Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Delta bilirubin: a sensitive and predictive marker for acute rejection in liver transplant recipients

Background: This study was aimed to investigate the diagnostic utility of delta bilirubin for acute rejection in liver transplant recipients. Methods: The present study was conducted on 80 patients (56 men and 24 women) who were admitted for a major operation of liver transplantation at super-speciality hospital, Medanta-The Medicity, Gurgaon. The average age of the patients was 43±19 years. Data was analyzed as mean, standard deviation; student t test by using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) software. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were calculated in percentage. Results: The result from the present study indicates that delta bilirubin had highest sensitivities of 93% whereas conjugated bilirubin has 43% while AST, ALT, GGT and ALKP had sensitivities of 61%, 81%, 80% and 31% respectively. There was a significant difference of delta bilirubin between rejection and non rejection transplant recipients. Conclusions: Our findings supported that the serial measurement of delta bilirubin would be a reliable marker for recognizing early rejection in liver transplant recipients.
Physicochemical, Rheological, and Morphological Characteristics of Products from Traditional and Extrusion Nixtamalization Processes and Their Relation to Starch

The aim of this study was to compare the physicochemical, rheological, and morphological characteristics of corn, nixtamalized flour, masa, and tortillas from the traditional nixtamalization process (TNP) and the extrusion nixtamalization process (ENP) and their relationship with starch. The traditional and extrusion processes were carried out using the same variety of corn. From both processes, samples of ground corn, nixtamalized flour, masa, and tortillas were obtained. The extrusion process produced corn flour with particle sizes smaller (particle size index, PSI = 51) than that of flour produced by the traditional nixtamalization process (PSI = 44). Masa from the TNP showed higher modulus of elasticity (G′) and viscosity (G″) values than that off masa from the ENP. Furthermore, in a temperature sweep test, masa from the TNP showed a peak in G′ and G″, while the masa from the ENP did not display these peaks. The ENP-produced tortillas had higher resistant starch contents and comparable firmness and rollability to those from the TNP but lower quality parameter values. A comparison of the products' physicochemical properties obtained by the two processes shows the importance of controlling the damage to starch during the milling and extrusion processes to obtain tortillas of better quality. For the first time, we propose the measurement of the viscoelastic parameters G′ and G″ in temperature sweep mode to monitor changes in the degree of starch damage.
Renal Replacement Therapy in a Caribbean Population: The Impact of Biological, Sociocultural and Demographic Factors

Background: The options for renal replacement therapy for end stage renal disease include haemodialysis (HD), peritoneal dialysis (PD) and renal transplantation. In this study demographic, sociocultural and biological factors were assessed over a 1-year period for patients on renal replacement therapy. Methods: This cross-sectional study included all patients 18 years and older and on renal replacement therapy for at least 3 months in Trinidad and Tobago. Five hundred and thirty participants were recruited from our organ transplantation unit, all centres facilitating PD and a stratified random sample of all HD centres (100 T, 80 PD, 350 HD from October 2015 to October 2016. A questionnaire was administered and included demographics, knowledge and understanding and biological factors impacting on renal replacement therapy. Results: Thirty eight percent of all patients were between 56 to 65 years of age. The Indo Trinidadian population accounted for 51% of the subjects. 52.5% were male and 47.5% were female. From the data, 72% of patients were diabetic and/or hypertensive. In the transplant recipients, 39% were diabetic and/or hypertensive and 27% reported chronic glomerulonephritis as the aetiology of their kidney failure. The diagnosis of chronic kidney disease was made when patients were at end stage renal disease requiring intervention in 84.2% of persons. The employed population of patients constituted 65% of renal transplant recipients, 43.75% of peritoneal dialysis patients and 22.86% of haemodialysis patients. The patient’s physician had the greatest influence on renal replacement therapy choice (85.4% haemodialysis, 85% peritoneal dialysis, 71% transplant). Conclusions: In this cohort of 530 patients on renal replacement therapy, knowledge of therapy and physician’s influence were some of the factors that impacted on choice of therapy. Most patients were already de novo end stage renal disease when the diagnosis of kidney disease was made. Lifestyle diseases-type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension were the main causative diseases contributing to renal failure. This study which is the first in the Caribbean to evaluate biological, sociocultural and demographic factors in patients receiving renal replacement will better assist in prevention strategies and resource allocation.
Profile of Congenital Heart Disease in childhood

Introduction: Globally, the prevalence of congenital heart diseases is 3.7 to 17.5 per 1000 live births; in India, it is 2.25-5.2 per 1000 children. The profile of Congenital Heart Disease varies with the age group; Simple heart defects are common at all ages, whereas serious defects are seen in autopsy. This study aims to assess the clinical profile of Congenital Heart Disease. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in Department of Pediatrics, Bundelkhand Medical College, Sagar, India. It was a prospective study of cases attending the pediatric outpatient and inpatient department, as described by inclusion criteria over a period of 1 year. 100 cases could be included. Clinical assessment, 2D Echocardiography and Color Doppler were used for diagnosis. Results: A prevalence of 15.38 per 1000 patients was observed. The commonest acyanotic Congenital Heart Disease was Ventricular septal defect (29%), followed by Atrial septal defect (13%) and Patent ductus arteriosus (5%). The commonest Cyanotic Congenital Heart Disease was Tetralogy of Fallot (26%) followed by Transposition of Great Arteries (9%) and Total anomalous Pulmonary Venous Connection (4%). Most children with heart disease were diagnosed between 1-5 years of age, acyanotic heart disease presenting at a mean age of 11.5 months, cyanotic heart disease with decreased pulmonary blood flow at 10.5 months and cyanotic heart disease with increased pulmonary blood flow at 5 months. Conclusions: Heart diseases are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in children. Early diagnosis and early referral for definitive surgery is necessary to improve their quality of life.
Field observations of soil hydrological flow path evolution over 10 millennia

Abstract. Preferential flow strongly controls water flow and transport in soils. It is ubiquitous but difficult to characterize and predict. This study addresses the occurrence and the evolution of preferential flow during the evolution of landscapes and here specifically during the evolution of hillslopes. We targeted a chronosequence of glacial moraines in the Swiss Alps to investigate how water flow paths evolve along with the soil-forming processes. Dye tracer irrigation experiments with a Brilliant Blue FCF solution (4 g L−1) were conducted on four moraines of different ages (30, 160, 3000, and 10 000 years). At each moraine, three dye tracer experiments were conducted on plots of 1.5 m ×1.0 m. The three plots at each moraine were characterized by different vegetation complexities (low, medium, and high). Each plot was further divided into three equal subplots for the application of three different irrigation amounts (20, 40, and 60 mm) with an average irrigation intensity of 20 mm h−1. The day after the experiment five vertical soil sections were excavated, and the stained flow paths were photographed. Digital image analysis was used to derive average infiltration depths and flow path characteristics such as the volume and surface density of the dye patterns. Based on the volume density, the observed dye patterns were assigned to specific flow type categories. The results show a significant change in the type of preferential flow paths along the chronosequence. The flow types change from a rather homogeneous matrix flow in coarse material with high conductivities and a sparse vegetation cover at the youngest moraine to a heterogeneous infiltration pattern at the medium-age moraines. Heterogeneous matrix and finger flow are dominant at these intermediate age classes. At the oldest moraine only macropore flow via root channels was observed in deeper parts of the soil, in combination with a very high water storage capacity of the organic top layer and low hydraulic conductivity of the deeper soil. In general, we found an increase in water storage with increasing age of the moraines, based on our observations of the reduction in infiltration depth as well as laboratory measurements of porosity. Preferential flow is, however, not only caused by macropores, but especially for the medium-age moraine, it seems to be mainly initiated by soil surface characteristics (vegetation patches and microtopography).
First Insights into the Resilience of the Soil Microbiome of a Tropical Dry Forest in Puerto Rico

This study evaluated the effect that tree species traits and wet/dry periods display on soil microbial communities in a tropical dry forest in Puerto Rico. Understanding the ecological role of soil microorganisms in tropical dry forests and how they relate to different tree species is necessary to protect these fragile forest ecosystems. Thus, by using 454 pyrosequencing, we explored how microbial diversity was affected by dominant tree species during the wettest and driest periods at the Guánica Dry Forest. We found that 9 out of 17 phyla were more abundant during the dry period demonstrating that soil communities have adapted to histor-ically low rainfall patterns. The most abundant phyla during both periods were Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. During the dry period, Actinobacteria increased significantly (p < 0.0001), whereas Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes decreased significantly (p < 0.0001; p < 0.001). Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) also demonstrated that soil microbes are shaped by wet and dry periods, thus axis 1 of CCA explained 80% of the variation. This study offers baseline information in order to help elucidate how microbial diversity is affected by climate change in tropical areas and extrapolate this information to agricultural areas in order to develop better management practices.
Effects of Folic Acid and Magnesium Co-Administration on Some Haematological Parameters in Streptozotocin – Induced Type I Diabetic Wistar Rats

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a global public health problem with increasing prevalence. It is a chronic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia and the late development of vascular and neuropathic complications. This work was designed to study the effects of folic acid and magnesium co- administration on some haematological parameters in STZ induced diabetic rats. Methodology: Healthy albino rats weighing between 150g and 200g were used. The rats were randomly allotted into six groups, each containing five albino rats respectively. Five of the groups (II, III IV V and VI) were induced with diabetes by single intraperitoneal (i.p) injection of freshly prepared in 0.1 mol/L citrate buffered solution (pH 4.5) of streptozotocin (Sigma Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) at a dose of 60 mg/kg body weight. Control (vehicle) rats were injected with equal volume of 0.1 mol/L citrate buffer. Four days after STZ injection, diabetes induction was confirmed by measuring fasting blood glucose level in a tail vein blood samples using ACCU-CHEK compact plus glucometer (Roche, France). Rats with glucose level of 200 mg/dl or higher were considered as diabetic. After the induction of diabetes the rats were treated using the FA and Mg separately and in combination respectively according to group daily, whereas, the other group (I) was not given any treatment and this served as the normal control, providing a baseline data. Results: The results indicated that oral supplementation of folic acid (20 mg/kg b.w. /day) and MgCl2 (500/kg b.w. /day) separately or in combination for 4 weeks of treatment exhibited significant alterations in the haematological parameters in STZ-induced-type-1 diabetic; the diabetic rats showed marked reduction in packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin (Hb) content, red blood cell (RBC) count, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and an increase in the platelet count. Conclusion: These anomalies were all ameliorated to about normal values after four weeks of treatment with FA+Mg. This suggests the synergistic beneficial effects of folic acid and Magnesium against STZ-induced diabetes in Wistar Rats.
Improving Low Health Literacy in Poststroke Patients by Educating the Health Care Staff

Lack of health literacy in the poststroke patient population is a serious issue; with the addition of the homeless population to that group, the result may be devastating. According to the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA, 2016), stroke is considered the primary cause of death and one of the chief reasons for disability in the United States, and nearly 75% of strokes occur in those who are 65 years of age or older. Nurse practitioners are vital, providing necessary training and stroke education to the nursing and other health care staff. This DNP project was initiated to help implement clinical interventions and provide tools to the health care staff to help them educate patients after their stroke. This DNP project was designed to increase the health care staff’s awareness and understanding of poststroke literacy and to improve stroke literacy and stroke outcomes in their poststroke patients.
Effects of Nearly Frontal and Highly Inclined Interplanetary Shocks on High‐Latitude Field‐Aligned Currents (FACs)

We present high‐latitude field‐aligned current (FAC) response to nearly frontal shocks (NFSs) and highly inclined shocks (HISs) through a superposed epoch analysis. The FACs are derived from magnetic perturbation data provided by the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment program. Forty‐nine events for each group are used for the superposed epoch analysis. The 25%, 50%, and 75% quantiles of the FAC and total current distributions are studied. We found that NFSs are statistically stronger shocks in terms of solar wind parameters such as solar wind speed and interplanetary magnetic field.For the 50% quantiles, both groups of shocks produce rapid increases in total currents after shock arrival, but NFSs result in sharper increase in FACs and more intense FACs compared to HISs. At the 50% and 75% quantiles, NFSs trigger stronger auroral‐zone current disturbance for the first hour after shock arrival than do HISs. Spatially, the difference in FAC response is most notable in (1) the dayside noon region, (2) the duskside Region 2 current system, and (3) the dawnside prenoon Region 1 current system. Our results are consistent with previous numerical simulations that showed more symmetric and stronger compression of the magnetosphere for high‐speed and nearly frontal shocks. We observationally confirm the role of shock impact angle in controlling the subsequent shock geoeffectiveness for fast shocks. We assert that determining the shock impact angle via an upstream solar wind model could provide useful insight in forecasting the geoeffectiveness of a shock prior to its arrival at the magnetopause.
Innovation and Exports of Korean Firms: How Do They Differ by Size and Industry?

This article examines some of the distinctive characteristics of South Korean firms in relation to their research and development (R&D) and export activities affecting the efforts to retain intellectual property rights (IPR). In particular, this study shows how firms of different sizes (small and medium enterprises: SMEs vs. large-scale enterprises: LEs) tend to hold the ownership of IPR differently. To test the heterogeneous effects of the firms’ innovative capacity, this study utilizes the firm level data of 6,138 Korean firms during 2006–2014. In the years 2006–2014, South Korea concluded free trade agreements (FTAs) with numerous economies and accelerated its market competition and integration into the global economy. Our empirical results found that R&D activities of both SMEs and LEs were active during the period; however, SMEs in particular took a great stride in their patenting and innovation activities. Findings of our article also show that the more companies engaged in export activities, the more actively patents grew. Furthermore, the companies in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry are more aggressive in patenting activities.
Performance of Msplit estimates in the context of vertical displacement analysis

Abstract This paper concerns two types of Msplit estimation: squared Msplit estimation (SMS), which assumes normality of observation errors and absolute Msplit estimation (AMS), which applies L 1 {\text{L}_{1}} norm criterion. The main objective of the paper is to assess the accuracy of such estimators in vertical displacement analysis by applying Monte Carlo simulations. Another issue is to compare the accuracy of both estimators with the accuracy of the least squares estimation (LS). The paper shows that the accuracy of both Msplit estimates is like the accuracy of LS estimates. However, if some nonrandom errors occur, then accuracy of AMS estimates might be better than the accuracy of the rest of the estimates considered here. It stems from the fact that AMS estimates are robust against disturbances which have a small magnitude. It is also worth noting that the accuracy of both Msplit estimates might depend on the magnitude of the displacement.
Narrowing the Gap in Early Literacy for French Immersion Students: The Effects of a Family Literacy Intervention on Grade 1 Children’s English and French Literacy Development

The study evaluated the effects of a Family Literacy program on Grade 1 French Immersion (FI) children’s language and literacy development. Family Literacy programs aim to encourage parents’ involvement in their children’s early literacy development and are associated with children’s increased performance on measures of early literacy. FI students typically lag behind their English program (EP) peers in English reading. It was hypothesized that a Family Literacy program for FI children would assist them in developing their English and French language and literacy skills. The study involved 71 Grade 1 children. The sample included both FI and EP children and their parents. The FI sample included a group of families who participated in the Family Literacy program and a control group of families who did not receive the intervention. The EP sample acted as a second control group. All children were administered a battery of language and literacy measures in English and in French (FI only) at three time points throughout Grade 1. Results showed that FI children who participated in the program made significantly larger gains in English writing than the FI control group. In addition, findings suggest that gains made by FI children following their participation in the program did not differ from those made by their EP peers who did not attend the program. Qualitative findings provide evidence that FI families who participated in the Family Literacy program increased their engagement in home
A Comparative Study between Conventional Dose of Hyperbaric Bupivacaine Alone & a Combination of lower Fose of Hyperbaric Bupivacaine with Fentanyl for Subarachnoid Block in Turp Surgery among Elederly

Introduction It is universally agreed that the anaesthesia of choice for TURP is a sub arachnoid block and a sensory level of T-10 is recommended to provide excellent anaesthesia and acceptable condition for the patient 1 . Subarachnoid block has always got its own inherent complications, especially related to cardiovascular stability 1 . With limited reflex – mediated ability to increase heart rate, hypotension can be frequent and severe peri operatively in elderly 3 .
EM-net: Deep learning for electron microscopy image segmentation

Recent high-throughput electron microscopy techniques such as focused ion-beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) provide thousands of serial sections which assist the biologists in studying sub-cellular structures at high resolution and large volume. Low contrast of such images hinder image segmentation and 3D visualisation of these datasets. With recent advances in computer vision and deep learning, such datasets can be segmented and reconstructed in 3D with greater ease and speed than with previous approaches. However, these methods still rely on thousands of ground-truth samples for training and electron microscopy datasets require significant amounts of time for carefully curated manual annotations. We address these bottlenecks with EM-net, a scalable deep convolutional neural network for EM image segmentation. We have evaluated EM-net using two datasets, one of which belongs to an ongoing competition on EM stack segmentation since 2012. We show that EM-net variants achieve better performances than current deep learning methods using small- and medium-sized ground-truth datasets. We also show that the ensemble of top EM-net base classifiers outperforms other methods across a wide variety of evaluation metrics.
A test of community assembly rules using foliar endophytes from a tropical forest canopy

Community assembly theory assumes that ecological communities are spatially delimited into patches. Within these patches, coexistence results from environmental filtering, competition and immigration. Truly delineated communities exist in laboratory studies of microbial cultures in Petri dishes, yet empirical tests conducted in continuous environments often use patches defined by convention as opposed to realized boundaries. Here we perform a test of ecological community assembly rules using foliar endophyte communities from a tropical rainforest, where leaves are considered as patches for both fungal and bacterial communities. We determined the diversity of fungal and bacterial endophytes using environmental DNA sequencing of 365 top‐canopy leaves, collected from 38 host trees belonging to 22 different species across a 4‐ha research plot. Three leaves were collected from three or more branches within each tree crown. We tested the effect of host tree species and their level of phylogenetic relatedness on community composition as well as the contribution of geographic distance between leaves to endophyte community diversity. Endophyte diversity significantly differed across host tree species, as did community composition. Within certain endophytic orders (Xylariales, Rhizobiales) species assemblages significantly differed across host tree species, but this trend was weaker or non‐existent in other orders known to contain pathogens and saprotrophs (Polyporales, Solirubrobacterales). Phylogenetically related host tree species displayed more similar endophyte communities than expected by chance, but geographically close trees did not. Consistent with the finding of host‐specificity, nearby leaves tended to host more similar communities than distantly positioned ones. These findings demonstrate that foliar endophytes are structured by dispersal across small spatial scales, but at the scale of the canopy they display patterns of neutral filtering, with only a small part of variation described by host tree differences. Endophyte communities thus act as a model system in evoking the rules predicted by theoretical community ecology.