Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN LAPAROSCOPIC VERSUS OPEN RIGHT HEMICOLECTOMY

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality rates vary markedly around the world. The right colon has a thin wall, a large caliber, and its contents are liquid; thus, obstruction is a late event in right colon cancer. Also, right colonic tumors grow large enough to be palpable through the abdominal wall before other symptoms appear. Objective: To compare between laparoscopic and open complete mesocolic excision with central vascular ligation in right colon cancer as regards technical feasibility, advantages and disadvantages of both procedures. Patients and Methods: This study was conducted on 30 patients admitted to Al-Azhar University Hospitals, and diagnosed as operable right sided colon cancer. It was prospectively conducted during the period from October 2019 to June 2020, and all the procedures were done on elective basis. Informed consents were obtained from all patients included in the study which approved by the local ethics committee of Al-Azhar University Hospitals. Patients were 7 (46.7%) males and 8(53.3%) females. Their ages ranged from 51 to 71 years with a mean age of 58.33±5.88 in laparoscopic technique, and ranged from 50 to 70 years with a mean age of 59.93±5.20 in open technique. Results: There was no statistical significant difference between the studied groups regarding the mean age, gender distribution, DM, hypertension and the tumor location. There was a statistical significant difference between the studied groups regarding the incision length as the incision of the open technique was longer than the laparoscopic technique, regarding the operative time and intraoperative blood loss as the laparoscopic technique take more time than the open technique and the intraoperative blood loss during the laparoscopic technique was less than the open technique. Conclusion: Complete mesocolic exicion(CME), with central vascular ligation is the novel key factor in the multimodal management of right colon cancer, determining a significant improvement in loco-regional control of tumors and improving the long-term oncological outcome, especially in intermediate stages of disease. it is a safe, valid, and feasible surgical method for right colon cancers, associated with smaller incisions, less operative blood loss, earlier recovery after operation, and shorter hospital stay compared with Open technique. The open technique is still superior in shorter operative time and more number of harvested lymph nodes.
Immobilization of lipase in silica gel from rice husk ash and its activity assay to hydrolyze palm oil

A free lipase is one of the biocatalysts used for industrial applications, especially to catalyze the hydrolysis of palm oil. However, it is unstable in an extreme condition so it is easy to denature. Immobilization of lipase improve the enzyme's stability since the cage of the immobilization matrix around the lipase can minimalize denaturation. Silica gel is the most chosen matrix because of its high thermal stability and inertness. Lipase was immobilized in silica gel extracted from rice husk ash. Silica gel was prepared in a sodium silicate solution. Sol-gel process occurred when phosphoric acid was added into the sodium silicate solution until it reached a pH of 7. The immobilization process was initiated by reacting lipase in Phosphate Buffer Solution (PBS) added to the sol solution to produce hydrogel. Hydrogel was got into the dry process to form xerogel. The activity assay was conducted in the hydrolysis reaction by titrimetric method. The immobilized lipase resulted had an immobilization percentage of 67.71% and reusability for 6 cycles.
“As Many as Possible for as Long as Possible”—A Case Study of a Soccer Team That Fosters Multiple Outcomes

The personal assets framework suggests that dynamic elements of (a) personal engagement in activities, (b) quality social dynamics, and (c) appropriate settings will influence an athlete’s long-term outcomes of performance, personal development, and continued participation in sport. The aim of the present study was to conduct a case study of a Norwegian age-restricted team that was successful in promoting participation, performance, and positive development for individual participants and to investigate how the dynamic elements of activities, social dynamics, and settings have led to these long-term outcomes. The results indicated that the case is a best-practice example of successful attainment of personal development and long-term participation and performance through appropriate structure and application of the dynamic elements within the personal assets framework, including enjoyable peer-led play activities and quality practice, quality relationships with teammates and coaches, and access to facilities.
Relationship between Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior on School and Non-School Days in Japanese Children

Background: Ensuring moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) and reducing sedentary behavior (SB) are beneficial to children’s health. Although previous studies have pointed out that MVPA was associated with SB, little is known about the relationship between these two outcomes when objectively measured separately on both school and non-school days. Determining whether MVPA can replace SB for children can help in identifying targets and opportunities for intervention.
Comparison of different sizes of Iranian bone allograft particles(CenoBone) in preserving grafted socket dimensions

Introduction: Teeth are extracted for a variety of reasons, including severe decay, endodontic problems, severe periodontal destruction, inadequate residual crown structure, root resorption, iatrogenic factors such as perforations, injuries due to trauma, and cosmetic problems. Aim of the research: To compare different sizes of Iranian bone allograft particles (CenoBone) in preserving grafted socket dimensions. Material and methods: It was an experimental study. Twenty healthy patients who had 25 unpreserved single-rooted teeth were included in the study. Patients were randomly divided into two equal groups. In the first group, allograft particles with a size of 150–500 µm and in the second group, particles with a size of 1000–2000 µm were placed in the socket. Then, Iranian resorbable membrane (CenoBone) was placed on the socket openings and buccal wall and was initially closed by a coronaliz-ing buccal flap. Buccal wall height and ridge width in the two groups were compared immediately after surgery and 4 months after surgery with radiological evaluation (cone-beam computed tomography – CBCT) of the region. Results: In both groups the horizontal dimension was significantly different after treatment ( p < 0.002). In both groups the vertical height was significantly different after treatment (first group: p < 0.001, second group: p < 0.003). Conclusions: Use of CenoBone to fill bone socket is essential to preservation alveolar bone dimensions, because use of this material improves soft and hard tissue.
HEALTH RISKS OF THE QUALITY OF THE WATER USED BY THE OPERATORS OF THE HOUEYIHO MARKET GARDEN SITE (COTONOU) IN BENIN

The market gardening is an activity that develops more and more through Benin. In the municipaty of Cotonou, there are several gardening’s perimeters of which the most important ant the oldest is at Houéyiho where this activity is practiced since more of 40 years. On this site the quality of water used for the watering is not always clean. That justifies the choice of our training at the end of my formation. To achieve this objective the participating observations and semi-structured interviews guide were conducted with 20 market gardeners of the cooperative DON DE DIEU. This cooperative is situated in the North zone of the site and regroups 36 men and 4 women market gardeners. Water samples have been analyzed during two periods of measure (humid season and dry season) for the determination of the physical and chemical and bacteriological parameters. The results of these analyses show a contamination of water. The elevated values are observed to the level of the calcium (136,136 mg/l), of the chloride (514,75 mg/l), of ammonium (1,819 mg/l), of the total iron (1,98 mg/l), of fluoride (1,61 mg/l), of the nitrate (119,61 mg/l) and by pathogenic germs as the total coliforms (842 unites/ml), the fecal coliforms (414 unites/ml) and the fecal streptococci (289 unites/ml). This toxicity of water is due to the Hydro geographicallocation of the site and the ecological characteristics of the city of Cotonouand to the agricultural input contributions for fertilizing the soil. It causes parasitic, respiratory, digestive, hematological, enzymatic unrests, dermatologiques and others diseases at the market gardeners because of their contacts with water and for the consumers of these vegetables.
Yield responses of maize as influenced by supplemental foliar applied phosphorus under drought stress

Drought is one of the most serious problems posing a grave threat to cereals production including maize. A field study was conducted to evaluate the effect of foliar applied phosphorus @ 8 kg ha -1 at 8 th leaf stage on yield and yield components of four maize hybrids i.e two drought tolerant (6525, 32B33) and two drought sensitive (Hycorn and 31P41) under normal and water stress conditions. RCBD with factorial arrangement were employed to lay out the experiment with a net plot size of 4.75 m x 5 m with three replication at research area of Agronomy, Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan. The foliar applied phosphorus @ 8 kg ha -1 at 8 th leaf stage of maize significantly affect the yield and yield parameters in both drought tolerant and sensitive hybrids. The water stress decreased the 1000-grain weight (21.2%), grain yield (21.3%) and biological yield (22.4%) as compared to normal irrigation. The both drought tolerant hybrids of maize (6525 and 32B33) performed better than drought sensitive hybrids (Hycorn and 31P41) under normal and water stress conditions.
Seismic anisotropy and its implication for the formation and evolution of cratons

OF THE DISSERTATION . ii DEDICATION . v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . vi PREFACE . viii TABLE OF CONTENTS . xvi CHAPTER 1 . 1 SHEAR WAVE SPLITTING BENEATH EASTERN NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT: EVIDENCE FOR A MULTI-LAYERED AND LATERALLY VARIABLE ANISOTROPIC STRUCTURE . 1 1.1 ABSTRACT . 1 1.2 INTRODUCTION . 2 1.3 METHODS AND DATA . 4 1.4 RESULTS . 7 1.4. 1 Shear wave splitting values . 7 1.4. 2 NULL measurements . 11 1.4. 3 Comparison with previous studies . 11 1.5 DISCUSSION . 14 1.5. 1 Comparison with absolute plate motion (APM) . 14 1.5. 2 Possible thickness of the anisotropic layer. 15 1.5. 3 Evidence for more than one layer of anisotropy . 16 1.5. 4 Possible contribution of anisotropy from the lowermost mantle . 17 1.5. 5 A laterally variable anisotropic structure . 18 1.5. 6 Interpretation of the possible edge of the craton at depth . 20 1.6 SUMMARY . 21
Corporate Governance and Loan-Syndicate Structure

Abstract Firms with greater shareholder rights have a greater risk-shifting incentive, requiring more lender monitoring. Thus, a reduction in shareholder rights implies more diffused (less monitoring-intensive) loan syndicates. Using the passage of U.S. second-generation antitakeover laws as an exogenous shock that reduces shareholder rights as a natural experiment, we find that loan syndicates become significantly more diffuse after the passage of these laws. These results are confirmed in a large sample of bank loans made during the 1990–2007 period when the loan syndicate market matured. Our results show how corporate governance causally affects financial contracting and creditor control in firms.
Outcomes of and factors associated with partner notification and HIV testing in Northeastern Tanzania.

Background: There is growing evidence of high effectiveness of partner notification (PN) in reaching previously undiagnosed sexual partners. As a result, there is increasing implementation of PN in sub-Saharan Africa. Tanzania, like other countries in the region, has recently expanded PN in HIV testing services. However, this approach is unlikely to yield the expected results if not well implemented. This study aimed to identify gaps and provide recommendations to improve routine implementation of PN in Tanzania.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted across seven care and treatment centers (CTCs) in the Kilimanjaro region from November 2018 to April 2019. A total of 297 newly diagnosed HIV infected clients with sexual partner(s) in the past 24 months were recruited at 2 months of their CTC enrollment. Interviews using structured questionnaires were conducted. Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate regression analyses were done.Results: Two-thirds (195) were females. The majority 165 (85%) of those counseled and had partner(s) not previously tested for HIV consented to PN. They all chose passive PN with 102 (62%) reporting successful HIV status disclosure to their partner(s). Reporting disclosure was associated with; being married adjusted odds ratio (aOR 5.1, 95%CI: 2.4–10.9, p < 0.001), in a relationship for > 10 years (aOR 4.9, 95%CI: 1.3–17.6, p = 0.02) and living with the partner(s) (aOR 3.4, 95%CI: 1.3–9.1, p = 0.02). Fifty-three clients (27%) of those with partners not previously tested for HIV reported partner HIV testing following PN, associated with being married (aOR 3.4, 95%CI: 1.3-9, p < 0.02) and living with the partner (aOR 4.5, 95%CI: 1.3–15, p < 0.02). Male partner(s) had lower odds of successful HIV testing (aOR 0.4, 95%CI: 0.2–0.9, p = 0.02). Thirty-seven (67%) of those tested were HIV infected.Conclusions: Detection rate of previously undiagnosed HIV infection among clients referred for HIV-testing through PN was high. However, a significant number of partners did not report for HIV testing after 2 months of index clients CTC enrollment. Initiatives to improve PN are needed with special attention towards those who are single, not living with their partners, in a relationship for < 10 years as well as male sexual partners.
Symptoms at disease onset predict prognosis in COVID-19 disease

ABSTRACT The main clinical manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) onset are respiratory symptoms, including cough, sputum, and dyspnea. However, a significant proportion of patients initially manifested non-respiratory symptoms, such as fever, myalgia, and diarrhea. Here, we compared the different characteristics and outcomes between the patients with respiratory symptoms and non-respiratory symptoms at illness onset. The patients admitted to the respiratory departments from eight hospitals in Hunan and Guangxi Province with nucleic acid-positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) were recruited. Epidemiological information, clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, and radiological characteristics, treatment regimens, and outcomes data were recorded and analyzed. The median age of the recruited 541 subjects was 43 years (IQR, 33–55). Of the 541 subjects, 404 (74.5%) subjects had initial symptom that were respiratory, while 137 (25.5%) subjects had non-respiratory symptoms. Respiratory COVID-19 subjects had more secondary bacterial infections (8.7% vs 0.0%, P < 0.001), needed the intensive care unit more (9.7% vs 2.2%, P = 0.005), non-invasive ventilation more (7.2% vs 1.5%, P = 0.004), developed ARDS more (11.4% vs 2.2%, P = 0.001) and needed longer time to recover (18.5 vs 16.7 days, P = 0.003) compared to predominately non-respiratory COVID-19 subjects. The multivariate model showed that age (OR = 1.04, P = 0.01), dyspnea (OR = 4.91, P < 0.001) and secondary bacterial infection (OR = 19.8, P < 0.001) were independently associated with development of ARDS among COVID-19 patients. We identify COVID-19 subjects with dyspnea at disease onset who have a worse prognosis. We also demonstrate age and secondary bacterial infections to be independently associated with ARDS development in subjects with COVID-19. ABBREVIATIONS: COVID-19: Coronavirus disease 2019; ARDS: acute respiratory distress syndrome; IQR: interquartile range; ICU: intensive care unit; CDC: Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Flexible Time-Varying Betas in a Novel Mixture Innovation Factor Model with Latent Threshold

This paper introduces a new methodology to estimate time-varying alphas and betas in conditional factor models, which allows substantial flexibility in a time-varying framework. To circumvent problems associated with the previous approaches, we introduce a Bayesian time-varying parameter model where innovations of the state equation have a spike-and-slab mixture distribution. The mixture distribution specifies two states with a specific probability. In the first state, the innovation variance is set close to zero with a certain probability and parameters stay relatively constant. In the second state, the innovation variance is large and the change in parameters is normally distributed with mean zero and a given variance. The latent state is specified with a threshold that governs the state change. We allow a separate threshold for each parameter; thus, the parameters may shift in an unsynchronized manner such that the model moves from one state to another when the change in the parameter exceeds the threshold and vice versa. This approach offers great flexibility and nests a plethora of other time-varying model specifications, allowing us to assess whether the betas of conditional factor models evolve gradually over time or display infrequent, but large, shifts. We apply the proposed methodology to industry portfolios within a five-factor model setting and show that the threshold Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) provides robust beta estimates coupled with smaller pricing errors compared to the alternative approaches. The results have significant implications for the implementation of smart beta strategies that rely heavily on the accuracy and stability of factor betas and yields.
The Association of Country-Level Factors with Outcomes of COVID-19: Analysis of the pandemic after one million cases

Background: Coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an ongoing global pandemic. Without a vaccine or an effective treatment in the near horizon, only public health measures have been effective in potentially reducing its impact. Due to the wide disparity in current response from individual countries, studying factors associated with public health measures may inform ongoing efforts. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the contributing factors across the globe with specific measures of the disease. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that used publicly available data of COVID-19 cases as of April 6, 2020. We analyzed country public information on demographic and socioeconomic indicators published in different sources. The association between country-level variables and the incidence rate, the recovery rate, severity of the cases, and mortality rate were evaluated using regression techniques. Results: Multiple factors were found to be significantly associated with COVID-19 outcomes. The number of tests per million, GDP per capita, a country population size of 2020, country median age, and life expectancy are associated with the incidence rate of COVID19. The yearly net change population, migrants, and tourism are associated with the recovery rate of COVID-19. The number of tests per million and male life expectancy are associated with the critical cases rate of COVID-19. Finally, the GDP per capita, land area (Km2), life expectancy, and tourism are associated with the mortality rate of COVID-19. Conclusion: Overall, higher GDP per capita, median age, and a higher number of lab tests were found to be associated with more incidents of COVID-19 cases, which indicates a better and maintained system for detection, reporting, and management of the pandemic. This study suggests that investing in better screening and testing may reveal more cases that can be managed and controlled; while limiting travelers would further support the pandemic control.
Optimal Causal Rate-Constrained Sampling of the Wiener Process

We consider the following communication scenario. An encoder causally observes the Wiener process and decides when and what to transmit about it. A decoder estimates the process using causally received codewords in real time. We determine the causal encoding and decoding policies that jointly minimize the mean-square estimation error, under the long-term communication rate constraint of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$R$</tex-math></inline-formula> bits per second. We show that an optimal encoding policy can be implemented as a causal sampling policy followed by a causal compressing policy. We prove that the optimal encoding policy samples the Wiener process once the innovation passes either <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sqrt{\frac{1}{R}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> or <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$-\sqrt{\frac{1}{R}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> and compresses the sign of innovation (SOI) using a 1-bit codeword. The <italic>SOI coding scheme</italic> achieves the operational distortion-rate function, which is equal to <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$D^{\mathrm{op}}(R)=\frac{1}{6R}$</tex-math></inline-formula>. Surprisingly, this is significantly better than the distortion-rate tradeoff achieved in the limit of infinite delay by the best noncausal code. This is because the SOI coding scheme leverages the free timing information supplied by the zero-delay channel between the encoder and the decoder. The key to unlocking that gain is the event-triggered nature of the SOI sampling policy. In contrast, the distortion-rate tradeoffs achieved with deterministic sampling policies are much worse: we prove that the causal informational distortion-rate function in that scenario is as high as <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$D_{\mathrm{DET}}(R) = \frac{5}{6R}$</tex-math></inline-formula>. It is achieved by the uniform sampling policy with the sampling interval <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\frac{1}{R}$</tex-math></inline-formula>. In either case, the optimal strategy is to sample the process as fast as possible and to transmit 1-bit codewords to the decoder without delay. We show that <italic>the SOI coding scheme</italic> also minimizes the mean-square cost of a continuous-time control system driven by the Wiener process and controlled via rate-constrained impulses.
Multi-Objective Linear Optimization Problem for Strategic Planning of Shared Autonomous Vehicle Operation and Infrastructure Design

This study proposes a unified optimization framework for strategic planning of shared autonomous vehicle (SAV) systems that explicitly and endogenously considers their operational aspects based on macroscopic dynamic traffic assignment. Specifically, the proposed model optimizes fleet size, road network design, and parking space allocation of an SAV system with optimized SAVs’ dynamic routing with passenger pickup/delivery and ridesharing. It is formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem that simultaneously minimizes total travel time of travelers, total distance traveled by SAVs, total number of SAVs, and infrastructure construction cost; thus, both the user-side cost and the system-side cost are taken into account, and their trade-off relations can be explicitly investigated. Furthermore, the problem is formulated as a linear programming problem, making it easy to solve. By leveraging the linearity, we mathematically derive a useful property of the problem: introduction of ridesharing can weakly monotonically and simultaneously decrease the user-side cost and system-side cost. The proposed model is evaluated by applying it to actual travel records obtained from New York City taxi data.