Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic diversity of rotavirus infection among young children with diarrhoea in the Kassena-Nankana Districts of Northern Ghana: a seasonal cross-sectional survey

Introduction diarrhoea disease is a global health concern, persisting as one of the top five causes of morbidity and mortality in children. Viral aetiology of childhood diarrhoea is often associated with rotavirus infection of which preventable vaccines exist. Here we document circulating strains of rotavirus in the Kassena-Nankana Districts of Northern Ghana nearly a decade after the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine. Methods a cross-sectional survey of children aged 0-60 months was conducted in six health facilities within the Kassena-Nankana Districts. Faecal samples obtained from the children were analysed and characterized for rotavirus detection and genotyping using Semi-Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction. Results a total of 263 stool samples were analyzed. Out of which 14.8% and 18.6% of the diarrhoea cases were of rotavirus and parasitic etiologies respectively, with 17.4% being co-infections. Almost 27.5% of rotavirus diarrhoeal cases resulted in hospitalization. Household size (p=0.035), location (p=0.018), treatment outcome (p=0.007), vomiting (p=0.039), season (p=0.017) and month of sampling (p=0.000) were significantly associated with rotavirus infection. The rotavirus genotypes identified were G1P8, G3P6, G4P9, G10P6 and G12P8. Rotavirus vaccine-type, G1P8 was absent in Kassena-Nankana West District. Conclusion the prevalence of rotavirus was low compared to the pre-vaccination era. Also, a new rotavirus strain, G4P9 was identified to be circulating in the study area which calls for surveillance measures and more studies to better understand the situation for appropriate public health intervention.
A Comparison of Several Methods for the Solution of the Inverse Problem in Two‐Dimensional Steady State Groundwater Flow Modeling

Two geostatistical approaches for the estimation of hydraulic conductivity and hydraulic head from hydraulic conductivity and hydraulic head measurements are developed for two-dimensional steady flow with sinks. For both approaches the field of the logarithm of hydraulic conductivity (log-conductivity) is represented as a random field with mean θ1+θ2x+θ3y where x and y denote Cartesian coordinates, variance σ2, and covariance σ2, exp (−αR), σ2, exp (−αR2), or, σ2ΔRr where α, Δ, and r are constants and R is separation distance. The first approach uses linearization of the discretized flow equations to allow the construction of the joint covariance matrix of the hydraulic head and log-conductivity measurements as functions of the parameters θ, θ2, θ3, σ2, and α or Δ. It then uses maximum likelihood estimation to obtain these parameters and also a parameter associated with log-conductivity measurement error. Having found values for the parameters, it then uses kriging to form predictors for log-conductivity and hydraulic head from measured values of hydraulic conductivity and hydraulic head. The second approach uses kriging to form a parameter-dependent predictor for log-conductivity from measured hydraulic conductivity, and then uses this predicted log-conductivity placed into the discretized flow equations to compute hydraulic head. The parameters are determined by the minimization of the sum of the squares of the difference between the measured and computed hydraulic heads. A third approach simply allows the hydraulic conductivity field to be a step function with a different value for hydraulic conductivity assigned to each of several chosen regions in the two-dimensional aquifer. The assigned hydraulic conductivities are determined by the minimization of the sum of the squares of the difference between the measured and computed hydraulic heads. The three approaches are tested for hydraulic head prediction accuracy on two generated test problems, one of which is statistically generated, and also on a field problem. The third approach, despite its simplicity, performs as well or better than the other approaches.
There He Goes: The Influencer–Sports Journalism of Fabrizio Romano on Twitter and Its Implications for Professionalism

Fabrizio Romano’s sizeable social media followings and role as influencer–sports journalist warrant attention. Romano, known for his catchphrase ‘Here We Go’, specialises in football transfers and produces multi-platform content. This study investigates how Romano’s Twitter practice informs professional understandings of sports journalism. A content and textual analysis (n = 494) was conducted of one month of Romano’s tweets and replies. Tweets were categorised according to markers of sports journalism practice. Results show Romano is professionalising sports journalism on social media and subverting understandings of personal branding through favouring objective news over subjective opinion and focusing on the professional rather than the personal. Romano’s transfer news prioritises major European football clubs, which is consistent with the trajectory of sports journalism on digital platforms. Play-by-play commentary is a minor aspect of Romano’s Twitter output, which contributes to the debate on the significance of game coverage to contemporary sports journalism. Tweets did not mention the human rights issues surrounding the World Cup starting in Qatar, even though this was a key talking point. This finding suggests that the normative assumption that sports journalists should scrutinise power and/or highlight social injustice does not always apply to all practitioners in all contexts, particularly where ultra-specialist settings are concerned.
Examining the continued intention of using the Ugunduzi app in farmer-led research of agro-ecological practices among smallholder farmers in selected areas, Tanzania

Farmer-led research of agro-ecological practices could support smallholder farmers in identifying the best-fit practices to improve crop production. A smartphone based app named Ugunduzi was developed purposefully to support farmers in their research activities. The purpose of this study was to investigate smallholder farmers’ intentions to continue using the Ugunduzi app in the Tanzanian districts of Masasi, Mvomero, and Bagamoyo. Cross-sectional research design was used in which qualitative and quantitative data were collected from 60 smallholder farmers who participated in the research and used the Ugunduzi app. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS 3 was employed to analyze the data. The results indicated that the app could continue to be used by smallholder farmers in the study areas due to its usefulness in supporting them to identify best-fit agro-ecological practices in their areas and to have a better future season plan through records kept in the app. The app also showed great potential for increasing agro-ecological knowledge through sharing information. However, a few difficulties were observed, especially in the early stage of using the app due to some processes involved. From the study findings, it was recommended that, due to its effectiveness observed in supporting farmers, the app be promoted by development actors to be used by many smallholder farmers around the study areas to improve crop production. In order to support farmers in reducing the effort required to use the app, it was recommended that key stakeholders provide farmers more training on effective use of the app.
Saudi Consensus Recommendations on the Management of Multiple Sclerosis: Family Planning within the Management of MS

This review article addresses the complex issues faced by individuals with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) who are planning a family, becoming pregnant, or wishing to breastfeed their baby. Recommendations and guidelines were discussed and agreed upon by neurologists, neuroradiologists, nurses, and pharmacists involved in the management of MS in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). MS itself does not harm a pregnancy, and people with MS of childbearing age can be encouraged to enjoy family life. Family planning should be a part of the initial conversation with a newly diagnosed patient of childbearing age. Interferons and glatiramer acetate can be continued throughout pregnancy and can be administered during breastfeeding if the benefits outweigh the risks. These DMTs may be considered for a woman with well-controlled MS who is planning a pregnancy or otherwise not using contraception, according to an individualized risk-benefit analysis. The use of contraception should be maintained during the administration of other disease-modifying therapies (DMTs). Natalizumab can be administered at a reduced administration frequency to women with high MS disease activity up to 30 weeks gestation (this agent may induce hematological abnormalities in the fetus). Other DMTs should be withdrawn for variable periods before contraception is stopped and immediately after the discovery of a pregnancy (beware of rebound disease activity after withdrawing natalizumab or fingolimod). Resumption of treatment should not be delayed in women at risk of relapse during the postpartum period and especially in those who do not wish to breastfeed.
Effect of Environment on Acetylated Cellulose Nanocrystal-Reinforced Biopolymers Films

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were acetylated to the various parametrised degrees of substitution (DS), determined through attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR–FTIR) and incorporated into alginate (ALG) and chitosan (CH) film-forming solutions. An investigation of morphology with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed increased chemical compatibility with the CH matrix after acetylation, producing a smooth surface layer, while ALG mixed better with pristine CNCs. The ATR–FTIR analysis of films demonstrated inter-diffusional structural changes upon the integration of pristine/modified CNCs. Films were evaluated in terms of water contact angle (WCA), which decreased upon CNC addition in either of the biocomposite types. The H2O barrier assessed through applicative vapour transmission (WVT) rate increased with the CNC esterification in CH, but was not influenced in ALG. To evaluate the relationship between environmental humidity and mechanical properties, conditioning was applied for 48 h under controlled relative humidity (33%, 54% and 75%) prior to the evaluation of the mechanical properties and moisture content. It was observed that tensile strength was highest upon specimens being dry (25 ± 3 MPa for ALG, reinforced with neat CNCs, or 16 ± 2 MPa in the CH with CNCs, reacting to the highest DS), lowering with dewing, and the elongation at break exhibited the opposite. It is worth noting that the modification of CNCs improved the best base benchmark stress–strain performance. Lastly, (thermal) stability was assessed by means of the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) technique, suggesting a slight improvement.
Studies of some bio-inspired liquid crystals

ABSTRACT The main phase transition of lipid bilayers corresponds to a defined change from an ordered (gel) to a disordered (fluid liquid crystal) state of hydrocarbon chains, occurring in general at a defined temperature Tm. However, aqueous dispersions of pure anionic phospholipids, and particularly DMPG, may exhibit a ‘melting regime’, from Tmon until Tmoff, over ~10°C. The melting process depends on pH, ionic strength and several details of sample preparation. This paper makes a review on seven papers of the author with different collaborations, with the original proposal of pores in the DMPG melting transition. The focus is on structural results obtained from X-ray scattering, varying concentration and temperature, but integrating with results from other experimental techniques. Initially the effect of salt addition was separated from the effect of DMPG concentration. At DMPG concentrations higher than 70 mM a lamellar phase starts and a detailed study of the temperature variation of 150 mM DMPG allowed arrival to detailed pore model, focused in the surface fractions of pores in the bilayers. The model admits large and small pores in the melting regime and agrees with the new Lamellar Phase with pores (Lp) starting at T3. The large biological relevance is stressed. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Totally geodesic boundaries are dense in the moduli space

$\varphi:\partial Marrow F(s)$ , where $\partial M$ is assumed to have the orientation induced naturally from that on $M$. Note that $R(F)$ is a countable subset of $\mathscr{M}(F)$ . First, consider the special case where $F$ consists of two components each of which is homeomorphic to a given closed surface $\Sigma$ of genus $>1$ . In Fujii [3], it is implicitly seen that, for any $s\in \mathscr{M}(\Sigma)$ , one can construct a compact, connected, oriented, hyperbolic 3-manifold $M$ with totally geodesic, two-component boundary such that one component is arbitrarily close to $\Sigma(s)$ in $\mathscr{M}(\Sigma)$ and the other is to $\Sigma(\overline{s})$ (see Lemma 1 in \S 2 for the explicit proof based on the circle-packing argument in Brooks [2] $)$ . Here, $\overline{s}\in \mathscr{M}(\Sigma)$ denotes the hyperbolic structure on $\Sigma$ admitting an orientation-reversing isometry $\varphi:\Sigma(s)arrow\Sigma(\overline{s})$ . This implies that the closure of $R(F)$ in $\mathscr{M}(F)$ contains the skew diagonal
Design rules for highly parallel free-Space optical interconnects

Recently, a number of successful free-space chip-to-chip and board-to-board optical interconnects have been demonstrated. Here, we present some of the design rules that can be derived as a result of this work and also as a result of numerical and theoretical analyzes. We draw a number of conclusions. In the area of optoelectronic very large scale integration (VLSI) design, we suggest that differential electrical and optical transceiver designs provide the best performance. In the area of optical design, we present scaling and system partitioning laws for clustered optical relays and determine the interconnect distances at which microlens or macrolens systems are more suitable. We also show that the ease with which two modules can be aligned can be related to the optical invariant of the system and is, thus, a function of the size of the detector and the numerical aperture of the detector optics. Finally, we show that when multiple optical components must be aligned, very high individual component tolerances are required if the system as a whole is to have a high chance of success.
Field behavior near a dielectric wedge

A review of the theory of field behavior near a dielectric wedge is presented. An overview of the static results is given, and it is shown that the series of Meixner for the dynamic case in general is nonexisting. Numerical results for scattering by a dielectric cylinder of square cross section indicate that the static results give an accurate account for the rate of growth of the fields in the singular cases, but some disagreement in nonsingular cases.
Plasma flow hypothesis in the magnetosphere relating to frequency shift of electrostatic plasma waves

The frequency dynamic spectrum indicating a monotonic frequency shift of the electrostatic electron cyclotron harmonic wave emissions in the data of VLF electric field observations by Ogo 5 has been detected in the midnight and dawn meridians outside the plasmapause; the emissions are produced from turbulent areas in the plasma states that include the temperature anisotropy, loss cone velocity distribution, or the double hump in the velocity distribution function. The frequency shift is also observed for the case of the emissions in the magnetosheath near the subsolar point. These frequency shifts are interpreted on a hypothesis of the Doppler effects of the plasma waves due to the plasma flow with respect to the satellite frame. The speeds of the plasma flow are obtained and have a range from 150 to 300 km/s. Disruption of the plasma flow due to the magnetic field bumps may produce the turbulent source generating the Harris type or beam type instabilities that generate the electrostatic electron cyclotron harmonic waves.
Strong Convergence Theorems by Hybrid Block Generalized f-Projection Method for Fixed Point Problems of Asymptotically Quasi-ϕ-Nonexpansive Mappings and System of Generalized Mixed Equilibrium Problems

The purpose of this paper is to present a new hybrid block iterative scheme by the generalized f-projection method for finding a common element of the fixed point set for a countable family of uniformly asymptotically quasi-φ- nonexpansive mappings and the set of solutions of the system of generalized mixed equilibrium problems in a strictly convex and uniformly smooth Banach space with the Kadec-Klee property. Furthermore, we prove that our new hybrid block iterative scheme converges strongly to a common element of the afore mentioned sets. The results presented in this paper improve and extend important recent results in the literature.
Transients at stop‐consonant releases

The acoustic properties and perceptual significance of transients at the release of stop consonants and affricates was studied. The theory of transient production is based on a model in which pressure is built up in a closed tube and the radiated sound is calculated following an abrupt release of the pressure. Acoustic analysis of the amplitude and frequency content of transients in utterances from ten speakers was used as a guide in setting the parameters of the model. A speech synthesizer was modified to allow the generation of transients with frequency content similar to that observed in natural speech. Utterances consisting of a stop consonant or affricate followed by the vowel /a/, with various amplitudes of an initial transient, were synthesized, and listeners were asked to judge the naturalness of the stimuli. Listeners tended to prefer the presence of a transient with an amplitude approximating the measured amplitude in natural speech, although there was some variability in the responses. [Work su.
DATM: A Novel Data Agnostic Topic Modeling Technique With Improved Effectiveness for Both Short and Long Text

Topic modelling is important for tackling several data mining tasks in information retrieval. While seminal topic modelling techniques such as Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) have been proposed, the ubiquity of social media and the brevity of its texts pose unique challenges for such traditional topic modelling techniques. Several extensions including auxiliary aggregation, self aggregation and direct learning have been proposed to mitigate these challenges, however some still remain. These include a lack of consistency in the topics generated and the decline in model performance in applications involving disparate document lengths. There is a recent paradigm shift towards neural topic models, which are not suited for resource-constrained environments. This paper revisits LDA-style techniques, taking a theoretical approach to analyse the relationship between word co-occurrence and topic models. Our analysis shows that by altering the word co-occurrences within the corpus, topic discovery can be enhanced. Thus we propose a novel data transformation approach dubbed DATM to improve the topic discovery within a corpus. A rigorous empirical evaluation shows that DATM is not only powerful, but it can also be used in conjunction with existing benchmark techniques to significantly improve their effectiveness and their consistency by up to 2 fold.
Seasonal Molecular Difference in Fibrillar Collagen Extracts Derived from the Marine Sponge Chondrosia reniformis (Nardo, 1847) and Their Impact on Its Derived Biomaterials

Chondrosia reniformis (Nardo, 1847) is a marine sponge of high biotechnological interest both for its natural compound content and for its peculiar collagen, which is suitable for the production of innovative biomaterials in the form, for instance, of 2D membranes and hydrogels, exploitable in the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. In this study, the molecular and chemical-physical properties of fibrillar collagen extracted from specimens collected in different seasons are studied to evaluate the possible impact of sea temperature on them. Collagen fibrils were extracted from sponges harvested by the Sdot Yam coast (Israel) during winter (sea temperature: 17 °C) and during summer (sea temperature: 27 °C). The total AA composition of the two different collagens was evaluated, together with their thermal stability and glycosylation level. The results showed a lower lysyl-hydroxylation level, lower thermal stability, and lower protein glycosylation level in fibrils extracted from 17 °C animals compared to those from 27 °C animals, while no differences were noticed in the GAGs content. Membranes obtained with fibrils deriving from 17 °C samples showed a higher stiffness if compared to the 27 °C ones. The lower mechanical properties shown by 27 °C fibrils are suggestive of some unknown molecular changes in collagen fibrils, perhaps related to the creeping behavior of C. reniformis during summer. Overall, the differences in collagen properties gain relevance as they can guide the intended use of the biomaterial.
Risk Assessment of Dyslipidemias, Hyperglycemia, Hyperuricemia, and Hypertension Utilizing Self-Reported Body Silhouettes

Objective Self-reported body silhouette is an anthropometric instrument that has been utilized as a screening tool for underweight, overweight, obesity, and other abnormal anthropometric variables. Herein, we analyzed the risk associated with the self-reported body silhouette in the scope of dyslipidemias, hyperglycemia, hyperuricemia, and hypertension. Methods Adult participants of the Health Workers Cohort Study enrolled between March 2004 and April 2006 were included. Then, risk analysis was performed considering dyslipidemias as serum triglycerides, high total cholesterol, high LDL-C, low HDL-C, hyperglycemia, hyperuricemia, and hypertension. Results A total of 2,297 males and 5,003 females were analyzed. The median ages of the studied population was 39 (30–49) and 41 (31–50) years for males and females, respectively. Overall, there is a stepwise increase in the risk of presenting dyslipidemias, hyperglycemia, hyperuricemia, and hypertension as the self-reported body silhouette number increases, this tendency was observed in both males and females. Conclusion Self-reported body silhouette is a useful risk assessment tool for dyslipidemias, hyperglycemia, hyperuricemia, and hypertension in Mexican adults. Applications of questioners containing this silhouette might be considered a valuable public health instrument due to their low cost, relative simplicity, and absence of specialized equipment, training, or respondent knowledge.