Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Studies on Different Methods of Drying in Carnation

Flowers are closely associated with mankind from the dawn of civilization. The scope of utility and importance of flowers have been realized throughout the world and in this modern age, floriculture has developed into a profitable industry. Fresh flowers and foliages though exquisite in their beauty, are highly expensive. Also they are perishable and delicate in nature and cannot retain their beauty and fresh look for a long time inspite of using best chemicals for enhancing vase life. Moreover, there is a non-availability of fresh flowers and foliages all round the year in all places. In this context, flowers can be dried, preserved and processed to retain its beauty as well as everlasting value. Dried and preserved ornamental products offer a wide range of qualities like novelty, longevity, aesthetic properties, flexibility and year round availability. Dried ornamental plant parts are generally less expensive and are sought for their everlasting and attractive appearance. Drying of flowers and foliage by various methods like air drying, sun drying oven and microwave oven drying, freeze drying and embedded drying can be used for making International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 8 (2017) pp. 870-882 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com
The Impacts of Operational Risks in the Supply Chain of Construction Projects in Malaysia

: Construction glitches have become serious issues for Malaysian construction projects. The construction industry is one of the industries driven by supply chains and affected by interconnected risks. Any disruption happening anywhere will halt the whole project or even other projects. However, massive literature is available to deal with various kinds of risks from the supply chain (SC) of the construction industry that have never been discussed before. This is an empirical investigation and the data was collected through a questionnaire distributed to the construction industry through systemic probability sampling. Final and purified data was analyzed with Structural Equation Modelling through Smart PLS. A total of three types of risks were identified from literature namely supply side risks (SR), process side risks (PR) and demand side risks (DR). It has been found that supply side risks and demand side risks have significant negative effects on supply chain performance (SCP) while process side risks also have negative effects on supply chain performance but not significant. This study will help managers to understand how supply chain risks (SCR) affect the construction industry and what type of risks they should be more aware of. This study covers only operational side risks while future research can be on other risks. Furthermore, various approaches can be proposed for mitigation but there is also a need to verify these approaches for Malaysia.
Characterizations of Deposited Dust Falloutin Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia

Dust and sand storms are a persistent problem in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We monitored dust fallout samples from 15 sampling sites on a monthly basis for the entire year of 2012 and analyzed them for the various chemical and physical characteristics. Results revealed that dust deposition rates across the city were high, with sites located near construction activities and those located in northeastern Riyadh being the worst. The annual average amount of dust fallout for all stations during this period was 454.1 tons km-2. Compared to other cities, the total annual dust deposition observed in Riyadh was among the highest in the world. The average monthly amounts of dust deposited at 15 sites across Riyadh were highly variable, ranging from 14.5 tons km-2 at Riyadh airport to 178.6 tons km-2 at the Al-Aqiq site. Dust deposition rates varied significantly in April to August and ranged from 74.6 to 54.9 tons km-2 month-1. The dry deposition during November to December 2012 was significantly lower, with an average of 30.1 tons km-2 month-1. Silt fraction was the dominant fraction in almost all of the dust fallout and it ranged from 49.5% in Al-Aqiq to 70% in Al-Olya. The sand fraction ranged from 48.4% at Al-Aqiq to 26.2% at Al-Olya. All of the dust samples had a high CaCO3 content, ranging from 16.9 to 48.5%. Appreciable amounts of heavy metals such as Pb, Ni, Co, Cu, Mn, Zn, and V were detected in the dust samples.
Early incidence of deep venous thrombosis and its risk factors after knee arthroscopic surgery in patients with anticoagulant and non-anticoagulant

Purpose: To investigated the early incidence of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and its risk factors after knee arthroscopic surgery in patients with anticoagulant and non-anticoagulant.Methods: 272 patients were reviewed who have undergone knee arthroscopic surgery in our hospital from January 2018 to October 2019. Color doppler ultrasound was performed for every patient at 24h preoperatively and three days after operation. On the first day after surgery, low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) was randomly administered to some patients and not in others. The following factors were recorded: gender, age, body mass index (BMI), preoperative platelet and D-dimer level, D-dimer level three days after surgery, anesthetic technique, tourniquet time, whether to use LMWH after operation, and type of surgical procedures. Chi-square test or Student t test was used to preliminarily screen out suspected risk factors. Then, multiple logistic regression analysis was utilized to further determine the risk factors of DVT after knee arthroscopic surgery.Results: The incidence of DVT in the postoperative anticoagulant group was 7.5%, and 7.4% in the non-anticoagulant group. An increased incidence was found among higher D-dimer level postoperatively. There was no significant difference in the incidence of DVT between use of LMWH and non-use of LMWH in three days after surgery.Conclusion: The early incidence of DVT in the group of patients without LMWH was 7.4%. The incidence of DVT in patients with knee arthroscopy surgery could not be reduced by using LMWH within three days, and high D-dimer level was a risk factor for DVT after knee arthroscopic surgery.
Eating Behaviors Among Male Bodybuilders and Runners: Application of the Trans-Contextual Model of Motivation

This article focuses on two popular sports that can put male athletes at risk of developing an eating disorder: bodybuilding and running. Bodybuilders concentrate on gaining muscle mass and runners on leaning body mass. Based on the trans-contextual model of motivation, this study aimed to better understand the psychological mechanisms underlying eating disorders in these athletes. In all, 272 male bodybuilders and 217 male runners completed measures of sport motivation, theory of planned behavior variables (i.e., attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and intention to gain muscle mass/lean body mass), and eating disorders (dieting, control, and bulimia behaviors). The results revealed satisfactory fit indices for both samples. Autonomous and controlled motivations for sport were positively directly and indirectly related to eating disorders in these athletes. This motivational mechanism needs more in-depth investigation, and motivational profiles might help distinguish athletes with and without eating disorders.
Prevalence and Risk Factors of Coronary Heart Disease in Chinese Patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, 2013-2018

Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most common cause of death in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). We aim to estimate the prevalence of CHD and cardiovascular risk factors in Chinese diabetic inpatients.Methods: A total of 66536 diabetic inpatients from 2013 to 2018 were investigated, demographic and clinical data were gathered from 30693 patients with T2DM. The age-standardized prevalence of CHD was calculated on the basis of data from Chinese population census in 2010. Multiple imputation was used to impute missing values and logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors.Results: The crude prevalence of CHD was estimated to be 23.5% and a standardized prevalence was 13.9% (16.0% in men and 11.9% in women). More than half of diabetic patients with CHD have 4 or above of the 5 traditional risk factors, which is much higher than 38.96% of diabetic patients (p<0.01). Multivariate regression analysis showed that diabetes duration, hypertension, smoking, underweight, overweight, obesity, hypoglycemia were significantly associated with a higher risk of CHD (all p<0.05). The odds ratio of CHD in patients having 3, 4, or 5 CHD risk factors were 2.35 (95%CI 1.81- 3.04), 2.96 (95%CI 2.28- 3.85), and 5.29 (95%CI 4.04- 6.93), compared with diabetes patients without any other risk factors.Conclusions: The prevalence of CHD was rather high in Chinese T2DM inpatients, aggregation of CHD risk factors was more seriously, hierarchical CHD prevention strategies based on risk factors are needed for them.
Prevalence and related factors of internet addiction among undergraduate university students, Northeastern Ethiopia. A community university-based cross-sectional study

Background: Globally, more than three billion persons using the Internet daily, with the common being youths and young persons. Internet addiction among university students in Ethiopia has not been studied. The current study aims to explore the magnitude and related factors of internet addiction among Wollo University students in Ethiopia.Objectives: The main objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and related factors of internet addiction among Wollo University students, Northeast, Ethiopia, 2019.Methods: A community university-based cross-sectional study was conducted among Wollo University students from April 10 to May 10, 2019, G.C. A total of six hundred three students were participated in the study using a pretested and self-administered structured questionnaire. The Young’s Internet Addiction Test instrument was used to assess the level of internet addiction. Results: Generally, the prevalence of internet addiction (IA) among the current internet users was 85 % (n=466) with 55.7 %( n=305) mild internet addiction, 27.9% (n=153) moderate internet addiction and 1.5% (n= 8) severe internet addiction. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, using the internet greater than five hours daily, having mental distress, playing online games, current khat chewing and current alcohol use were positively related to internet addiction. Using the internet for more than twelve months and using the internet by mobile internet were negatively related to internet addiction.Conclusions: The current study documents a high prevalence of internet addiction among Wollo University students. Factors independently associated with internet addiction were using the internet greater than five hours daily, having mental distress, playing online games, current khat chewing and current alcohol use.
Efficacy of entomopathogenic fungi Fusarium verticillioides (Saccardo) Nirenberg against Tetranychus urticae Koch on okra in polyhouse

Studies on efficacy of acaropathogenic fungi F. verticillioidesagainst T. urticae on okra was conducted in polyhouse at Department of Entomology, N. M. College of Agriculture, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari (Gujarat) India. The six different concentrations of F. verticillioides ranging from 1×105cfu/ml to 1×1010cfu/ml were evaluated against T. urticae on okra. Among the different treatments, F. verticillioides @ 1×1010cfu/ml concentration was found significantly superior with highest (75.04%) mortality at 10 days after application. Whereas, lowest (26.41%) mortality was observed @ 1×105cfu/ml concentration.
MEASURING PROPENSITY OF ONLINE PURCHASE BY USING THE TAM MODEL: EVIDENCE FROM ITALIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

This study aims to investigate the dynamics of online purchasing behavior through the analysis of a sample of students from Italy. The objective is twofold: firstly, to outline a descriptive picture of the type of relationship with the web and the use of the TAM model to highlight the propensity to use electronic commerce by the analyzed sample. An interesting evidence is the prevalence of using the Internet for social activities rather than for purchases. In fact, the propensity to purchase online is still very limited and mainly concerns cultural and tourist services rather than physical products. Mobile devices are the main devices for connecting students to the Web and, consequently, the most used for purchasing online.
A Comprehensive Tumor Molecular Profile Analysis in Clinical Practice: A Single Center’s Experience

Background: Tumor molecular profile is of great importance for the detection of biomarkers of response to targeted treatment due to the increased availability, with concomitant reduction of cost, of Next Generation Sequencing technology (NGS). In parallel to targeted therapies’, immunotherapies are also evolving, revolutionizing cancer therapy, with Programmed Death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), Microsatellite Instability (MSI), and Tumor Mutational Burden (TMB) analysis being the biomarkers employed most commonly.Methods: In the present study, a 161 gene NGS panel, containing the majority of clinically significant genes for cancer treatment selection, was used for tumor molecular profile analysis. A variety of tumor types have been analyzed, including aggressive and hard to treat cancers such as pancreatic cancer. Besides, the clinical utility of immunotherapy biomarkers (TMB, MSI, PD-L1), was also studied.Results: Molecular profile analysis was conducted in 610 cancer patients, while in 393 of them a at least one biomarker for immunotherapy response was requested. At least one actionable alteration was detected in 77.70% of the patients. 54.59% of them received information related to on-label or off-label treatment (Tiers 1A.1, 1A.2, 2B, and 2C.1) and 21.31% received a variant that could be used for clinical trial inclusion. The addition to immunotherapy biomarker to targeted biomarkers’ analysis in 191 cases increased the number of patients with an on-label treatment recommendation by 22.40%, while an option for on-label or off-label treatment was provided in 71.35% of the cases. Conclusions: Tumor molecular profile analysis by NGS is a first-tier methodology for a variety of tumor types, which provides critical information for treatment decision making in cancer patients. Importantly, simultaneous analysis for targeted therapy and immunotherapy biomarkers could lead to a better tumor characterization and provide actionable information in the majority of patients. Moreover, our results indicate that one in two patients is eligible for ICI treatment based on the biomarkers’ analysis. However, when these analyses are performed, the challenge is their implementation in clinical practice. Multidisciplinary patient management is critical to the refinement of the strategy incorporating such information.
Transcriptional response to kairomone exposure in Daphnia magna: A candidate gene approach

Background: Daphnia (Brachiopoda, Cladocera) is a well-studied model organism providing unparalleled opportunity to test epigenetic regulation of predator avoidance mechanisms in aquatic ecosystems. The discovery of regulatory functions for microRNA molecules and recently described miRNA profiles of Daphnia make it an ideal system to probe for posttranslational regulatory mechanisms mediated by kairomone released by predatory fish. However, despite a number of studies that focused on mRNA transcript level differences, no miRNA studies associated with kairomone exposure have been reported. Results: Exposing D. magna to fish kairomone from birth to the first reproduction was found to result in the differential expression of the four miRNAs tested: miR-7, miR-34, miR-317, and miR-375. Normalized transcript levels for each miRNA were found to vary across the exposure period with no clear conserved pattern of expression despite functional target analyses by GO, COG and KEGG indicating that predicted miRNA target genes are likely involved in related biological activities. Analysis of six mRNA transcripts (Hsp70, Hsp90, actin, AKT, GYS and IGFR), identified in previous studies as kairomone-mediated genes in Daphnia magna, were also carried out. Similar to that obtained for miRNAs, the mRNA transcript levels showed varying degrees of temporal regulation across the exposure time course with the two heat shock transcripts exhibiting elevated levels at early and late time points of kairomone exposure while the AKT, GYS, and IGFR transcripts had an general decrease in expression during the first 96 hours. Conclusions: Differential mRNA expression data supports the premise of an ecological trade-off between the cost of general biological processes and that of survival under long-term kairomone stress. Transcript levels for the four miRNAs tested were found to vary across developmental time with kairomone exposure which suggests that they may have a role in regulating morphological, behavioral or physiological responses by altering target gene expression. These studies lay the foundation for future work aimed at linking miRNAs and their target transcripts to changes in the signaling events that govern Daphnia response to kairomone specific stress.
Phase-resolved photoacoustic spectroscopy to monitor dental plaque on tooth enamel

ABSTRACT Dental plaque is a biofilm on the enamel surface of the teeth, formed by colonizing bacteria. It is essential to monitor the biofilm presence on the surface of the enamel of the teeth, since plaque is a reason for periodontal disease and dental caries. This paper proposes applying photoacoustic spectroscopy to monitor and the phase-resolved photoacoustic method to analyze the biofilm plaque on samples of human dental enamel facets. The biofilm growth occurred in the oral cavity environment at deposition time of 48 and 72 h. Photoacoustic ex vivo monitoring found that: (1) Photoacoustic spectroscopy is a helpful tool to identify the bactericidal effect on dental plaque; (2) the biofilm deposition provides an optical absorption of the Soret band at 410 nm and increase of hydroxyl absorption band; (3) the biofilm thickness by phase-resolved photoacoustic method is in agreement with the literature in situ measurements. These new knowledges may help in development of a greater practicality and safety equipment able to identify and quantify dental biofilm, which may be achieved with low-cost Soret-band light emitting diode as light excitation.
Health System Adaptability at Primary Level Care in the Time of COIVD-19: Experiences From Ethiopia

BackgroundCOVID-19 is a global public health emergency, that has had massive implications on the ability of health systems to avail essential services both during and after the emergency. An effective response thus requires an agile health system that can adjust, reorganize, transform or modify in response to shocks and stress, and to recover quickly in the aftermath. This study aims to identify the major attributes that health systems needed to be adaptable in early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, as observed in selected primary health care facilities in Ethiopia. MethodsThis study employed a retrospective cross-sectional study design based on the ‘ready, willing and able’ framework for health system resilience. The assessment used two independent, concurrently administrated instruments. A total of 163 health centers were visited from April to June 2020. ResultsThe overall mean score for COVID-19 preparedness was 73.1±16.1 standard deviation (SD) and it ranged from 28.9 to 99.9 out of 100. The mean score for the ‘ready’ dimension of preparedness was 75.1±19.1 SD, for the ‘willing’ dimension it was 61.6±24.6 SD and for the ‘able’ dimension the score was 82.8±21.0 SD. Multivariable linear regression analysis showed that levels of functionality of governing, and management systems, integration of emergency responses into the routine system, and prior experience of implementing quality improvement efforts were positively associated with COVID-19 preparedness. ConclusionHealth system resilience is a result of investments made prior to any incidents to ensure that the system is prepared for unpredicted shocks. Early adaptation required to contain the effects of COVID-19 may be considered as a litmus test to understand the capacity of primary health care facilities in Ethiopia to withstand future health system stressors.
Does Uncertainty Affect Investor Behaviors and Returns in Stock Exchanges? A New Generation Analysis for the US Equity Markets

This study aims to investigate the relationship between uncertainty level in stock exchanges and stock exchange returns. For this purpose, the effects of the US Equity Market Uncertainty Index (EMUI) on the NYSE, the S&P500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq100 stock exchange indexes traded in the US are analyzed using a dataset spanning through 1985:M01-2020:M01. In addition, the US Industrial Production Index and the Non-Farm Employment data along with the FED interest rate are included in the analysis as control variables in order to capture the effect of real economic activities and monetary policy on stock exchange returns. Based on the Carrion-i-Silvestre et al. (2009) multiple structural change unit root test, all series are found to follow I(1). The series are also found to be cointegrated according to the result of the Maki (2012) multiple structural variation cointegration test. Long and short-term analyses are performed using the DOLS method. The long-term analysis suggests that an increase in uncertainty in stock markets negatively affects the returns of all four stock exchanges while the NYSE being the most affected one among others. Moreover, an increase in the Industrial Production Index positively affects all four stock exchange while again the NYSE is found to be the index that is affected the most by such an increase. The Non-Agricultural Employment growth also positively affects all stock exchanges with Nasdaq100 technology index bearing the highest impact. Furthermore, increases in interest rates negatively affects all four stock exchanges operating in the US. The results from the short-term analysis implies that an increase in uncertainty in equity markets negatively affects the stock exchanges investigated. However, this negative effect is less for the NYSE and the S&P500 and greater for the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq100 when compared to the effect obtained from the long-term analysis. Lastly, an increase in the Industrial Production Index affects all four stock exchanges positively in the short-term with the NYSE being the most affected index among the four. Causality relations from uncertainties in equity markets towards the stock exchange returns is analyzed by using a time-varying causality method proposed by Li et al. (2016). According to the results, it is observed that causality from uncertainties in stock exchanges are more apparent on the NYSE, the S&P500 and the Dow Jones while it is relatively less on the Nasdaq100. In general, the causality effects from uncertainties in stock exchanges to stock exchange returns increase during periods in which the Federal Reserve has played a more active role in the US monetary policies.