Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bronchoscopic Features and Morphology of Endobronchial Tuberculosis: A Malaysian Tertiary Hospital Experience

The diagnosis of endobronchial tuberculosis (EBTB) is difficult as it is not well visualized radiologically, and bronchoscopy is not routinely performed for tuberculosis (TB) patients. Bronchoscopic characterization via endoscopic macroscopic features can speed up the diagnosis of EBTB and prompt immediate treatment. In this study, we identified the clinical and bronchoscopic morphology of 17 patients who were diagnosed with EBTB from 2018 to 2020. Demographics, radiological, microbiological and histopathological data were recorded. Endobronchial lesions were classified according to Chung classification. The diagnosis was made based on a histopathological examination (HPE) of endobronchial biopsy, and/or positive ‘Acid-fast bacilli’ (AFB) microscopy/Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) culture on microbiological examination of bronchial alveolar lavage (BAL) and/or positive MTB culture on endobronchial biopsy specimens. Furthermore, EBTB was predominant in young women, age 20 to 49 years old, with a male to female ratio of 1 to 2. Underlying comorbidities were found in 53% of the patients. Cough, fever and weight loss were the main symptoms (23.5%). The indications for bronchoscopy are smear-negative TB and persistent consolidation on chest radiographs. Consolidation was the main radiological finding (53%). An active caseating lesion was the main EBTB endobronchial subtype (53%). The leading HPE finding was caseating granulomatous inflammation (47%). All patients showed good clinical response to TB treatment. Repeated bronchoscopy in six patients post TB treatment showed a complete resolution of the endobronchial lesion. EBTB bronchoscopic characterization is paramount to ensure correct diagnosis, immediate treatment and to prevent complication.
Information systems project failures: a comparison of two countries

Many organisations, regardless of size, engage in at least one, and often many information systems projects each year. Many of these projects consume massive amounts of resources, and may cost as little as a few thousand dollars to ten, and even hundreds of millions of dollars. Needless to say, the investment of time and resources into these ventures are of significant concern to chief information officers (CIOs), executive staff members, projet managers and others in leadership positions. This paper describes the results of a survey performed between Australia and the United States regarding factors leading to IS project failtures. The findings suggest that, among other things, end user involvement and executive management leadership are key indicators influencing IS project failures.
Contemporary Updates on the Role of Mast Cells in Oral Lesions: A Review

Mast cell (MCs) is considered the immune cell of myeloid lineage and make a crucial role in the inflammatory process in several types of oral diseases. This mast cell contains 50–200 large granules which are inflammatory mediators, including rich in histamine and heparin. It is mainly found in the connective tissues of the oral mucosa like nerves, blood vessels, and subepithelial areas of the human body. These cells have a key role in the maintenance of many physiologic functions of the body and thus their number was altered in various pathophysiologic diseases of the oral cavity such as benign and malignant tumors, reactive lesions, autoimmune diseases, odontogenic cyst, tumors, etc. The present paper is focused on the current concept and updates on the role and function of mast cells in physiologic and pathologic conditions of the oral cavity.
Understanding the Value of Tourism to Seniors’ Health and Positive Aging

The value of tourism has been included in studies of active aging, and the existing public health implications of the physical and mental health effects of tourism among seniors are recognized as important issues. This study uses a mixed methods research approach to explore the effects of tourism value on the health and mortality risk of older adults, referred to in this paper as seniors. Survival analysis and cohort analysis are combined with the narrative analysis of in-depth interviews with eight convenience-sampled seniors to construct a narrative framework of seniors’ active aging tourism and its intrinsic drivers. The study found that the intrinsic framework of active aging tourism values for seniors has a three-stage continuum, an interaction, and orientation characteristics. There are six intrinsic key value drivers of tourism value and public health for seniors. In addition, this study identifies the personal characteristics and strengths of seniors as important influences on tourism value practices for active aging and public health. This study provides a positive psychological and behavioral research direction for existing research on the value of tourism in active aging. It provides an empirical basis for exploring the intrinsic mechanisms of tourism and public health.
Shaped hole effects on film cooling effectiveness and a comparison of multiple effectiveness measurement techniques

Shaped Hole Effects on Film Cooling Effectiveness and a Comparison of Multiple Effectiveness Measurement Techniques. (December 2004) Trent Alan Varvel, B.S., Texas A&M University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Je-Chin Han This experimental study consists of two parts. For the first part, the film cooling effectiveness for a single row of seven cylindrical holes with a compound angle is measured on a flat surface using five different measurement techniques: steady-state liquid crystal thermography, transient liquid crystal thermography, pressure sensitive paint (PSP), thermocouples, and infrared thermography. A comparison of the film cooling effectiveness from each of the measurement techniques is presented. All methods show a good comparison, especially for the higher blowing ratios. The PSP technique shows the most accurate measurements and has more advantages for measuring film cooling effectiveness. Also, the effect of blowing ratio on the film cooling effectiveness is investigated for each of the measurement techniques. The second part of the study investigates the effect of hole geometries on the film cooling effectiveness using pressure sensitive paint. Nitrogen is injected as the coolant air so that the oxygen concentration levels can be obtained for the test surface. The film effectiveness is then obtained by the mass transfer analogy. Five total hole geometries are tested: fan-shaped laidback with a compound angle, fan-shaped laidback with a simple angle, a conical configuration with a compound angle, a conical configuration with a simple angle, and the reference geometry (cylindrical holes) used in part one. The effect of blowing ratio on film cooling effectiveness is presented for each hole geometry. The spanwise averaged effectiveness for each geometry is also presented to compare the geometry effect on film cooling effectiveness. The geometry of the holes has little effect
Nanoapatites Doped and Co-Doped with Noble Metal Ions as Modern Antibiofilm Materials for Biomedical Applications against Drug-Resistant Clinical Strains of Enterococcus faecalis VRE and Staphylococcus aureus MRSA

The main aim of our research was to investigate antiadhesive and antibiofilm properties of nanocrystalline apatites doped and co-doped with noble metal ions (Ag+, Au+, and Pd2+) against selected drug-resistant strains of Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus. The materials with the structure of apatite (hydroxyapatite, nHAp; hydroxy-chlor-apatites, OH-Cl-Ap) containing 1 mol% and 2 mol% of dopants and co-dopants were successfully obtained by the wet chemistry method. The majority of them contained an additional phase of metallic nanoparticles, in particular, AuNPs and PdNPs, which was confirmed by the XRPD, FTIR, UV–Vis, and SEM–EDS techniques. Extensive microbiological tests of the nanoapatites were carried out determining their MIC, MBC value, and FICI. The antiadhesive and antibiofilm properties of the tested nanoapatites were determined in detail with the use of fluorescence microscopy and computer image analysis. The results showed that almost all tested nanoapatites strongly inhibit adhesion and biofilm production of the tested bacterial strains. Biomaterials have not shown any significant cytotoxic effect on fibroblasts and even increased their survival when co-incubated with bacterial biofilms. Performed analyses confirmed that the nanoapatites doped and co-doped with noble metal ions are safe and excellent antiadhesive and antibiofilm biomaterials with potential use in the future in medical sectors.
Quantitative Evaluation for Magnetoelectric Sensor Systems in Biomagnetic Diagnostics

Dedicated research is currently being conducted on novel thin film magnetoelectric (ME) sensor concepts for medical applications. These concepts enable a contactless magnetic signal acquisition in the presence of large interference fields such as the magnetic field of the Earth and are operational at room temperature. As more and more different ME sensor concepts are accessible to medical applications, the need for comparative quality metrics significantly arises. For a medical application, both the specification of the sensor itself and the specification of the readout scheme must be considered. Therefore, from a medical user’s perspective, a system consideration is better suited to specific quantitative measures that consider the sensor readout scheme as well. The corresponding sensor system evaluation should be performed in reproducible measurement conditions (e.g., magnetically, electrically and acoustically shielded environment). Within this contribution, an ME sensor system evaluation scheme will be described and discussed. The quantitative measures will be determined exemplarily for two ME sensors: a resonant ME sensor and an electrically modulated ME sensor. In addition, an application-related signal evaluation scheme will be introduced and exemplified for cardiovascular application. The utilized prototype signal is based on a magnetocardiogram (MCG), which was recorded with a superconducting quantum-interference device. As a potential figure of merit for a quantitative signal assessment, an application specific capacity (ASC) is introduced. In conclusion, this contribution highlights metrics for the quantitative characterization of ME sensor systems and their resulting output signals in biomagnetism. Finally, different ASC values and signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) could be clearly presented for the resonant ME sensor (SNR: −90 dB, ASC: 9.8×10−7 dB Hz) and also the electrically modulated ME sensor (SNR: −11 dB, ASC: 23 dB Hz), showing that the electrically modulated ME sensor is better suited for a possible MCG application under ideal conditions. The presented approach is transferable to other magnetic sensors and applications.
Compact Modeling of Multi Gate and Other Emerging Transistors

COMPACT MODELING OF MULTI GATE AND OTHER EMERGING TRANSISTORS Matthew Thomas Donizetti, MS George Mason University, 2010 Thesis Director: Dimitris Ioannou, Ph. D. With the advent of multi gate and nanoscale fabrication techniques, several new transistor topographies have been proposed and manufactured in the past decade. In parallel, accurate and efficient compact models for these devices have been likewise developed. This paper summarizes the major topographies and their associated compact models with a focus toward computationally efficient models constructed for implementation in common modeling languages such as Verilog-A and SPICE. Common physical and mathematical modeling techniques have also been reviewed as has the evolution from simple multi gate devices to nanoscale structures.
Inflammatory Predictors of Prognosis in Patients with Traumatic Cerebral Haemorrhage: Retrospective Study

We aimed to evaluate the relationship between neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR), systemic inflammation index (SII), and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score in patients with traumatic intracerebral haemorrhage (TICH). We retrospectively investigated 95 patients with TICH hospitalised at the Neurosurgery Department in Zielona Gora from January 2017 to March 2021. Routine blood tests were performed 5 h after injury. NRL and SII were significantly higher in patients with GCS ≤ 8 than patients with GCS > 8 and exceeded reference values in 95% of patients. GCS was inversely correlated with NLR and SII. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis confirmed the value of NLR and SII regarding GCS score; Area Under the Curve (AUC) 0.748, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.615–0.880. An optimised NLR cut-off value of 0.154 was identified with a sensitivity of 0.90 and specificity of 0.56. The value of SII regarding GCS was confirmed with ROC curves; AUC 0.816, 95% CI 0.696–0.935. An optimised NLR cut-off value of 0.118 was identified with a sensitivity of 0.95 and specificity of 0.57. NLR and SII are significantly related to GCS scores and are promising predictors of clinical prognosis in TICH patients.
Prevalence of anaemia among adolescent girls in a rural area of Central Kerala, South India

Background: Adolescence lays the foundation for future health. Anaemia among adolescent girls has become a significant public health issue. The state of Kerala has few reported studies in this regard. The current study was conducted to determine the prevalence of anaemia in adolescent girls in a rural area of central Kerala and to find out the factors associated with anaemia among them.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 194 adolescent girls of Tholur panchayath in Thrissur district, Kerala. The study participants were randomly selected from the adolescent registers maintained in anganwadies. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered after getting informed assent and consent from the participants and their guardians respectively. All the participants were clinically examined, anthropometric measurements were taken and 2 CC of EDTA anti-coagulated blood samples were collected to test haemoglobin.Results: The prevalence of anaemia among the participants is found to be 26.3% (95% CI: 17.4-37.34). Out of the total anaemic girls, 94% were mildly anaemic (Hb between 10-11.9 g/dl) and the remaining were moderately anaemic (Hb between 7-9.9 g/dl). Anaemia was significantly higher in the age group between 10-14 years (39.5%), compared to 15-19 years (15.6%). Lower frequency of intake of green leafy vegetable and wholegrain cereals were found to have significant association with anaemia.Conclusions: Anaemia remains a moderate public health hazard among the adolescent girls, with roughly every fourth girl becoming anaemic. Nutritional inadequacies were shown to be the most common cause of anaemia, which was found to be greater in the early teenage period.
Comprehensive fuel performance model development and simulation for triso fuel

High Temperature Gas Reactor (HTGR), widely recognized as one of the top candidates for the Next Generation Nuclear Power-plant (NGNP) fleet, has received everincreasing interest due to its superior safety and many other desirable features. TRISO fuel particles are the basic form of the fuel used in both pebble-bed and prismatic reactors. Since they are a key component of the HTGR core design, the success of the reactor depends on the safety and quality of the TRISO particles. During operation, a TRISO particle undergoes complex thermo-mechanical processes. Fission gases accumulate inside the kernel and the buffer layer, and lead to buildup of internal pressure. Uneven thermal conditions lead to asymmetric thermal expansion. The pyrolytic carbon, in both the IPyC and OPyC layers, is known to experience dimensional change (shrinkage or swelling) under fast neutron irradiation. In the mean time, both the IPyC and OPyC layers creep as a function of stress and fast neutron fluence. Macro cracks in the IPyC layer, corrosion in the SiC layer due to chemical attack, and debonding at the interface between IPyC and SiC, have been observed in post-irradiation examinations. All these processes further complicate the stress states in a TRISO particle, and might lead to failure of a single coating layer or the particle as a whole. It is very difficult to duplicate the actual environment that a particle is exposed to in experiments. It is even more difficult to isolate one process from another, thus making it nearly impossible to evaluate the impacts that a particular process has on the fuel particle by conducting experiments. The problem can however at least partially be addressed by modeling and simulation. Hence, multi-dimensional, multi-physics and comprehensive models are greatly needed to simulate and evaluate the performance of a TRISO particle under normal and accidental conditions. Existing models are inadequate as they are usually one-dimensional
Effectiveness of Lifestyle Modification vs. Therapeutic, Preventative Strategies for Reducing Cardiovascular Risk in Primary Prevention—A Cohort Study

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are still the leading cause of death in developed countries. The aim of this study was to calculate the potential for CV risk reduction when using three different prevention strategies to evaluate the effect of primary prevention. Methods: A total of 931 individuals aged 20–79 years old from the Bialystok PLUS Study were analyzed. The study population was divided into CV risk classes. The Systematic Coronary Risk Estimation (SCORE), Framingham Risk Score (FRS), and LIFE-CVD were used to assess CV risk. The optimal prevention strategy assumed the attainment of therapeutic goals according to the European guidelines. The moderate strategy assumed therapeutic goals in participants with increased risk factors: a reduction in systolic blood pressure by 10 mmHg when it was above 140 mmHg, a reduction in total cholesterol by 25% when it was above 190 mg/dL, and a reduction in body mass index below 30. The minimal prevention strategy assumed that CV risk would be lowered by lifestyle modifications. The greatest CV risk reduction was achieved in the optimal model and then in the minimal model, and the lowest risk reduction was achieved in the moderate model, e.g., using the optimal model of prevention (Model 1). In the total population, we achieved a reduction of −1.74% in the 10-year risk of CVD death (SCORE) in relation to the baseline model, a −0.85% reduction when using the moderate prevention model (Model 2), and a −1.11% reduction when using the minimal prevention model (Model 3). However, in the low CV risk class, the best model was the minimal one (risk reduction of −0.72%), which showed even better results than the optimal one (reduction of −0.69%) using the FRS. Conclusion: A strategy based on lifestyle modifications in a population without established CVD could be more effective than the moderate strategy used in the present study. Moreover, applying a minimal strategy to the low CV risk class population may even be beneficial for an optimal model.
Serum Lutein and Zeaxanthin Are Inversely Associated with High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein in Non-Smokers: The Mikkabi Study

Recent randomized controlled trials have demonstrated a protective association between carotenoids and inflammation; however, the basis of this association on lifestyle factors remains unclear. This study aimed to clarify the associations between carotenoids and inflammatory markers stratified by lifestyle factors, using baseline data from the Mikkabi Study. Serum carotenoid and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels were measured. Multivariable adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for a high hs-CRP level (≥2.0 mg/dL) were obtained using logistic regression analysis. The data of 882 individuals were analyzed; 11.7% had high hs-CRP levels. The highest tertile of lutein (OR: 0.44; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.25–0.76), zeaxanthin (OR: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.21–0.64), total carotenoid (OR: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.32–0.9997), and oxygenated carotenoid concentration (OR: 0.50; 95% CI: 0.28–0.90), with the lowest tertile as reference, was inversely associated with a high hs-CRP level. The interaction between lutein, but not other carotenoids, and current smoking was significant. The inverse association between lutein and a high hs-CRP level was significant in non-smokers (OR: 0.41; 95% CI: 0.22–0.76) but not in smokers. These results further support the anti-inflammatory effect of carotenoids; nevertheless, further studies should clarify the interaction of smoking with the association between lutein and inflammation.
Benign Bone Tumors: An Overview of What We Know Today

Nonmalignant bone tumors represent a wide variety of different entities but maintain many common features. They usually affect young patients, and most can be diagnosed through imaging exams. Often asymptomatic, they can be discovered incidentally. Due to their similarities, these tumors may be challenging to diagnose and differentiate between each other, thus the need for a complete and clear description of their main characteristics. The aim of this review is to give a picture of the benign bone tumors that clinicians can encounter more frequently in their everyday work.
Derating of transformers for operation under extreme weather conditions in networks having other voltage and/or frequency ratings

Abstract This paper suggests a procedure for determining the available apparent power of transformers when used in networks of voltage and/or frequency different from the transformer’s rated design values. Also, the effect of extreme values of the ambient temperature will be taken into account. The model allows the consideration of the above three issues simultaneously. A daily ambient temperature profile is applied in order to compute the daily variation of the transformer’s tolerable rating, and to assess the resulting reduction in the available energy delivered. The procedure is derived in a normalized way, so that it can be easily applied to practically any power transformer.
Modeling the Nonlinear Deformation of Highly Porous Cellular Plastics Filled with Clay Nanoplatelets

Rigid low-density plastic foams subjected to mechanical loads typically exhibit a nonlinear deformation stage preceding failure. At moderate strains, when the geometrical nonlinearity is negligible, such foam response is predominantly caused by the nonlinearity of deformation of their principal structural elements—foam struts. Orientational averaging of stresses in foam struts enables estimation of the stresses taken up by foams at a given applied strain. Based on a structural model of highly porous anisotropic cellular plastics filled with clay nanoplatelets and the orientational averaging, a method for calculating their nonlinear deformation is derived in terms of structural parameters of the porous material, the mechanical properties of the monolithic polymer, and filler particles and their spatial orientation. The method is applied to predicting the tensile stress-strain diagrams of organoclay-filled low-density rigid polyurethane foams, and reasonable agreement with experimental data is demonstrated.