Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ROLE OF C-REACTIVE PROTEIN LEVELS IN PREDICTING BACTERIAL VS. NON-BACTERIAL EXACERBATION IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE

Background: COPD is a chronic inflammatory lung disease that causes obstructed airflow from the lungs. It is a major cause of death and disability worldwide. Exacerbations are acute episodes of worsening respiratory symptoms that can lead to hospitalization and even death. The cause of exacerbations is complex and thought to involve a combination of factors, including host immune response, respiratory viruses, airway bacteria, and pollution. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in differentiating bacterial and non-bacterial exacerbations in patients with acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD). Materials and Methods: This hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at the Government Thanjavur Medical College, Thanjavur, India, from December 2021 to May 2022. All COPD patients who were diagnosed according to the GOLD guidelines and were over 40 years of age were included in the study with their informed and written consent. At admission, participants underwent blood investigation (serum CRP) and sputum culture for non-tuberculous mycobacteria. Results: A total of 80 COPD patients were included in the study, of whom 73 were males and 7 were females. Fifty-five patients were smokers and 25 were non-smokers. Fifty-five patients had bacterial AECOPD. The mean serum CRP levels were significantly higher in the subgroup with bacterial AECOPD than in non-bacterial AECOPD. The most common non-tuberculous mycobacteria isolated from sputum were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (18 patients), Klebsiella pneumoniae (16 patients), Acinetobacter (11 patients), Enterobacter (6 patients), Escherichia coli (2 patients), Haemophilus influenzae (1 patient), and Klebsiella oxytoca (1 patient). The ideal cut-off point for distinguishing bacterial AECOPD from non-bacterial AECOPD was 18.82 mg/L. Conclusion: In adult patients with AECOPD symptoms, an elevated serum CRP level of >18.82 mg/L is a useful clinical marker for bacterial exacerbation and may guide antibiotic therapy.
Repository ISTITUZIONALE

—The recent growth of IoT devices, along with edge computing, has revealed many opportunities for novel applications. Among them, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), which are deployed for surveillance and environmental monitoring, are attracting increasing attention. In this context, typical solutions must deal with events that may change the state of the network, providing a service that continuously maintains a high level of performance. In this paper, we address this problem by proposing a distributed architecture that leverages a Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL) technique to dynamically ofﬂoad tasks from UAVs to the edge cloud. Nodes of the system co-operate to jointly minimize the overall latency perceived by the user and the energy usage on UAVs by continuously learning from the environment the best action, which entails the decision of ofﬂoading and, in this case, the best transmission technology, i.e., Wi-Fi or cellular. Results validate our distributed architecture and show the effectiveness of the approach in reaching the above targets.
Applications and consent terms: a study on the digital behavior of Brazilians in the pandemic

The digital context and its controversies, analyzed by disciplines that deal with technology and society, achieved academic relevance in the area of Administration. This article sought to examine the behavior of individuals, regarding the capture, processing, and sharing of data during the pandemic, through the lens of a new model of colonialism: data colonialism. We carried out a survey with 516 respondents, from March to May 2020, with different levels of education and age ranges. Results showed an increase in the consumption of communication and entertainment applications, and a reduction in the use of transport and hosting applications. In addition, 37% of respondents do not believe that their data are used ethically by organizations, and users with the highest educational levels are those who read the consent form the least . Such facts characterize the opacity of algorithmic systems, contributing to the sedimentation of data colonialism.
Comparative Analysis of Mortality due to Breast Cancer and Mammography Uptake in the Federative Units of Brazil-2015 to 2021

Objective: Compare the breast cancer mortality rate and the rate of mammograms with socioeconomic factors, in Brazilian´s Federative Units, during the period of 2015 to 2021. Methods: This is an ecological study, of a descriptive nature, which covers the 27 Brazilian federative units, using secondary data extracted from the DATASUS System. The information analyzed was mammography data, breast cancer mortality, demographic and economic data of the resident population and women over 20 years of age. Results: There is a direct relationship between mortality rate and mammograms rates in the Federative Units. The data obtained for Brazil presents a total of 133,048 deaths from breast cancer and 17,324,526 mammography exams in the period from 2015 to 2021. In other words, Brazil presents a standardized mortality rate value, 19.25 deaths per 100,000 women. Regarding the mammography rate, the value of the exam-specific mammography rate was 2,506.55 per 100,000 women. In relation to socioeconomic data by mortality rate group, higher mortality rates from breast cancer present higher rates in the variables: income rate by State (2,594.86), people with income (63.5), average percentage of women with more over 50 years old (29.5%), women with average years of education (6.64), white population (55.1%) and mammography exam rate (2873.20). When analysing the highest rates of mammography exam rates, higher rates are observed income rate by State (2,161.47), people with income (62.5%), average percentage of women over 50 years old (28.6%), women with an average number of years of education (5.8). Conclusion: Brazil has a high mortality rate due to breast cancer, when compared to other countries. The reasons are diverse, such as the modern, industrialized and populous lifestyle. The Federative Units with the highest mortality rate also have high rates of mammograms, that is, in the Federative Units with “better” sociodemographic conditions, the South and Southeast.
me-MicroRNA expression patterns in the bovine mammary gland are affected by stage of lactation 1

The objective of this work was to determine the expression pattern of microRNA (miR) associated with cellular proliferation, lipid metabolism, and innate immunity in dairy cow mammary gland tissue at different stages of lactation. The expression of miR-10a, miR-15b, miR-16, miR-21, miR-31, miR-33b, miR-145, miR-146b, miR-155, miR-181a, miR-205, miR-221, and miR-223 was studied by real-time reverse-transcription PCR in tissue (n = 7/stage) harvested via repeated biopsies during the dry period (−30 d prepartum), the fresh period (7 d postpartum), and early lactation (30 d postpartum). Except for miR-31, all miR studied increased in expression between the dry and fresh periods. Among those upregulated, the expression of miR-221 increased further at early lactation, suggesting a role in the control of endothelial cell proliferation or angiogenesis, whereas the expression of miR-223 decreased at early lactation but to a level that was greater than in the dry period, suggesting it could play a role in the mammary response to pathogens soon after parturition. The expression of miR-31, a hormonally regulated miR that inhibits cyclin gene expression, was greater at early lactation compared with the dry period. From a metabolic standpoint, the consistent upregulation of miR-33b during early lactation compared with the dry period suggests that this miR may exert some control over lipogenesis in mammary tissue. Overall, results indicate that expression of miR associated with transcriptional regulation of genes across diverse biological functions is altered by stage of lactation. The specific roles of these miR during lactation will require further research.
3 SITE GASTRIC BIOPSIES (INSTEAD OF 5) ARE ADEQUATE FOR HELICOBACTER PYLORI DETECTION IN NON-ULCER DYSPEPSIA

Background: Non-ulcer dyspepsia (NUD) is one of the most common causes of morbidity and economic loss. Helicobacter pylori (Hp) is one of the most common causes of NUD. The aim of the study is to determine the frequency of detection of Hp by 5 vs 3 biopsies in patients with NUD. Materials and Methods: Patients presenting with symptoms of dyspepsia but without any endoscopic lesion were taken up for the study. Those with history of any intake of PPI, H2RB, antibiotics, antacids in the last two weeks were also included. Gastric mucosal biopsies were obtained from 5 sites (2-antrum, 2-body, 1-incisura) for HPE and one for Rapid urease test. 5 site vs 3 site biopsies (2-antrum, 1-incisura) and Rapid Urease Test (RUT) were compared. Specimen were examined histologically using the updated Sydney system. Result: Gastric biopsies from 100 patients were studied. Histological examination (H & E and Geimsa stain) identified Hp with any of the 5 sites in 86 % and with the 3 biopsy sites in 84 % of patients. RUT was positive in 35 (49.3%) of 71 patients. There was no significant difference between 5 and 3 biopsies studied, while RUT results differed significantly. Conclusion: NUD should be evaluated for H.pylori and 3 biopsies in contrast to 5 biopsies can be recommended for H pylori detection by biopsy in NUD.
HISTOMORPHLOGICAL PATTERNS OF SALIVARY GLAND TUMOURS AND ITS CORRELATION WITH KI67 IMMUNOPROFILE

Background: Thirty different histological variants are identified among salivary gland tumors and it comprises about 3-6% of all tumors of head and neck region. The objectives of this study include 1. Analysis of histomorphological patterns of various tumors of the salivary glands and 2. Ki67immunoreactivity in various histological types. Materials and Methods: Haematoxylin and Eosin stained histopathological slides were examined by the authors and categorized based on latest WHO classification 2022. Ki 67 Immunohistochemistry for assessment of proliferation index was done and correlation was arrived. Result: Out of the 50 cases studied, 78% were benign and 22% were malignant. Pleomorphic adenoma was the most frequent benign tumor (74%) and Mucoepidermoid carcinoma was most frequent malignant tumor (36%) diagnosed during our study period. In the present study the normal salivary gland was negative for Ki 67 expressionand the labeling index in pleomorphic adenoma was 0.9%. Among the malignant tumors, it was highest in salivary duct carcinoma (18%), and was negative in adenoid cystic carcinoma. Conclusion: From the present study it is evident that histomorphological examination is the mainstay for the diagnosis and categorization of salivary gland tumors. Immunohistochemistry Ki 67 assesses the proliferation potential of the tumor and is also the best prognostic indicator.
Original Article Effect of Dietary Supplementation of Silybum marianum and Artichoke ( Cynara scolymus L.) on Japanese Quail’s Carcass Characteristics, Oxidative Stability, and Quality of Breast Meat

Background: Herbs possess a large amount of antioxidants; thus, using them in the poultry diet can improve the quality of final products. Objectives: This study investigated the effects of dietary supplementation of artichoke, Silybum marianum , and their mixture on Japanese quail’s carcass characteristics, oxidative stability, and breast meat quality. Methods: A total of 120 one-day-old Japanese quail were studied in a completely randomized design with 4 experimental treatments (0%, 1.5% artichoke, 1.5% S. marianum , 1.5% mixture of artichoke and S. marianum ). Each treatment consisted of 3 replicates of 10 birds. At the end of the experiment (day 42), the carcass characteristics of the birds were recorded, and the physical characteristics, chemical composition, color, and oxidative stability of breast meat were evaluated. Results: The results showed no significant difference among the experimental groups regarding pH, dry matter, ash, drip loss, and cooking loss. Dietary enrichment with artichoke and S. marianum caused a decrease in the mean body weight in the experimental treatments compared to the control group (P<0.05). Dietary supplementation with herbal powders increased the crude protein and fat content of breast meat, and group 4 (artichoke+ S. marianum ) had a higher mean than other groups (P<0.05). The hardness of breast meat in the treatment groups has decreased compared to the control group. Compared to the control group, the amount of lightness in the treatments has reduced, and redness and yellowness have increased. TBARS (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) index showed a significant decrease in the investigated treatments compared to the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Dietary supplementation of S. marianum and artichoke improved nutritional value and increased oxidative stability of breast meat in Japanese quail. However, they adversely affected birds’ weight gain and feed consumption.
EVALUATION OF ROTATOR CUFF INJURIES USING HIGH-FREQUENCY ULTRASONOGRAPHY AND ITS COMPARISON WITH MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING FINDINGS

Background: Shoulder pain is the most common musculoskeletal complaint after neck and lower back pain and can be associated with impairment and marked disabilities. Objectives: To compare the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of USG and MRI findings in the diagnosis of rotator cuff injuries. Demographic assessment of type of rotator cuff injuries. Materials and Methods: This was a comparative cross-sectional study that was conducted at the Department of Radio-diagnosis, Sri Lakshmi Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences, Puducherry. The study was approved by the institutional ethics committee, and patients gave written informed consent. A record was maintained in the Department of Radio Diagnosis, Sri Lakshmi Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences, of all cases. This study included 62 patients who presented to the Radiology Department with a clinical history of shoulder pain for evaluating the rotator cuff integrity through the period from 1st Nov 2016 to 31st October 2018 from the Department of Orthopedics. All patients were taken for high-resolution ultrasonography and conventional shoulder MRI in a 1.5 Tesla Siemens MR Scanner. The patients enrolled had undergone shoulder arthroscopy and had confirmed rotator cuff tears. Results: There were 42 male and 20 female patients in the study. Age ranged from 19 to 68 years with the mean age 35.38 years. 42 cases with the clinical diagnosis of recurrent dislocation of the shoulder were taken and 20 cases with rotator cuff tear were taken. Out of 42 cases of recurrent dislocation of shoulder 4 had concomitant rotator cuff tear which was not suspected clinically. The average age of patients with recurrent dislocation of the shoulder was 30.61 yrs. For recurrent dislocation of the shoulder, the overall ratio was even more skewed towards males with male to female ratio of 5:2. Conclusion: MRI appears to be superior to USG in the detection of partial thickness articular surface tears of the rotator cuff as well as the labro-ligamentous complex of the shoulder joint and should be routinely be done, especially in case of young patients.
Pleistocene changes in the flora of the high tropical Andes

Geological data show that high Andean habitats have been available for plant colonization only since the end of the Tertiary. The manner in which plant species moved into these habitats, the times during which, and the methods by which they differentiated during the Pleistocene varied altitudinally and latitudinally along the tropical Andes. The process of speciation in all areas, however, was the same as that in temperate environments, namely, geographic isolation and subsequent divergence. Except on the Altiplano, most plant species expanded their ranges during glacial periods when vegetation zones were lowered. In the northern paramos at elevations above treeline, colonization was greatest during glacial periods but has always occurred in a manner similar to that of oceanic islands. At lower elevations in the northern Andes, and along the Eastern Cordillera, direct migration was possible in glacial times because of increased contiguity of upper montane forest habitats. On the upper slopes of the west coast of Perú, glacial-age plant migrations were fostered more by changes in precipitation than by the lowering of vegetation belts. In all of these areas, interglacial periods were, and are, times of isolation and differentiation. Across the Altiplano in contrast, glacial periods were times of population fragmentation accompanied by differentiation and/or speciation.
The sequence features that deﬁne efﬁcient and speciﬁc hAGO2-dependent miRNA silencing guides

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are ribonucleic acids (RNAs) of ∼ 21 nucleotides that interfere with the translation of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and play signiﬁcant roles in development and diseases. In bilaterian animals, the speciﬁcity of miRNA targeting is determined by sequence complementarity involving the seed. However, the role of the remaining nucleotides (non-seed) is only vaguely deﬁned, impacting negatively on our ability to efﬁciently use miRNAs exogenously to con-trol gene expression. Here, using reporter assays, we deciphered the role of the base pairs formed be-tween the non-seed region and target mRNA. We used molecular modeling to reveal that this mechanism corresponds to the formation of base pairs mediated by ordered motions of the miRNA-induced silencing complex. Subsequently, we developed an algorithm based on this distinctive recognition to predict from sequence the levels of mRNA down-regulation with high accuracy (r 2 > 0.5, P-value < 10 − 12 ). Overall, our discovery improves the design of miRNA-guide sequences used to simultaneously downregulate the expression of multiple predetermined target genes.
Investigating Generalizability of Speech-based Suicidal Ideation Detection Using Mobile Phones

Speech-based diaries from mobile phones can capture paralinguistic patterns that help detect mental illness symptoms such as suicidal ideation. However, previous studies have primarily evaluated machine learning models on a single dataset, making their performance unknown under distribution shifts. In this paper, we investigate the generalizability of speech-based suicidal ideation detection using mobile phones through cross-dataset experiments using four datasets with N=786 individuals experiencing major depressive disorder, auditory verbal hallucinations, persecutory thoughts, and students with suicidal thoughts. Our results show that machine and deep learning methods generalize poorly in many cases. Thus, we evaluate unsupervised domain adaptation (UDA) and semi-supervised domain adaptation (SSDA) to mitigate performance decreases owing to distribution shifts. While SSDA approaches showed superior performance, they are often ineffective, requiring large target datasets with limited labels for adversarial and contrastive training. Therefore, we propose sinusoidal similarity sub-sampling (S3), a method that selects optimal source subsets for the target domain by computing pair-wise scores using sinusoids. Compared to prior approaches, S3 does not use labeled target data or transform features. Fine-tuning using S3 improves the cross-dataset performance of deep models across the datasets, thus having implications in ubiquitous technology, mental health, and machine learning.
The Use of Nitrosative Stress Molecules as Potential Diagnostic Biomarkers in Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS) of still unclear etiology. In recent years, the search for biomarkers facilitating its diagnosis, prognosis, therapy response, and other parameters has gained increasing attention. In this regard, in a previous meta-analysis comprising 22 studies, we found that MS is associated with higher nitrite/nitrate (NOx) levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) compared to patients with non-inflammatory other neurological diseases (NIOND). However, many of the included studies did not distinguish between the different clinical subtypes of MS, included pre-treated patients, and inclusion criteria varied. As a follow-up to our meta-analysis, we therefore aimed to analyze the serum and CSF NOx levels in clinically well-defined cohorts of treatment-naïve MS patients compared to patients with somatic symptom disorder. To this end, we analyzed the serum and CSF levels of NOx in 117 patients (71 relapsing–remitting (RR) MS, 16 primary progressive (PP) MS, and 30 somatic symptom disorder). We found that RRMS and PPMS patients had higher serum NOx levels compared to somatic symptom disorder patients. This difference remained significant in the subgroup of MRZ-negative RRMS patients. In conclusion, the measurement of NOx in the serum might indeed be a valuable tool in supporting MS diagnosis.
Original Article Comparative Study of Bacterial Contamination in Local Iraqi Sheep and Goats Semen

Background: Semen contamination is a detrimental factor in decreasing fertility. Seasonal changes may affect the contamination, too. Objectives: This study was designed to detect semen contamination in ovine and caprine during different seasons. Methods: Six fully mature male sheep and goats were subjected to electro-ejaculator collection twice monthly from February 1, 2022, to January 31, 2023 (Spring, February 1, 2022-April 30, 2022; Summer, May 1, 2022, July 31, 2022; Autumn August 1, 2022, October 31, 2022; Winter November 1, 2022, January 31, 2023), for studying the seasonal effect. A total of 288 semen samples were collected from both species (36 samples from each per season). All samples were subjected to bacterial isolation and identification. Results: The results indicated that sheep semen had 4 different types of bacterial contamination with a higher number in contaminated samples than goat, which showed 5 different bacterial isolations. There were no significant differences (P>0.05) in bacterial contamination with regard to different seasons. Conclusion: Different seasons appear not to affect bacterial contamination of semen in sheep and goats. Meanwhile, isolating all bacteria types was considered normal flora in both small ruminant species.
Fiscal Decentralization and Health Care Access and Quality: Evidence from Local Governments Around the World

In this article we consider the impact on health care access and quality when decentralizing health spending down to local governments, based on data from 49 countries around the world over the period 1996 to 2015. Our empirical results, after controlling for a range of potentially confounding variables, indicate that decentralizing health spending is inimical to timely and effective health care. We moreover explore the role of two specific channels through which fiscal decentralization can undermine health outcomes namely, externalities and foregone economies of scale. We find that decentralizing health expenditure down to the local level may generate externalities to the detriment of health outcomes when it is accompanied by locally elected municipal politicians who are not subject to national parties. Our results also suggest that fiscal decentralization can improve health access and quality when two-thirds or more of the people in a country live in localities with more than 300,000 inhabitants, implying that below this threshold economies of scale may be foregone.