Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of silage maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars and different water level on nutritive value

Drought is the most frequent cause of nutritive failure of maize hybrids. An experiment was conducted to determine influence of water levels and different maize hybrids on nutritive value. Objective of this study was to investigate the trends in crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF) for maize cultivar across water levels. The experiment was conducted at Arak Azad University Research Farm. This investigation was performed to examine the effects of levels of water, WL 1 (water saturation deficit (WSD) about 10%), WL 2 (WSD about 30%), WL 3 (WSD about 50%) and four hybrids (KO 6 and single-cross cultivars SC700, SC704 and SC647) on nutritive value. Results showed that CP, NDF and ADF of plants were generally increased by stress. As WSD decreased from highest to the lowest level, CP increased by 18.5%, NDF 5.1% and ADF 6.4%. Single-cross cultivars achieved higher CP and ADF values. Adversely, NDF of KO 6 was higher than for other three cultivars. Moreover, WSD 1 increased from 10.77% to 57.3% and WSD 2 from 8.5% to 54.6%. There were no significant differences in response to decreased water level between the cultivars evaluated. Other than the notable change was observed in WSD 2 for KO 6 . In addition, KO 6 had improved leaf water relations compared to other cultivars, but the nutritive attribute of single-cross cultivars appeared to be more significant.
Influence of the anastomosis on the clinical picture of median and ulnar nerves injury

Failed block could be one of the adverse results of the conductive anaesthesia. There are situations, when in seemingly perfect technique of the block, properly chosen drug, dosage, adjuvant – the block is not achieved (it does not occur or is incomplete or so-called “mosaic block” occurs). It is necessary to remember about atypical or abnormal nerves branching, possible interneural anastomoses, when looking for the possible cause of it. Information about most common types of interneural anastomosis of arm’s and leg’s long nerves is presented in this article. Knowledge of possible abnormal neural innervation can provide an understanding of inefficacy of some simple blocks, decrease amount of mistakes in data interpretation, that was obtained during electroneuromyographic (ENMG) investigations, improve understanding of clinical pattern in the peripheral nerve injuries, that form anastomosis.
Sudden rise in COVID-19 case fatality among young and middle-aged adults in the south of Brazil after identification of the novel B.1.1.28.1 (P.1) SARS-CoV-2 strain: analysis of data from the state of Parana

Brazil is currently suffering a deadly surge of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections, which has been attributed to the spread of a new strain known as P.1 (B.1.1.28.1). In this investigation, we analyzed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health data from Parana, the largest state in southern half of Brazil, between September 1, 2020 and March 17, 2021, to evaluate recent trends in case fatality rates in different age groups. A total of 553,518 cases of SARS-CoV-2, 8,853 currently registered as fatal, were finally included in our analysis. All age groups showed either decline or stabilization of the case fatality rates (CFRs) between September 2020 and January 2021. In February 2021, an increase in CFR for almost all age groups could be instead observed. All groups above 20 years of age showed statistically significant increases in CFR when diagnosed in February 2021 as opposed to January 2021. Patients aged 20-29 years experienced a tripling of their CFR, from 0.04% to 0.13%, while those aged 30-39, 40-49, 50-59 experienced approximate CFR doubling. Individuals between 20 and 29 years of age whose diagnosis was made in February 2021 had an over 3-fold higher risk of death compared to those diagnosed in January 2021 (Risk Ratio (RR): 3.15 [95%CI: 1.52-6.53], p<0.01), while those aged 30-39, 40-49, 50-59 years experienced 93% (1.93 [95%CI:1.31-2.85], p<0.01), 110% (RR: 2.10 [95%CI:1.62-2.72], p<0.01), and 80% (RR: 1.80 [95%CI:1.50-2.16], p<0.01) increases in risk of death, respectively. Notably, the observed CFR increase coincided with the second consecutive month of declining number of diagnosed SARS-CoV-2 cases. Taken together, these preliminary findings suggest significant increases in CFR in young and middle-aged adults after identification of a novel SARS-CoV-2 strain circulating in Brazil, and this should raise public health alarms, including the need for more aggressive local and regional public health interventions and faster vaccination.
Slow Motion Analysis of Repetitive Tapping (SMART) test: measuring bradykinesia in recently diagnosed Parkinson's disease and idiopathic anosmia

Background: Bradykinesia is the defining motor feature of Parkinson's disease (PD). There are limitations to its assessment using standard clinical rating scales, especially in the early stages of PD when a floor effect may be observed. Objectives: To develop a quantitative method to track repetitive finger tapping movements and to compare people in the early stages of PD, healthy controls, and individuals with idiopathic anosmia. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 99 participants (early-stage PD=26, controls=64, idiopathic anosmia=9). For each participant, repetitive finger tapping was recorded over 20 seconds using a smartphone at 240 frames per second. Three parameters were extracted from videos: amplitude between fingers, frequency (number of taps per second), and velocity (distance travelled per second). Clinical assessment was based on the motor section of MDS-UPDRS. Results: People in the early stage of PD performed the task with slower velocity (p<0.001) and with greater decrement in frequency than controls (p=0.003). The combination of slower velocity and greater decrement in frequency obtained the best accuracy to separate early-stage PD from controls based on metric thresholds alone (AUC = 0.88). Individuals with anosmia exhibited slower velocity (p=0.001) and smaller amplitude (p<0.001) compared with controls. Conclusions: We present a new simple method to detect early motor dysfunction in PD. Mean tap velocity appeared to be the best parameter to differentiate patients with PD from controls. Patients with anosmia also showed detectable differences in motor performance compared with controls which may be important indication of the prodromal phase of PD.
Impaired antibacterial immune signaling and changes in the lung microbiome precede secondary bacterial pneumonia in COVID-19

Secondary bacterial infections, including ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP), lead to worse clinical outcomes and increased mortality following viral respiratory infections. Critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) face an elevated risk of VAP, although susceptibility varies widely. Because mechanisms underlying VAP predisposition remained unknown, we assessed lower respiratory tract host immune responses and microbiome dynamics in 36 patients, including 28 COVID-19 patients, 15 of whom developed VAP, and eight critically ill controls. We employed a combination of tracheal aspirate bulk and single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). Two days before VAP onset, a lower respiratory transcriptional signature of bacterial infection was observed, characterized by increased expression of neutrophil degranulation, toll-like receptor and cytokine signaling pathways. When assessed at an earlier time point following endotracheal intubation, more than two weeks prior to VAP onset, we observed a striking early impairment in antibacterial innate and adaptive immune signaling that markedly differed from COVID-19 patients who did not develop VAP. scRNA-seq further demonstrated suppressed immune signaling across monocytes/macrophages, neutrophils and T cells. While viral load did not differ at an early post-intubation timepoint, impaired SARS-CoV-2 clearance and persistent interferon signaling characterized the patients who later developed VAP. Longitudinal metatranscriptomic analysis revealed disruption of lung microbiome community composition in patients who developed VAP, providing a connection between dysregulated immune signaling and outgrowth of opportunistic pathogens. Together, these findings demonstrate that COVID-19 patients who develop VAP have impaired antibacterial immune defense weeks before secondary infection onset.
Investigating the evolution of undergraduate medical students’ perception and performance in relation to an innovative curriculum-based research module: A convergent mixed methods study launching the 8A-Model

Embedding an experiential research curriculum into medical programs is still not widely adopted. This study investigated, using convergent mixed methods design, the journey of medical students in relation to a research module. The students perception of the experience was qualitatively explored using thematic analysis. The students performance data were quantitatively analyzed using multi-repeated ANOVA. The exploration generated four themes: 1- Attend-Acquire, 2- Accumulate-Assimilate, 3- Apply-Appreciate, and 4-Articulate-Affect. Quantitatively, two distinct clusters of mean Grade Point Average were revealed (p<0.01). Joint display analysis enabled integrating the qualitative and quantitative findings, generating the 8A-Model. The students start appreciating the experience upon conducting their research.
Hemodialysis Patients Show a Highly Diminished Antibody Response after COVID-19 mRNA Vaccination Compared to Healthy Controls

1. Abstract 1.1 Background and Objectives Hemodialysis patients are prone to infection with SARS-COV2 and show a high probability of a severe course of disease and high mortality when infected. In many countries hemodialysis patients are prioritised in vaccination programs to protect this vulnerable community. However, no hemodialysis patients were included in efficacy trials of SARS CoV-2 vaccines and therefore efficacy and safety data for this patient group are lacking. These data would be critical, since hemodialysis patients showed decreased responses against various other vaccines and this could mean decreased response to SARS CoV-2 vaccines. 1.2 Design, setting, participants, and measurements We conducted a prospective cohort study consisting of a group of 81 hemodialysis patients and 80 healthy controls who were vaccinated with mRNA vaccine BNT162b2 (BionTech/Pfizer, 2 doses with an interval of 21 days). Anti-SARS-COV-2 S antibody response in all participants was measured 21 days after the second dose. The groups were compared with univariate quantile regressions and a multiple analysis. Adverse events (AEs) of the vaccination were assessed with a standardized questionnaire. We also performed a correlation of HBs-Antibody response with the SARS-COV-2 antibody response in the hemodialysis patients. 1.3 Results Dialysis patients had significantly lower Anti-SARS-COV-2 S antibody titres than healthy control patients 21 days after vaccination with BNT162b2 (median dialysis Patients 171 U/ml versus median controls 2500 U/ml). Age also had a significant but less pronounced influence on antibody titres. Dialysis patients showed less AEs than the control group. No significant correlation was found for Hepatitis B vaccine antibody response and SARS CoV-2 vaccine antibody response. 1.4 Conclusions Hemodialysis patients exhibit highly diminished SARS-COV-2 S antibody titres compared to a cohort of controls. Therefore these patients could be much less protected by SARS CoV-2 mRNA vaccination than expected. Alternative vaccination schemes must be considered and preventive measures must be maintained after vaccination.
AGGRESSSION IN SCHOOL CHILDREN: ROLE OF GENDER, FAMILY FACTORS AND EXPOSURE TO VIOLENCE

INTRODUCTION: Increasing instances of aggression in school children has become a cause of great concern for educationists, parents and mental health professionals. With increased globalization and information overload, todays child is exposed to influences which probably adversely modify the child behavior. These aggressive tendencies could affect the child academic, social functioning and also may lead to psychiatric problems. Hence, this study was planned to find out the amount of aggression among school children and various potential contributing factors for the aggressive behavior. Identifying these risk factors could help design preventive strategies among school children. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the amount of aggression and its contributing factors among 10 to 12 year old children. SUBJECTS: The subjects involved the school children and their teachers in various schools across Mumbai. The age group of study was 10 to 12 years i.e. class 5th to class 8th No. of subjects: 102 STUDY PROCEDURE: A total of 102, 10 to 12 year old school children (5th to 8th class) in the Mumbai metropolitan area were interviewed to assess the presence of aggression. A validated scale, Children Aggression Scale Teacher version (CAST), was used to assess the presence of aggression. Children were assessed & scored on basis of this scale with questions answered by their teachers. Data was analyzed on the basis of each factor using unpaired t test, ANOVA test and Kruskal Wallis Test (Nonparametric ANOVA). Institutional ethics committee approval was taken for research at Seth GS Medical College, Mumbai, India. RESULTS: A high level of aggression was present in 4% other children while moderate levels were present in 8%. Boys were found to be more aggressive than girls (p value 0.003). Aggression scores were significantly higher in children from English medium and with poor academic performance. Children exposed to physical abuse and violence on Television showed significantly high aggression. Perceived parental conflict in boys was found to be significantly associated with lower aggression scores. Among the various factors studied, aggression scores showed highest correlation with exposure to violence on television for more than 2 hours/day (11.67 vs 3.19 p-value <0.001). CONCLUSION: About 12% of schoolchildren in the 10-12years group show aggressive behavior needing interventions. Boys from abusive families, with poor academic performance and exposed to excessive violence on TV seem particularly at risk for developing aggressive behavior.
Association Between the Physical Work Environment and Work Functioning Impairment While Working From Home Under the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japanese Workers

Objective: To examine the relationship between the physical work environment and work function while working from home (WFH). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. Data from 5760 workers who worked from home at least 1 day a month were analyzed. The physical work environment while WFH was used as an exposure factor. The presence of work functioning impairment was measured using Work Functioning impairment Scale (WFun). Mixed-effects logistic regression was used with the prefecture of residence as a random effect. Results: Work functioning impairment was significantly associated with a “No” response to recommended environments. The highest odds ratio (OR) of work functioning impairment was associated with a “No” response to “There is enough light to do my work” (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 2.02, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.73 to 2.35, P < 0.01). Conclusions: Improving work environments may prevent negative health effects and improve productivity while WFH.
Hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients in Belgium treated with statins, ACE inhibitors and/or ARBs

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted life throughout the world. Newly developed vaccines promise relief to people who live in high-income countries, although vaccines and expensive new treatments are unlikely to arrive in time to help people who live in low-and middle-income countries. The pathogenesis of COVID-19 is characterized by endothelial dysfunction. Several widely available drugs like statins, ACE inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) have immunometabolic activities that (among other things) maintain or restore endothelial cell function. For this reason, we undertook an observational study in four Belgian hospitals to determine whether in-hospital treatment with these drugs could improve survival in 959 COVID-19 patients. We found that treatment with statins and ACEIs/ARBs reduced 28-day mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Moreover, combination treatment with these drugs resulted in a 3-fold reduction in the odds of hospital mortality (OR = 0.33; 95% CI 0.17–0.69). These findings were in general agreement with other published studies. Additional observational studies and clinical trials are needed to convincingly show that in-hospital treatment with statins, ACEIs/ARBs, and especially their combination saves lives.
Taxonomic Sufficiency and benthic biotic indices in two 1 Mediterranean areas . 2

Abstract. Biotic indices have been developed to summarise information provided by benthic 12 macroinvertebrates, but their use can require specialized taxonomic expertise as well as a time13 consuming operation. Using high taxonomic level in biotic indices reduce sampling processing 14 time but should be considered with caution, since assigning tolerance level to high taxonomic 15 levels may cause uncertainty. A methodology for family level tolerance categorization based on 16 the affinity of each family with disturbed or undisturbed conditions was employed. This family 17 tolerance classification approach was tested in two different areas from Mediterranean Sea 18 affected by sewage discharges. Biotic indices employed at family level responded correctly to 19 sewage presence. However, in areas with different communities among stations and high 20 diversity of species within each family, assigning the same tolerance level to a whole family 21 could imply mistakes. Thus, use of high taxonomic level in biotic indices should be only 22 restricted to areas where homogeneous community is presented and families across sites have 23 similar species composition. 24
Adjusting College Cost Figures for Noncredit Enrollments : Part 2 — Iowa , South Carolina , Tennessee , and Virginia

Objective: This study extends prior work on a distortion in IPEDS data brought about by the exclusion of noncredit enrollments. This affects a commonly used metric, expenditures per FTE student. The problem is that expenditures for noncredit courses are reported to IPEDS but the enrollments are not. Previous research covered 4 states— New York, New Jersey, California and North Carolina. The current study adds four more states—Iowa, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Method: Data on noncredit enrollments were made available from system offices in our four new states. In addition, discussions were held on both the system and the campus level to verify the data and assumptions. Data were merged with existing IPEDS data at the campus and state level and were adjusted to account for noncredit enrollments. Results: Evidence supports the argument that IPEDS data overestimates the resources that community colleges have to spend on each student, although distortions vary greatly between states and among colleges in the same state.
Role of exosomes in the immune microenvironment of ovarian cancer

Exosomes are excretory vesicles that can deliver a variety of bioactive cargo molecules to the extracellular environment. Accumulating evidence demonstrates exosome participation in intercellular communication, immune response, inflammatory response and they even play an essential role in affecting the tumor immune microenvironment. The role of exosomes in the immune microenvironment of ovarian cancer is mainly divided into suppression and stimulation. On one hand exosomes can stimulate the innate and adaptive immune systems by activating dendritic cells (DCs), natural killer cells and T cells, allowing these immune cells exert an antitumorigenic effect. On the other hand, ovarian cancer-derived exosomes initiate cross-talk with immunosuppressive effector cells, which subsequently cause immune evasion; one of the hallmarks of cancer. Exosomes induce the polarization of macrophages in M2 phenotype and induce apoptosis of lymphocytes and DCs. Exosomes further activate additional immunosuppressive effector cells (myeloid-derived suppressor cells and regulatory T cells) that induce fibroblasts to differentiate into cancer-associated fibroblasts. Exosomes also induce the tumorigenicity of mesenchymal stem cells to exert additional immune suppression. Furthermore, besides mediating the intercellular communication, exosomes carry microRNAs (miRNAs), proteins and lipids to the tumor microenvironment, which collectively promotes ovarian cancer cells to proliferate, invade and tumors to metastasize. Studying proteins, lipids and miRNAs carried by exosomes could potentially be used as an early diagnostic marker of ovarian cancer for designing treatment strategies.
A Field Study of the Agricultural Use of Sewage Sludge: II. Effect on Soil N and P

Liquid digested sewage sludge applied at rates from 3.75 to 60 metric ton/ha significantly increased the concentrations of inorganic N, organic N, and Bray P₁ extractable P in a sandy loam and a silt loam soil in south-central Wisconsin. Most of the applied inorganic N was as NH₄-N and was nitrified rapidly. At sludge rates of 30 metric ton/ha or more, substantial losses of sludge-applied N occurred by leaching. Soil solution NO₃-N concentrations exceeded 100 mg/liter at the 120- to 150-cm depth 10 weeks after the first sludge application on the permeable sandy loam, and after about 1 year on the silt loam. The N balance indicated that considerable amounts of N may have been lost by denitrification, volatilization, or both, where > 30 metric ton/ha were applied. Mineralization of organic N was more rapid than previously reported. Up to 50% of the applied organic N was mineralized within 3 weeks after the last sludge application. During the remaining 25 months of the experiment, the mineralization rate was essentially constant at about 250 mg organic N/kg of soil/year at the 60 metric ton/ha sludge rate, and 180 mg organic N/kg of soil/year at the 30 metric ton/ha rate. Sludge applications resulted in immediate marked increases in Bray P₁ extractable P. However, the extractable P levels decreased with time after sludge application, probably as a result of P fixation. Significant amounts of P remained available for at least 2 years at the higher treatment rates.