and caused considerable loss of life and property. Much of this unpreparedness stemmed from an overall SM deficit—a key to translating knowledge into action. We recommend strengthening efforts to bridge scientific–technical knowledge and ILK to ensure effective social-learning-led resilience outcomes are achieved.
COMPARATIVE STUDY ON AGE OF CONCEPTION OF BUFFALO HEIFERS IN DIFFERENT FARMING SYSTEMS

Ilieva Y. , V. Planski, K. Hristov and P. Penchev, 2018. Comparative study on age of conception of buffalo heifers in different farming systems, Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 24 (Suppl. 2): 52-56 With the aim to assess the effect of different farming systems on age of first conception, a comparative study was initiated on buffalo heifers from three farms for the period 2010-2015. All three farms (SIC, SIB and IMR) practice immediate separation of newborn from dam, 7-day colostrum and 3-month weaning period, live weight (LW) being monitored on Fm-3 only. Number of heifers assigned (n), farming system (FS), feeding in suckling period (SP) and use of natural-service bull (NS) were as follows: SIC – [n = 38, FS – free-stall plus pasture, SP – cow milk, NS – full time]; SIB – [n = 42, FS – tie-stall plus pasture, SP – buffalo milk, NS – by day]; IMR – [n = 69, FS – tie-stall plus yard, SP – milk replacer after first month, NS – by day, after heifers attain 380 kg LW]. The data were processed using the conventional statistical procedure. The results demonstrate the favourable effect of buffalo milk used in pre-weaning period, expressed in earlier age of conception in the heifers from SIB (729 days), as opposed to suckling cow milk on SIC – by 86 days (P < 0.05). Differences in farming system are implied by the considerably lower age of first conception established on SIB, in comparison to IMR (by 147 days, P < 0.001) where no pasture is used and breeding to bull is afforded after reaching a threshold live weight. The study found pronounced seasonality of reproduction, expressed in large percentage of heifers (75%) breeding in the period August-December. A tendency was also observed the heifers born in spring to conceive youngest.