Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long‐term effects of magnesium carbonate on coronary artery calcification and bone mineral density in hemodialysis patients: A pilot study

Observational data suggest that elevated magnesium levels in dialysis patients may prevent vascular calcification and in vitro magnesium can prevent hydroxyapatite crystal growth. However, the effects of magnesium on vascular calcification and bone mineral density have not been studied prospectively. Seven chronic hemodialysis patients participated in this open label, prospective pilot study to evaluate the effects of a magnesium‐based phosphate binder on coronary artery calcification (CAC) scores and vertebral bone mineral density (V‐BMD) in patients with baseline CAC scores >30. Magnesium carbonate/calcium carbonate (elemental Mg: 86 mg/elemental Ca 100 mg) was administered as the principal phosphate binder for a period of 18 months and changes in CAC and V‐BMD were measured at baseline, 6, 12, and 18 months. Serum magnesium levels averaged 2.2±0.4 mEq/L (range: 1.3–3.9 mEq/L). Phosphorus levels (4.5±0.6 mg/dL) were well controlled throughout the 18 months study. Electron beam computed tomography results demonstrated a small not statically significant increase in absolute CAC scores, no significant change in median percent change, and a small none significant change in V‐BMD. Magnesium may have a favorable effect on CAC. The long‐term effect on bone mineral density remains unclear. Larger studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Protein tyrosine phosphatase PTP1 negatively regulates Dictyostelium STATa and is required for proper cell-type proportioning.

The protein tyrosine phosphatase PTP1, which mediates reversible phosphorylation on tyrosine, has been shown to play an important regulatory role during Dictyostelium development. Mutants lacking PTP1 develop more rapidly than normal, while strains that overexpress PTP1 display aberrant morphology. However, the signalling pathways involved have not been characterised. In reexamining these strains, we have found that there is an inverse correlation between levels of PTP1 activity, the extent of tyrosine phosphorylation on Dictyostelium STATa after treatment with cAMP, and the proportion of the slug population exhibiting STATa nuclear enrichment in vivo. This suggests that PTP1 acts to attenuate the tyrosine phosphorylation of STATa and downstream STATa-mediated pathways. Consistent with this, we show that when PTP1 is overexpressed, there is increased expression of a prestalk cell marker at the slug posterior, a phenocopy of STATa null slugs. In ptp1 null strains, STATa tyrosine phosphorylation and nuclear enrichment in the slug anterior is increased. There is also a change in the prestalk to prespore cell ratio. Synergy experiments suggest that this is due to a cell-autonomous defect in forming the subset of prespore cells that are located in the anterior prespore region.
The public value of improving a weather forecasting system in Korea: a choice experiment study

ABSTRACT The Korean government plans to improve the quality of its weather forecasting system in order to increase its public utility. The benefits arising from the implementation of this plan should be measured. To this end, this study applies a choice experiment to four attributes: the update frequency of both short- and medium-range forecasts, and the accuracy of both. A survey of 1000 randomly selected households was undertaken in Korea. In the study results, the marginal willingness-to-pays, respectively, for one more update of the short-range forecast per day, for a 1% increase in the accuracy of the short-range forecast, for changing the update frequency of the medium-range forecast from once a day (reference level) to twice a day, and for a 1% increase in the accuracy of the medium-range forecast as a result of improving the weather forecast service were estimated to be KRW 499.3 (USD 0.45), 108.3 (0.10), 346.5 (0.31), and 80.9 (0.07) per household per month. The findings can provide policy-makers with useful information for both evaluating and planning improvements in the weather forecasting system.
Retirement as a Psychosocial Transition: Process of Adaptation to Change

This study seeks to verify if the work-to-retirement process meets the requirements inherent to the Psychosocial Transitions Model [1]. Quantitative and qualitative evaluations are used to verify if pre-, intra-, and post-retirement periods are different from one another when the individual's internal organization is examined. The experimental group (n = 17, age = 65) takes IPAT, LSI-A, and clinical interviews evaluations at pre-, intra-, and post-retirement measurement times. The control group (n = 22, age = 65), used to verify the test-retest effect, takes these evaluations only at the post-retirement session. Variance analysis (ANOVA) show, at a quantitative level that the retirement transition triggers observable changes in anxiety levels. A posteriori analysis (HELMERT) shows that these operate significantly between the pre- and intra-retirement times. The content analysis of interviews shows, at a qualitative level, observable changes in pre-post-retirement preoccupations. These include death thoughts.
Using Taylorism to make work easier: A work procedure perspective

Background: Complexities generally are conundrums that inhibit efficiency and effectiveness in research and practice; one of the symptoms of this is nebulous obstruction to task completion in the workplace. Complexities in work procedures create complications in the application of procedures for completing tasks. Recent trends in the Auditor General’s report have demonstrated the metastasising culture of non-compliance to work procedures in municipalities in South Africa. Research, as well as the audit outcomes for the Eastern Cape in particular, is a testament to this assertion. Therefore, there is no need to make work more complex. Aim: To ascertain whether the application of Taylorism in the workplace could improve performance and to access the utilisation of work procedure in municipalities in the Eastern Cape. Setting: This study was carried out using quantitative data collected from a District Municipality and its five local municipalities at the Transkei area of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Method: A survey completed by 593 municipality workers (junior workers) was collected and analysed using statistical methods and triangulation. Results: Findings from the article reveals that work procedures in the organisation might be old and archaic. It may be relevant to workers who have little or no interference from externalities with regard to their job commitments. It recommends that those officials that perform routinised functions in municipalities should use a work procedure manual when completing their task. Based on the notion that work procedures engender compliance, increase outcome and output, increase productivity, save time, reduce stress and organisational friction or conflict in organisations. Conclusion: It concludes that procedures that are comprehensible (simple), accessible (organically inputted and communicated) and accurate (effectively designed) will improve the daily functionality of lower echelon staff in the municipalities, especially those requiring little or no external influence on the completion of a task.
Single-Pass Dissection of Ultrathin Organ-Cultured Endothelial Lamellae Using an Innovative Microkeratome System

Purpose: To determine the feasibility, dissection accuracy, and endothelial viability of ultrathin endothelial lamellae harvested from organ-cultured corneas using a single-pass with an innovative motor-driven linear microkeratome system. Methods: Forty-eight (n = 48) paired organ-cultured human corneas were randomly assigned to dissection (study eyes, n = 24) with fellow eyes serving as the control (fellow eyes, n = 24). After organ culture and deswelling in a medium containing 6% dextran, endothelial lamellae with a target thickness ⩽100 &mgr;m were dissected using a motor-driven linear microkeratome system (SLc, Gebauer, Neuhausen, Germany) equipped with 400-&mgr;m (n = 4), 450-&mgr;m (n = 10), 500-&mgr;m (n = 5), or 550-&mgr;m (n = 5) heads. Central corneal thickness (CCT) and posterior and anterior lamellar thicknesses were measured using ultrasound pachymetry (Pachette 3; DGH Technology Inc, PA) and anterior segment optical coherence tomography (Casia SS-1000; Tomey, Nagoya, Japan). Endothelial viability [endothelial cell density (ECD)] was measured using trypan vital staining. Results: CCT measured 595 ± 66 &mgr;m (n = 48) on arrival, 846 ± 131 &mgr;m (n = 48) after organ culture, and 565 ± 58 &mgr;m (n = 48) after deturgescence. CCT did not differ between study and control eyes. Posterior lamellar thickness measured 88 ± 18 &mgr;m (n = 24) immediately after dissection, 126 ± 30 &mgr;m (n = 24) 1 hour after dissection, and 131 ± 41 &mgr;m (n = 24) 2.3 ± 0.6 days after dissection. ECD measured 2637 ± 264 cells per square millimeter (n = 48) on arrival, 2524 ± 232 cells per square millimeter (n = 48) after organ culture, 2493 ± 253 cells per square millimeter (n = 48) after dissection, and 2311 ± 218 cells per square millimeter (n = 48) 2.3 ± 0.6 days after dissection. ECD did not differ between study and control eyes at all time points. Conclusions: Single-pass motor-driven linear microkeratome dissection provides an accurate and safe alternative for harvesting ultrathin endothelial lamellae from organ-cultured donor corneas.
Purification and Some Properties of Thiosulfate Dehydrogenase from Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

Abstract Thiosulfate dehydrogenase was purified from Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans using three purification steps. The purification procedure involved ammonium sulfate fractionation, ion‐exchange chromatography, and gel permeation chromatography. Specific activity of the purified enzyme (after IEC) was 3.26 nkat/mg, and yield of the enzyme was 78%. The purity of the enzyme was checked by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate. The enzyme is a tetramer composed of four probably identical subunits of relative molecular weight 45,000. The pH optimum of the enzyme reaction in the direction of substrate oxidation was found to be 3.0. The isoelectric point of the enzyme was 8.3. Enzyme activity was found to be particularly sensitive to the histidine‐selective reagent diethylpyrocarbonate. Reagents selective for arginine, cysteine, and tryptophane had no effect on enzyme activity.
Dorsal hand-vein images recognition system based on grey level co-occurrence matrix and Tamura features

Biometrics is the important area of distinguishing people using their behavioural characteristics. Until now, researcher and exporter increasing interest with vein pattern biometrics. A vein pattern is a massive link of blood vessels under a person's skin. Similar to fingerprints, in scientific sense, the shape of vascular patterns in the same part of the body has proved distinct from each other. The objective of this paper is to analyse vein images and to design and implement dorsal hand-vein recognition system that has the ability to segment vein and recognise each person based on his vein requires the presence of the human operator. The experimental results indicate that the MDC classifier achieves accuracy of 92% in the case of wavelet transform, and GLCM and Tamura features.
Acute neuromuscular respiratory paralysis.

This article reviews the recognition, diagnosis and management of respiratory failure in acute neuromuscular disease. Respiratory failure requiring artificial ventilation occurs in about 14% of patients with Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS),' a small percentage of patients with myasthenia gravis and polymyositis, and also in acute rhabdomyolysis and a wide range of other less common disorders (tables 1-3). Neuromuscular disorders are responsible for only a tiny proportion of admissions to most intensive care units, 23 (1 1 %) of 2097 consecutive admissions to our own unit in the last two years. Of those cases, 15 (60%) required mechanical ventilation and two (8 7) died in hospital. The APACHE III study in North America2 documented neuromuscular disease as the cause of intensive care unit admission in only 45 patients (026%) of the cohort of 17 440 patients with a 15-6% unadjusted hospital mortality rate. These figures exclude those patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit because of operation or systemic disease and then developed neuromuscular disease which caused respiratory failure or delayed weaning off the ventilator. Respiratory failure occur-ring in the setting of chronic progressive neuromuscular disease, such as, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and motor neuron disease, presents a challenging management problem which is outside the scope of this review.
Application of the Vestibular Disorders Activities of Daily Living Scale

Objective Existing scales of functional performance are either insufficiently sensitive or omit some important daily life tasks. This paper demonstrates that a new scale of self‐perceived disablement in the vestibularly impaired population—the Vestibular Disorders Activities of Daily Living Scale (VADL)—differentiates between disabled and healthy persons and evaluates the associations of this assessment with other measures of vestibular disorders.
DOSE AUDIT AND EVALUATION OF WORK PRACTICES DURING BARIUM PROCEDURES USING DIGITAL RADIOGRAPHY TECHNIQUES

Effective dose and organ doses during barium procedures performed using digital radiography machines were estimated and the related work practices were evaluated. Measured values of dose area product (DAP) were used for the calculation of effective doses. One hundred and thirty eight patients undergoing barium procedures were included in the study. The use of additional 0.2 mm copper filter during barium procedures effectively reduced patient doses. The effective dose during barium swallow procedure varied from 0.03 mSv to 3.5 mSv; during barium meal it varied from 0.18 mSv to 2.62 mSv; and during barium enema it varied from 0.56 mSv to 4.24 mSv. Dose auditing was done on the basis of patient doses, imaging techniques and image quality. Selection of optimized exposure factors imparted lower dose to patients during barium procedures.
A hybrid contention-polling protocol for PLC-based AMR systems

This paper propose a new and effective communication protocol for implementation of automatic meter reading (AMR) systems using power line communication (PLC). The proposed hybrid contention-polling protocol involves request broadcasting by the data concentrator (DC) and subsequent rebroadcasting by higher level meters up till the third hop using a novel dual purpose packet for transmission. The proposed protocol employs CSMA-CA medium access control protocol for the first phase on contention-based data transmission. The throughput of the AMR system is then further improved with the second phase on polling of failed meter units after the initial contention period. The performance of the proposed protocol in terms of data collection delay and throughput is analyzed and compared with that of the Neighbor Relay Polling (NRP) protocol which has been shown to be typically effective in overcoming the “silent node” problem associated with AMR systems. The simulation models also present analysis of two different topological networks, structured and unstructured, of the PLC access network assuming an automatic three-level clustering mechanism. The proposed hybrid protocol ensures significantly higher performance than the NRP protocol in terms of data collection delay.
Postsurgical Outcome in Pediatric Patients with Epilepsy: A Comparison of Patients with Intellectual Disabilities, Subaverage Intelligence, and Average‐Range Intelligence

Summary: Purpose: Intellectual disabilities are often associated with bilateral or diffuse morphologic brain damage. The chances of becoming seizure free after focal surgery are therefore considered to be worse in patients with intellectual disabilities. The risk of postoperative cognitive deficits could increase because diffuse brain damage lowers the patient's ability to compensate for surgically induced deficits. Several studies in adult patients have indicated that IQ alone is not a good predictor of postoperative cognitive and seizure outcome. Our study evaluated this subject in children and adolescents.
Affinity purification and characterization of an anti‐PEG IgM

Anti‐PEG IgM was purified by affinity chromatography using variable length PEG chains (5, 10, 20 and 30 kDa) as affinity ligands. Maximal binding of anti‐PEG IgM was observed using the 30 kDa PEG‐derivatized NuGel (single passage). Purified anti‐PEG IgM was characterized for binding to PEG functionalized proteins/peptides by surface plasmon resonance, western blotting and ELISA. Anti‐PEG IgM, in solution and adsorbed on 20 kDa PEG‐derivatized NuGel, was subjected to pepsin digestion followed by affinity chromatography. SDS–PAGE analysis of eluates in both preparations yielded one fragment that was similar in size. However, an additional lower molecular weight band was observed in solution‐digested affinity purified material that was not present in the eluate from the material subjected to pepsin digestion on the affinity matrix. The lower MW fragment could be eluted under milder conditions, suggesting loss of binding multiplicity. Analysis by mass spectrometry yielded molecular weights of 132 kDa (both) and 82 kDa (solution) for the respective fragments. N‐terminal sequencing of both fragments resulted in primary sequences (heavy and light chains) that were not only identical to each other but also to those of native IgM. The anti‐PEG IgM fragments were characterized for binding to pegylated interferon alfa‐2a by ELISA. The results from these studies suggest that affinity purified anti‐PEG IgM and fragments can be used as probes in detection assays for PEG functionalized biotherapeutics in pre‐clinical and clinical studies. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An axial magnetic gearbox with an electric power output port

Recently, magnetic gearboxes (MGBs) are attracting more followers as they offer great benefits over conventional mechanical gearboxes including contactless operation, lower noise, lower vibration, and they are maintenance-free. Improving MGBs performance is one of the popular topics under research. Axial MGB is one of the magnetic gear topologies that is suitable for applications which require a physical isolation between the input and output shafts. Unlike radial MGB, axial MGB is relatively simple, has an excellent reliability, and has a relatively low axial force magnitude exerted on the high and low speed rotors. In this paper, an axial MGB with an additional electric power output port is proposed. A conventional 14/4 axial MGB is equipped with Q-phase coils fitted around the ferromagnetic pole-pieces which represent a third output electric port used to sink extra power transmitted from one rotor side to the other side. This extracted output electric power can be used to feed an electrical load while transmitting a mechanical power without using an extra electrical generator. The proposed system is investigated using 3D finite element method analysis.
Overweight and Obesity and Associated Factors among School-Aged Adolescents in Ghana and Uganda

The aim of this study was to assess overweight and obesity and associated factors in school-going adolescents in low income African countries (Ghana, Uganda). The total sample included 5,613 school children aged 13 to 15 years from nationally representative samples from two African countries. Bivariate and multivariable analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between dietary behavior, substance use, physical activity, psychosocial factors and overweight or obesity. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was determined based on self-reported height and weight and the international child body mass index standards. Results indicate a prevalence of overweight or obesity of 10.4% among girls and 3.2% among boys, and 0.9% and 0.5% obesity only among girls and boys, respectively. Among girls smoking cigarettes and loneliness and among boys smoking cigarettes were found to be associated with overweight or obesity in multivariable analysis. Overweight status was not associated with the intake of fruits, vegetables, and sedentary behavior. Low prevalence rates of overweight or obesity were found in Ghana and Uganda. Smoking cessation and social programs could be integrated into strategies to prevent and treat overweight and obesity in youth.
Creating intelligent environments to monitor and manipulate physical activity and sedentary behavior in public health and clinical settings

It is generally agreed, that an active lifestyle promotes healthy living across different age groups. It helps to combat obesity, reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease, and support independent living as we age. However, it is difficult to quantify a direct correlation between physical activity and health outcomes. Given that obesity and lifestyle-related illnesses occur over years in contrast to days, weeks or months seeing the effects activity and sedentary behaviour has on individuals in the short term is not always possible. The ubiquitous nature of physical activity makes it extremely difficult to capture as people go about their lives. Consequently, there has been a great deal of debate on the frequency intensity time, and the type of physical activity required by different groups (pre-schoolers, children, adults, older adults, obese, infirm, disabled, and depressed). There is a need to provide effective mechanisms to monitor and manipulate physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Whilst several commercially available products exist to achieve this, compliance is poor. The challenge is to use new and novel technologies that are unobtrusive and natural adjunct to a persons day-to-day activity. This paper builds on existing ideas and explores how activity and sedentary behaviour information can be collected from different environments. We have developed an initial working prototype to evaluate the applicability of our approach.
Property-Price Determinants in Indonesia

Price formation provides critical insights into the attributes of fledgling property markets in developing countries. This article investigates asking-price formation across the Indonesian archipelago, including previously unstudied regional property markets. We compile a rich micro dataset of asking prices for residential, commercial, and undeveloped land from a nationwide classifieds database. Through a hedonic price analysis we identify the impact of property and advertisement attributes on asking prices for each type of property, using spatial fixed effects to control for spatially correlated unobservable characteristics at the district and city levels. Results indicate that property characteristics, land ownership status, and advertising method are all statistically significant indicators of asking price. We find considerable heterogeneity in asking-price formation in residential, commercial, and undeveloped land, and identify key differences between urban and rural markets.