Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SURGICAL OUTCOME OF PERCUTANEOUS ENDOSCOPIC INTERLAMINAR LUMBAR DISCECTOMY TECHNIQUE

Background: Minimally invasive lumbar surgeries are becoming more popular and a routine around the world. Although good surgical outcomes have been reported for the endoscopic approach to treat lumbar disc herniation (LDH), the procedure still appears to be relatively difficult so operative failures and complications may be occurred. Objective: To assess the outcome of lumbar spinal endoscopic discectomy by Destandaeu technique as minimally invasive approach in Al Azhar experience. Patients and Method: Thirty five consecutive patients proved to have lumber disc prolapse, were treated with percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy through interlaminar approach discectomy by Destandau's technique using Endospine Karl Storz system between September 2017 and October 2019 at the Neurosurgery Department, Al-Azhar University Hospitals. All patients included in this study have lumbar disc prolapse fulfilled the following criteria: Unilateral Radicular pain correlated with MRI finding, failure of conservative measures for at least 6 weeks, single level disc prolapse, and disc prolapse was central or paracentral. Follow up for 6 months postoperative and Clinical outcomes were assessed by using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score (for Mean pre- and postoperative pain score measurement) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Patients Satisfaction measured by Modified Macnab Criteria at 6 months postoperative, Time of return to work, Recurrence or persistence of symptoms which need revision open surgery. Results: The mean age was 37.5 years, the mean operative time was 90 minutes, and the mean length of follow-up was 5 months. The mean hospital stay for endoscopic discectomy was 36 hours. There was a significant reduction in the severity of back pain and lower limb symptoms measured by (VAS) (ODI) in 87% (30 patients) at 6 months. The recurrence rate was 8.5% (3 patients) and persistent symptoms without improvement occurred in 5.7 % (2 patients) who subsequently underwent revision surgery. Most Patients returned to their previous occupation after surgery at a mean time of 35 days. Conclusion: Endoscopic discectomy by Destandau's technique for lumbar disc prolapse in properly selected patients was safe and minimally invasive technique.
Osteopontin As A Marker of Diabetic Nephropathy in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Background: Diabetic nephropathy is the most common cause of end stage renal disease (ESRD) that is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. osteopontin (OPN) is a secreted phosphorylated glycoprotein that mediates diverse biological functions. Objective: The study aimed to determine the relation between serum OPN and the progression of diabetic nephropathy in patients with type 2 DM. That may open a door for early prediction of diabetic nephropathy. Patients and Methods: This case-control study was conducted in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology Unit and Biochemistry Departments, Zagazig University Hospital. This study was carried out on 96 patients devided into: Group 1: 20 age and sex matched healthy volunteers (control group). Group 2: 38 patients with type 2 DM without nephropathy (DWN group). Group3: 38 patients with type 2 DM with nephropathy (DN group). Serum osteopontin concentrations was measured for all cases. Results: HOMA-IR increased significantly in DN group (8.59 ± 1.34) compared to DWN group (4. 73 ± 0.59) and control group (0.90 ± 0.18). Serum osteopontin level (ng/ml) increased significantly in the DN group (258.52 ± 46.93 ng/ml) compared to DWN group (159.12 ± 19.56 ng/ml) and control group (70.90 (± 20.47 ng/ml)(p value =0.000). There was a high significant correlation between S. OPN and HOMA-IR. Conclusion: Type 2 diabetic patients with or without nephropathy showed increased osteopontin levels than control group. Serum osteopontin may be considered as an early prognostic marker for the risk of nephropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Quality of Health Medical Services at Pediatric Cardiology Unit, Zagazig University Inpatient

Background: Patients’ satisfaction represents an important indicator for the quality of health care delivery, and it is a widely accepted factor, which needs to be studied repeatedly for better functioning of health care systems. Patient is the best judge for the quality of health care so the factors affecting patients’ satisfaction must be taken in consideration. Objective: The aim of this study was improvement of quality of the health care services provided to children in Pediatric Zagazig University Hospital. Patients and methods: This study was a cross sectional study that was held a sample of Cardiology Unit at Pediatric Department of Zagazig University Hospitals. It was carried out during the period from July 2018 to April 2019 on a total sample of 106 patients attending Zagazig University Hospital Cardiology Unit at Pediatric Department. Results: Among 106 participants 100% were females, 70.8% were secondary educated, 73.5% were non-workers, 55.7% were of low social class, 69.8% were from rural resident and 76.4% had not enough income with mean age of 24.48 ± 4.5 years. It was concluded that most of the studied patients (89.6%) were satisfied about the studied cardiology unit at pediatric department. It was found that patient satisfaction is affected by sociodemographic factors as age, sex, occupation, education, and social class. In addition, it was affected by satisfaction about environment, facilities, treatment, doctors, nurses, administrative personnel and information given for them. Conclusion: It was concluded that most of the studied patients are loyal to Zagazig University Hospital, as they will definitely intend to reuse and recommend Zagazig University Hospital Outpatient Clinics to others. Patient loyalty was found to be significantly affected by level of their satisfaction where satisfied patients tend to re-use and recommend the hospital Cardiology Unit at Pediatric Department more than dissatisfied ones.
Rheological study of an hydrate slurry for air conditionning application

Under atmospheric pressure condition and tempertures between 0°C and +12°C, Tetra-n-ButylAmmonium bromide (TBAB) aqueous solutions crystallise into hydrate slurries. These slurries seem to be well appropriate for cold storage and transportation in the case of air-conditionning applications. We focus here on the crystallisation and the rheological properties of TBAB hydrates slurries. Once the crystallisation conditions described, we propose an experimental analysis of their flow behaviour. The experimental device is made up of a brushed surface heat exchanger in which the hydrates slurry is generated, and of a mesasurement loop. The flow behaviour of the slurry is characterised through flow rates and pressure drops measurements. We obtain flow curves of hydrates slurries depending on the volume fraction of hydrate solid particles. In the range of shear rate investigated, hydrate slurries behave as Bingham fluids. We propose a method of determining their apparent viscosities and yield shear stress versus the volume fraction hydrates.
HINDRANCES TO EFFECTIVE DELIVERY OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING SERVICES IN MITIGATING PSYCHOSOCIAL DISTRESS IN TANZANIAN UNIVERSITIES

This study investigated the hindrances to effective delivery of guidance and counselling services in in mitigating psychosocial distress in Tanzanian Universities. An exploratory design was employed. Two universities and two Deans of students and two counsellors were purposively sampled. Data was collected using interview schedule. For content validity, inter-raters checked and established the viability of the instruments in view of the research questions. Data was analyzed thematically. The results revealed non-existent of budget for guidance and counselling department, poor counselling facilities, tight academic schedules and inadequate professionals as the major factors militating against the administration of guidance and counselling services in universities. Based on the findings, the study recommended that the guidance and counselling departments should be well funded for effective delivery of services. Besides, professionalism should be considered when employing university counsellors. The university counsellors should practice group counselling to mitigate the low ratio of counsellors and students in the universities.
In-Situ Burning of Oil Spills: Mesoscale Experiments (NIST SP 995) | NIST

In 1991 a series of 14 mesoscale fire experiments were performed to measure the burning characteristics of crude oil on salt water. These oil bums in a pan ranged in size from 6 m square to 15 m square. Results of the measurements for burning rate, oil temperature, water temperature, smoke particle size distribution, smoke plume trajectory, and smoke particulate yield are provided. The burning rate as indicated by the regression rate of the oil surface was found to be 0.055 ± 0.005 mm/s and smoke particulate yields were found to be approximately 0.13 of the oil burned on a mass basis.
BENEFIT OF ADDING SOFOSBUVIR TO INTERFERON AND RIBAVIRIN IN RETREATING CHRONIC HEPATITIS C PATIENTS NOT RESPONDING TO INTERFERON AND RIBAVIRIN

Background: Worldwide, more than one million people die each year from hepatitis C virus (HCV) related diseases, and over 300 million people are chronically infected with hepatitis B or C. Objective: Studying the benefit of adding sofosbuvir to pegylated interferon and ribavirin in chronic hepatitis C patients not responding to interferon and ribavirin as regards virological response and liver fibrosis regression. Patients and methods: A prospective study was conducted in cooperation with AL-AgouzaPoliceHospital. The enrolled patients were classified into two groups: Group (A): one hundred and fifty naive patients with chronic HCV infection, and group (B): one hundred and fifty patients with chronic HCV infection who were non responders to prior treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin after at least 6 months of this treatment. Enrolled patients were treated using interferon (IFN) based regemin that included Pegylated INF alpha + ribavirin (weight based; 1200 mg if ≥ 75 Kg or 1000 if < 75 Kg of body weight) + sofosbuvir (400 mg/day for 12 weeks) according to National Committee for Control of Viral Hepatitis (NCCVH) hepatitis C treatment protocol update, May 2015. PCR was done 4 weeks after starting treatment (RVR), at the end of treatment (ETR), 12, 24, 48 weeks after the end of treatment to assess virological response in both groups. Fibroscan was done before treatment and 12-24 weeks after the end of treatment to assess liver fibrosis. Results: Of the 300 patients included, SVR12 was achieved in 275 patients (92%), SVR24 and SVR48 in 267 patients (89%). There was a statistically significant difference between both studied groups as regards SVR12, SVR24 and SVR48 where group (A) showed better virological response than group (B). Regression of fibrosis was achieved in both groups, and there was a statistically significant difference as regards pre-treatment and post-treatment fibroscan score in both groups. Conclusion: Adding Sofosbuvir to Interferon and Ribavirin in retreating chronic hepatitis C patients not responding to Interferon and Ribavirin improved the response of treatment and caused regression of liver fibrosis.
Remittances in Russia and Caucasus and Central Asia

Remitances are an important source of external financing in low- and middle-income countries. This paper uses the gravity model to analyze remittance flows in Russia and Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) countries. Standard gravity determinants, such as GDP in sending and recieiving countries, bilateral distance, existence of common borders and common official language, fit remittance flows well. Remittances also react to inflation and exchange rate movements in recipient countries to sustain their purchasing power. In line with the altruism hypothesis, remittances flow to countries with higher age dependency ratio. Remittances are countercyclical and help stabilize outputs in recipient countries. However, global shocks resulting in sharp output losses of sending countries would lead to large volatility and decline of remittance inflows in recipient countries. The results of the analysis can be used to assess the impact of the COVID-19 shock on projected remittance flows into CCA.
DOX-loaded pH-sensitive mesoporous silica nanoparticles coated with PDA and PEG induce pro-death autophagy in breast cancer

The development of multifunctional nano drug delivery carriers has been one of the most effective and prevailing approaches to overcome drug non-selectivity, low cell uptake efficiency and various side effects of traditional chemotherapy drugs. Herein, we report a novel doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN) coated with polydopamine (PDA) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) (MSNs-DOX@PDA-PEG) for the treatment of breast cancer. In this system, PDA functions as a pH-sensitive gatekeeper to control the release of DOX from MSNs in response to pH-stimulus and PEG was further grafted on the surface of PDA to increase the stability and biocompatibility under physiological conditions. The in vitro release results suggested that MSNs-DOX@PDA-PEG exhibits a high sensitivity to low pH. A cellular uptake assay showed a high cellular uptake efficiency of MSNs-DOX@PDA-PEG compared to free DOX. Furthermore, MSNs-DOX@PDA-PEG also demonstrated an improved anti-cancer efficacy compared to free DOX both in vivo and vitro breast cancer experiments. Mechanistic studies revealed that MSNs-DOX@PDA-PEG causes a stronger pro-death autophagy compared to free DOX via inhibition of the AKT-mTOR-p70S6K signaling pathway. Taken in concert, our results suggest that the novel material MSNs-DOX@PDA-PEG may represent a promising nanoformulation for breast cancer treatment.
International Cross‐Listing, Firm Performance, and Top Management Turnover: A Test of the Bonding Hypothesis

We examine a primary outcome of corporate governance, namely, the ability to identify and terminate poorly performing CEOs, to test the effectiveness of U.S. investor protections in improving the corporate governance of cross-listed firms. We find that firms from weak investor protection regimes that are cross-listed on a major U.S. Exchange are more likely to terminate poorly performing CEOs than non-cross-listed firms. Cross-listings on exchanges that do not require the adoption of stringent investor protections (OTC, private placements, and London listings) are not associated with a higher propensity to remove poorly performing CEOs. DOES CROSS-LISTING IN THE UNITED STATES IMPROVE the corporate governance of foreign firms? The “bonding hypothesis” proposed by Coffee (1999, 2002) and Stulz (1999) predicts that after listing on a major U.S. stock exchange, foreign firms become subject to stringent U.S. investor protections that constrain insiders from expropriating minority shareholders. Because this hypothesis has important implications for the effectiveness of U.S. laws and enforcement as well as the efficacy of market-based approaches in improving global corporate governance, it has attracted the recent attention of academics and practitioners alike. To date, empirical support for the bonding hypothesis is principally drawn from the large literature that examines the economic consequences of crosslisting in the United States. 1 However, as Leuz (2006) notes, the evidence in many of these studies is fairly indirect, as it is difficult to attribute the economic consequences of cross-listing directly to the bonding hypothesis because many
Development and Assessment of Frying Characteristics, Chemical Composition, Descriptive Sensory Properties and Preference Mapping of Wheat-Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato Composite Swahili Buns (Maandazi)

This study was carried out to investigate frying characteristics, chemical composition and sensory evaluation of whole-wheat buns (WWB) and Wheat-Orange fleshed sweet potatoes - composite buns (WPCB) at different levels of wheat flour substitutions. A whole-wheat buns (WWB) and OFSP-composite buns (WPCB 1, WPCB 2 and WPCB 3) were prepared in triplicate at 0, 10, 20 and 30% levels of wheat flour substitution respectively, and evaluated for weight, volume, specific volume, proximate composition, vitamin A, descriptive sensory profile, consumer liking and preference mapping. Completely randomized design was used to assess and compare frying characteristics, proximate and vitamin A contents between samples with bread types being the principal factor while Randomised complete Block design was used to assess sensory properties and consumer acceptability of the bread samples with panelists and bread types being the principal factors. The results showed that moisture content, crude fibre, and ash contents of the composite buns increased significantly ( p 0.05) similar mean intensity scores in taste, aroma, and texture acceptability as WWB. Similarly, consumers showed statistically similar scores in acceptability between WWB and WPCB 1. The Preference mapping results showed colour and taste were the main drivers for consumer preference. In conclusion, the study shows that the use of OFSP flour up to 10% of the flour into wheat flour produced nutrient enhance buns with similar and acceptable taste, texture, mouth feel and aroma comparable to 100% wheat buns. Keywords: Chemical composition, sensory evaluation, preference mapping, Orange fleshed sweet potatoes, wheat
Lattice Boltzmann method simulations of the immiscible Rayleigh-Taylor instability with high Reynolds numbers

In this paper, an advanced phase-field lattice Boltzmann method based on the multiple-relaxation-time collision model is used to simulate the immiscible single-mode Rayleigh-Taylor instability with a moderate Atwoods number in a long tube, and we systematically analyze the effect of the Reynolds number on the interfacial dynamics and the late-time development stages of interface disturbance. The highest Reynolds number in the current simulation reaches up to 10000. The numerical results show that the Reynolds number significantly affects the development of the instability. For high Reynolds numbers, the instability undergoes a sequence of different growth stages, which include the linear growth, saturated velocity growth, reacceleration, and chaotic mixing stages. In the linear growth stage, the developments of the bubble and spike conform to the classical linear growth theory, and it is shown that the growth rate increases with the Reynolds number. In the second stage, the bubble and spike evolve with the constant velocities, and the numerical prediction for spike velocity is found to be slightly larger than the solution of the potential flow theory proposed by Goncharov [Phys. Rev. Lett. 2002 88 134502], which can be attributed to the formation of vortices in the proximity of the spike tip. In addition, it is found that increasing the Reynolds number reduces the bubble saturated velocity, which then is smaller than the solution of the potential model. The nonlinear evolutions of the bubble and spike induce the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, producing many vortex structures with different scales. Due to the interactions among the vortices, the instability eventually enters into the chaotic mixing stage, where the interfaces undergo the roll-up at multiple layers, sharp deformation, and chaotic breakup, forming a very complicated topology structure. Furthermore, we also measured the bubble and spike accelerations and find that the dimensionless values fluctuates around the constants of 0.045 and 0.233, indicating a mean quadratic growth. And for low Reynolds numbers, the heavy fluid will fall down in the form of the spike, and the interface in the whole process becomes very smooth without the appearances of the roll-up and vortices. The late-time evolutional stages such as the reacceleration and chaotic mixing cannot also be observed.
Ambulatory blood pressure measurement and assessment of arterial stiffness in individuals with diabetes mellitus

Background: Ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) might be more accurate than clinical BP measurement. It allows detection of nocturnal BP and dipping patterns, and can reduce false-positive results by detecting white-coat hypertension and false-negative results by detecting masked hypertension. Objective: Assessing the use of ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) in individuals with diabetes mellitus to identify the presence of hypertension and its association with arterial stiffness. Patients and Methods: The study included 100 diabetic patients in addition to 20 apparently healthy individuals. Results: In comparison with healthy subjects, patients with diabetes were found to have hypertension using ABPM. ABPM appeared to be useful in the detection of hypertension in patients with diabetes. Comparison between patients and control showed statistically significant difference according to average day, average night and allover average readings. Arterial stiffness also found to be increased in patients with hypertension with statistically significant difference between studied groups according to stiffness index. Conclusion: ABPM analysis revealed that about one-third of the participants with diabetes had masked hypertension. Those individuals cannot be detected by office BP alone. Moreover, arterial stiffness increased in individuals with masked hypertension. These findings supported the use of ABPM to identify individuals at risk of cardiovascular disease.
Misuse and Abuse of Drugs: a Cross-Sectional Survey Among Pharmacy Professionals in Saudi Arabia

Prescription and non-prescription medication misuse or abuse is a global problem that has a negative impact on all human life aspects, including health, social, economic, and security status. According to the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime reports, over 5% of adult people used drugs at least once in the year 2015, and 29.5 million of them were suffered from the consequences of inappropriate use of drugs. Information on the knowledge and perception among pharmacists regarding the misuse and abuse medications in Saudi Arabia are limited, and therefore, a study was conducted among pharmacy staff to assess their knowledge and awareness on drug misuse and abuse. A cross-sectional study was carried out in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Pharmacy professionals with more than three months of experience were included in the study. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain the participant’s responses. A Chi-square test was used to evaluate the association of sociodemographic factors with the participant's responses. Ninety pharmacy professionals were responded. Overall, 69 (76.7%) participants agreed that misuse and abuse are two different terms. In addition, the study showed different responses for patients who suspected to be medication abusers. In conclusion, this study provides an initial picture of pharmacy staffs’ knowledge and opinion regarding the misuse and abuse of medicines in Saudi Arabia. Participants’ reactions toward such behaviors were different and not consistent. Therefore, there should be a clear policy to define the role of the pharmacy staff toward the misuse and abuse of medication in Saudi Arabia