Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Review on Techniques for Diagnosing and Monitoring Patients with Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second highest neurodegenerative disease that impairs speech besides causing bodykinesia, postural instability, rigidity and tremor. From the present research works it is understood that the disease is the result of lack of dopamine in brain cells. However, its real cause is yet to be established satisfactorily. In this paper we review the present state of the art of the PD including the nature of disease, its characteristics, the treatment, algorithms or techniques available to diagnose or monitor the patients with the disease, sensors and wearable devices being used to help PD patients and physicians. We also explored many speech based solutions to the disease. The essence of our review is that this neurodegenerative disorder needs further research and development of wearable devices that can help patients to lead a normal life. In this paper we provide the summary of findings which leads to continue our research to develop a wearable device with state of the art software that can help PD patients to have better lives. Figure 1: Clinical symptoms of PD [5]. Citation: Prasad RKA, Babu SS, Siddaiah N, Rao KS (2016) A Review on Techniques for Diagnosing and Monitoring Patients with Parkinson’s Disease. J Biosens Bioelectron 7: 203. doi:10.4172/2155-6210.1000203
Socio-Demographic Inequalities in the Prevalence of Sexual Intercourse among School Going Adolescents in the Central Region of Ghana

Background and Purpose: Given that adolescents’ sexual behaviours have brought increasing burden on the development agenda of the Central Region of Ghana, it is remarkable that research on related issues such as the adolescents’ onset of sexual debut and its associated consequences is limited. The purpose of this study was to examine the relative influence of socio-demographic determinants and prevailing inequalities of sexual intercourse engagement among adolescents in selected junior high schools.
Effect of Automobile Exhaust on Pulmonary Function Tests in Petrol Pump Workers

Corresponding author: Dr Meenal Batta,Senior Tutor, Department of Physiology, Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, Faridkot, Punjab, India. Email meenaldhir@gmail.com This article may be cited as : Batta M, Dhir SK Effect Of Automobile Exhaust on Pulmonary Function Tests in Petrol Pump Workers. Int J Com Health and Med Res 2015;1(1):22-5 Article Recieved 2-11-15 Accepted On: 14-12-2015 NTRODUCTION Air pollution is increasing day by day and this increment is significantly contributed by vehicles. The inhalation of automobile exhaust and fuel vapours leads to significant pulmonary function impairment. Petrol is a complex combination of hydrocarbons and about 95% of components in petrol fumes are aliphatic and acyclic compounds. 1 Benzene, one of the active ingredients has been shown to be responsible for the physiological dysfunction in respiratory, haematological and thyroid function in petrol pump workers. The petrol and diesel fumes do affect the functioning of I Background: Inhalation of automobile exhaust and fuel vapours predisposes petrol pump workers to respiratory disorders leading to pulmonary function impairment. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of automobile exhaust and fuel vapours on the pulmonary functions of petrol pump workers in a city of Punjab, India. Material and Methods: This study was an observational case control study comprising of 200 subjects. The pulmonary function tests were analysed using MedspirorTM among one hundred adult petrol pump workers who were working since one year at the filling station and were being exposed to the automobile exhaust and fuel vapours. Age matched controls were taken from the healthy paramedical staff working in the medical college. The data was statistically analysed by student t-test and Mann-Whitney U test. The mean and standard deviation were calculated and reported for the quantitative variables. P value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The baseline variables did not differ in the cases and controls. The FVC, FEV1, FEV3, PEFR, FEF25%, FEF50%, FEF75%, FEF25-75% and MVV were found to be significantly decreased in cases as compared to controls (p value <0.001 in all of them). There was statistically insignificant difference in the FEV1/FVC% and FEV3/FVC% between the two groups. Conclusion: The exposure to automobile exhaust in petrol pump workers leads to the deterioration of the pulmonary functions. Strategies should be planned at various levels to protect the exposed persons from their deleterious effects.
Child Abuse Experience in Al Ain District, United Arab Emirates

The aim of the study is to highlight the burden of suspected child abuse and neglect (CAN) cases in Al Ain City in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in order to increase awareness about child protection. Retrospective study of data from the medical records of all children who presented to Tawam and Al Ain Hospitals with suspicion of child abuse or neglect between January 2013 and December 2015. A total of 113 children fulfilled the criteria. CAN was confirmed in 72 (62.8%) children whereas the remaining 42 (37.3%) had insufficient evidence to support that diagnosis. The age of the patients ranged from birth to 15 years (58% males). We found that, in some cases, the complete process of reporting was not followed and there were differences between the two hospitals. In Conclusion child abuse and neglect exists in the UAE but there is deficiency in reporting by the treating physicians. This can be attributed to lack of training in child protection or hesitancy of physicians to report these cases and to follow the hospital policy. There is a need for further training of all clinical staff dealing with children in their practice.
Seroprevelence of Hepatitis E virus in human and animals in Southwestern Saudi Arabia

The seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in Najran, a rural community's province in the southwestern of Saudi Arabia was investigated. Blood samples from 1080 person (360 hepatic patients and 720 apparently healthy volunteers) were collected from October 2011 to March 2012. Serum samples were tested for anti-HEV IgG antibodies by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method and anti-HEV IgM antibodies by rapid diagnostic strips. Anti-HEV IgG antibodies were detected in a total of 88 cases out of 360 hepatic samples with percent of 25% while anti-HEV IgM antibodies were detected in 9 cases with percent of 2.5 %. None of the apparently healthy volunteers were positive for HEV. To identify the possible source of infection, 630 and 540 blood samples from sheep and chicken were tested for presence of IgG antibodies against HEV. All sheep and chicken samples were negative for HEV. [Abyelyazeed A. Elsheikh and Abdulrahamn M. Alqurashi. Seroprevelence of Hepatitis E virus in human and animals in Southwestern Saudi Arabia. J Am Sci 2012;8(11):674-677]. (ISSN: 1545-1003). http://www.americanscience. org. 99
Patient Referral at the Grass-roots Level in Pakistan

Patient referral services constitute an integral part of any well functioning health system. In the public health sector in Pakistan, the first rung in the referral hierarchy is the Lady Health Worker (LHW) of the National Programme for Family Planning and Primary Health Care. Most independent evaluations conducted to date have given satisfactory reports of LHWs performance despite their limitations, and acknowledged the importance of their role in first level referral. However, the outcomes and consequences of referral made by the LHWs are largely unknown. One outcome, patient dissatisfaction, has been widely recognized as a measure of ascertaining how well health services are being delivered. It is imperative to learn about the referral outcomes to ascertain continuity of care, cost effectiveness of management and ensuring the appropriate case mix at the respective health facilities. Patients referred were interviewed in a cross-sectional study conducted in Karachi, Pakistan. Structured questionnaire was used to collect the data on demographic attributes, outcome of referral and satisfaction with regard to the services at the referral health facilities. About fifty six percent of patients were referred for the management of various medical and/or surgical conditions. The median cost of the treatment was 200 PKR and 1230 PKR as outpatient and in-patient respectively. About 24% of the patients reported to be cured. With regard to patients’ satisfaction, 31.6% of patients were not satisfied with their management at the referral facilities. Final multiple logistic regression analysis showed that long distance to health facility (AOR, 3.54; CI: 1.36-9.19), long time to reach the referral facility (AOR, 3.72; CI: 1.06-13.04), borrowing of money for treatment (AOR, 2.14; CI: 1.18-3.89) and outcome of condition (AOR, 9.08; CI: 3.33-24.67) were significantly associated with patient dissatisfaction. LHWs are the first contact for many people with the health system in general and with the referral system in particular. However, after being referred by the LHWs, patients are left more or less unsupported by the formal system, causing in many cases, an inevitable waste of resources, unnecessary and avoidable morbidity, and social and mental stress. [Nature and Science. 2004;2(4):18-27].
New insights on the role of vitamin D in type 2 diabetes mellitus: Review Article

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and vitamin D deficiency are both disorders of high prevalence in the world. Evidence supports an association between low vitamin D levels and risk for T2DM, and its complications. There remains insufficient evidence to suggest whether treatment of low vitamin D can prevent or improve T2DM. Aim: this review will focus on the current understanding of the role of vitamin D in the pathogenesis of T2DM, and questioning if vitamin D supplementation can improve the pancreatic function, thus providing a better glycemic control or slow down its complications. Conclusion and recommendation: deficient vitamin D levels increases the risk of developing T2DM. This finding highlights the need for conducting large-scale health screening to identify those at risk of DM using vitamin D blood level assessment. However, more studies are required to ascertain the effect of vitamin D supplementation in T2DM patients. Received: 18-5-2016 Revised: 11-6-2016 Published: 16-6-2016
Impact of Selection Methods of Recruitment Channels on Organizational Excellence within the Hospitality Industry in UAE 556

In the ever-intensifying competition, organizations’ attention has been shifted to organizational excellence to remain competitive through creativity and innovation. It must be emphasized that the dire need for excellence has led to several quality frameworks in various global regions. Dubai’s hospitality sector is the focus of this paper, where an innovative approach is applied to assess the impact of selection methods on organizational excellence. This study employs structural equations modelling via SmartPLS to analyse the 364 valid questionnaires in order to assess the proposed model.The results shows that selection methods significantly influence organizational excellence. The proposed model explained 38.9% of the variance in organizational excellence. Theoretical and practical implications are also provided.
DETERMINANTS OF STUDENT SATISFACTION IN THE CONTEXT OF HIGHER EDUCATION: A COMPLETE STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING APPROACH

The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between service quality, program quality and student satisfaction in the context of higher education. In the context of higher education, most of the private universities are incapable of upholding the quality of higher studies in Bangladesh. Subsequently, student dissatisfaction has been detected, and institutions have failed to establish a positive image in the minds of employers. Moreover, in depth investigation on student satisfaction is under-researched in respect of private universities of Bangladesh. Past researchers have examined the only direct affiliation between service quality and student satisfaction, ignored program quality absolutely. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used to analyze the influence of independent variables and hypotheses testing. The population of this study was fourth-year business students of nine ‘grade one’ private universities in Bangladesh. Data (n=331) were gathered from students pursuing studies at different private universities in Bangladesh. The study has discovered that service quality and program quality both have statistically strong significant impact on student satisfaction but program quality has explained more variance on student satisfaction. These unique findings imply that academic authorities should nurture the program quality rigorously in order to enhance student satisfaction without ignoring service quality. The findings of this study would bring benefits to both practitioners and academics for formulating appropriate strategies to ensure student satisfaction, especially in the perspective of private higher education.
Feeding practices and sucking habits in Istanbul children : a clinical study of prevalance and effects on dentition

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of feeding practices and sucking habits and their effect on dentition in Istanbul children. 173 children, aged 5 yr participated in this study. The previous breast-feeding, bottle-feeding, pacifier sucking, finger sucking habits were examined. Paired Sample Student t test and ANOVA were used for analysis. In the present study, breast-fed children exhibited bottle-feeding for mean 25.3 ± 22.4 months, pacifier sucking for mean 19.1 ± 13.3 months and finger sucking for mean 28.4 ± 16.1 months respectively. Nonbreast-fed children exhibited bottle-feeding for mean 29.4 ± 20.5 months, pacifier sucking for mean 30.1 ± 12.7 months. Nonbreast-fed children did not exhibit finger sucking. Breast-feeding, bottle-feeding, pacifier and finger sucking did not have any effect on dentition (p>0.05).
Critical Care Nurses ' Knowledge and Practice of Fever Management at a University Hospital

Fever is a common problem in hospitalized patients in both the wards and the intensive care units. Much of fever treatment is based on tradition and the belief that fever is harmful rather than scientific evidence. The aims of this study were to identify the critical care nurses’ knowledge regarding fever management, assess their clinical performance and explore the relation between nurses’ knowledge and clinical performance regarding fever management of critically ill patients. A descriptive exploratory design was utilized. A sample of convenience of 70 critical care nurses was recruited from different critical care units at El Manial university hospital. Fever knowledge assessment tool and performance observational checklist were utilized. The study results revealed that; the majority of critical care nurses had unsatisfactory knowledge about physiology of thermoregulation (80%), pathophysiology of fever (100%) and management of fever (70%). Observational checklists revealed that 100% of nurses assess fever initially by measuring temperature only; while no plan of fever management was observed in nurses' documentation. Nurses' implementation of fever management was confined to giving antipyretic medication and cold compresses occasionally for febrile patients. Evaluation of the effect of nursing interventions and antipyretics weren't evident in nurses' documentation. No correlation between the total knowledge score and average observations of clinical performance was found (r= 0.01, p =0.9) was found. The majority of participants' opinions regarding their current fever management indicated that no specified protocol for fever management and less satisfaction with current management. The study recommends that nurses' knowledge and clinical management of fever must be developed through conducting in-service educational programs and developing a standardized protocol of care for fever management in ICU. [Labiba Abd kader Mohamed and Nahla Shaaban Ali. Critical Care Nurses' Knowledge and Practice of Fever Management at a University Hospital. J Am Sci 2012;8(12):1545-1553]. (ISSN: 1545-1003). http://www.jofamericanscience. org. 206
COMPARISON OF CONVENTIONAL PHENOTYPIC METHODS FOR DETECTION OF METHICILLIN RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS

Background and Objectives: MRSA is probably the most challenging bacterial pathogen that currently affects patients in hospital and in the community. Hence Rapid and accurate detection of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an important role of clinical microbiology laboratories to avoid treatment failure and to control the endemicity of MRSA. The aim of this study was to compare three conventional methods against the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) method to evaluate the best phenotypic method. Materials and Methods: A total of 100 isolates of S. aureus were included in this study. Methicillin resistance was determined by oxacillin disc diffusion, cefoxitin disc diffusion the oxacillin screen agar test and MIC. Results: Out of 100 isolates from our hospital, 29% and 36 % and 33% were identified as MRSA based on Cefoxitin disc diffusion, Oxacillin disc diffusion and Oxacillin screen agar test respectively. In all phenotypic methods, Cefoxitin disc diffusion test better correlates with gold standard method for detection of MRSA. Conclusion: Our study revealed that cefoxitin disk diffusion method had a high sensitivity and specificity comparative to other phenotypic methods for detection MRSA.
MOLECULAR TYPING OF METHICILLIN RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS STRAINS ISOLATED FROM MASTITICDAIRY COWS

The aims of this study were to isolate and identify of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from mastitic cow milk. The investigation presence of mecA genes and molecular characteristics of these isolates using eight primers of repetitive element palindromic-PCR (Rep-PCR) analysis were achieved. Ninety six milk samples, collected from clinical mastitic cows from Sharkia Governorate in Egypt, were obtained from 71cowcases. MRSA isolates were recovered by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), staphylococcal chromosomal cassette (SCC) mec typing, staphylococcal protein A. A total of 11 MRSA isolates were identified. All strains were showed a positive mecAI genes band (with size about 162 bp long) and mecAII gene band (with size about 449 bp long) and negative in mecAIII gene band (with size about of 540 bp long). The results of Rep-PCR analysis for the 11 MRSA isolates revealed approximately 114 different banding pattern, 51 of them consider as monomorphic bands with a percentage about 44.8%, and other 63 fragments consider as polymorphic bands with about 55.2%. The dendogram based on banding patterns dividing the 11 isolates into two wjpls, 2016, Vol. 2, Issue 6, 567-582 Research Article ISSN 2454-2229 World Journal of Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences WJPLS www.wjpls. org SJIF Impact Factor: 3.347 *Corresponding Author Dr. Mohamed M. Hassan Scientific Research Deanship, Taif University, Saudi Arabia.
Oxidative stress and serum paraoxonase activity in patients on maintenance hemodialysis

Incidence of atherosclerosis is high in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Paraoxonase may have protective effects against atherosclerosis as it prevents oxidative modification of LDL. Hence, the aim of the present study was to assess the lipid peroxidation and the antioxidant status including paraoxonase activity in HD patients. Thirty HD patients and thirty controls were included in the study. Serum malondialdehyde (MDA) was assessed as a marker of oxidative stress, while antioxidant status was assessed in terms of whole blood reduced glutathione, erythrocyte catalase and serum paraoxonase activity. A statistically significant (p < 0.001) rise of 196 % in serum MDA levels and decline of 36% in erythrocyte catalase activity was noted in HD patients as compared to controls. However, reduced glutathione (GSH) level in whole blood was not altered. Both basal and salt stimulated serum paraoxonase activities were reduced significantly (p < 0.001) as compared to controls with percentage decline of 53% and 37% in basal and salt stimulated paraoxonase activities respectively. These findings indicate that in addition to increased oxidative stress, reduced serum paraoxonase activity could also contribute to development of atherosclerosis in HD through increased oxidative modification of LDL.
Data Mining Techniques on Medical Data for Finding Locally Frequent Diseases

In the last decade there has been increasing usage of data mining techniques on medical data for discovering useful patterns or trends which are used in decision making and diagnosis. Data mining techniques such as clustering, association rule mining, classification, regression, CART (Classification and Regression Tree) are extensively used in healthcare domain. Data mining algorithms, when aptly used, are capable of improving the quality of prediction, diagnosis and disease classification. The main aim of this paper is to analyze data mining techniques needed for medical data mining especially to find out the locally frequent diseases such as heart ailments, lung cancer, breast cancer and so on. We evaluate the data mining techniques for finding locally frequent patterns in terms of accuracy, cost, performance, and speed. We also compare data mining techniques with conventional methods.
Impact of Operation Technique in Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA): Gap Balancing versus Measured Resection

Aim: The objective of this study was to compare the outcome of measured resection technique and gap balancing technique in Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA). Methods: A total of 111 consecutive cases were included between 2009 and 2012. The measured resection technique was performed in group 1 (femur first technique, n=51, 32 women and 19 men) and the gap balancing technique in group 2 (tibia first technique, n=60, 39 women and 21 men). Range of motion, medial and lateral knee stability in extension, post-operative radiography, operative information, intra-operative surgical complications, need of revision surgery and functional knee scores (patient questionnaire score and Oxford Knee Score) were documented at 6 weeks and 1 year. Results: There was no significant difference in operating time between the two groups (femur first: 114.8 min, range 90 to 150 min; tibia first: 115.7 min, range 75 to 206; p=0.83). At 6 weeks and 1-year follow-up group 1 and 2 showed no significant difference in the functional knee scores (patient questionnaire score p=0.43, Oxford Knee Score p=0.78). There was no significant difference in persisting anterior knee pain after one year (34% femur first group; 27% tibia first; p=0.443), and the 1-year results of flexion also showed no significant difference between the two groups (femur first group: 120.9°, range 90° to 145°; tibia first group: 121.02°, range 95° to 135°; p=0.94). Radiographic analysis at 1-year follow-up showed no significant difference in frontal axis malalignment (neither varus nor valgus) between the two groups. The mean inlay thickness was significantly thinner (p<0.001) in the tibia first group (10.37 mm, range 10 to 14 mm) than in the femur first group (11.22 mm, range 10 to 14 mm). © 2017 Rene Hutter, et al. Volume 3 Issue 1 ASI-3-040 Page 1 of 16 Conclusion: Measured resection and gap balancing techniques gave equal clinical and radiographic results after one year. The tibia first technique is more bone preserving and needs thinner inlays.