Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CHEST COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY FINDINGS ASSOCIATED WITH SEVERITY AND MORTALITY IN PATIENTS WITH COVID-19

Objectives: To determine chest CT findings associated with severity and mortality in patients with COVID-19 from the Hospital Nacional Edgardo Rebagliati Martins (HNERM) and propose cut-off values for a tomographic severity score (TSS). Materials and Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted in 254 patients with COVID-19 who underwent chest CT as part of their initial evaluation at the emergency room; they were classified according to clinical severity. Main tomographic findings were described. A multivariate analysis with logistic regression was carried out to determine association with clinical severity, the Cox model was used to evaluate mortality, and ROC curves were elaborated to assess cutoff values for the TSS. Results: CT findings associated with clinical severity were the following: diffuse pattern (OR: 3.23, 95% CI: 1.46-7.14), crazy-paving pattern (OR: 2.48; 95% CI: 1.08-5.68), and high TSS value (OR: 1.73; 95% CI: 1.49-2.02). The crazy-paving pattern (HR: 1.78; 95% CI: 1.03-3.06) and a high TSS value (HR: 1.33; 95% CI: 1.20-1.48) were found to be associated with mortality. A value of 7 in the TSS showed a sensibility of 94.4% and a specificity of 100% for moderate disease, and a value of 13 showed a sensibility of 84.9% and a specificity of 70.6% for severe disease. Conclusions: The diffuse pattern is associated with higher clinical severity. The crazy-paving pattern and a high TSS value are associated with higher clinical severity and mortality. We propose TSS cutoff values of 7 and 13 for moderate and severe disease, respectively.
Electrorheological behavior of suspensions of camphorsulfonic acid (CSA) doped polyaniline nanofibers in silicone oil

The electrorheological (ER) effect is known as the enhancement of the apparent viscosity upon application of an external electric field applied perpendicular to the flow direction. Suspensions of polarizable particles in non-conducting solvents are the most studied ER fluids. The increase in viscosity observed in the suspensions is due to the formation of columns that align with the electric field. This work presents the ER behavior of suspensions, in silicone oil, of camphorsulfonic acid (CSA) doped polyaniline (PANI) nanofibers. The ER properties of the suspensions were investigated with a rotational rheometer, to which an ER cell was coupled, in steady shear, and electrical field strengths up to 2 kV mm−1. The effects of the electric field strength, content of nanostructures and viscosity of the continuum phase, in the shear viscosity and yield stress, were investigated at room temperature. As expected, the ER effect increases with the increase of the electric field as well as with the increase of content of nanofibers and it decreases with the increase of the oil viscosity. The suspensions present giant ER effects (higher than 2 orders of magnitude increase in viscosity for low shear rates and high electric fields), showing their potential application as ER smart materials.
Investigation of Icing Effects on Aerodynamic Performance for the High-Lift Configuration of Civil Aircraft

For flight safety reason, a better understanding of the effect of ice accretion on the aerodynamic performance is required. The ice shape used in this study is holding ice with one or two ice horns, which accretes on the unprotected surface of the aircraft. By using the verified numerical simulation method, it can be found that due to the effects of holding ice, the stall angle of the aircraft is significantly reduced and lift has a severe penalty. Besides, the pitching moment characteristics are deteriorated, which is a threat to flight safety. The main reason for the pitch up of aircraft with holding ice is the decreases in pitch-down moment of the horizontal tail affected by the iced wing and the increases in pitch-up moment provided by the wing. To avoid this, a method is proposed to improve the aerodynamic performance of iced high-lift configuration, which is shortened inner slat. It can be seen that the obvious improvement in pitching moment characteristics is at the expense of the slight decrease in lift for the iced high-lift configuration. Besides, this method has little effect on aerodynamic performance of the clean configuration.
Test Data Processing of Fly-by-Wire Civil Aircraft in Low-Speed Wind Tunnel Virtual Flight

By processing the wind tunnel virtual flight test data, the movement process of the fly-by-wire civil aircraft can be realistically simulated. This paper establishes the dynamic model of the fly-by-wire civil aircraft wind tunnel virtual flight, designs the aircraft's longitudinal and lateral heading control laws, and verifies the correctness of the test results by comparing the simulation data with the flight test data. The digital filter is used to eliminate the noise of the test data, and the data compatibility test is performed by the output error method to eliminate the constant error and the scale factor error in the flight test data. A set of virtual flight data processing methods for fly-by-wire civil aircraft in wind tunnels has been formed.
Strikingly Different Roles of SARS-CoV-2 Fusion Peptides Uncovered by Neutron Scattering

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), a lethal respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, emerged in the end of 2019 and has since spread aggressively across the globe. A thorough understanding of the molecular mechanisms of cellular infection by coronaviruses is therefore of utmost importance. A critical stage in infection is the fusion between viral and host membranes. Here, we present a detailed investigation of the role of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein, and the influence of calcium and cholesterol, in this fusion process. Structural information from specular neutron reflectometry and small angle neutron scattering, complemented by dynamics information from quasi-elastic and spin-echo neutron spectroscopy, revealed strikingly different functions encoded in the Spike fusion domain. Calcium drives the N-terminal of the Spike fusion domain to fully cross the host plasma membrane. Removing calcium however re-orients the protein to the lipid leaflet in contact with the virus, leading to significant changes in lipid fluidity and rigidity. In conjunction with other regions of the fusion domain which are also positioned to bridge and dehydrate viral and host membranes, the molecular events leading to cell entry by SARS-CoV-2 are proposed. SIGNIFICANCE We have recreated here important elements of the critical membrane fusion mechanism of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus by simplifying the system down to its core elements, amenable to experimental analysis by neutron scattering. Neutrons are well suited for the study of protein – membrane interactions under physiological conditions, since they allow structural and dynamics characterization at room temperature. Our results revealed strikingly different functions encoded in the viral Spike fusion domain and thereby provide a potential calcium-dependent cell entry mechanism for SARS-CoV-2. In particular, calcium drives the protein’s N-terminal to harpoon through the host membrane, while removing calcium re-orients the protein so that it is able to bridge and dehydrate lipid membranes, facilitating their fusion.
A Dual-Domain Achievability of the Typical Error Exponent

For random-coding ensembles with pairwise-independent codewords, we show that the probability that the exponent of a given code from the ensemble being smaller than an upper bound on the typical random-coding exponent is vanishingly small. This upper bound is known to be tight for i.i. d. ensembles over the binary symmetric channel and for constant-composition codes over memoryless channels. Our result recovers these as special cases and remains valid for arbitrary alphabets and channel memory, as well as arbitrary ensembles with pairwise independent codewords.
Sparse Representation Classification of Tobacco Leaves Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and a Deep Learning Algorithm

ABSTRACT A spare representation classification method for tobacco leaves based on near-infrared spectroscopy and deep learning algorithm is reported in this paper. All training samples were used to make up a data dictionary of the sparse representation and the test samples were represented by the sparsest linear combinations of the dictionary by sparse coding. The regression residual of the test sample to each class was computed and finally assigned to the class with the minimum residual. The effectiveness of spare representation classification method was compared with K-nearest neighbor and particle swarm optimization–support vector machine algorithms. The results show that the classification accuracy of the proposed method is higher and it is more efficient. The results suggest that near-infrared spectroscopy with spare representation classification algorithm may be an alternative method to traditional methods for discriminating classes of tobacco leaves.
Prevalence and Newly Diagnosed Rates of Multimorbidity in Older Medicare Beneficiaries with COPD

Abstract Few studies have quantified the multimorbidity burden in older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) using large and generalizable data. Such evidence is essential to inform evidence-based research, clinical care, and resource allocation. This retrospective cohort study used a nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years or older with COPD and 1:1 matched (on age, sex, and race) non-COPD beneficiaries to: (1) quantify the prevalence of multimorbidity at COPD onset and one-year later; (2) quantify the rates [per 100 person-years (PY)] of newly diagnosed multimorbidity during in the year prior to and in the year following COPD onset; and (3) compare multimorbidity prevalence in beneficiaries with and without COPD. Among 739,118 eligible beneficiaries with and without COPD, the average number of multimorbidity was 10.0 (SD = 4.7) and 1.0 (SD = 3.3), respectively. The most prevalent multimorbidity at COPD onset and at one-year after, respectively, were hypertension (70.8% and 80.2%), hyperlipidemia (52.2% and 64.8%), anemia (42.1% and 52.0%), arthritis (39.8% and 47.7%), and congestive heart failure (CHF) (31.3% and 38.8%). Conditions with the highest newly diagnosed rates before and following COPD onset, respectively, included hypertension (39.8 and 32.3 per 100 PY), hyperlipidemia (22.8 and 27.6), anemia (17.8 and 20.3), CHF (16.2 and 13.2), and arthritis (12.9 and 13.2). COPD was significantly associated with increased odds of all measured conditions relative to non-COPD controls. This study updates existing literature with more current, generalizable findings of the substantial multimorbidity burden in medically complex older adults with COPD-necessary to inform patient-centered, multidimensional care. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15412555.2021. 1968815 .
Belantamab mafodotin for the treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma in heavily pretreated patients: a US cost-effectiveness analysis

ABSTRACT Background Patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) require several lines of therapy, with typically shorter remission duration with each additional line. Research design and methods The cost-effectiveness of belantamab mafodotin (belamaf; DREAMM-2; NCT03525678) was compared with selinexor plus dexamethasone (SEL+DEX; STORM Part 2; NCT02336815) among patients with RRMM who have received at least four prior therapies. The base case used a US commercial payer’s perspective over a 10-year time horizon. Efficacy data were based on parametric survival analysis of DREAMM-2 and matching-adjusted indirect treatment comparison between DREAMM-2 and STORM Part 2, which assessed relative treatment effects between belamaf and SEL+DEX. Cost inputs included drug treatment, concomitant medications, adverse event management, subsequent treatments, and disease management. Results Belamaf decreased total treatment costs per patient by $14,267 and increased patient life years by 0.74 and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) by 0.49 versus SEL+DEX. Patients receiving belamaf accrued 0.12 fewer progression-free life years versus patients on SEL+DEX. Conclusions From a US commercial payer’s perspective, belamaf had lower costs, and increased QALYs and life-year gain, compared with SEL+DEX. Belamaf is therefore likely to be a cost-effective treatment option for patients with RRMM who have received four or more prior lines of therapy.
Patients with systemic sclerosis show phenotypic and functional defects in neutrophils

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multiorgan autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation, vascular modification, and progressive fibrosis of the skin and several visceral organs. Innate and adaptive immune cells, including myeloid, B and T cells, are believed to be central to the pathogenesis of SSc. However, the role and functional state of neutrophil granulocytes (neutrophils) are ill‐defined in SSc.
Relationship of Cachexia with Self-Care Agency and Quality of Life in Cancer Patients: The Case of Turkey

Objective: This study aims to determine the effects of cachexia, causing major problems in the world and Turkey, on self-care agency and quality of life in cancer patients. Methods: The population of this cross-sectional and relationship-seeking study consisted of cancer patients in Turkey from April 1 to April 20, 2021. Using the snowball sampling method, 174 patients were sampled. “Patient Information Form,” “The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer C30 Cancer Quality of Life Scale,” and “Exercise of Self-Care Agency Scale” were used as data collection tools. Results: In the study, 52 patients (29.9%) were found to have cachexia. Function, general well-being, symptom (except insomnia), and self-care agency, which are subdimensions of the quality-of-life scale, were found to be significantly lower in patients with cachexia than patients without cachexia (P < 0.001). It was determined that there was a significant negative correlation between the cachexia status of the patients and the five basic functions in the functional scale (physical, role, emotional, cognitive, and social function), general well-being, and self-care agency, and there was a significant positive correlation between the cachexia status of the patients and the symptom scale (P < 0.001). According to the results of multiple linear regression analysis, it was found that the factor that significantly affected the cachexia status of the patients was their self-care agency (P < 0.001). Conclusions: It was determined that cachexia caused significantly lower self-care agency and quality of life in cancer patients. Furthermore, quality of life was related to self-care agency.
Prevalence of overweight and obesity among school children in Mysuru, Karnataka

Childhood obesity has become a major public health challenge in developing countries including India due to the changes in the lifestyle and food habits of children owing to the influence of urban culture and technological growth. The present study is a cross-sectional, school-based study conducted to assess the prevalence of obesity and to determine the demographic variables influencing the obesity among school children. Methods: The study included 440 students (Boys: 240, Girls: 200) from two randomly selected schools of Mysuru city, Karnataka. WHO Standard Age and Sex specific Growth Reference charts were used for defining overweight and obesity. Modified Kuppuswamy's socioeconomic scale (2019) was adopted to assess the socioeconomic status of the family. Results: Obesity prevalence among the study subjects was 3.86% and overweight was 12.27%. The mean body mass index (BMI) among boys was 18.13 and girls was 18.80. The difference in the distribution of BMI between male and female groups was statistically significant (P = 0.023). Age and obesity status of the children was found to have a significant association (P = 0.022). Prevalence of overweight and obesity was more among children from higher socioeconomic class (P = 0.01). Conclusion: Prevalence of obesity and overweight among school children is comparatively higher. The higher familial income, dietary patterns, parental history of obesity and diabetes and having urban residence were identified as the major factors which influenced the obesity status of the school children.
Other Helper Capacities

The erasures-only capacity, the listsize capacity, and the cutoff rate are computed for the modulo-additive noise channel with a helper. In one scenario the helper provides a rate-limited description of the noise sequence to the decoder and in the other to the encoder. In both scenarios the gains in these capacities thanks to the helper can exceed the helper's rate.
Comparison of knowledge and skills of Home-Based Newborn Care (HBNC) among Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and health workers (SAKHI) of Ambuja Cement Foundation

Context: Ambuja Cement Foundation (ACF) started replicating the famous “Gadchiroli” model to reduce neonatal mortality in Chandrapur in 2005. ACF conducted the Home-Based Newborn Care (HBNC) model through trained female health workers, viz., “SAKHIs. ” In 2008, Government of India introduced community health worker, viz., Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA). ACF withdrew its services steadily and few SAKHIs were hired as ASHAs. Aims: We assessed and compared the knowledge level and skills of trained ASHA workers with SAKHIs in providing HBNC. Methods and Material: A cross-sectional study was conducted in three blocks of Chandrapur district of Maharashtra, India. A structured questionnaire consisting of 34 questions was used for knowledge assessment and checklists assessed hand washing, weight recording, temperature recording, kangaroo mother care (KMC) position, suction and bag and mask ventilation (BMV) skills on manikins. Results: 135 healthcare workers participated. The mean (SD) score of current SAKHIs (23.89 (1.9) was significantly higher than former SAKHIs (currently ASHAs) (17.97 (2.92), former SAKHIs (currently not engaged in HBNC) (16.73 (2.95) and ASHAs not worked as SAKHIs in the past (16.19 (3.19) [all P < 0.001]. Similar trend was seen in all skill sets. The skills of ASHAs not worked as SAKHIs previously were abysmal, with no ASHA being able to perform BMV and KMC skills, and only 4 (7.5%) who could perform suctioning. A typical trend was observed with current SAKHIs faring best followed by former SAKHIS (currently ASHAs), former SAKHIs (currently not in HBNC), and ASHAs not worked as SAKHIs faring worst. Conclusion: The skills and knowledge of ASHA workers are far deficient compared to SAKHIs despite similar training components, potentially hampering neonatal mortality reduction. Quality of training and supportive supervision mechanism of ASHAs should be explored.
Oral Equilibrium in Cachexia

Oral cancer, a part of head-and-neck cancer (HNC), is associated with a high risk of cancer-associated weight loss causing cachexia which is still an understudied illness. Cachexia is a host-phagocytic syndrome caused by the multiple factors, resulting in the severity of heterogenic fashion. For the current review, a bibliographic search was done in PubMed and other databases for the English articles published from the year 1980 to 2021. Recent studies have revealed that cachexia associated with 35%–60% of all the oral cancer patients is either due to the implication of the tumor or obstruction of food intake for which a strong need for nutritional assistance and hydration is desired. The health of cancer individuals undergoing chemotherapy or bone marrow transplant is negatively affected by poor oral health and reduced dentition status. The impact of a deficient oral condition is not clearly understood to date, possibly due to the limited number of studies and a lack of widely accepted clinical trials to prevent cachexia. The masticatory function of such patients is drastically affected thus contributing to the decreased nutritional status causing wasting of tissues. The aim of this article is to provide substantial evidence that poor oral hygiene with an altered dentition status negatively influences the energy balance of oral cancer patients who experience wasting.
Empowering in-service nurses in management of viral hepatitis through Programmed Approach to Knowledge and Sensitization on Hepatitis (PRAKASH): An experience from a capacity building initiative

Background: Nursing fraternity are at an increased risk of acquiring hepatitis B and hepatitis C infections mainly attributable to occupational risk and close contact with the patients while treatment. However, unawareness and negligence about the severity, mode of transmission and preventive measures about the disease can further predispose the nursing fraternity to a higher risk of infection. To overcome these lacunae in knowledge, a training program named Project PRAKASH was initiated for in-service nurses across the country. The objective of the program was to impart up-to-date knowledge to the nursing professionals in the management of viral hepatitis and to assess the effectiveness of the training program through pre-post-knowledge assessment survey. Methodology: One-day training program titled 'Hepatitis Induction Program' was conducted for a period of 2 years (2018-2020) among nursing professionals. It was accompanied by administration of 54-item knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) questionnaire with four sections: demographic details, knowledge (30 items), attitude (11 items) and practice (13 items), followed by post-knowledge assessment. An Impact Assessment Survey (IAS) was also administered to assess the change in attitude and practice among 10% of the attendees, at least 6 months post training. Result: A total of 32 one-day training programmes were organised which witnessed the training of 5,253 nursing professionals from 292 institutions across 12 states. A data of 4,474 participants were included in the final analysis: improvement in the knowledge score was significant (P-value < 0.001) with mean knowledge score of 19.3 ± 4.4 in pre-test and 25.7 ± 3.9 in the post-test. Conclusion: The one-day training resulted in improvement of knowledge and significant changes in the attitude and practices of the nursing professionals.
Association between anemia and gastrointestinal malignancy among male patients in a university hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Introduction: Iron deficiency was reported as the most common nutritional deficiency in developing and developed countries. Many studies reported that iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is related to the development of gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies Aim: The current study aimed at investigating the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia among Saudi patients subjected to endoscopy procedure, and to assess the association between iron deficiency anemia and GI malignancy. Method: A retrospective study was performed over 244 Saudi patients attending King Saud University Hospital (KSUH) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between 2015 and 2018. Data were collected from the hospital database (esihi). Patients aged 30 years or more were recruited in this study. They had to be subjected to endoscopy before the recruitment period. Complete blood count analysis was performed for the blood samples collected from the patients. Results: The findings of the study showed that the prevalence of IDA among Saudi patients was 63.5%. Gastritis (15.16%), colon carcinoma (13.11%), and polyps (12.7%) were the most reported endoscopy results among patients with IDA. In addition, it was found that there is no significant association between IDA and GI malignancy. Conclusion: The study concluded that despite the reported significant association between IDA and GI malignancy, the current study revealed that there is no significant association between IDA and GI malignancy. This might be attributed to sample-related issues, which require more extended studies investigating larger sample sizes, in addition to including ferritin level measurements for the investigated patients.