Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of agro-morphological, physiological and yield traits diversity among tropical rice

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is an essential staple food crop, but the per acre average rice yield is less than its substantial potential in many countries. Rice breeders and growers would benefit from a robust genotypes with better morpho-physiological and yield-related traits. Here, seventy-four new rice genotypes were phenotyped over two years for their gas exchange and yield potential-related traits under Mississippi rice-growing conditions. A wide range of variability was observed among genotypes for all measured traits. Detailed phenotyping of rice genotypes revealed two key relationships that function together to contribute to yield potential under the southern US climate. The first one, grain yield, grain number, and spikelet fertility, showed considerable correlation (r = 0.45 to 0.79, p < 0.001) to harvest index. Conversely, days to anthesis had a high and negative correlation with harvest index (r = −0.79, p < 0.001), which suggests that selection for short duration genotypes with efficient partitioning could improve the yields under southern US climatic conditions. Additive response index revealed a higher positive association with yield traits (R2 = 0.59) than physiological (R2 = 0.28) and morphological traits (R2 = 0.21). Compared with the commercial genotype Rex, 21.6% and 47.3% of the rice genotypes had a higher gas exchange and yield response scores. IR08A172, IR07K142 and IR07F287 were ranked as high performers in physiological and yield response indices. Our study highlights that selection for short-duration yield-related traits with efficient sink capacity traits is desirable for future breeding programs.
Validation parameters of an ELISA test to detect presence of milk from other species

In order to take any decision about potential frauds, the industries must ensure that the milk-testing laboratories have the analytical techniques validated and their uncertainty calculated. Although there is general agreement about what type of studies should be done, there is great diversity in how they are performed. A protocol to validate ELISA tests for accreditation purposes has been applied to a specific test to quantify cow's milk in ewe's milk. Verification of the suitability of the method by studying range, linearity, selectivity, precision, accuracy, quantitation limit has been performed. An expanded uncertainty of 0.3, 0.9 and 1.4% for samples containing 1, 5 and 10% of cow's milk has been found. The method to analyse ewe's milk samples collected at local farms has been carried out and more than 10% of samples were found positive for the presence of cow's milk.
Worldwide incidence and mortality of ovarian cancer and Human Development Index (HDI): GLOBOCAN sources and methods 2018

Summary Objective Ovarian cancer is known as the seventh most common cancer among women, accounting for about 4% of all cancers associated with the females. Method This is a descriptive cross-sectional study based on cancer incidence data and cancer mortality rates from the Global Cancer Data in 2018. The incidence and mortality rates were estimated and ovarian cancer distribution maps for world countries were drawn. To analyze data, correlation and regression tests were used to evaluate association between its incidence and mortality with human development index (HDI) Results Results revealed a direct and significant correlation between ovarian cancer incidence (R = 0.409, P < 0.0001) and mortality (R = 0.193, P < 0.05) with HDI. It also projected a direct and significant correlation between incidence with Gross National Income per 1,000 capita (GNI), mean years of schooling (MYS), life expectancy at birth (LEB) and expected years of schooling (EYS) (P < 0.0001). The findings also demonstrated a direct and significant correlation between mortality and GNI, MYS, LEB as well as EYS (P < 0.05). The linear regression model showed that a higher MYS [B = 0.2, CI 95%: (-0.03, 0.5)] can significantly augment the incidence of ovarian cancer while an increased MYS [B = 0.2, CI 95% (0.03, 0.4)] can induce mortality. Conclusions Given the direct and significant correlation between ovarian cancer incidence and mortality with HDI, attention to risk factors in these countries can be effective in curbing its incidence and mortality.
The effectiveness of image-guided percutaneous catheter drainage in the management of acute pancreatitis-associated pancreatic collections

Purpose Acute pancreatitis is commonly complicated by the development of pancreatic collections (PCs). Symptomatic PCs warrant drainage, and the available options include percutaneous, endoscopic, and open surgical approaches. The study aimed to assess the therapeutic effectiveness and safety of image guided percutaneous catheter drainage (PCD) in the management of acute pancreatitis related PCs. Material and methods This was a single-centre prospective study covering a 4-year study period. Acute pancreatitisrelated PCs complicated by secondary infection or those producing symptoms due to pressure effect on surrounding structures were enrolled and underwent ultrasound or computed tomography (CT)-guided PCD. The patients were followed to assess the success of PCD (defined as clinical, radiological improvement, and the avoidance of surgery) and any PCD-related complications. Results The study included 60 patients (60% males) with a mean age of 43.1 ± 21.2 years. PCD recorded a success rate of 80% (16/20) for acute peripancreatic fluid collections (APFC) and pancreatic pseudocysts (PPs), 75% (12/16) for walled-off necrosis (WON), and 50% (12/24) for acute necrotic collections (ANCs). Post-PCD surgery (necrosectomy ± distal pancreatectomy) was needed in 50% of ANC and 25% of WON. Only 20% of APFCs/PPs patients required surgical/endoscopic treatment post-PCD. Minor procedure-related complications were seen in 4 (6.6%) patients. Conclusion PCD is an effective, safe, and minimally invasive therapeutic modality with a good success rate in the management of infected/symptomatic PCs.
Changes in pulmonary function and patient-reported outcomes during COVID-19 recovery: a longitudinal, prospective cohort study

Objectives The aim of this study was to compare respiratory and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) between 3 and 6 months after symptom onset and to identify features that predict these changes. Methods This was a consecutive prospective cohort of 73 patients who were hospitalised with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We evaluated the changes in pulmonary function tests and PROMs between 3 and 6 months and then investigated the associations between outcomes (change in diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO), dyspnoea and quality of life (QoL)) and clinical and radiological features. Results There was improvement in forced vital capacity, total lung capacity and DLCO between 3 and 6 months by 3.25%, 3.82% and 5.69%, respectively; however, there was no difference in PROMs. Reticulation and total computed tomography (CT) scores were associated with lower DLCO % predicted at 6 months (coefficients; −8.7 and −5.3, respectively). The association between radiological scores and DLCO were modified by time, with the degree of association between ground glass and DLCO having decreased markedly over time. There was no association between other predictors and change in dyspnoea or QoL over time. Conclusions There is improvement in pulmonary function measurements between 3 and 6 months after COVID-19 symptom onset; however, PROMs did not improve. A higher reticulation and total CT score are negatively associated with DLCO, but this association is attenuated over time. Lastly, there is a considerable proportion of patients with unexplained dyspnoea at 6 months, motivating further research to identify the underlying mechanisms. #COVID19 survivors have improvement in pulmonary function at 6 months. However, 83% have abnormal patient-reported outcomes with 42% reporting persistent dyspnoea despite some with normal DLCO. Imaging features at 3 months can help predict DLCO trajectory. https://bit.ly/3gEErST
Prognostic Factors and Predictors of In-Hospital Mortality Among COVID-19 Patients Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit: An Aid for Triage, Counseling, and Resource Allocation

Background: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remains today a global health pandemic. Those with severe infection are at risk of rapid clinical deterioration; as a result, intensive care unit (ICU) admission is not uncommon in such patients. A number of determinants have been identified as predictors of poor prognosis and in-hospital mortality, ranging from demographic characteristics, laboratory and/or radiological findings. Aim: To identify determinants of in-hospital mortality and examine the accuracy of seven early warning scores in predicting in-hospital mortality. Methods: This is a retrospective study conducted in Kuwait from July 2020 to March 2021, and participants were adult patients with a positive test on the real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for SARS-CoV-2 and who met the criteria for ICU admission. Data collected included: demographics, clinical status on hospital arrival, laboratory test results, and ICU course. Furthermore, we calculated seven early warning scores for each of our patients. Results: A total of 133 patients were admitted to our COVID-19 ICU with a median age of 59 years. Arrival to ICU on mechanical ventilation (MV), developing in-hospital complications, having chronic kidney disease (CKD), having a high white blood count (WBC), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), lactate, or urea levels were found to be significant predictors of in-hospital mortality. Furthermore, the 4C mortality score for COVID-19, VACO index for COVID-19 mortality, and the PRIEST COVID-19 clinical severity score proved to be the most superior in predicting in-hospital mortality. Conclusion: Identifying high-risk patients and those with a poor prognosis allows for efficient triaging and the delivery of high-standard care while minimizing the strain on the healthcare system.
Effects of fertilizer and biochar applications on the relationship among soil moisture, temperature, and N2O emissions in farmland

Background Di-nitrogen oxide (N2O) emissions from soil may lead to nonpoint-source pollution in farmland. Improving the C and N content in the soil is an excellent strategy to reduce N2O emission and mitigate soil N loss. However, this method lacks a unified mathematical index or standard to evaluate its effect. Methods To quantify the impact of soil improvement (C and N) on N2O emissions, we conducted a 2-year field experiment using biochar as carbon source and fertilizer as nitrogen source, setting three treatments (fertilization (300 kg N ha−1), fertilization + biochar (30 t ha−1), control). Results Results indicate that after biochar application, the average soil water content above 20 cm increased by ∼26% and 26.92% in 2019, and ∼10% and 12.49% in 2020. The average soil temperature above 20 cm also increased by ∼2% and 3.41% in 2019. Fertigation significantly promotes the soil N2O emissions, and biochar application indeed inhibited the cumulation by approximately 52.4% in 2019 and 33.9% in 2020, respectively. N2O emissions strongly depend on the deep soil moisture and temperature (20–80 cm), in addition to the surface soil moisture and temperature (0–20 cm). Therefore, we established an exponential model between the soil moisture and N2O emissions based on theoretical analysis. We find that the N2O emissions exponentially increase with increasing soil moisture regardless of fertilization or biochar application. Furthermore, the coefficient a < 0 means that N2O emissions initially increase and then decrease. The aRU < aCK indicates that fertilization does promote the rate of N2O emissions, and the aBRU > aRU indicates that biochar application mitigates this rate induced by fertilization. This conclusion can be verified by the sensitivity coefficient (SCB of 1.02 and 14.74; SCU of 19.18 and 20.83). Thus, we believe the model can quantify the impact of soil C and N changes on N2O emissions. We can conclude that biochar does significantly reduce N2O emissions from farmland.
Body Mass Index, Practice of Physical Activity and Lifestyle of Students During COVID-19 Lockdown

Purpose Several factors influence the student’s physical activity and lifestyle. The coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) lockdown has restricted student’s activity and altered their routine lifestyle. This prospective cohort study aimed to determine the significant changes in body mass index (BMI), physical activity, and lifestyle of the students including diet, sleep, and mental health before and during COVID-19 lockdown. Methods The study participants were 628 students studying bachelor’s degree programs, between 18 and 30 years of age, both genders from the university of Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. The lockdown began on 23 March and ended on 21 June 2020 in Saudi Arabia. The students were interviewed before (March 2020) and during (June 2020) lockdown. The structured tool included baseline information of the students, anthropometric data, global physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ), dietary recall, Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), and perceived stress scale (PSP). Chi-square tests were used to associate the baseline information with BMI changes during the lockdown. Results BMI of the students showed that 32% increased their weight, 22% lost their weight and 46% maintained the same weight during COVID-19 lockdown. The physical activity significantly decreased and sedentary time increased (p = 0.0001). Regarding the lifestyle components, fast and fried food consumption decreased, and calorie intake increased significantly (p = 0.001). Stress level (p = 0.001) significantly decreased, and sleep level (p = 0.001) increased during lockdown. The variables associated with weight changes were the level of students (p < 0.05) and time spent on social media per day (p < 0.0001). Conclusion Though half of the students maintained the same BMI during the lockdown, students who increased BMI were associated with physical activity and lifestyle. Hence, health awareness on weight maintenance, active physical activities, and a healthy lifestyle must be created among the students, which help in creating and implementing policies in the future.
Serum ischemia-modified albumin level returns to its premenopausal level with 1-year hormone therapy in healthy menopausal women

Introduction To assess the effect of hormone therapy (HT) on serum ischemia modified albumin (IMA) levels in healthy menopausal women. Material and methods Thirty surgical menopausal women who were admitted to our menopausal polyclinic during a 1-year period and diagnosed with menopause and planned to have HT for menopausal symptoms were enrolled in this prospective study. The serum İMA levels were recorded before and after (3 months, 6 months, 12 months later) hormone treatment (2 mg estradiol hemihydrate). Results The mean age of women was 47.60 ± 2.34 years. The mean serum IMA levels were 0.610 ± 0.096 absorbance units (ABSU) at the beginning and 0.484 ± 0.080 ABSU after 3 months of hormone therapy. Following 6 months of hormone therapy, serum IMA level was 0.546 ± 0.075, and reached 0.580 ± 0.089 ABSU following 12 months of therapy. Conclusions These findings suggest that HT may not block the menopause induced ischemia process. Although HT had a positive effect on serum IMA levels following 3 months’ use, serum IMA levels returned to baseline levels after 12 months’ use. Based on this study’s findings, long-term use of HT may not have a positive effect on cardiovascular disease protection.
Women’s knowledge on the menopausal transition in relation to their socio-economic status

Current reports indicate that there is a relationship between women’s socio-economic status (SES) and their level of knowledge on the menopausal transition. The aim of the study was to assess the level of knowledge in pre-menopausal women on the most frequent symptoms accompanying the menopausal transition as well as conventional and nonconventional therapies of alleviating symptoms in relation to women’s SES. The study was conducted among 114 women with the mean age of about 44 (± 2.51) years. A self-prepared questionnaire was used to investigate their SES and level of knowledge on the most common menopausal symptoms and methods of alleviating them. Most of the women (66.7%) were familiar with the most frequent menopausal symptoms. The women associated menopause with hot flashes (41.2%), mood swings (27.2%) and depression (15.8%). The majority of the women (84.2%) were familiar with hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and 43% of them were familiar with alternative therapies (AT). Better-educated women were more likely to take AT in the future while less-educated women intended to take HRT. Place of residence and income did not differentiate whether women intended to use HRT or AT during the menopausal transition. There was no difference in the level of women’s knowledge on HRT in relation to SES. There was an association between the level of knowledge on AT and education as well as place of residence. Better-educated women from medium and large urban centres tended to know unconventional methods of alleviating climacteric symptoms. Education was the most significant predictor of self-assessed level of knowledge on the menopausal transition.
Recent Insights into the Management of Behçet Syndrome

Abstract Behçet syndrome (BS) is a multisystem vasculitis with variable vessel involvement that shows significant heterogeneity among patients in terms of clinical manifestations and disease course. Treatment choice and response are both influenced by this heterogeneity. BS treatments’ main goals are to quickly suppress inflammatory exacerbations and prevent relapses in order to protect organ functions and provide good quality of life. Besides the long-term experience with steroids and traditional immunosuppressives, biologic drugs, especially TNF inhibitors, have gained increasing importance in the treatment of BS over the years. In this review, we aimed to give an overview of the studies with conventional and biological drugs with proven efficacy in the treatment of BS, as well as promising drugs and current management strategies according to clinical phenotypes.
The effect of adjunctive use of melatonin as a supplement on serum ferritin level in periodontal patients: A randomized, controlled trial

Background: Ferritin is an acute-phase protein that is increased in inflammatory diseases. Melatonin has been studied due to its antioxidant effects and the elimination of free radicals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of melatonin supplement as an adjunct to routine periodontal treatment on serum ferritin levels in patients with periodontitis. Materials and Methods: Forty patients with chronic periodontitis were included in this randomized controlled clinical trial study. Twenty patients received nonsurgical periodontal treatment and twenty patients received nonsurgical periodontal treatment with adjunctive use of melatonin. Serum ferritin concentrations and periodontal parameters were recorded at baseline and 3 months after periodontal therapy. Serum ferritin level and periodontal parameters comparison at baseline and 3 months after periodontal treatment was done by Wilcoxon signed-rank test and paired sample t-test, respectively. Differences between test and control groups were evaluated by Mann–Whitney U-test for ferritin level and independent t-test for periodontal parameters, and a P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Serum ferritin level decreased in both the control and test group in 3 months follow-up compared to baseline (P < 0.001). The reduction in ferritin levels in the test group was more than the control group, but this difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.414). Improvement in periodontal parameters were not significant between two groups (P = 0.489), but improvement rates in the test group were more than control. Conclusion: Melatonin, as an adjunct to periodontal therapy, showed additional benefits in the reduction of serum ferritin levels and improvement of periodontal parameters.
Paradigm Shift in Socio-Demographic Profile of Dengue Infection: A Hospital Based Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Dengue is the most rapidly spreading mosquito borne viral disease in the world with increasing geographical expansion to new countries and from urban to rural settings due to combination of urbanisation, population growth, increased international travel and trade and global warming. The epidemiology of dengue fever in India has been very complex with a seasonal pattern. The first outbreak in Odisha was in 2010 and is now spreading to different districts of the state. Materials and Methods: A hospital based cross-sectional study was carried out between 2017 to 2018 in the dengue ward of a teaching hospital in Berhampur, Ganjam district of Odisha. Results: The prevalence of admitted dengue patients was 4.32%. Majority of the patients were males (81.9%) and ≥15 years old (91.7%). About 68.5% were from rural areas and belonged to low socio-economic status (53.2%). Cases were reported mostly in peri-monsoon periods and 65.7% of them came directly to the hospital. Conclusion: The study highlights the need to curb the rural spread of the disease through activities in creating awareness among all section of people to promote control measures and early reporting of all fever cases, capacity building of rural doctors for early detection, treatment and early referral of high-risk patients and availability of ELISA based tests in sub-district hospitals along with Rapid Diagnostic Kits (RDKs). Emphasis for preventive and control measures to be increased during peri-monsoon periods and also to be instituted in offices, educational institutes and other indoor activity areas.
Combined Intraoperative Arthroscopic and Fluoroscopic Guided Reduction of a Lateral Tibial Plateau Fracture Using Minimally Invasive Metaphyseal and Intraarticular Fixation: Description of a Surgical Technique

Tibial plateau fractures are quite common among lower limb fractures. Several fracture classifications exist including Schatzker classification, in which tibial plateau fractures are divided into six types where each increasing numerical category indicates increasing severity of the injury and worsening prognosis. Arthroscopic-assisted techniques using a lateral or medial metaphyseal window have shown results comparable to open internal fixation methods with multiple advantages. We present a case of a medically and surgically free 40-year-old lady who presented to our emergency department complaining of left knee pain following a fall from the stairs. Clinically there was significant swelling and tenderness over the lateral aspect of the left proximal tibia, radiographs showed a Schatzker type III tibial plateau fracture, confirmed by computed tomography (CT). A combined intraoperative arthroscopic- and fluoroscopic-guided reduction of the articular depression through a lateral cortical window was achieved and the fracture was fixed using a minimally invasive fixation technique. The postoperative course was uneventful. The patient had recovered full range of motion and the wounds were barely visible. One-year X-ray showed healed fracture without any evidence of displacement or subsidence.