Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Incidence and Risk Factors of Contrast-Induced Acute Kidney Injury in Sudanese Patients Undergoing Coronary Angiography: A Descriptive Prospective Study

Background: Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) has been reported to be the third most common cause of hospital-acquired acute kidney injury (AKI) and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the incidence and risk factors of CI-AKI in Sudanese patients undergoing coronary angiography. Methods: The study was a descriptive, prospective, hospital-based study conducted at Alshaab Hospital between January and April 2019. A total of 163 patients undergoing coronary angiography were enrolled, and a checklist was used to collect data. Chi-square and regression analyses were performed to identify the risk factors of CI‑AKI. CI‑AKI was defined as a rise in serum creatinine ≥25% above baseline within three days after percutaneous coronary angiography (PCA). Results: CI‑AKI incidence in patients undergoing coronary angiography was 31.9% (52/163). Among independent variables, diabetes mellitus, the type of coronary angiography, and the volume of contrast medium were statistically significantly (p-value ˂ 0.05) associated with CI-AKI development. Logistic analysis showed that diabetes (odds ratio (OR): 15.2; 95% CI: 6.771-33.974; p = 0.001), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (OR: 2.4; 95% CI: 1.168-4.901; p = 0.017), and the volume of contrast medium (OR 2.1; 95% CI: 1.440-3.054; p = 0.001) were independent predictors correlated to CI‑AKI development. Conclusion: The incidence of CI-AKI is 31.9%, and diabetes mellitus, PCI, and high volume of contrast medium are associated with a higher risk of CI-AKI in patients undergoing coronary angiography.
Historical trends of degradation, loss, and recovery in the tropical forest reserves of Ghana

ABSTRACT The Upper Guinean Forest region of West Africa, a globally significant biodiversity hotspot, is among the driest and most human-impacted tropical ecosystems. We used Landsat to study forest degradation, loss, and recovery in the forest reserves of Ghana from 2003 to 2019. Annual canopy cover maps were generated using random forests and results were temporally segmented using the LandTrendr algorithm. Canopy cover was predicted with a predicted-observed r2 of 0.76, mean absolute error of 12.8%, and mean error of 1.3%. Forest degradation, loss, and recovery were identified as transitions between closed (>60% cover), open (15–60% cover) and low tree cover (< 15% cover) classes. Change was relatively slow from 2003 to 2015, but there was more disturbance than recovery resulting in a gradual decline in closed canopy forests. In 2016, widespread fires associated with El Niño drought caused forest loss and degradation across more than 12% of the moist semi-deciduous and upland evergreen forest types. The workflow was implemented in Google Earth Engine, allowing stakeholders to visualize the results and download summaries. Information about historical disturbances will help to prioritize locations for future studies and target forest protection and restoration activities aimed at increasing resilience.
Effect of water‐to‐cement ratio on internal relative humidity and autogenous shrinkage of early‐age concrete internally cured by superabsorbent polymers

Self‐desiccation is one common phenomenon of concrete with low water‐to‐cement (w/c) ratios, which may lead to the decrease of internal relative humidity (IRH), and therefore causing autogenous shrinkage (AS). Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) are used as a kind of internal curing material to mitigate AS of concrete. The IRH and AS are significantly affected by the w/c ratio, and several attempts have been made to investigate the IRH or AS of concrete with different w/c ratios. However, the prediction model of AS considering IRH and w/c ratio of internally cured (IC) concrete is limited. In the present study, the effect of w/c ratio on IRH and AS of IC concrete was investigated, and a two‐stage prediction model of AS based on the results of IRH for IC concrete considering the effect of w/c ratio was proposed. The experiment results and analysis indicated that IRH of IC concrete increased as increase of w/c ratio, and development of IRH experienced two stages: a water‐vapor saturated stage with 100% RH (stage I), and a gradually reducing stage in which IRH decreased gradually (stage II); critical time of IC concrete increased as increase of w/c ratio; expansion peak of IC concrete increased as increase of w/c ratio; AS and AS rate of IC concrete decreased as increase of w/c ratio; IRH, critical time, and expansion peak of IC concrete were higher than that of ordinary concrete; AS and AS rate of IC concrete were lower than that of ordinary concrete.
What research tells us about leadership styles, digital transformation and performance in state higher education?

Purpose Considering the current importance of leadership, digital transformation and performance in the changes state higher education institutions (HEIs) have been subject to, this study aims to present an analysis of how these three concepts have been related in the literature.Design/methodology/approachThis study proposes to study the state-of-the-art of research on leadership styles, digital transformation and performance in a single study, through a systematic literature review using two major databases, ISI Web of Science and Scopus.FindingsThe results reveal that the most common leadership style in the articles analysed is transformational; the most studied dimension of performance is the one representing teaching and learning activities; and the most discussed aspects of digital transformation are those concerning online learning systems and various types of technology. Identifying gaps in the literature, a future research agenda is formulated.Originality/value Amongst the theoretical implications of this study are the importance of understanding leadership styles and digital transformation for better understanding of state HEIs' performance as well as its dimensions, considering the relations found between these constructs. Therefore, there is greater theoretical advancement in the study of transformational leadership, diverse educational technologies, online teaching systems, global performance and teaching/learning.
Chickpea Roots Undergoing Colonisation by Phytophthora medicaginis Exhibit Opposing Jasmonic Acid and Salicylic Acid Accumulation and Signalling Profiles to Leaf Hemibiotrophic Models

Hemibiotrophic pathogens cause significant losses within agriculture, threatening the sustainability of food systems globally. These microbes colonise plant tissues in three phases: a biotrophic phase followed by a biotrophic-to-necrotrophic switch phase and ending with necrotrophy. Each of these phases is characterized by both common and discrete host transcriptional responses. Plant hormones play an important role in these phases, with foliar models showing that salicylic acid accumulates during the biotrophic phase and jasmonic acid/ethylene responses occur during the necrotrophic phase. The appropriateness of this model to plant roots has been challenged in recent years. The need to understand root responses to hemibiotrophic pathogens of agronomic importance necessitates further research. In this study, using the root hemibiotroph Phytophthora medicaginis, we define the duration of each phase of pathogenesis in Cicer arietinum (chickpea) roots. Using transcriptional profiling, we demonstrate that susceptible chickpea roots display some similarities in response to disease progression as previously documented in leaf plant–pathogen hemibiotrophic interactions. However, our transcriptomic results also show that chickpea roots do not conform to the phytohormone responses typically found in leaf colonisation by hemibiotrophs. We found that quantified levels of salicylic acid concentrations in root tissues decreased significantly during biotrophy while jasmonic acid concentrations were significantly induced. This study demonstrated that a wider spectrum of plant species should be investigated in the future to understand the physiological changes in plants during colonisation by soil-borne hemibiotrophic pathogens before we can better manage these economically important microbes.
Sequencing and analysis of the complete mitochondrial genome of Jacobiasca formosana (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Typhlocybinae: Empoascini)

Abstract In this study, the whole mitochondrial genome of Jacobiasca formosana was sequenced and annotated. The mitogenome is 16,353bp in length, including 37 typical genes and a control region. The 13 length of protein genomes (PCGs) is 10,980bp in size, which encode 3,649 amino acids. All PCGs started with ATN codon and most of PCGs stopped with TAN, except for COX1, COX2 and ND5 used incomplete T as stop codon. The phylogenetic tree results showed that J. formosana belonged to the Empoascini of subfamily Typhlocybinae but different from other species in the subfamily.
Formulation and In-Vitro, Ex-Vivo, and In-Vivo Evaluation of Mucoadhesive Buccal Tablets Containing Labetalol Hydrochloride for Enhancement of Systemic Bioavailability

Objective: Labetalol hydrochloride is an alpha/beta adrenoceptor blocker that undergoes comprehensive first passmetabolism resulting in a low oral bioavailability. This study aimed to formulate and evaluate mucoadhesive buccal formulations of labetalol hydrochloride for enhancement of its bioavailability. Methods: Using various concentrations of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), carbopol-934, and sodium alginate, ten formulations of mucoadhesive buccal tablets containing labetalol hydrochloride were prepared. The produced tablets were evaluated to test physical and mucoadhesive properties as well as in-vitro drug release properties. Ex-vivo evaluations of the tablets were examined using chicken pouch membrane. Formulations that offered best results in in-vitro and ex-vivo evaluations were selected for running in-vivo comparative bioavailability study using New Zealand rabbits and adopted HPLC method to assess the buccal bioavailability of labetalol hydrochloride in relation to its oral bioavailability from commercial tablets. Results: It was found that drug release and mucoadhesive properties depended on the type and proportion of different polymers. Sodium alginate-containing formulations showed higher release rates and ex-vivo permeation rates compared to carbopolcontaining formulations. Increasing the proportion of HPMC resulted in more swelling, better mucoahesion forces and times but more delayed permeation and release rates. A strong correlation was detected between in-vivo drug release and ex-vivo transmucosal permeation of labetalol hydrochloride. The relative bioavailability of labetalol hydrochloride from the selected mucoadhesive buccal tablets F1 and F6 were 2.76 and 1.60, respectively. Conclusion: The produced mucoadhesive buccal tablets were successful in improving the systemic bioavailability of labetalol hydrochloride in rabbits. Clinical applications of formulations F1 and F6 are recommended.
Community assembly, functional traits, and phylogeny in Himalayan river birds

Abstract Heterogeneity in riverine habitats acts as a template for species evolution that influences river communities at different spatio‐temporal scales. Although birds are conspicuous elements of these communities, the roles of phylogeny, functional traits, and habitat character in their niche use or species' assembly have seldom been investigated. We explored these themes by surveying multiple headwaters over 3000 m of elevation in the Himalayan Mountains of India where the specialist birds of montane rivers reach their greatest diversity on Earth. After ordinating community composition, species traits, and habitat character, we investigated whether river bird traits varied with elevation in ways that were constrained or independent of phylogeny, hypothesizing that trait patterns reflect environmental filtering. Community composition and trait representation varied strongly with increasing elevation and river naturalness as species that foraged in the river/riparian ecotone gave way to small insectivores with direct trophic dependence on the river or its immediate channel. These trends were influenced strongly by phylogeny as communities became more clustered by functional traits at a higher elevation. Phylogenetic signals varied among traits, however, and were reflected in body mass, bill size, and tarsus length more than in body size, tail length, and breeding strategy. These variations imply that community assembly in high‐altitude river birds reflects a blend of phylogenetic constraint and habitat filtering coupled with some proximate niche‐based moulding of trait character. We suggest that the regional co‐existence of river birds in the Himalaya is facilitated by this same array of factors that together reflect the highly heterogeneous template of river habitats provided by these mountain headwaters.
The evaluation of actual fire resistance limits of steel structures exposed to real fire loading

Introduction. The fire resistance limits of load-bearing and enclosing structures can be identified using the method of heat-and-mass transfer calculation in case of fire. The multifactorial nature and nonlinearity of the problem makes the application of this method complicated. If necessary, the temperature regime, demonstrating the conditions of real fire, can be applied. In this work, actual fire resistance limits of metal structures of a thermal power station are calculated.Goals and objectives. The co-authors attempt to identify the actual fire resistance limits of bearing metal structures in case of the most dangerous fire development scenario.Methods. Taking into account the complexity of space-planning solutions of a building, the field-focused calculation method was selected. This method is applicable to premises, featuring complex geometric shape, where one geometric dimension is much larger than the others. Non-stationary three-dimensional differential equations of mass, momentum and energy conservation are solved for the gas medium inside a room (the Reynolds type of Navier–Stokes equations), as well as the components of the gas medium and the optical density of smoke. A heat transfer equation is solved to determine the temperature distribution inside the building structure for a one-dimensional case. The fire resistance limit of the building structure is identified as the moment in time following the start of fire, when the temperature in, at least, one point of the structure reaches a critical value.Results and discussion. Calculation results show that in case of the most dangerous fire development scenario, within 15 minutes as of the start of fire, maximum temperatures of load-bearing metal structures are far below the critical temperature of 500 °C.Conclusions. Load-bearing metal structures in an engine room, that has steam turbines, don’t need fire protection.
Performance on the detection response task during driving: separating the manual and cognitive element of the secondary task

The Detection Response Task (DRT) is designed to measure driver distraction from secondary tasks. This driving simulator study compared drivers’ performance on the head mounted version of the DRT during dual task conditions (DRT + driving) with performance in a tertiary task setting (DRT + driving + secondary task). Three secondary tasks were used, requiring: nonvisual, visual, or visuomanual resources. The 1-back (Easy) and countback in 7s (Difficult) tasks were used as two levels of a nonvisual task. For the visual and visuomanual task, a visual search display was presented on the simulator screen, which overlapped with the back of a lead car. Response to this task was either verbal (visual) or via buttons on the steering wheel (visuomanual). Results showed DRT to be sensitive to the different difficulty levels of the nonvisual task. DRT performance did not distinguish between different perceptual demands of the visual task, but was affected by the manual load of the visuomanual task. Understanding the role of task pace in these studies is thought to be an important factor and further work using different visual tasks is also required to appreciate the value of the DRT in evaluating the distracting effects of in-vehicle HMI.
Diffusion-Weighted MRI in Patients with Testicular Tumors—Intra- and Interobserver Variability

In general, magnetic resonance (MR) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) has shown potential in clinical settings. In testicles parenchyma, the DW imaging helps differentiate and characterize benign from malignant lesions. Placement and size of the region of interest (ROI) may affect the ADC value. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the intra- and interobserver variability in testicular tumors when measuring ADC using various types of regions of interest (ROI). Two observers performed the ADC measurements in testicular lesions based on three ROI methods: (1) whole volume, (2) round, and (3) small sample groups. Intra- and interobserver variability was analyzed for all ROI methods using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and bland-altman plots. The two observers performed the measurements twice, three months apart. A total of 26 malignant testicle tumors were included. Interobserver agreement was excellent in tumor length (ICC = 0.98) and tumor width (ICC = 0.98). In addition, intraobserver agreement was excellent in tumor length (ICC = 0.98) and tumor width (ICC = 0.99). The whole volume interobserver agreement in the first reading was excellent (ICC = 0.93). Round ADC had an excellent (ICC = 0.93) and fair (ICC = 0.58) interobserver agreement, in the first and second reading, respectively. Interobserver agreement in ADC small ROIs was good (ICC = 0.87), and good (ICC = 0.78), in the first and second reading, respectively. Intraobserver agreement varied from fair, good to excellent agreement. The ROI method showed varying inter- and intraobserver agreement in ADC measurement. Using multiple small ROI conceded the highest interobserver variability, and, thus, the whole volume or round seem to be the preferable methods.
The influence of emotional intelligence and resilience on work engagement amongst nurses in public hospitals

Orientation: It has become vital for hospitals to create supportive and conducive working environments. With the reported adverse working conditions in public hospitals, it would be prudent to consider the stimulating factors of work engagement. This research suggests that personal resources such as resilience and emotional intelligence may cushion individuals from being disengaged by enabling them to manage job demands. Research purpose: The study aimed to determine the extent to which a combination of positive aspects and resources of emotional intelligence and resilience may influence work engagement. Motivation for the study: The study was inspired by Demerouti and Bakker who in 2011 signalled that employees become susceptible to health impairments when job and personal resources are likely to be limited. Expanding employee personal resources may thus effectively influence work engagement. Research approach, design and method: The study employed a cross-sectional quantitative survey by means of self-administered questionnaires. The sample consisted of 252 nurses from the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa. Data were analysed using the SmartPLS programme. Main findings: Emotional intelligence influences work engagement through resilience. The strong direct pathway between emotional intelligence and work engagement was noteworthy. Practical/managerial implication: Managers may focus their attention on developing aspects of emotional intelligence and enhance resilience as a way of improving work engagement. Contribution/value-add: The findings add literature to the body of knowledge focusing on expanding personal resource as a way to enhance work engagement amongst nurses in public hospitals.
ROLE OF SOME FERMENTATIVE PARAMETERS FOR MICROBIAL TRANSFORMATION OF PROGESTERONE TO CORTEXOLONE AND/OR HYDROCORTISONE.

Four strains belonging to the genus Curvularia were tested for their ability to transform progesterone to cortexolone and hydrocortisone. Curvularia lunata RCMB 019002 showed the greatest bioconversion efficiency (29.64%). In a medium containing (g/l); yeast extract 4 and malt extract 20, the substrate was converted after 48h to cortexolone and cortisol. The maximum bioconversion efficiency (37. 72%) was recorded when phosphate buffer was used at pH 7.0. The transformation pattern of progesterone markedly affected by the inoculum size and culture age. The bioconversion efficiency increased (63.2 %) when the substrate concentration was 5 mg/50ml fermentation medium. The addition of the surface active agents Tween 60 and Tween 80 to the medium at concentrations of 100 μl, 50 μl, respectively increased the bioconversion efficiency (66.70 and 68.64 %, respectively). Among the tested amino acids, L-asparagine enhanced the formation of cortexolone and cortisol.
Graph theoretical analysis reveals the adaptive role of the left ventral occipito-temporal cortex in the brain networks during speech processing

The left ventral occipito-temporal cortex (left-vOT) plays a key role in reading. Several studies have also reported its activation during speech processing, suggesting that it may play a role beyond written word recognition. Here, we adopt a graph theoretical analysis to investigate the functional role of this area in the whole-brain network while participants processed spoken sentences in different tasks. We find that its role and interactions with other areas changes in an adaptive manner. In a low-level speech perception task, the left-vOT is part of the visual network and acts as a connector that supports the communication with other cognitive systems. When speech comprehension is required, the area becomes a connector within the sensorimotor-auditory network typically recruited during speech processing. However, when comprehension is compromised due to degradation of speech input, the area disengages from the sensorimotor-auditory network. It becomes part of the visual network again and turns from connector into a simple peripheral node. These varying connectivity patterns are coherent with the Interactive Account considering the left-vOT as a convergent zone with multiple functions and interaction patterns that depend on task demands and the nature of sensory input.
2004 Grand Banks Iceberg Scour Survey

In June of 2004, a multibeam sonar survey was conducted on northeast Grand Bank over a previously established repetitive mapping site to identify new seabed scours and improve the scour rate estimate for the region. Post-survey analysis of the resulting multibeam data identified one scour event classified as new with a high degree of certainty, and nine other scour events that may be new, but having a lower degree of confidence. Uncertainty in the identification of new scours was primarily due to limitations in the quality of the sidescan data collected during earlier baseline surveys. This paper describes the scour dataset collected during the survey, including distributions of relevant scour metrics (i.e. width, depth), and the procedure used to evaluate the repetitive mapping data and resulting distribution of possible scour formation rates.