Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of HRCT in Evaluation of Lung Parenchymal Changes in Symptomatic HIV-Seropositive Individuals - Original Research Article

Background: The association between spectrum of pulmonary infection and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) presents an immediate and grave public health and socio-economic threat, particularly in the developing world. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the different patterns of pulmonary abnormalities in HIV patients, to define imaging features of each disease whether infective, non-infective or HIV associated pulmonary malignancy, to differentiate different pulmonary diseases in HIV patients on the basis of pattern of involvement and localization of lesions. Materials and Methods: The cases were selected based on all patients referred to the Department of Radiology, LLRM Medical College, Meerut with proven HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) infection which was clinically suspected of pulmonary infections. HRCT was done. Results: Total 60 cases of HIV/AIDS with suspected pulmonary disease were studied. Out of which 39 were male and 21 were female. Out of which 51.67 % of patients were diagnosed as having pulmonary TB, followed by bacterial infection in 10 % cases and fungal infection like aspergillus in 5%, pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia in 2% & cryptococcus in 1% patients, ILD in 3% and thromboembolism in 1% patients while 23.3% of our study did not reveal any significant abnormality. Conclusion: Various findings such as pulmonary TB being the most common infection and most common HRCT finding in pulmonary TB were nodular opacity can be obtained from the present study. HRCT is a highly sensitive tool for detecting parenchymal abnormalities and allows better characterization of the lesions, with better reproducibility and less interobserver difference. Keywords: interstitial lung disease, Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, Miliary tuberculosis, Pulmonary tuberculosis, pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia.
Investigating the influence of geotextile layers as biofilm granular filters to treat stormwater

This study investigated the application of geotextiles as sustainable urban drainage systems for degradation of organic pollutant load present in stormwater. Three experimental granular filter rigs were used, packed with alternating layers made up of gravel, pea gravel, sand and either an upper layer, an upper and lower layer or no layer of geotextile. The hydraulic loading capacity matched that commonly used on conventional sand filters. Standard water quality parameters were measured and collated data was evaluated using an ANOVA and Levine's test of homogeneity of variance procedure. It was found that the rig with both upper and lower geotextiles had a statistically significant difference in data from the rig with only a single geotextile layer. High chemical oxygen demand (58–80%) and suspended solids (88–99.99%) removal rates occurred for all rigs. However, the control rig showed increased outflow concentration of nutrients indicating the potential of geotextiles for stormwater treatment.
Soil Quality Restoration during the Natural Succession of Abandoned Cattle Pastures in Deforested Landscapes in the Colombian Amazon

Successional processes in abandoned pastures in the Amazon region have been well-documented for the floristic component; however, soil succession has been poorly studied. This study assessed the physical, chemical and biological responses of soils in the Amazon region during the natural succession process in two main landscapes of the Colombian Amazon. Soil data on soil physico–chemical (bulk density, macroaggregates, pH and minerals) and biological (soil macrofauna) composition were evaluated along chronosequence with four successional stages: (i) degraded pastures, (ii) young (10–20-year-old), (iii) middle-age (25–40-year-old) and (iv) mature forests, in two different landscapes (hill and mountain). Individual soil variables and a synthetic indicator of soil quality (GISQ) were evaluated as tools for natural succession monitoring. The results corroborated the negative impact that cattle ranching has on Amazon soils. After 10 years of natural succession, the physico–chemical and biological soil components were widely restored. Less soil compaction and organic carbon occurred in older successional stages. Soil macrofauna richness and density increased along the chronosequence, with an evident association between the macrofauna composition and the macroaggregates in the soil. None of the individual soil properties or the GISQ indicator discriminated among natural succession stages; therefore, new soil quality indicators should be developed to monitor soil quality restoration in natural successions.
Numerical Study of Microplastic Dispersal in Simulated Coastal Waters Using CFD Approach

Microplastics are accumulated in coastal regions due to human activity. Although limited data from beach surveys show an increase in microplastics in marine habitats, continuous monitoring is required on microplastics loading and distribution in the marine environment. In this study, CFD numerical simulations using VOF and Airy wave models coupled with DPM were carried out to investigate the effects of various variables on microplastics motion and distribution in a simulated coastal marine environment. PET, PU, and PP microplastic particles were released from the oceanside to investigate the effects of microplastic type, size, and shape with two different ocean–water flow velocities and temperature conditions. Particle position data from their tracking were used to determine the effect of each variable on the spatial distribution of particles. The quantitative analysis of vertical and horizontal distribution of microplastics particles revealed that, with low water velocity, most of the large denser spherical PET and PU microplastics would sink towards the bottom and settle at the ocean floor, while most of the small non-spherical particles would float near the surface and travel towards the shoreline. For lighter PP microplastics, larger spherical particles would float more readily than denser spherical ones. Large spherical and smaller non-spherical PP particles travel farthest reporting to the shoreline. Increasing the oceanwater velocity altered the distribution patterns in which lighter PP particles, almost independent of shape and size, travel swiftly to the shoreline together with smaller non-spherical denser microplastics. Lastly, the simulation results revealed that the oceanwater temperature did not play any significant role in the spatial distribution of microplastic particles.
Event-Triggered Adaptive Prescribed Performance Control of Uncertain Nonlinear Systems

An event-triggered based on prescribed performance control (PPC) for the tracking control problem of strictfeedback uncertain nonlinear systems with input saturation constraint is studied. First, a smooth nonlinear function is introduced to approximate the saturation function. Secondly, the PPC design process of a class of uncertain nonlinear systems and a new error transformation function are designed to guarantee the output of the system does not violate the set constraints of the preset functions. Thirdly, an eventtriggered based on adaptive PPC for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems is implemented. It makes all closed-loop signals in the system uniformly ultimately bounded (UUB). Finally, an example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Managing product quality, risk, and resources through resource quality function deployment

Decisions made in the early stages of product development projects are vital to their success. Such decisions include setting target product quality, allocating resources, as well as deciding whether to terminate or continue the project. In this study, we propose a new method that, based on a mathematical programming extension of quality function deployment, uses detailed information about the product and the organizational marketing and engineering competencies. The method outputs detailed information regarding project resource allocation, planned product quality, target market share, and resulting project risk that support the aforementioned decisions. The method is exemplified on the development of a recently patented product concept. While the product has never been developed, it is used to illustrate the proposed approach. The benefits and limitations of the method are discussed.
The Impact of Cochlear Implantation: Cognitive Function, Quality of Life, and Frailty in Older Adults

This review examines the relationship between cochlear implantation and cognition and quality of life in older adults, as well as how frailty affects outcomes for older patients with cochlear implants. A growing body of evidence suggests that there is a strong association between hearing loss and cognitive impairment. Preliminary studies suggest that cochlear implantation in older adults may be protective against cognitive decline. While studies have observed a positive impact of cochlear implantation on quality of life, currently it is unclear what factors contribute the most to improved quality of life. Frailty, as a measurement of general health, likely plays a role in complication rates and quality-of-life outcomes after cochlear implantation, though larger prospective studies are required to further elucidate this relationship.
Value of maturity models in performance measurement

Over the last 20 years, the field of performance measurement (PM) has evolved from measurement to management. Investigations demonstrated the relevance of PM in management of organisations’ results. Although maturity model concept was widely used, the value of maturity models in PM has not been purposefully investigated. To address this gap, this research formulated three research questions: (1) How do maturity models in the field of performance measurement and management (PM&M) add value in practice? (2) How do such maturity models compliment and/or replicate the value added by an expert? (3) How do maturity models contribute to the development of the organisation’s PM&M practices? Using a predefined research protocol, 12 European manufacturing organisations and independent experts were engaged in conducting two separate studies: (1) the experts conducted reviews with 12 companies using a standard business review format; (2) research team adopted one of the available maturity models and facilitated self-assessments with the management teams of the same 12 companies. Results from both the studies were compared and high levels of congruence were identified. The analysis demonstrates that the maturity models with certain characteristics, promote organisational learning as well as enabling efficient and effective assessment of the performance management practices of the organisations.
Endotracheal Tube Placement in Infants Determined by Suprasternal Palpation: A New Technique

In order to decrease complications of improper endotracheal tube positioning, a method of placing the tube by palpation within the suprasternal notch was devised. The method proved to be simple and effective. The accuracy was verified by fluoroscopy and a clinical study comparing this technique with others is reported. No complications of the technique were noted. Once palpation was reliable, the proper position of the tube tip was defined. From measurements taken from routine inspiratory chest radiographs on 142 infants, it was found that a point midway between the medial ends of the clavicle (IMP) was a good position because it approximates the true tracheal midpoint and, therefore, is a good landmark on a chest radiograph. This point allows for movement of the tube tip with head positioning and of carina with respiration. The tube tip can be placed near the IMP by the suprasternal palpation technique. This method, therefore, is useful in emergency situations or on initial intubations to avoid improper position of the tube tip prior to radiograph verification.
Process drama in anti-bullying intervention: a study of adolescents’ attitudes and initiatives

ABSTRACT In this article, we investigate how a process drama can be used in efforts against school bullying in a new digitalised society, specifically, what kinds of initiatives Norwegian adolescents make use of in process drama as anti-bullying prevention and what kinds of attitudes towards this kind of prevention work they emphasise. In the project Drama & Bullying (2017-2020),95 16- year-old 10th-graders participated in different roles, explored the drama conventions, and thus developed a deeper insight into bullying and its prevention. The participants adjusted the original story that was provided to fit their presentday challenges.
Pre-processing in three-dimensional magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) images

Over the past years the advance of computing systems has allowed a substantial progress in the digital processing image applications. This advance is reflected especially in the degree of improvement of the images of computed axial tomography, echography and nuclear magnetic resonance. An interesting application of the image processing is the identification of narrowing vessels. Particularly in the registration of images by means of MRA it is required to enhance the images to visualize small vessels sharply. Some studies that use the preprocessing of the local maximum mean (LMM) have been proposed, within this theoretical framework, to enhance the detectability of small vessels. The LMM is applied to the line segments in the cube centered at the voxel of interest for each datum corresponding to a voxel in the original three-dimensional (3-D) data set, and a 3-D LMM data set is formed. The maximum intensity projection (MIP) is applied to the 3-D LMM data set to produce the two-dimensional (2 -D) LMM-MIP image that enhances the detectability of small vessels. In this context, we propose a modification of the LMM algorithms using the median in the preprocessing. This new pre-processing is evaluated with 215 groups of images that contain between 20 and 104 slices each. A better vessel-tissue contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) is obtained comparing the different pre-processing.
Quantifying and mitigating privacy threats in wireless protocols and services

The ubiquity of mobile wireless devices greatly magnifies the threats of clandestine physical tracking, profiling, and surveillance. This is because these devices often reveal their identities and locations to third parties, either inadvertently to eavesdroppers nearby or in reports to location-based services. In this dissertation, we address the challenges in building practical wireless protocols and services that protect users from these threats. To understand the nature of the problem, we first quantify how easily eavesdroppers can track devices that use 802.11, the dominant local area wireless protocol for the foreseeable future. Using wireless traffic from hundreds of real devices, we show that eavesdroppers can track 802.11 devices accurately even if explicit identifiers, such as MAC addresses, are changed over time. This is because implicit identifiers, or identifying characteristics of 802.11 traffic, can still identify many users with high accuracy. We develop an automated procedure that can identify users even when countermeasures, such as pseudonyms and encryption, are employed. In response to these shortcomings, we present the design and evaluation of an 802.11-like wireless link layer protocol that obfuscates all transmitted bits, rather than select fields, to increase privacy. By obscuring all bits, we greatly increase the difficulty of identifying or profiling users from their transmissions. Our design, called SlyFi, is nearly as efficient as existing schemes for discovery, link setup, and data delivery because transmission requires only symmetric key encryption and reception requires a table lookup followed by symmetric key decryption. Experiments using our implementation on Atheros 802.11 drivers show that SlyFi performs comparably with 802.11 using WPA. Finally, we demonstrate how to build wireless service directories that can not track users who submit location-aware reports. This problem is increasingly relevant for 802.11 hotspot directories, which may rely on users that submit accurate information about hotspot location and characteristics but want to remain anonymous. We present Wifi-Reports, a location-based service that provides Wi-Fi clients with historical information about AP location, performance, and application support. Wifi-Reports addresses two conflicting goals: preserving the privacy of users' reports and limiting fraudulent reports. Our contributions demonstrate that future wireless protocols and services need not sacrifice users' privacy in order to be practical.
Understanding the Landscape of Overruns in Transport Infrastructure Projects

Cost and schedule overruns are endemic features of transport infrastructure projects. Despite the considerable amount of research within the field of transport and planning in the past thirty years, limited progress has been made to improving the performance of projects. We contend that this will continue to be an issue as long as research efforts focus on the ‘outside view’ with emphasis being placed upon strategic misrepresentation and optimism bias. Understanding ‘why’ and ‘how’ projects overrun, particularly from both ‘outside’ and ‘inside’ perspectives, is pivotal to reducing their impact and occurrence. Thus, in conjunction with the transport and planning literature, references to cost-overrun studies undertaken within the field of construction and engineering are examined. Our objective is to provide policy makers, industry, voluntary organizations, and the public at large with an ameliorated understanding about time-overrun and cost-overrun phenomena. Suggestions to mitigate overruns based upon recent process and technological innovations are identified and discussed.
Evolutionary Analysis of the YABBY Gene Family in Brassicaceae

The YABBY gene family is one of the plant transcription factors present in all seed plants. The family members were extensively studied in various plants and shown to play important roles in plant growth and development, such as the polarity establishment in lateral organs, the formation and development of leaves and flowers, and the response to internal plant hormone and external environmental stress signals. In this study, a total of 364 YABBY genes were identified from 37 Brassicaceae genomes, of which 15 were incomplete due to sequence gaps, and nine were imperfect (missing C2C2 zinc-finger or YABBY domain) due to sequence mutations. Phylogenetic analyses resolved these YABBY genes into six compact clades except for a YAB3-like gene identified in Aethionema arabicum. Seventeen Brassicaceae species each contained a complete set of six basic YABBY genes (i.e., 1 FIL, 1 YAB2, 1 YAB3, 1 YAB5, 1 INO and 1 CRC), while 20 others each contained a variable number of YABBY genes (5–25) caused mainly by whole-genome duplication/triplication followed by gene losses, and occasionally by tandem duplications. The fate of duplicate YABBY genes changed considerably according to plant species, as well as to YABBY gene type. These YABBY genes were shown to be syntenically conserved across most of the Brassicaceae species, but their functions might be considerably diverged between species, as well as between paralogous copies, as demonstrated by the promoter and expression analysis of YABBY genes in two Brassica species (B. rapa and B. oleracea). Our study provides valuable insights for understanding the evolutionary story of YABBY genes in Brassicaceae and for further functional characterization of each YABBY gene across the Brassicaceae species.
ENTERIC CANDIDIASIS

Direct microscopic examination of fecal smears permits differentiation between the saprophytic and the pathogenic phase of intestinal Candida albicans. The pathogenic phase is characterized by the presence of mycelia (M) in direct smears. When C. albicans is present saprophytically, direct fecal smears are negative or show the yeast form (Y) only. MY-positive fecal smears were found with nine times higher frequency in abnormal than in normal-appearing stools of infants with oral thrush who yielded C. albicans in stool cultures. Candidal enteritis was diagnosed on the basis of MY-positive fecal smears in 27 patients, and was ruled out on the basis of MY-negative fecal smears in six patients who yielded the organism in cultures only. The validity of the a priori diagnosis was tested by the comparative response of the MY-positive and the MY-negative patients to specific anticandidal therapy (nystatin) given by mouth. Of the patients, 88% responded clinically and mycologically as predicted on the basis of direct mycological stool examinations. Of the MY-positive patients, 80% responded to nystatin within an average of 3 days' therapy. All six MY-negative patients failed to respond within an average of 12 days' therapy. The difference in response was found to be statistically significant. Oral and/or cutaneous candidiasis was present in 85% of the MY- positive patients. The presence of oral and/or cutaneous candidiasis in a patient with diarrhea furnishes a clinical clue to probable candidal etiology of the enteritis.
MORPHING AIRFOIL SHAPE CHANGE OPTIMIZATION WITH MINIMUM ACTUATOR ENERGY AS AN OBJECTIVE

Morphing aircraft are multi-role aircraft that use innovative actuators, effectors, and mechanisms to change their state to perform select missions with substantially improved system performance. State change in this study means a change in the cross-sectional shape of the wing itself, not chord extension or span extension. Integrating actuators and mechanisms into an effective, light weight structural topology that generates lift and sustains the air loads generated by the wing is central to the success of morphing, shape changing wings and airfoils. The objective of this study is to explore a process to link analytical models and optimization tools with design methods to create energy efficient, lightweight wing/structure/actuator combinations for morphing aircraft wings. In this case, the energy required to change from one wing or airfoil shape to another is used as the performance index for optimization while the aerodynamic performance such as lift or drag is constrained. Three different, but related, topics are considered: energy required to operate articulated trailing edge flaps and slats attached to flexible 2D airfoils; optimal, minimum energy, articulated control deflections on wings to generate lift; and, deformable airfoils with cross-sectional shape changes requiring strain energy changes to move from one lift coefficient to another. Results indicate that a formal optimization scheme using minimum actuator energy as an objective and internal structural topology features as design variables can identify the best actuators and their most effective locations so that minimal energy is required to operate a morphing wing. Background
The wave motion of a revolving shaft, and a suggestion as to the angular momentum in a beam of circularly polarised light

When a shaft of circular section is revolving uniformly, and is transmitting power uniformly, a row of particles originally in a line parallel to the axis will lie in a spiral of constant pitch, and the position of the shaft at any instant may be described by the position of this spiral. Let us suppose that the power is transmitted from left to right, and that as viewed from the left the revolution is clockwise. Then the spiral is a left-handed screw. Let it be on the surface, and there make an angle є with the axis. Let the radius of the shaft be a , and let one turn of the spiral have length λ along the axis. We may term λ the wave-length of the spiral. We have tan є = 2 πa / λ . If the orientation of the section at the origin at time t is given by θ = 2 π N t , where N is the number of revolutions per second, the orientation of the section at x .