Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical characteristics of children with epilepsy managed at an urban hospital in Africa: a retrospective study

Background Most children with epilepsy reside in resource-limited regions such as sub-Saharan Africa, where the majority of studies have been conducted in rural areas with limited investigations. Medical records from children with epilepsy seen at an urban hospital in Kenya were examined to provide a comprehensive description of epilepsy in children from this hospital. Methods A retrospective observational study was conducted which involved reviewing medical records of 426 epilepsy patients (260 males and 166 females) aged 0 - 18 years, seen at Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya between February 2011 and December 2014. Results The most frequent age at presentation; documented in 29% was in infancy. Generalized seizures due to structural brain abnormalities were the most common form of epilepsy (28%). Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome was the most common electroclinical syndrome (7%). Focal seizures and focal seizures with loss of awareness were identified in 12% of the population. There were no cases of childhood absence epilepsy in this group. Brain atrophy was the most common MRI finding, occurring in a fifth of the population (20%), while cystic encephalomalacia occurred in 13%. Half (50%) of all EEG recordings performed for this cohort were abnormal. Generalized seizures due to structural brain abnormalities and Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS) were significant predictors of a treatment history of three or more AEDs. At the conclusion of the review period, 16% of the patients had not visited the clinic for more than 12 months and were considered to be lost to follow-up. Conclusion The highest frequency of epilepsy cases was documented in children less than one year of age. Generalized seizures due to structural abnormalities and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome were the most common seizure type and syndrome. Improvement of public awareness of different types of seizures in children may increase identification of children with childhood absence epilepsy.
Cadaveric Study of Variation in the Formation of Trunks of Brachial Plexus, Embryological Basis and its clinical Significance

Brachial plexus is the plexus of nerves that supplies the upper limb. Variations in the branches of brachial plexus are common but variations in the roots and trunks are very rare. Here, we report one of such rare variations in the formations of the upper trunk, middle trunk, and lower trunk of the brachial plexus in the right and left upper limb of a male and female cadaver. In the present study1 limb (1.6%), there was absence of the upper trunk on the left side of a male cadaver with approximate age of 20 years. And In 1 limb (1.6%), upper trunk of the brachial plexus was found unilaterally on the right side of a male cadaver aged approximately 55 years. the upper trunk was present in 2 limbs (3.3%), both on the right side of male cadavers with approximate age of 55 and 50 years In both cases, C5 and C6 roots were split in anterior and posterior divisions (Figure No. 5). Both anterior divisions joined to give origin to an “anterior superior trunk” and both posterior divisions joined to give origin to a “posterior superior trunk”. These trunks joined to give origin to the superior (upper) trunk. In 2 limbs (3.3%) The middle trunk was absent. in the right upper limb (1.6%) of a male cadaver with approximate age of 35 years the lower trunk was formed by the union of ventral rami of C7, C8 and T1 nerve roots.
The Digital Layer: How Innovative Firms Relate on the Web

In this paper, we introduce the concept of a Digital Layer to empirically investigate inter-firm relations at any geographical scale of analysis. The Digital Layer is created from large-scale, structured web scraping of firm websites, their textual content and the hyperlinks among them. Using text-based machine learning models, we show that this Digital Layer can be used to derive meaningful characteristics for the over seven million firm-to-firm relations, which we analyze in this case study of 500,000 firms based in Germany. Among others, we explore three dimensions of relational proximity: (1) Cognitive proximity is measured by the similarity between firms' website texts. (2) Organizational proximity is measured by classifying the nature of the firms' relationships (business vs. non-business) using a text-based machine learning classification model. (3) Geographical proximity is calculated using the exact geographic location of the firms. Finally, we use these variables to explore the differences between innovative and non-innovative firms with regard to their location and relations within the Digital Layer. The firm-level innovation indicators in this study come from traditional sources (survey and patent data) and from a novel deep learning-based approach that harnesses firm website texts. We find that, after controlling for a range of firm-level characteristics, innovative firms compared to non-innovative firms maintain more numerous relationships and that their partners are more innovative than partners of non-innovative firms. Innovative firms are located in dense areas and still maintain relationships that are geographically farther away. Their partners share a common knowledge base and their relationships are business-focused. We conclude that the Digital Layer is a suitable and highly cost-efficient method to conduct large-scale analyses of firm networks that are not constrained to specific sectors, regions, or a particular geographical level of analysis. As such, our approach complements other relational datasets like patents or survey data nicely.
Corporate social responsibility and organisational performance in the tourism sector

Abstract This study tests the bidirectional connections between corporate social responsibility performance and the financial performance of firms within the tourism sector and related industries based on the instrumental stakeholder and slack resources theories. Disaggregated measures of firms’ corporate social responsibility practices and corporate financial performance were considered to avoid compensation effects. This choice also allows for testing of whether separated dimensions of corporate social responsibility have different linkages with corporate financial performance measures. Static and dynamic panel data regression models were implemented for robustness. With a few exceptions, the study found a neutral impact of corporate environmental, social, and governance performance on firms’ financial success. This study therefore recommends that managers of tourism firms should engage in corporate social responsibility practices, which can contribute to different sustainable development goals without sacrificing financial performance. Contradictory to the slack resources theory, with a few exceptions, the higher the financial performance of tourism firms, the lower their commitment to corporate social responsibility issues. Furthermore, tourism firms must communicate their corporate social responsibility initiatives to develop public awareness of their environmental, social, and governance efforts.
Validity and Reliability of the Persian Version of the Revised Caregiving Appraisal Scale in Iranian Family Caregivers of Older Adults with Dementia

Background: Caregivers’ self-assessments of the care they provide are the main vehicles that help explore their experiences and are thought to have a major role in care outcomes. The rising number of people with dementia and their need for care provided within the family makes family caregiving a major topic for study and evaluation. Objectives: The present study was conducted to assess the psychometric characteristics of the Persian version of the revised caregiving appraisal scale (RCAS) in family caregivers of older adults with dementia. Methods: In this cross-sectional methodological study, 236 family caregivers were recruited through convenience sampling. The revised caregiving appraisal scale (RCAS) was translated using the international quality of life assessment (IQOLA) protocol, and then a panel of experts examined its face and content validities. To ensure construct validity, the translated revised caregiving appraisal scale (RCAS) was completed by 236 family caregivers, and the factor construct of the scale was assessed using five initial factors for confirmatory factor analysis. Internal consistency was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha, and test-retest using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The confirmatory factor analysis was performed with LISREL-8.8 software for Windows®. Results: The mean age of the participating caregivers was 53.5 ± 13.13 years. The content and face validities of the scale were confirmed using the feedback of the family caregivers and panel of experts. The confirmatory factor analysis results reported appropriate values for all the fit indices (RMSEA = 0.046, df / χ = 2.428, CFI = 0.98, AGFI = 0.84, and GFI = 0.9), and the 5-factor model was confirmed with 27 items. The scale-level Cronbach’s alpha was reported as 0.894 and the scale-level ICC as 0.94. The scale met the minimum reliability standards (Cronbach’s alpha and intraclass correlation coefficient > 0.7). Conclusions: This study has provided some preliminary evidence of the reliability and validity of the Persian version of RCAS when used with family caregivers of older adults with dementia.
Aberrant functional connectivity of the cingulate subregions in right-sided temporal lobe epilepsy

Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) have been indicated to exhibit abnormal resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the cingulate cortex. However, it has remained elusive whether cingulate subregions show different connectivity patterns in TLE. The present study aimed to investigate the differences in rsFC of each cingulate subregion between patients with right-sided TLE (rTLE) and healthy controls (HCs), as well as their association with executive control performance in rTLE. A total of 27 patients with rTLE and 20 age-, sex- and education-matched healthy controls were recruited and all participants underwent resting-state functional MRI and an attention network test for the assessment executive control function. In each hemisphere, the cingulate gyrus (CG) was divided into CG-1 (dorsal area 23; A23d), CG-2 (rostroventral area 24; A24rv), CG-3 (pregenual area 32; A32p), CG-4 (ventral area 23; A23v), CG-5 (caudodorsal area 24; A24cd), CG-6 (caudal area 24; A23c) and CG-7 (subgenual area 32; A32sg). Pearson's correlation analysis was performed to assess the correlation between the altered FCs of the cingulate subregions and clinical variables. In patients with rTLE, the majority of the cingulate subregions exhibited decreased rsFC; this was primarily restricted to the right CG-2, the bilateral CG-6 and the bilateral CG-7. Increased rsFC was only detected in rTLE restricted to the left CG-1. Impairments in executive control efficiency were identified in patients with rTLE in comparison with the HCs. Significant alterations in rsFC between the cingulate subregion and the brain regions were mostly decreased (and some slightly increased), suggesting that FC may potentially have a left-side advantage in patients with rTLE. FC variations of the cingulate subregions were indicated to be specific to rTLE. In addition, increased connectivity in the left CG-1 and left superior frontal gyrus were negatively correlated with executive control performance, suggesting a compensatory mechanism on executive control deficits in pathological conditions. This information on differentially altered FC patterns of the cingulate subregions may provide a deeper understanding of the complex neurological mechanisms and executive control dysfunctions underlying rTLE.
GraphNVP: an Invertible Flow-based Model for Generating Molecular Graphs

We propose GraphNVP, the first invertible, normalizing flow-based molecular graph generation model. We decompose the generation of a graph into two steps: generation of (i) an adjacency tensor and (ii) node attributes. This decomposition yields the exact likelihood maximization on graph-structured data, combined with two novel reversible flows. We empirically demonstrate that our model efficiently generates valid molecular graphs with almost no duplicated molecules. In addition, we observe that the learned latent space can be used to generate molecules with desired chemical properties.
System reliability as a surrogate measure of safety for horizontal curves: methodology and case studies

Reliability analysis has been advocated to account for the uncertainty in geometric design and to evaluate the risk associated with various design options. Most of the previous studies using reliability-analysis in highway design evaluated only one-mode of noncompliance. This study assesses the performance of horizontal curves using a system of multi-modal noncompliance (insufficient sight distance, vehicle skidding, and vehicle rollover). Five case studies of a highway in British Columbia are considered. Two approaches were used: (1) second-order reliability-bounds with FORM analysis (First-Order Reliability Method), (2) Monte-Carlo Simulation (MCS). A calibrated design chart that accommodates heavy-trucks on horizontal-curves with sharp-radii is provided. The results show that the differences in the system probability of noncompliance between one-mode and system of multi-modes of noncompliance are more pronounced for heavy-trucks. Results also show that the probability of noncompliance associated with vehicle rollover is significantly affected by the stability-ratio compared to height-ratio and roll-rate.
The Effects of 10 Weeks Concurrent Aerobic and Strength Exercise on Quality of Life and Resilience of Kidney Transplant Patients

Background: Kidney transplant patients are exposed to a lot of different infectious on diseases because of long usage of suppressing immune system drugs. Quality of life (QoL) is generally found to improve for renal transplant recipients, although some patients continue to experience health-related problems. Kidney transplant is the selected treatment of chronic kidney disease and it improves life quality and resilience. Objective: To evaluate The Effects of 10 Weeks Concurrent Aerobic and Strength Exercise on Quality of Life and Resilience of Kidney Transplant Patients. Methods: forty four renal transplant recipients were selected to participate in the study and randomized into exercise (n=29) and control (n=15) groups. The exercise group participated in a cumulative exercise proÂ¬gram 3 days a week for 10 weeks in 60â€“90-minute exercise sessions. Control group subjects did not participate in any regular exercise activity during this period. For measuring the variable of this research; the resilience scale of Cano and Davidson (2003) and questionnaire which measured quality of life (SF-36) measured before and after 10 weeks of exercise training. Data analysis was conducted using t-tests. Results: quality of life and resilience values were significantly increased after 10 weeks of exercise training in the exercise group relative to control (P<0.05). Conclusion: ten weeks of selected low-intensity exercise can be an effective measure to improve the quality of life and resilience in renal transplant patients. Keywords: Concurrent, Aerobic and Strength Exercise, Quality of Life, Resilience, Kidney Transplant Patients
Urinary schistosomiasis in communities around Kiri Lake, Shelleng Local Government Area, Adamawa State, Nigeria

The objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis in the different communities, the intensity of infection, prevalence among gender and age groups and to relate infection with parent’s occupation. A study on the prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis was conducted in four villages around Kiri Lake in Shelleng Local Government Area, Adamawa State, Nigeria. Two hundred and thirty two urine samples were collected from four primary school children randomly selected from within the four study communities. Overall, prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis was 48% (111/232), with males recording 49% (69/142) and females 47% (42/90). The total mean egg count (MEC) was 8.3. There was no significant difference in prevalence between males and females (P˃0.05). Prevalence was higher among age groups, with the 13-15 year old age group having the highest 62.96% (17/27) and the 4-6 year old age group had the least 37% (19/52). There was no statiscally significant difference in prevalence among the different age groups (P>0.05). Infection was also high among children of fishermen 59.09% (13/22), followed by farmers’ children 56.25% (45/80) and the least prevalence was among children of teachers 20% (3/15). Old Banjiram had the highest infection of 91% (21/23), while Kwadadai had the least 36.8% (21/57) (P<0.05). Old Banjiram and children in the 10-12 years age group had the highest mean egg count of 10.6 and 9.4 respectively. The study reveals a high prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis. And therefore portable water source should be made functional in all communities surrounding the lake. While rehabilitation and repair of the existing water borehole system in the community should be effected as well as drilling new additional boreholes to serve their water needs. Commun JASEMity participatory health education on this neglected tropical disease in the area is needed on knowledge of the disease, the intermediate host and transmission pattern. Since school children harbour infection and are a source of infection of schistosomiasis in endemic communities, planning and provision for their treatment should be considered in control programmes. Keywords: Schistosoma haematobium , Prevalence, Kiri lake, Socio-economic, School children, Nigeria
Theoretical and computational studies of the correlated ionic motion in narrow ion channels

An ion channel is a protein with a hole down its middle embedded into the cytoplasmic membrane of a living biological cells. Ion channels facilitate ionic transport across the membrane, thus bridging the intra- and extra-cellular compartments. Properly functioning channels contribute to the healthy state of an organism, making them one of the main targets for pharmaceutical applications. The description and prediction of a channel’s performance --conductivity, selectivity, blocking etc., -- under arbitrary experimental conditions starting from its crystal structure thus appears as an important challenge in contemporary theoretical research. The main obstacle for such description arises from the presence of the multiple non-negligible interactions in the system. These include ion-ion, ion-water, ion-ligands, ion-pore, and other interactions. Their self-consistent consideration is essential in narrow ion channels, where due to inter-ion interactions and atomic confinement, the ions move in a single-file highly-correlated manner. Molecular dynamics, the most detailed computational tool to date, does not allow one routinely to evaluate the properties of such channels, while continuous methods overlook the ion-ion interactions. Therefore, one needs a method that combines atomic details with the ability to estimate ionic currents. This thesis focuses on the classical treatment of ion channels. Namely, a Brownian Dynamics simulation is described where the interactions of the ion with other ions and the channel are incorporated via the multi-ion potential of the mean force (PMF). This allows one to model the channel’s behaviour under various experimental conditions, while preserving the details of the structure and nanoscale interactions with atomic precision. Secondly, we use the concept of a quasiparticle to describe the highly-correlated ionic motion in the selectivity filter of the KcsA channel. We derive the quasiparticle’s effective potential from the multi-ion atomic PMF, thus connecting the quasiparticle’s properties with the nanoscale features of the channel. We also evaluate the rates of transition between different quasiparticles by virtue of the BD simulation. These ingredients comprehensively describe the quasiparticle’s dynamics which hence serves as an intermediary between the crystal structure and the experimentally observed properties of a narrow ion channel. Lastly, an analytical method to describe the ion-solvent interaction is proposed. It incorporates the ion-solvent and ion-lattice radial density functions, and hence automatically accounts for the pore shape, the type of atoms comprising the lattice, the type of solvent, and the ion’s location near the pore entrance. This method paves the way to an analytical decomposition of single-ion PMFs, what is of fundamental importance in predicting the conductive and selective properties of mutated biological ion channels. This method can also find application in designing functionalized artificial nanopores with on-demand transport properties for efficient water desalination.
The Effects of Qi-gong Exercise on the Health of the Elderly - With Respect to the Physical Health Status, the Fear of Falling, Balance Efficacy, and Hwa-Byung -

Objectives: This study was conducted to identify the effects of the Qi-gong Exercise program on the physical health status, the fear of falling, balance efficacy, and Hwa-Byung in the elderly. Methods: A non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used in 52 elderly subjects who were assigned to the experimental group and the control group (26 subjects in each group). Study out-comes were measured by structured questionnaires from July 2015 to October 2015. For data analysis, the Chi-square test, the Fisher’s exact probability test, the Mann-Whitney U test, the paired t-test, and the Wilcoxon signed rank test were performed using SPSS version 20.0. Results: There were significant differences in the physical health status (Z=12.000, p ＜ .001), balance efficacy (Z=60.500, p= ＜ .001), and Hwa-Byung (Z=20.500, p= ＜ .001) between the two groups in pretest and posttest. Conclusions: The findings confirmed that the Qi-gong Exercise program is effective in improving the physical health status, balance efficacy, and Hwa-Byung in the elderly subjects in the community. It can be recommended as a public health program for the elderly population in the community.
Systematic literature review for the development of a conceptual model on the relationship between knowledge sharing, information technology infrastructure and innovative capability

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to carry out a systematic literature review for the development of a conceptual model that deals with the relationship between knowledge sharing, Information Technology (IT) infrastructure, and innovative capability. The examination and synthesis of the theoretical and the empirical articles show that there are direct relations between the three constructs, observing that relations of interaction also represent forms of significant influences on the capacity of the firms to innovate. The literature review conducted in this study opened the possibility to develop a theoretical model that stimulates future research involving effects of interaction between variables associated with innovation, knowledge and IT. Researchers interested in evaluating simultaneous, direct and interaction effects on innovative capability can use the theoretical model developed as the basis for conducting empirical tests. Organisational managers can incorporate the findings of interaction effects into their knowledge management, innovation and IT models. The results show that the literature about knowledge sharing can consider direct impacts and interaction effects, considering their combination with IT infrastructure to enhance companies’ ability to innovate. These findings suggest that companies’ innovative potential can be incremented by efforts to integrate knowledge sharing processes with IT infrastructure components.