Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dangerous Liaison: Helicobacter pylori, Ganglionitis, and Myenteric Gastric Neurons: A Histopathological Study

Chronic inflammation induced by Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection plays a major role in development of gastric cancer. However, recent findings suggested that progression of inflammation and neoplastic transformation in H. pylori infection are more complex than previously believed and could involve different factors that modulate gastric microenvironment and influence host-pathogen interaction. Among these factors, gastric myenteric plexus and its potential adaptive changes in H. pylori infection received little attention. This study is aimed at identifying the impact of H. pylori-associated gastritis on number and morphology of nerve cells in the stomach. The distribution of density, inflammation, and programmed cell death in neurons was immunohistochemically assessed in full-thickness archival tissue samples obtained from 40 patients with H. pylori infection who underwent surgery for gastric cancer and were compared with findings on samples collected from 40 age- and sex-matched subjects without bacteria. Overall, significant differences were noted between H. pylori-positive and H. pylori-negative patients. The analysis of tissue specimens obtained from those with infection revealed higher density and larger surface of the myenteric nervous plexus, as well as a significant increase in the number of gastric neuronal cell bodies and glial cells compared to controls. A predominant CD3-immunoreactive T cell infiltrate confined to the myenteric plexus was observed in infected subjects. The presence of mature B lymphocytes, plasma cells, and eosinophils was also noted, but to a lesser extent, within the ganglia. Myenteric ganglionitis was associated with degeneration and neuronal loss. Our results represent the first histopathological evidence supporting the hypothesis that H. pylori-induced gastric inflammation may induce morphological changes in myenteric gastric ganglia. These findings could help gain understanding of some still unclear aspects of pathogenesis of H. pylori infection, with the possibility of having broader implications for gastric cancer progression.
CLINICAL AND LABORATORY PROFILE OF URINARY TRACT INFECTION AMONG CHILDREN AT THE OUTPATIENT CLINIC OF A TERTIARY HOSPITAL

Introduction: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common reason for outpatient consults. It is almost always in the Top Ten consults at the sick-child clinic of a tertiary hospital. However, a study concerning the incidence and clinical and laboratory profiles of UTI in the Philippines has yet to be documented. Objectives: To determine the incidence rate and clinical and laboratory profiles of UTI among patients who consulted at the pediatric outpatient clinic of a tertiary hospital. Methods: All patients 0 to 12 years, who were UTI suspects and consulted at the Sick-Child Clinic of a tertiary hospital from January to December 2006 were included in the study. Patients who had recurrent UTI or history of previous UTI and those with co-morbidities such as anatomic and/or functional problems involving the urinary tract were excluded. Chart review was done and the following were noted: demographics and clinical and laboratory characteristics. Results: Four hundred twenty three patients were included in the study. The incidence rate was 30 per 1000 persons (95% CI). 54% percent were female. The majority of the patients were between 7 to 12 years of age. The most common presenting symptoms were fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, and dysuria. Only 25 patients had urine culture done and only 8 had positive results, mostly with E. coli. The most common antibiotics used were Cotrimoxazole, Cefuroxime, and Amoxicillin. Conclusion: The incidence rate is higher compared to other studies done in general practice. The presenting signs and symptoms were however similar. Important to note is the high incidence of patients who did not follow up. It is also noted that the gold standard for the diagnosis of UTI, which is the urine culture is very seldom requested. This may lead to the over- or maybe under-diagnosis of UTI and its eventual mismanagement. Therefore, it is recommended that the approach to the diagnosis and management of UTI in children should be reviewed.
Long-Term Comparison of Attraction of Flying Insects to Streetlights after the Transition from Traditional Light Sources to Light-Emitting Diodes in Urban and Peri-Urban Settings

Among the different light sources used for street lighting, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are likely to dominate the world market in the coming years. At the same time, the spectral composition of nocturnal illumination is changing. Europe and many other areas worldwide have implemented bans on energy-inefficient lamps, such as the still very common mercury vapor lamps. However, the impact of artificial light on insects is mostly tested with light-traps or flight-intercept traps that are used for short periods only. By comparing the numbers of insects attracted by street lamps before and after replacing mercury vapor light sources (MV) with light emitting diodes, we assessed the impact in more typical (urban and peri-urban) settings over several years. We found that LED attracted approximately half of the number of insects compared to MV lights. Furthermore, most insect groups are less drawn by LED than by MV, while Hymenoptera are less attracted by MV than by LED. Thus, the composition of the attracted communities differed between the light sources, which may impact ecosystem processes and functions. In green peri-urban settings more insects are attracted than in an urban setting, but the relative difference between the light sources is the same.
Latent Fingerprint Enhancement Techniques: A Review

Fingerprint (FP) is a global mark used for personal identification. This study reviews recent latent fingerprint (LFP) enhancement techniques including metal oxides, multi-metal deposition (MMD-I/II/SMD/Au-ASP), optical, chemical, physical, and physicochemical. Furthermore, analytical techniques involved in identification, evaluation, and determination of pieces of evidence, and perpetrators including the SEM, TEM, UV-Vis, IR/NIR, SERS, SKP, DLS, MALDI-MSI, and TD analysis were also discussed. Among numerous LFP enhancement techniques, the application of chemical methods in combination with optical techniques has a greater place to recover FPs with sufficient quality. However, instead of using such a complex and costly enhancing agent, nowadays nanotechnology is using specific techniques used for visualizing, inspecting, gathering, and analyzing trace evidence at the scene of a crime. To indicate using simple metal oxides such as ZnO that have superior fluorescent properties and also that consider both the surface and cost of the materials, enhancement of the LFP is functioning.
Functional reorganization of brain networks after stroke

The brain is a complex system that can be described as a network consisting of nodes (brain regions) and links (connections). This network undergoes functional reorganisations after a stroke and in cognitive decline. Therefore, we assume that the post-stroke cognitive deficit is related to the disruption of the brain network caused by the stroke. This thesis aims to find possible relationships between the network and cognitive parameters in post-stroke patients. I evaluated the resting-state closed-eye electroencephalographic (EEG) data and the neuropsychological tests for 45 post-stroke patients. An automatic modular pipeline was developed to process the EEG recordings and estimate network parameters. The algorithm includes removal of the cardiac and ocular artefacts based on the independent component analysis. The functional connectivity was estimated based on coherence, imaginary coherence and the weighted phase lag index in three frequency bands, theta, alpha and beta. In cooperation with a neuropsychologist, we proposed a parametrisation of the neuropsychological tests and converted them into cognitive parameters. Finally, I used the Kendall rank correlation coefficient to correlate the network and cognitive parameters. The thesis showed some interesting trends in the theta and beta bands for imaginary coherence. However, statistical evidence for those trends was rather weak when I accounted for the repeated testing. Consequently, I cannot state there is a relationship between the cognitive and network parameters in poststroke patients.
Thermodynamic Analysis of a CO2 Refrigeration Cycle with Integrated Mechanical Subcooling

Different alternatives are being studied nowadays in order to enhance the behavior of transcritical CO 2 refrigeration plants. Among the most studied options, subcooling is one of the most analyzed methods in the last years, increasing cooling capacity and Coefficient Of Performance (COP), especially at high hot sink temperatures. A new cycle, called integrated mechanical subcooling cycle, has been developed, as a total-CO 2 solution, to provide the subcooling in CO 2 transcritical refrigeration cycles. It corresponds to a promising solution from the point of view of energy efficiency. The purpose of this work is to present, for the first time, thermodynamic analysis of a CO 2 refrigeration cycle with integrated mechanical subcooling cycle from first and second law approaches. Using simplified models of the components, the optimum operating conditions, optimum gas-cooler pressure, and subcooling degree are determined in order to obtain the maximum COP. The main energy parameters of the system were analyzed for different evaporation levels and heat rejection temperatures. The exergy destruction was analyzed for each component, identifying the elements of the system that introduce more irreversibilities. It has been concluded that the new cycle could offer COP improvements from 11.7% to 15.9% in relation to single-stage cycles with internal heat exchanger (IHX) at 35 °C ambient temperature.
Poorer cancer outcomes with longer travelling times 1 A cancer geography paradox? Poorer cancer outcomes with longer travelling times to healthcare facilities despite prompter diagnosis and treatment: a data-linkage study Running Title: Poorer cancer outcomes with longer travelling times

Melanie Turner, Shona Fielding1, Yuhan Ong, Chris Dibben, Zhiqianq Feng, David H Brewster, Corri Black, Amanda Lee, Peter Murchie* Institute of Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Polwarth Building, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD. School of Geosciences, Drummond Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9XP. Information Services Division, NHS National Services Scotland, Gyle Square, 1 South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh, EH12 9EB.
Projection-Based Constrained Policy Optimization

In this paper, we consider the problem of learning control policies that optimize areward function while satisfying constraints due to considerations of safety, fairness, or other costs. We propose a new algorithm - Projection Based ConstrainedPolicy Optimization (PCPO), an iterative method for optimizing policies in a two-step process - the first step performs an unconstrained update while the secondstep reconciles the constraint violation by projection the policy back onto the constraint set. We theoretically analyze PCPO and provide a lower bound on rewardimprovement, as well as an upper bound on constraint violation for each policy update. We further characterize the convergence of PCPO with projection basedon two different metrics - L2 norm and Kullback-Leibler divergence. Our empirical results over several control tasks demonstrate that our algorithm achievessuperior performance, averaging more than 3.5 times less constraint violation andaround 15% higher reward compared to state-of-the-art methods.
Patterns of Approaches to Digital Transformation: An Institutional Arrangements Perspective

Companies face huge challenges in managing their digital transformation in terms of key actors, their roles and the way they interplay. Based on a survey of 181 large and medium-sized Slovenian companies, we discover six differently successful organizational patterns. The most successful identified pattern is the business–IT partnership approach, where top management and the IT department are responsible for the digital transformation, and the CIO is an orchestrator and a member of top management. However, this is not the only possible successful approach for digital transformation. Recommendations and possible evolutionary paths for companies in each pattern are also outlined in the paper, including the importance of orchestrating the activities and actors of digital transformation and its strategic role. DOI: 10.15458/ebr.93
Thermal Oxidative Purification of Detonation Nanodiamond in a Gas-Solid Fluidized Bed Reactor

− The effect of the reaction temperature and reaction time on the thermal oxidative purification quality of detonation nanodiamond (NDsoot) was investigated in a gas-solid fluidized bed reactor of a 0.10 m-ID × 1.0 m-high stainless steel column with zirconia beads (dSV = 99.2 μm). The carbon conversion increased with increasing the reaction temperature; however, when the reaction temperature was greater than 773 K, the carbon conversion did not increase. The content of sp-hybridized carbon at the reaction temperature of 703 K barely changed when the reaction time was more than 30 minutes, but at 773 K, the content decreased as preferred. At 703 K, the purification quality increased with the increasing reaction time; however, at 773 K, the purification quality increased up to 30 minutes and then decreased rapidly.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND EARNINGS MANAGEMENT: THE ROLE OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

This study investigates the association between earnings management and corporate governance characteristics in the Chinese context. Chinese corporate governance system has got improved in the past two decades after deciding to move open market economy. The data for this study is collected from the Chinese A-listed firms for the period of 2008 to 2016 to investigate the impact of board characteristics on earnings management. The results reveal that board size has effects on earnings management, while board independence role is negligible due to monitoring of the top management. Similarly, board meetings are ineffective and not contributing to earnings management. CEO duality is not a big issue in developed countries. Furthermore, when segregating the sample on the basis of ownership type, we find that, a board meeting is affective in SOE as compare to Non-SOE. Furthermore, board size substitutes the weak external governance mechanism and constrains Earnings management. Board meeting plays a complementary effect when external governance mechanism is strong. The findings are significant for all stakeholders to analyze and to improve the board effectiveness and the financial reporting quality before making any decision.
Multifocal electroretinogram analysis of the effectiveness of anti-VEGH treatment for clinically significant macular edema treatment

This study aimed to compare multifocal Electroretinogram (mfERG) between before and after the treatment of clinically significant macular edema (CSME). Cross-sectional comparative study was performed on the mfERG measurements of four patients (54 ± 11 years old) diagnosed with CSME by an ophthalmologist (retina subspecialty). The subjects were examined within 1 to 2 months before and after the anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) CSME treatment. The procedure of mfERG adhered to the standard recommended by the International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision (ISCEV). Parameters included in this investigation were N1 amplitude (µV), N1 implicit time (ms), P1 amplitude (µV), and P1 implicit time (ms). Further analysis was performed by dividing the retina area into five rings zone (1st Ring, 2nd Ring, 3rd Ring, 4th Ring, and 5th Ring with a subtended surface area of 0–2°, 2–5°, 5–10°, 10–15°, and >15°, respectively). The paired sample T-test was used to compare the mfERG between before and after Anti-VEGF intervention. Overall, mean differences were observed before and after the CSME treatment with the anti-VEGF, but not statistically different for the N1 amplitude (µV), N1 implicit time (ms), P1 amplitude (µV), and P1 implicit time (ms). Further analysis results based on rings was revealed to be not statistically different, except N1 amplitude (µV) at 5 to 10° surface area (3 rd Ring), which the N1 amplitude became less negative after the treatment, -24.95 µV, (95% CI, -37.44 to -12.46), t (3) = -6.36, p < 0.05]. There was no statistically significant difference in mfERG before and after between treatment of CSME except for N1 amplitude (µV) for 3rd Ring after 1 to 2 months follow up. In the future, it is recommended that similar investigation should be conducted by involving more patients and performing a series of follow up.
A link between top managers’ perception and corporate social responsibility

Though it is called corporate social responsibility (CSR), it is the people in the organization particularly, top managers who develop and get implemented corporate social policies. Organization behavior is the reflection of their top managers. However, exploration of the role of top managers in spreading CSR in organization is scant in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of top managers’ CSR perception on firm level CSR in Ethiopia. Structured questionnaires were used to collected data from 294 executive managers of four sectors, namely textile, food, bank and floriculture industries. Multiple hierarchical regression and process macro 3.3 were employed to analyze the data with the aid of SPSS. The analysis reveals that top managers’ CSR perception is a significant predictor of firm level CSR behaviors. The result also shows that corporate ethical culture fully mediates the relationship between top managers’ CSR perception and organization CSR. Moreover, transformational leadership has a moderating effect between the direct top managers’ CSR perception and firm level CSR relationship. © 2019 Bussecon International Academy. Hosting by SSBFNET. All rights reserved. Peer review under responsibility of Bussecon International Academy & SSBFNET.
Associations between changes in oxygenation, dead space and driving pressure induced by the first prone position session and mortality in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Background Outcome prediction in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is challenging, especially in patients with severe hypoxemia. The aim of the current study was to determine the prognostic capacity of changes in PaO2/FiO2, dead space fraction (VD/VT) and respiratory system driving pressure (ΔPRS) induced by the first prone position (PP) session in patients with ARDS. Methods This was a post hoc analysis of the conveniently-sized 'Molecular Diagnosis and Risk Stratification of Sepsis' study (MARS). The current analysis included ARDS patients who were placed in the PP. The primary endpoint was the prognostic capacity of the PP-induced changes in PaO2/FiO2, VD/VT, and ΔPRS for 28-day mortality. PaO2/FiO2, VD/VT, and ΔPRS was calculated using variables obtained in the supine position before and after completion of the first PP session. Receiving operator characteristic curves (ROC) were constructed, and sensitivity, specificity positive and negative predictive value were calculated based on the best cutoffs. Results Ninety patients were included; 28-day mortality was 46%. PP-induced changes in PaO2/FiO2 and VD/VT were similar between survivors vs. non-survivors [+83 (+24 to +137) vs. +58 (+21 to +113) mmHg, and -0.06 (-0.17 to +0.05) vs. -0.08 (-0.16 to +0.08), respectively]. PP-induced changes in ΔPRS were different between survivors vs. non-survivors [-3 (-7 to 2) vs. 0 (-3 to +3) cmH2O; P=0.03]. The area under the ROC of PP-induced changes in ΔPRS for mortality, however, was low [0.63 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.50 to 0.75]; PP-induced changes in ΔPRS had a sensitivity and specificity of 76% and 56%, and a positive and negative predictive value of 60% and 73%. Conclusions Changes in PaO2/FiO2, VD/VT, and ΔPRS induced by the first PP session have poor prognostic capacities for 28-day mortality in ARDS patients.
Correlation between Carotid Arterial Calcium Score and Silent Cerebrovascular Lesions in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients: by Using Upper Airway CT and Brain MRI

Purpose To investigate the relationship between carotid arterial calcium score (CarACS) and silent cerebrovascular lesions in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Materials and Methods This study involved retrospective evaluation of 60 OSA patients who underwent both upper airway CT and brain MRI. Using polysomnography, several indicators, including apnea index (AI), were used to evaluate the relationship between OSA and silent cerebrovascular lesions. The CarACS was quantified on CT imaging using the modified Agatston method. Silent cerebrovascular lesions were evaluated on brain MRI by grading periventricular hyperintensity (PVH). Various clinical characteristics, including age, were analyzed in each patient. Results The number of patients per PVH grade 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 was 26 (43.3%), 14 (23.3%), 14 (23.3%), 4 (6.7%), and 2 (3.3%), respectively. The mean age, hypertension, smoking status, AI, and CarACS were significantly different among PVH groups (Ps < 0.05). In univariate analysis, the presence of carotid arterial calcification (β = 0.483, p < 0.01), CarACS (β = 0.482, p < 0.01), and age (β = 0.360, p < 0.01) showed a significant association with PVH grade. The mean AI and lowest O2 saturation had statistically weak associations with PVH grade (β = 0.267, p < 0.01; β = -0.219, p < 0.14, respectively). In multivariate analysis, CarACS was the only factor affecting PVH Received January 3, 2019 Revised April 1, 2019 Accepted May 23, 2019
Energy Drinks Consumption among Iranian University Students and Associated Factors

Background & Aims: There is no study in Iran about the Energy drinks (EDs) use by students. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of EDs consumption and its related factors among the students. Methods: This cross-sectional study carried out among students of Shahroud University of Medical Sciences. Using a standardized, pretested and self-administered questionnaire, the data were collected. The questionnaire consisted of 65 questions that asked the students' sociodemographic characteristics and their knowledge and habits of ED consumptions. Results: Of all participants 66.3% were female, 63.1% of students live in dormitories and 6.9% and 19.9% of them live with friends and parents, respectively. Almost 11.5 percent of students are user of energy drinks. The most common reason to try an ED was ‘‘its special tastes’’ (36.2%), followed in order of frequency by ‘‘to stay awake for long hours’’. Logistic regression modeling of EDs use indicated that, male gender, students who live alone and higher monthly costs for personal requirements were also positively and significantly associated with EDs use. Conclusions: Despite thelow prevalence of EDs consumption in our study samples,male students, living alone and higher monthly costs for personal requirements are factors associated with more EDs consumption. Key words: Energy Drink; Youths; University Students; Iran.