Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Maternal Subpopulation Variances in Vaginal and Cesarean Section Delivery Method Predicts Excess Infant Mortality of Black/African Americans in the United States: Linked Birth/Infant Death Records, 2007-2016

Objective: Racial/ethnic disparities in infant mortality (IM) continue to persist in the United States, with Black/African Americans (AA) being disproportionally affected with threefold increase in mortality compared to Whites. Epidemiologic data have identified maternal characteristics as risk IM such as eclampsia, maternal education, smoking, maternal weight, maternal SES, and family structure. Understanding the cause of causes including the method of labor and delivery and the racial heterogeneity may facilitate intervention mapping in narrowing the Black White IM risk differences. We aimed to assess the temporal/racial trends and the methods of delivery, mainly vaginal versus cesarean section (C-section) as exposure function of IM. Methods: The United States linked Birth/Infant Death records (2007-2016) were used with a cross-sectional ecologic design. The analysis involved chi squared statistic, incidence rate estimation, and period percent change. Results: Of the 40,445,070 births between 2007 and 2016, cumulative mortality incidence was 249,135 (1.16 per 1000). The IM rate was highest among Black/AA (11.41 per 1000), intermediate among Whites (5.19 per 1000), and lowest among Asian /Pacific Islanders (4.24 per 1000). The cumulative incidence rate difference, comparing vaginal to cesarean procedure was 1.73 per 1000 infants, implying excess IM with C-section. Compared to C-section, there was a 31% decreased risk of IM among mothers with vaginal delivery, rate ratio (RR) = 0.69, 95% CI 0.64-0.74. Racial disparities was observed in the method of delivery associated with IM. Black/AA mothers with vaginal delivery had a 6% decreased risk of IM compared to C-section, RR = 0.94, 95%CI 0.92-0.95, while Whites with vaginal delivery had a 38% decrease risk of IM relative to C-section, RR= 0.68, 95%CI 0.67-0.69, p<0.001. Conclusion: Infant mortality varied by race, with Black/AA disproportionally affected which is explained in part by labor and delivery procedures, suggesting reliable and equitable intrapartum assessment of Black/AA mothers during labor.
In vitro Rumen Fermentation Patterns of Environment Friendly Whole Crop Barley, Italian Ryegrass and Rice Straw Silages

Rumen fermentative characteristic is useful indicators of the quality of ruminant feed stuffs and diets. An in vitro rumen fermentation experiment was therefore carried out to compare fermentation patterns among three forage sources. These were whole crop barley (WCBS), Italian ryegrass silage (IRGS) and rice straw silages (RSS). Rice straw (RS) was the control, making the treatments 4 in total. Forages were randomly allocated to serum bottles. The incubation times were arranged 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 48 and 72h at 39℃, respectively. Each forage source was replicated 3 times per incubation time. At each sampling time, total gas and pH were measured, whilst individual volatile fatty acids (VFAs), total volatile fatty acids (TVFAs) and ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) were determined later after storing samples at -20℃. Acetate: Propionate ratio (A/P) was then calculated. Forage source had a significant effect (P
Influence of natural infection of Toxocara vitulorum on markers of oxidative stress in Indian buffalo calves

Present study envisages the possible oxidant/antioxidant imbalance due to toxocariasis in naturally infected buffalo calves before and after initiation of therapy. Buffalo calves (9) naturally infected with Toxocara vitulorum were selected to analyze hematological parameters, oxidative stress indices, levels of nitric oxide (NO) and minerals, viz. zinc, copper and iron and compared with 9 healthy buffalo calves. Pronounced reduction in the values of hemoglobin, packed cell volume, total erythrocyte count and oxidative stress indices like reduced glutathione, catalase and glutathione-s-transferase were observed in infected calves. However, significantly augmented levels of erythrocytic lipid peroxidation and serum NO were observed in infected calves. Levels of Zn, Cu and Fe significantly dropped in infected calves. All the infected animals were recovered completely after treatment with piperazine hydrate (300 mg/kg b. wt. PO for 2 days). Significant improvement in hematological parameters and mineral status were observed but no statistically significant improvement with the oxidative stress indices were observed in post treated calves. Results denote that incorporation of antioxidants in the therapeutic regimen might be helpful to curb the oxidative stress in the course of toxocariasis in buffalo calves.
The Social Consequences of Disasters: Individual and Community Change

We review findings from the last decade of research on the effects of disasters, concentrating on three important themes: the differences between the recovery of places versus people, the need to differentiate between short- and long-term recovery trajectories, and the changing role of government and how it has exacerbated inequality in recovery and engendered feedback loops that create greater vulnerability. We reflect the focus of the majority of sociological studies on disasters by concentrating our review on studies in the United States, but we also include studies on disasters throughout the world if they contribute to our empirical and theoretical understanding of disasters and their impacts. We end with a discussion of the inevitability of more severe disasters as climate change progresses and call on social scientists to develop new concepts and to use new methods to study these developments.
Magnetic-Field-Based Position Sensing Using Machine Learning

Magnetic fields are widely used in short-range wireless applications such as sensor systems and communication systems. To further exploit the potential of such systems that use magnetic fields, we investigated their applicability to position sensing of a mobile device that generates these fields. The principle involves estimating the position of the device via an analysis of the data detected by multiple magnetic-field sensors located around the target space. In this study, we used machine learning to analyze the sensor data, which were obtained by numerical calculations. The results indicated that machine learning effectively estimated the position of the mobile devices. Based on our simulations, the error of the position estimated with the machine-learning approach was within 10 cm in a $2\times 2 \times 2$ - $\text{m}^{3}$ cubic space for 73% of all the cases of mobile-device states. The estimation accuracy exceeded that obtained with a conventional optimizing approach. Furthermore, the estimation accuracy obtained with the machine learning approach was maintained for the signal-to-noise-ratio higher than 30 dB. It was also shown that the degradation of the estimation accuracy caused by a sensor-location shift can be restored by learning with training data for the shifted sensor location. The computational speed of the machine learning approach is 30 times faster than that of the conventional one. The results significantly support the applicability of magnetic-field-based systems for real-time tracking of moving persons and objects.
Prescription pattern of antiepileptic drugs in a tertiary care hospital

Background: Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder which affects about 0.5% to 1% of the population. The older antiepileptic drugs like carbamazepine and phenytoin are the mainstay of treatment of epilepsy. With the development of newer drugs for various type of epilepsy, the prescribing pattern for epilepsy has changed over the last decade. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prescription pattern of antiepileptic drugs in outpatient department of a tertiary care health care centre in Kerala and to assess how adherent they are to the available treatment guidelines of epilepsy.Methods: Data was collected from patients attending the outpatient department of Neurology in Government Medical College, Kozhikode for 2 months from January 2018 to February 2018. A total of 442 patients were enrolled in the study and data regarding the type of epilepsy, the antiepileptic drug prescribed, and the demographic profile were recorded and analysed.Results: Among the study participants, 237 were males (53.6%) and 205 females (46.2%). The study showed that among the 442 participants enrolled, the most common type of epilepsy was focal seizures (64.5%) and the most commonly prescribed drug was carbamazepine (28%), followed by levetiracetam (22%) and valproate (20%). Majority of the patients were treated with a single drug (79.2%). Conclusions: Newer drugs have been increasingly added to the list of antiepileptic drugs, but most of them serve as adjuvant to older ones and the important drugs used as monotherapy are still the older ones.
Estimation of Models of the Effect of Taxes on the Economic Growth of the Regions of Russia

Subject of article is the assessment of descriptive and optimization models of the effect of taxes on economic growth. Work purpose is based on the analysis of the basic models of economic growth (taking into account the tax factor) of foreign and domestic authors to identify the features, advantages and disadvantages of the latter on the basis of the approach considered taxes as a factor of economic growth. The hypothesis of the study is based on the assumption that the accumulation of funds to state is necessary in order to further redistribute them t achieve a high level of socio-economic development, which implies the use of simulation modeling, which is an experimental and applied methodology and allows describing the behavior of the corresponding systems, form a theory and test hypotheses that can explain this behavior, as well as about establish concrete recommendations for reforming the tax system with the aim of accelerating economic growth. Methodological foundations of a systems approach and economic and mathematical modeling are used: comparative method — in identifying features of economic growth models that take taxes into account; statistical analysis in the study of dependencies between macroeconomic indicators; economic and mathematical modeling and mathematical statistics in the construction of economic growth model, taking into account the tax factor. The proposed approach can be used by public institutions to assess the reform of the structure of the tax system, which will contribute to stable growth rates of production of goods and the provision of services.
Host-apicomplexan parasite interactions: Leveraging biological discovery into antiparasitic drug development

The obligate intracellular pathogens Plasmodium falciparum and Toxoplasma gondii remodel their host cell to facilitate their intracellular development and progress through their asexual life cycle, a virulent lytic cycle responsible for parasite-mediated pathogenesis. While several studies have highlighted parasite proteins that interact with the host cell during this cycle, host proteins exploited by the parasite for successful growth and conversely, host molecules evolutionarily tuned to control parasite infection remain unclear. We addressed this question from both sides of the host-parasite interaction in the hope to leverage biological discovery of host molecules involved in infection into the validation of novel drug target candidates with vastly reduced potential for resistance: (1) building on previously established roles of host calpain during the lytic cycle to elucidate host pathways that facilitate parasite life cycle progression and (2) clarifying the existing role of platelets in innate control of parasitic disease. Comparative proteomics, genetics, and biochemical techniques led us to the discovery of a complex Gaq-coupled, protein kinase C (PKC)-mediated host signaling cascade common to both T. gondii and P. falciparum that results in cytoskeletal compromise and facilitates host calpain activation immediately prior to parasite release (Millholland et al., 2011; Millholland et al., 2013). The complexity of this pathway represented an untapped resource of antimalarial targets; indeed, inhibitors of key host signaling components demonstrated antiparasitic activity in murine models of malaria and toxoplasmosis. Conversely, host platelets were previously shown to have antimalarial capacity, leading us to characterize this host-parasite interaction in the hope to harness this antimalarial activity to optimize therapeutic potential. Upon screening molecules secreted in the blood stream, we identified Platelet Factor 4 as the host defense peptide (HDP) component of platelets capable of killing malaria parasites via selective lysis of the parasite digestive vacuole (DV), the site of hemoglobin digestion(Love et al., 2012). To exploit this DV lysis mechanism in a drug discovery effort, we tested a library of small, nonpeptidic mimics of HDPs and identified compounds that potently killed P. falciparum in vitro and reduced parasitemia in a murine malaria model. Taken together, these data reinforce the feasibility of targeting host molecules as a novel antiparasitic strategy. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Cell & Molecular Biology First Advisor Doron C. Greenbaum
SEM STUDY OF CELL WALLS OF 24 DESMIDS (DESMIDIACEAE, CHLOROPHYTA) FROM CHINA

Surface ornamentations of the cell walls of 24 desmid species varieties and forms belonging to 7 genera were studied under a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Among these desmids, 1 species and 1 variety are new to science, 13 species, varieties and forms are recorded in China for the first time. These desmids are subdivided into homogeneous and heterogeneous types based on the characteristic ornamentations on their cell walls. A unique ornamentation pattern, the centre of each scrobiculation with a small punctum regularly arranged on the cell wall, and very fine puncta scattered on the cell wall can only be revealed under high SEM magnification.
The Effects of Westernization Efforts on the Turkish Education System

Westernization refers to the establishment of a system based on science and technology in the life of a society and encourages developing countries to learn and then use what the West has found in science, technology, human rights, prosperity, and art. In this paper, we have argued the effects of Westernization efforts and how the power holding groups use these efforts on their behalf to have authority over governmental institutions and change the education policy of Turkey according to their ideology. Quijano’s notion of Coloniality was used to explain how people, who had a control over governmental authorities used Westernization to impose their own ideology in Turkish education policy. In the paper, firstly, we argued why the conflicts due Westernization arise between pro-Westerners and anti-Westerners and how this situation effects the education policy of some societies in the world. Second, we discussed the Westernization efforts made in Turkey. Third, we explained criticism towards Westernization since the Ottoman period. Lastly, we argued how the conflicts between pro-Westerners and anti-Westerners ended up in military coups.
Vortex dislocation mechanisms in the near wake of a step cylinder

Vortex interactions behind step cylinders with diameter ratio $D/d=2$ and 2.4 at Reynolds number ( $Re_{D}$ ) 150 were investigated by directly solving the three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations. In accordance with previous studies, three spanwise vortex cells were captured: S-, N- and L-cell vortices. In this paper, we focused on vortex interactions between the N- and L-cell vortices, especially the vortex dislocations and subsequent formations of vortex loop structures. The phase difference accumulation process of every pair of corresponding N- and L-cell vortices and its effects on the vortex dislocations were investigated. We revealed that the total phase difference between N- and L-cell vortices was accumulated by two physically independent mechanisms, namely different shedding frequencies and different convective velocities of these two cells. The second mechanism has never been reported before. The relative importance of these two mechanisms varied periodically in the phase difference accumulation process of every pair of corresponding N- and L-cell vortices. This variation caused the vortex dislocation process and the subsequent formation of the loop structures to change from one N-cell cycle to another. Our long-time observations also revealed an interruption of the conventional antisymmetric vortex interactions between two subsequent N-cell cycles in this wake. Moreover, the trigger value and the threshold value in the phase difference accumulation processes were identified and discussed. Both values contribute to better understanding of the vortex dislocations in this kind of wake flow. Finally, the universality of our discussions and conclusions was investigated.
Proteomic Analysis Reveals an Increase of Neutrophils and TH17-related Proteins Expression in Severe Nodular Acne Lesions of the Back

Background: The etiology and different inflammatory steps associated with the development of an acne nodule remain unsolved. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the main biological processes involved in acne nodules and compare them to those of papules. Methods: Nodules, papules, and non-involved skin of the back (control) were biopsied to perform proteomic analysis using mass spectrometry, Luminex assay, and elastase staining on skin sections. Results: Many factors involved in the migration and function of immune cells, particularly those impacting leukocytes and neutrophils, were strongly and significantly higher in nodules than in papules and non-involved skin, while several enzymes involved in lipid metabolism were lower. Elastase staining confirmed strong neutrophil infiltration within and around the nodules. Conclusions: Our results highlight the role of neutrophils during nodule formation in severe nodular acne of the back.
Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase Inhibitors

Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT, EC 2.4.2.12) catalyzes the condensation of nicotinamide with 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate (PRPP) to yield nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), a rate limiting enzyme in a mammalian salvage pathway of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) synthesis. Human NAMPT consists of 491 amino acids with a molecular weight of 52 kDa (Samal et al., 1994). NAMPT was initially named pre-B-cell colony-enhancing factor (PBEF) for its growth factor like function on promoting pre-B-cell colony formation in the presence of stem cell factor plus interleukin 7 (Samal et al., 1994). Martin et al. (2001) found that the gene encoding the bacterial Haemophilus ducreyi nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (nadV) had a significant homology to the mammalian PBEF gene. Since then, Rongvaux et al.(2002), Revollo et al. (2004) and others (van der Veer et al., 2005) have characterized the enzymological features of mammalian NAMPT. In 2005, NAMPT/PBEF was named visfatin, a “new visceral fat-derived hormone”, which is an adipocyte-derived adipokine that induces insulin mimetic effects (Fukuhara et al., 2005). To avoid the confusion, the name NAMPT will be used throughout this chapter since NAMPT was approved as the official name of this gene by the Human Genome Organization Gene Nomenclature Committee.
Sexual development, maturity and reproduction of dolphinfish ( Coryphaena hippurus ) in the western and central Mediterranean

Studies have been conducted on the sexual development, maturity and reproduction of the dolphinfish ( Coryphaena hippurus L. 1758) in the Mediterranean area, with special reference to the Balearic islands and Sicily. Professional fishing, carried out from August to December 1996, uses FADs (Fish Attracting Devices) and surrounding nets. 2087 juvenile specimens of dolphinfish from the Ionian and southern Tyrrhenian seas, the Strait of Sicily and the Balearic islands were sampled. A small number of adult fish (39), which are not usually caught in surrounding nets, was sampled in the swordfish long-line by-catch. The gonads of the young fish were analysed monthly to establish the stage of development of the ovaries or testes, during the first few months of life. The gonads of the adult fish, sampled in the months of June-September only, were all mature. The specimens caught between October and December presented maturity stage V in the case of the females and I in the case of the males, indicating the end of the reproductive period. The gonado-somatic index (GSI) and condition factor (CF) were calculated for both genders. The trend of the GSI confirms the presence of immature specimens as regards the juvenile fish; the low value of GSI was obtained for the adults, probably associated with the post-reproduction conditions found in the October-December period. Most of the gonads sampled during the months between August and December belonged to young specimens born in early summer. This is confirmed by the juvenile stages (FL 2.5 to 4.3 cm) caught with plankton nets in the Strait of Messina area in July.
Oxygen isotope composition of waters recorded in carbonates in strong clumped and oxygen isotopic disequilibrium

Abstract. Paleoenvironmental reconstructions, which are mainly retrieved from oxygen isotope (δ18O) and clumped isotope (Δ47) compositions of carbonate minerals, are compromised when carbonate precipitation occurs in isotopic disequilibrium. To date, knowledge of these common isotopic disequilibria, known as vital effects in biogenic carbonates, remains limited, and the potential information recorded by δ18O and Δ47 offsets from isotopic equilibrium values is largely overlooked. Additionally, in carbonates formed in isotopic equilibrium, the use of the carbonate δ18O signature as a paleothermometer relies on our knowledge of the paleowaters' δ18O value, which is often assumed. Here, we report the largest Δ47 offsets observed to date (as much as −0.270 ‰), measured on microbial carbonates that are strongly linked to carbonate δ18O offsets (−25 ‰) from equilibrium. These offsets are likely both related to the microorganism metabolic activity and yield identical erroneous temperature reconstructions. Unexpectedly, we show that the δ18O value of the water in which carbonates precipitated, as well as the water–carbonate δ18O fractionation dependence on temperature at equilibrium, can be retrieved from these paired δ18O and Δ47 disequilibrium values measured in carbonates. The possibility to retrieve the δ18O value of paleowaters, sediments' interstitial waters or organisms' body water at the carbonate precipitation loci, even from carbonates formed in isotopic disequilibrium, opens long-awaited research avenues for both paleoenvironmental reconstructions and biomineralization studies.