Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Global Perspective on Controlling West Nile Virus Identifying Efficient and Effective Public Health Strategies

West Nile Virus has been an increased concern for many countries over the past couple of decades. We examine West Nile Virus surveillance strategies around the world and identify West Nile Virus control methods in endemic countries and demonstrate their effectiveness and efficiency. Despite the ample amount of research, monitoring and control methods conducted by public health agencies, West Nile Virus remains a continuous health threat to the public. Countries that report West Nile Virus cases are identified and searched for articles and national protocols to explore their strategies in controlling the virus. It is essential to discuss all methods of prevention in a global context and demonstrate the most efficient and effective strategy. Data were collected from published articles on PubMed and governmental websites. All the documents were selected upon descriptive surveillance and control methods in endemic countries. The generated data were identified and compared to Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations. Thorough details about West Nile Virus control methods were identified in Canada and the United States, while strategies in the endemic countries are sparse. There is a substantial lack of published data in some endemic countries. Therefore, it is suggested that public health agencies publish the strategies found to be most efficient and effective and share them at an international level. This paper provides reference to public health agencies at a global level to strengthen the interventions in controlling the West Nile Virus.
Procédé de traitement des eaux usées par boues activées : lien entre les propriétés morphologiques des flocs et l’âge de boue

L’objectif de ce travail etait d’etudier les liens entre les proprietes morphologiques des flocs biologiques et les performances d’un procede a boues activees en fonction de l’âge de boue. Un protocole d’analyse d’images a tout d’abord ete developpe afin de mesurer de facon repetable les proprietes morphologiques de flocs biologiques. Une installation pilote d’un procede a boues activees a ensuite ete mise en oeuvre dans des conditions d’alimentation controlees pour trois valeurs differentes de l’âge de boue. Un suivi des caracteristiques du pilote a ete effectue en termes de proprietes physicochimiques (la demande chimique en oxygene [DCO] en sortie, matieres en suspension, indice de boue, taux d’epuration) et de proprietes morphologiques des flocs biologiques (distributions en taille et circularite). Si l’augmentation de l’âge de boue ne semble pas avoir un impact sur la concentration en matieres en suspension et le taux d’epuration, l’indice de boue en revanche augmente, induisant ainsi une diminution de la decantabilite de la boue. Concernant les parametres morphologiques, lors d’un changement d’âge de boue, la taille et la circularite des flocs biologiques augmentent temporairement avant de se restabiliser a leurs valeurs initiales. En regime permanent, les distributions en taille et en circularite semblent independantes de l’âge de boue.
Soil Fabric and Transitional Behavior in Completely Decomposed Granite: An Example of Well-Graded Soil

Unlike sedimentary soils, limited studies have dealt with completely decomposed granite (CDG) soils, even though they are plentiful and used extensively in several engineering applications. In this paper, a set of triaxial compression tests have been conducted on well-graded intact and disturbed CDG soils to study the impact of the fabric on soil behavior. The soil behavior was robustly affected by the soil fabric and its mineral composition. The intact soil showed multiple parallel compression lines, while a unique isotropic compression line was present in the case of disturbed soil. Both the intact and disturbed soils showed unique critical state lines (CSL) in both the e-log p′ and q-p′ spaces. The intact soil showed behavior unlike other transitional soils that have both distinct isotropic compression lines ICLs and CSLs. The gradient of the unique ICL of the disturbed soil was much more than that of the parallel compression lines of the intact soil. In the intact soil, the slope of the unique CSL (M) in the q-p′ space was higher than that of the disturbed soil. The isotropic response was present for both the intact and disturbed soils after erasing the inherited anisotropy as the stress increased with irrecoverable volumetric change. Soil fabric is considered the dominant factor in the transitional behavior and such a mode of soil behavior is no longer restricted to gap-graded soil as previously thought.
Left Ventricular Remodeling Shortly after Open Mitral Valve Replacement for Rheumatic Mitral Stenosis

Introduction Left ventricular dysfunction after surgical treatment of mitral stenosis is uncommon. We intend to determine the pattern of left ventricular remodeling, shortly after open mitral valve replacement for rheumatic mitral stenosis, with in-hospital postoperative outcomes and the determinants of postoperative worsening of left ventricular ejection fraction. Methods From January 2008 to January 2015, 107 adult patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis were submitted to open mitral valve replacement. Their mean age was 45±11 years and 93 (86.9%) were women. Left ventricular morphology and function were studied longitudinally with echocardiography. The end point was postoperative worsening of left ventricular ejection fraction, defined by a decrease of 10% compared to preoperative basal assessment. Determinants of worsening left ventricular ejection fraction were determined by multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results The end point occurred in 18 patients (16.8%). We tested clinical and echocardiographic parameters to verify independent variables related to the decrease in postoperative ejection fraction. Lower body weight (P=0.005; odds ratio [OR]=0.89) and smaller preoperative mitral valve area (P=0.02; OR=0.02) were independent predictors of left ventricular dysfunction. These patients presented higher mortality and morbidity rates. Conclusion Left ventricular remodeling patterns differed among patients with predominant rheumatic mitral stenosis undergoing open mitral valve replacement. Lower preoperative body weight and mitral valve area were independent determinants of deteriorating ejection fraction with increased end-systolic volumes, indicating that this specific problem may occur in anthropometric smaller patients with more extensive rheumatic disease.
Examining the impact of Grammarly on the quality of mobile L2 writing

While the use of automated writing evaluation software has received much attention in CALL literature, as Frankenberg-Garcia (2019) notes, empirical research on predictive text and intelligent writing assistants is lacking. Thus, this study addressed this gap in the literature by examining the impact of Grammarly, an intelligent writing assistant that incorporates predictive text technology, on the mobile writing quality of Japanese L2 English students. Specifically, the study explored if Grammarly had a significant effect on the grammatical accuracy, lexical richness, writing fluency, or syntactic complexity of L2 students’ writing when compared to unassisted mobile writing. A total of 31 university EFL students participated in the 8-week study which utilized a counterbalanced design. Participants took part in weekly guided freewriting tasks under each writing condition (non-Grammarly and Grammarly) over the duration of the study. The descriptive statistics and results from t-tests showed that when students wrote with the assistance of Grammarly, they produced fewer grammatical errors and wrote with more lexical variation. These findings highlight the potential of predictive text and real-time corrective feedback as a way to support L2 writing, particularly among novice writers who may struggle to write effectively in the L2.
Modelling forest ruin due to climate hazards

Abstract. Estimating the risk of forest collapse due to extreme climate events is one of the challenges of adapting to climate change. We adapt a concept from ruin theory, which is widely used in econometrics and the insurance industry, to design a growth–ruin model for trees which accounts for climate hazards that can jeopardize tree growth. This model is an elaboration of a classical Cramer–Lundberg ruin model that is used in the insurance industry. The model accounts for the interactions between physiological parameters of trees and the occurrence of climate hazards. The physiological parameters describe interannual growth rates and how trees react to hazards. The hazard parameters describe the probability distributions of the occurrence and intensity of climate events. We focus on a drought–heatwave hazard. The goal of the paper is to determine the dependence of the forest ruin and average growth probability distributions on physiological and hazard parameters. Using extensive Monte Carlo experiments, we show the existence of a threshold in the frequency of hazards beyond which forest ruin becomes certain to occur within a centennial horizon. We also detect a small effect of the strategies used to cope with hazards. This paper is a proof of concept for the quantification of forest collapse under climate change.
Surface treatment of CaCO3 with a mixture of amino- and mercapto-functional silane coupling agents and tensile properties of the rubber composites

Abstract In order to reinforce the composite consisting of isoprene rubber (IR) and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) particles, the surface treatment of CaCO3 particles with a mixture of amino- and mercapto-functional silane coupling agents was investigated. The quantity of chemisorbed silanes in treated CaCO3 measured using thermogravimetry was greater for amino- than for mercapto-silane and for the tri- than for the dialkoxy structure. Second, the molecular mobility of polycondensate of the mixtures with the trialkoxy structure measured using 1H pulse nuclear magnetic resonance had the least molecular mobility, i.e., formed the highest density network. The greater values of stress at 500% strain, fracture stress, and elongation at break were determined for the treatment with amino- and mercapto-functional silanes having a trialkoxy structure from the stress-strain curves of composite. The mixture treatment with dialkoxy structure and with amino- or mercapto-functional silane only did not improve the mechanical properties sufficiently. Interactions between the amino group and the CaCO3 surface, covalent bonding between the mercapto group and the IR, and high density network formation of trialkoxy silane were important for improving the mechanical properties of the composite.
Nematic phases driven by hydrogen-bonding in liquid crystalline nonsymmetric dimers

ABSTRACT A new type of supramolecular liquid crystalline complexes formed by intermolecular hydrogen bond formation between rod-like 4-(4ʹ-pyridylazophenyl)-4ʺ-alkoxybenzoates as proton acceptors and 4-[5-(4ʹ-cyanobiphenyl-4-yloxy)alkyloxy]benzoic acids as proton donors have been designed and prepared. The benzoic acids derivatives consist of two variable aliphatic spacers with odd number of carbon atoms and terminated with the highly polar cyano group. The liquid crystalline behaviour of the new complexes has been characterised using polarised light microscopy (POM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It was found that regardless the terminal alkyl chain lengths at the pyridine-based component or the length of the flexible spacer on the benzoic acid derivatives; all of the prepared complexes exhibit only enantiotropic nematic phases over a broad temperature range.
Maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 positive obstetric patients with medical disorders in tertiary care hospital in North India

Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus experienced mild to moderate respiratory illness. Coronavirus is known to human kind since 1930. It was first discovered in domesticated chicken with symptoms of pulmonary infection. The aim and objective was to study clinical profile of patients presented with medical disorders in COVID-19 positive pregnant women.Methods: Present retrospective COHORT study included 50 COVID-19 positive obstetrics patients. The study was conducted in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology, World college of medical sciences and research, Jhajjar (Haryana). Retrospective review of medical records of all pregnant patients with pre-existing medical disorders or those suspected with medical disorders on the basis of clinical and/or laboratory data from 1 April 2020 through 30 September 2020.Results: Mean age of the women was 27.46±4.16 years with age range of 20-35 years. Mean period of gestation was 33.26±8.35 weeks. A total of 33 (66%) women were found to be COVID-19 positive due to close contact. 29 (58%) women were found to be asymptomatic and 17 (34%) had various other COVID-19 symptoms. In 17 (34%), sore throat was the commonest symptoms followed by cough, myalgia and fatigue, that is, 13 (26%) each. Fever at the time of admission was present in 9 (18%) women and postpartum fever was observed in 4 (8%) women. Mean hospital stay was 9.24±3.25 days. A total of 29 (58%) women underwent caesarean delivery and 21 (42%) had normal vaginal delivery. Mean postoperative hospital stay was 4.48±2.24 days. In 9 women, postoperative complications were seen. A total of 8 babies admitted to NICU due to various complications. Two babies expired during the study period.Conclusions: In the present retrospective COHORT study, the majority of the pregnant women with COVID-19 infection had mild symptoms with no severe illness. Mother-to-child transmission of COVID-19 cannot be ruled out. The impacts of COVID-19 infection on patients with medical disorders during pregnancy were seen.
Onlay and sublay mesh repair in incisional hernias: our experience from GSL medical college and hospital, Rajahmundry

Background: The incidence of post-operative wound infection and wound-related complications due to mesh repair aimed at continuing research into the optimal method of treatment of these hernias. The two operative techniques most frequently used in case of ventral hernia are the onlay and sublay repair. However, it remains unclear which technique is superior. Objectives were to compare the morbidity and complications associated with onlay and sublay mesh repair in the management of incisional hernias.Methods: The present descriptive observational study was carried out in patients admitted in surgical wards at GSL medical college and hospital, Rajahmundry who are clinically diagnosed to have incisional hernia. The study was carried out from January to November 2019. Data was analysed with SPSS 23.0. Results: Seroma was seen in 12% and 8% respectively from onlay and sublay group and this proportion of seroma was more in onlay group as compared to sublay group (<0.05). Postoperative recurrence of hernia was seen in both groups equally. Number of days of hospitalization in sublay group was less as compared to onlay group. Deep surgical site infection (SSI) was seen in 8% and 4% respectively from onlay and sublay group.Conclusions: Sublay mesh repair has a lower rate of post-operative complications than onlay mesh repair, deep SSI leading to infection of mesh is higher in on‑lay mesh repair. Number of days of hospitalization in sublay group was less as compared to onlay group.
Comparative Evaluation of Salivary Malondialdehyde Levels in Children with Different Caries Status- A Cross-Sectional Observational Study

Background and Objectives: Early childhood caries is a major public health problem especially in young children. ECC affects the quality of life of young children by affecting the chewing ability of children due to the development of pain and swelling, and this may indirectly affect the nutritional status of a child. The present study was done to assess the level of salivary malondialdehyde in children with and without Early childhood caries. The main objective of the study is to determine the salivary malondialdehyde levels and to compare it with the three groups of children with different caries experiences. Materials and Methods: It is cross-sectional observational research carried out at Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals. Children between 3-6 years were examined and 20 caries-free, 20 children with ECC as well as 20 children with S-ECC were recruited for the study. The caries status was assessed using dmfs and the severity of caries was assessed using pufa index. Salivary samples were collected and analysed for salivary malondialdehyde levels. Statistical Analysis: The data was entered and analysed using SPSS software version 20.0. One-way ANOVA was done to determine the difference in malondialdehyde levels between the groups. “Post-hoc Tukey” test was done to measure the intergroup significance. A “P value of < 0.05” was measured as statistically “significant” and P < 0.001 was deemed as statistically “highly significant”. Pearson’s correlation was done to correlate pufa values with malondialdehyde levels. Results: The results demonstrated that there was a statistically significant difference in salivary malondialdehyde levels among caries-free, ECC as well as S-ECC children. There was a positive correlation between the pufa score and salivary malondialdehyde levels. Conclusion: 1. There is a significant difference in the salivary malondialdehyde levels among caries-free, ECC as well as S-ECC children. There was a positive correlation of salivary malondialdehyde levels and pufa score in ECC and S-ECC children.
Instrumental analytical tools for mycobacteria characterisation

Mycobacteria in drinking water and in the water of swimming pools, whirlpools, hydrotherapy facilities and aquaria contribute significantly to human exposure to triggers of immune regulated chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Technological elements of water distribution systems, especially their inner surface, taps, shower heads and blind spots where sediments settle, affect the number of mycobacteria in the water. The review presents the possibilities of using analytical instruments for rapid determination of mycobacteria and for their typing as an alternative to classical culture and a method of monitoring specific nucleic acid sequences by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Information about the use of flow cytometry (FCM), matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) spectrometry, Raman and infrared (IR) spectroscopy and biosensors are presented.
CMAR_A_247081 3445..3456

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Shanghai East Hospital, Shanghai 200120, People’s Republic of China Purpose: Small-cell carcinoma of the cervix (SCCC) is a rare type of cervical cancer. This study aimed to investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and survival as well as the optimal local treatment modalities for SCCC. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the data of patients diagnosed with SCCC between 1988 and 2015 in our institution – those included in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database and those in the Periodical Database. Kaplan–Meier method and Cox regression proportional hazard methods were used to evaluate overall survival (OS). A nomogram that could predict OS was constructed based on the Cox proportional hazard model. Results: In total, 695 patients were included in this study. The 5-year overall survival in FIGO stage I-IIA and IIB-IV patients was 45.7% and 14.4%, respectively (P <0.01). Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that lymph node status (P <0.01) and cancerdirected surgery (P <0.01) were independent prognostic factors for FIGO I-IIA stage patients, and age (P <0.05), tumor size (P <0.01), chemotherapy (P <0.01) and radiation (P <0.01) were independent prognostic factors for FIGO stage IIB-IV patients. Conclusion: Better prognosis was associated with negative lymph node status, no lymphatic vasculature, surgery, and early-stage patients. Furthermore, our data showed that the prognosis and treatment pattern varied depending on the FIGO stage, and that optimal treatment modalities included radical surgery for early-stage SCCC and chemoradiotherapy for advanced-stage SCCC. It is helpful to assess the individual prognosis of SCCC patients and choose personalized treatment modalities.
Quality Assurance in Nigeria’s Education System: Prospect and Challenges

The study was conducted with the aim of establishing the relevance and challenges affecting quality assurance in Nigerian education system. Secondary data analysis methodology was adopted for the study. To easily achieve the objectives, the concept of quality assurance, strategies for building quality assurance into the education system and parameters for measuring quality assurance and challenges were discussed. The study identified some challenges affecting quality assurance to include shortage of funds, insecurity, policy inconsistency, and lack of regular training of staff etc. The paper concludes that since the essence of education is to make an individual useful quality assurance strategies should be monitored and evaluated on regular basis in order to improve the quality of the educational system in Nigeria. The study therefore recommends amongst others improved funding of the education sector, regular training and retraining of staff and provision of adequate security for learning environment in the country as a way forward.
Evaluation of functional and clinical outcome of open reduction and internal fixation of Barton’s fracture of the wrist in a central hospital of Kashmir

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Fractures of the distal end of radius continue to pose a management challenge. Defective alignment of extra articular as well as intra articular fractures result in a variety of complications like post traumatic arthritis, decreased in grip strength and endurance as well as limited range of motion and instability of carpus. The main aim of this study is to assess the functional results of open reduction and internal fixation in the treatment of volar Barton’s fracture. </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> From December 2006 to December 2019, forty cases of volar Barton’s fracture were operated in Skims Medical College Hospital, Srinagar, Kashmir, however only 32 cases were included in the study group and 8 cases were lost to follow up. In the majority of our cases the injury was sustained as a result of road traffic accident followed by fall. Majority (24) of the cases were operated within one week of trauma, followed by six in two weeks and two in 3 weeks of time since injury. <strong></strong></p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Functional evaluation was done after a mean follow-up of 28.7 months. Fracture union was achieved within 8 to 12 weeks and excellent results were obtained in 18 cases and 10 cases were categorized as good followed by fair result in 4 cases. Median nerve compression was not observed in any case. </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Good to excellent result can be achieved after open reduction and internal fixation which restores joint congruity. </p>