Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Can the External Carotid Artery Be Securely Ligated using the BRIG Technique in the Treatment of Carotid Disease

Introduction: Ligating the external carotid artery during carotid artery surgery remains a debatable act for many surgeons due to the potential impact of facial arterial blood supply. However, in our previous report on the BRIG technique to treat carotid disease, only one patient developed jaw claudicating and no other symptoms of facial hypo-perfusion. The goal of this study is to scientifically substantiate these clinical findings by determining the impact of interruption and restoration of the carotid blood flow on the External Carotid Artery Stump Pressure (ECASP). Methods: A prospective proof-of-concept study was performed, including nine consecutive patients who underwent BRIG surgery for symptomatic ICA stenosis or asymptomatic high grade ICA stenosis. A Javid shunt was used to measure the ECASP and the CASP during the procedure. An arterial line was used to measure systemic blood pressure. To compare the ECASP during clamping and after the restoration of ICA blood flow, multiple Students’ T-testing was performed, correcting for multiple testing using the Holm-Sidak method. Results: ECASP and ECASP /BP index did not significantly change during clamping of the carotid bifurcation and after restoration of cerebral blood. Both CASP and ECASP did not change significantly during clamping of the common carotid artery. Conclusion: The internal carotid artery does not influence the ECASP and no high blood pressure needs to be present in the ECA for it to be functional. Based on these findings, we can conclude that the ECA can be safely ligated during the BRIG procedure.
Computer Guided Implant Surgery

Prosthetically driven implant surgery has been a subject of great interest to the dental profession. Correct implant positioning forms the basis for the long term success of dental implants to a large extent, such as favourable esthetic and prosthetic outcomes, long-term stability of peri-implant hard and soft tissues and the potential to ensure optimal occlusion . With the development of three dimentional imaging systems and softwaresallowing virtual implant placement have improved the precision of implant procedures.
MARCH: factors associated with weight loss in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes treated with acarbose or metformin

Introduction In this secondary analysis of the Metformin and AcaRbose in Chinese as the initial Hypoglycaemic treatment (MARCH) trial, we evaluated what demographic and clinical factors were associated with reduction in weight. We also assessed the effects of acarbose and metformin treatment on weight reduction. Material and methods We analyzed the demographic and clinical laboratory values from the 784 patients with type 2 diabetes of the MARCH study who were treated for 48 weeks with acarbose or metformin. We determined the association of the different parameters with a weight reduction of ≥ 2 kg in patients using univariate and multivariate analysis. Results In patients treated with acarbose, males were less likely than females to lose ≥ 2 kg of weight (p = 0.025). Higher baseline HbA1c levels and lower decreases from baseline in fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels after 48 weeks of treatment were negatively associated with losing ≥ 2 kg of weight (both, p < 0.05). Higher baseline glucagon AUC was also positively associated with reducing weight by ≥ 2 kg (p = 0.010). In patients treated with metformin, change from baseline in whole body insulin sensitivity increased the odds of having a weight reduction of ≥ 2 kg (p = 0.014). Conclusions This study found that for both acarbose and metformin, control of FPG significantly impacted weight loss. Baseline AUC for glucagon in patients treated with acarbose and an increase of whole body insulin sensitivity after 48 weeks of treatment with metformin were important factors for weight reduction.
EXPLORING NEAR-FAULT DIRECTIVITY EFFECT IN PROBABILISTIC SEISMIC HAZARD ASSESSMENT

Near-fault directivity effects can produce ground motions with high-amplitude, short duration pulses, which may cause serious damage to structures and buildings. Their prediction has important implications in the design of earthquake resistant structures. Prompted by the NGA-West2 project, several directivity models that aim to provide a more accurate estimate of hazard values – possibly in a probabilistic framework have been recently proposed. To model the near-fault directivity effect in a probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) framework, it is necessary to account for the aleatory variability of the hypocentral location and slip angle (for certain models) on each rupture generated by each fault source at close distance from the investigated site. This is a modeling approach not regularly considered in the more conventional PSHA practice, since the location of the hypocenter is rarely used in modern ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs). We implemented into the OpenQuake-engine (an open software for seismic hazard and risk assessment) some of the most recently published directivity models and we extended the ordinary hazard integral by adding two additional aleatory variables, hypocenter location and slip angle, to support the near-fault directivity effect PSHA calculation. Using a sample scenario based on an eighty-kilometer strike-slip fault and fixing as a reference the hazard values computed without accounting for the directivity effect, we observe at some sites surrounding the fault an increase of the values of ground motion up to 65 % at both 2 % and 10% probability of exceedance in 50 years. The discrepancy indicates the importance of considering the near-fault effect into the analysis for near-fault sites. As many major urban areas worldwide, such as San Francisco and Istanbul, are exposed to hazard caused by large faults with short distances. In this contribution, we describe the outcomes of some sensitivity analyses on the hazard results based on various distribution of the hypocentral location and fault geometries. We find that the hypocenter location has a strong impact on the hazard results, especially for scenario calculation, and that an over-simplified fault geometry model produces results which should be consider carefully while performing near-fault directivity PSHA.
The role of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratios in sow diets on reproduction, piglet performance, fatty acid profiles, lactational fat mobilization and piglet health post-weaning

II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . IV DEDICATION . V TABLE OF CONTENTS . VI LIST OF TABLES . IX LIST OF FIGURES . XI LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS . XIII 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION . 1 2 LITERATURE REVIEW . 6 2.1 THE MODERN SOW . 6 2.2 POLYUNSATURATED FATTY ACIDS . 6 2.2.1 Functions in the Body . 8 2.2.1.1 Eicosanoids . 8 2.2.1.2 Reproduction . 10 2.2.1.3 Immunity . 11 2.2.1.4 Energy Source . 12 2.2.2 Omega-3’s & Omega-6’s . 12 2.2.2.1 Dietary Sources . 13 2.2.2.2 De Novo Synthesis of Long Chain PUFA’s and the Importance of the n-6:n-3 Ratio . 13 2.3 PUFA’S IN SWINE RATIONS . 14 2.3. 1 The Sow . 15 2.3. 2 The Piglet . 18 2.4 LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE BIOASSAY . 19 2.5 CYTOKINE ASSAYS . 19 2.6 SUMMARY . 20 3 HYPOTHESIS & OBJECTIVES . 22 vii 4 EFFECTS OF ALTERING THE OMEGA-6 TO OMEGA-3 FATTY ACID RATIO IN SOW DIETS ON REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE, SERUM AND COLOSTRUM FATTY ACID PROFILES, AND THE CONVERSION OF Α-LINOLENIC ACID INTO EICOSAPENTAENOIC ACID . 24 4.1 ABSTRACT. 24 4.2 INTRODUCTION . 26 4.3 MATERIALS AND METHODS . 27 4.3. 1 General . 27 4.3. 2 Animals and Housing . 27 4.3. 3 Treatments and Feeding . 29 4.3. 1 Experimental Procedure . 34 4.3. 2 Analytical Methods . 35 4.3. 3 Calculations & Statistics . 37 4.4 RESULTS . 38 4.5 DISCUSSION . 56 4.6 CONCLUSIONS . 62 5 EFFECTS OF ALTERING THE OMEGA-6 TO OMEGA-3 FATTY ACID RATIO IN SOW DIETS ON BODY FAT MOBILIZATION DURING LACTATION IN HIGH PRODUCING SOWS . 63 5.1 ABSTRACT. 63 5.2 INTRODUCTION . 65 5.3 MATERIALS AND METHODS . 66 5.3. 1 General . 66 5.3. 2 Animals and Housing . 66 5.3. 3 Treatments and Feeding . 67 5.3. 4 Experimental Procedure . 68 5.3. 5 Analytical Methods . 71 5.3. 6 Statistics . 72 5.4 RESULTS . 73 5.5 DISCUSSION . 85 5.6 CONCLUSIONS . 89
Study of Factors Affecting Suicidal Ideation in Persons with Schizophrenia

Background:Schizophrenia has been called a ‘Life-shortening disease’, because many people who suffer from it die early than general population and suicide accounts for a significant proportion of those dying prematurely. Indian research on factors affecting suicidal ideation in schizophrenia have been few. Aim: To compare and study the positive and negative symptoms, depressive symptoms in persons with schizophrenia with suicidal ideation compared to persons without suicidal ideation, along with sociodemographic parameters. Materials and methods: The study was carried out in a tertiary care hospital, Government Hospital for Mental Care, Visakhapatnam. Eighty consecutive patients diagnosed as suffering from Schizophrenia according to ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for research, who were attending the Out Patient Department and inpatients between June 2019 and August 2019, were selected. Patients indulging in substance use, those having a severe medical illness, those below the age of 18 years and above 60 years, and those who could not be evaluated due to their present mental state, which prevented them from giving necessary details were excluded. The subjects were divided into two groups as persons with suicide ideation and without, and analyzed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) and a semi-structured proforma was used to collect the socio-demographic details of the participants which included, age, gender, marital status, occupational history, and educational history. Results: Of the patients, 31.25% had suicidal ideation, positive symptoms (p-0.025), depressive features (p0.009) were found to be significantly associated with the presence of suicidal ideation. Demographic parameters like age, sex, educational status, occupation, and marital status were not found to be significant factors linked to suicidal ideation. Conclusion: People suffering from schizophrenia are at high risk for suicidal behavior, especially when accompanied by symptoms of depression and hopelessness. Mental health professionals need to be wary of this fact and intervene promptly and effectively. More attention is required for the higher risk group, which includes those with positive symptoms, depression. Suicide being the single most significant cause of premature death among individuals with schizophrenia, early identification of risk factors and possible preventive strategies needs to be devised.
The Syntactic Encoding of Information Structure in the History of Icelandic

In this paper, we present a revised LFG account for Icelandic clause structure, factoring in new historical data from IcePaHC (Wallenberg et al., 2011). This builds on previous work by Sells (2001, 2005) and Booth et al. (2017), focusing more closely on the syntactic encoding of information structure. Based on findings from a series of corpus-based investigations, we argue that the functional category I was already obligatory in Old Icelandic, accounting for both V1 and V2 orders and the absence of V3/V-later orders. Moreover, we show that the basic c-structure skeleton persists throughout the diachrony; what changes is the way in which information structure is syntactically encoded, i.e. the association between cand i-structure. Topics increasingly target SpecIP, which allows the finite verb in I to serve as a boundary between topic and comment. This goes hand in hand with certain discourse adverbs losing their function as a discourse partitioner in the midfield and ties in with other changes shown for Icelandic (Booth et al., 2017).
CHANGES IN THE BIOCHEMICAL COMPONENTS IN THE TISSUES OF FRESH WATER FISH, CATLA CATLA EXPOSED TO ELECTROPLATING EFFLUENT

Electroplating is considered a major polluting industry because it discharges toxic materials and heavy metals through waste water, air emissions and solid wastes in environment. It was found that a large amount of metals and chemicals is disposed into main stream without treatment as they have no effective measures for treatment or recovery of metals in unorganized sectors. The biochemical components like protein, carbohydrate and lipid were estimated quantitatively in the tissues of gill, liver, kidney and muscle of control and electroplating effluent treated fishes. The fishes were treated with the sublethal concentration of 0.13 ml of electroplating effluent for 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours. The protein, carbohydrate and lipid level of gill, liver, kidney and muscle of the control fish was high when compared with the treated ones. In treated fish, the protein content tissues were greatly reduced. Maximum reduction was observed at 96 hrs exposure. The carbohydrate and lipid content of the tissues are showed similar declining trend are different exposure periods.
Research in Radiobiology

This document contains the tables of contents for the reports published by the University of Utah Radiobiology Laboratory from 1953--1987. Also included is a keyword index for the reports, and references for all books, book and symposia chapters and journal article published by Laboratory staff between 1950 and 1988.
Single-Mode Fabry-Pérot Quantum Cascade Lasers at λ~10.5 μm

In this paper, we report a single-mode Fabry-Perot long wave infrared quantum cascade lasers based on the double phonon resonance active region design. For room temperature CW operation, the wafer with 35 stages was processed into buried heterostructure lasers. For a 4 mm long and 13 μm wide laser with high-reflectivity (HR) coating on the rear facet, continuous wave output power of 43 mW at 288 K and 5 mW at 303 K is obtained with threshold current densities of 2.17 and 2.7 kA/cm2. The lasing wavelength is around 10.5 μm. Single mode emission was observed for this particular device over the whole investigated current and temperature range.
Prognosis in Moderate and Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review of Contemporary Models and Validation Studies.

Outcome prognostication in traumatic brain injury (TBI) is important, but challenging due to heterogeneity of the disease. The aim of this systematic review is to present the current state-of-the-art on prognostic models for outcome after moderate and severe TBI and evidence on their validity. We searched for studies reporting on the development, validation or extension of prognostic models for functional outcome after TBI with Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) ≤ 12 published between 2006-2018. Studies with patients aged ≥14 years and evaluating a multivariable prognostic model based on admission characteristics were included. Model discrimination was expressed with the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), and model calibration with calibration slope and intercept. We included 58 studies describing 67 different prognostic models, comprising the development of 42 models, 149 external validations of 31 models and 12 model extensions. The most common predictors were GCS (motor) score (n=55), age (n=54) and pupillary reactivity (n=48). Model discrimination varied substantially between studies. The International Mission for Prognosis and Analysis of Clinical Trials (IMPACT) and Corticoid Randomisation After Significant Head injury (CRASH) models were developed on the largest cohorts (8,509 and 10,008 patients, respectively) and were most often externally validated (n=91), yielding AUCs ranging between 0.65-0.90 and 0.66-1.00, respectively. Model calibration was reported with a calibration intercept and slope for 7 models in 53 validations, and was highly variable. In conclusion, the discriminatory validity of the IMPACT and CRASH prognostic models is supported across a range of settings. The variation in calibration, reflecting heterogeneity in reliability of predictions, motivates continuous validation and updating if clinical implementation is pursued. PROSPERO registry number: CRD42016052100.
Collective Emotions

When analyzing situations in which multiple people are experiencing emotions together—whether the emotions are positive or negative and whether the situations are online or offline—we are intuitively drawn to the emotions of each individual in the situation. However, this type of analysis often seems incomplete. In many of the cases in which people experience emotions together, there appear to be emergent macrolevel affective processes that cannot be readily captured at the individual level. In this article, we examine these macrolevel affective phenomena, which are termed collective emotions. We open with a general review of research on collective psychological processes. We then define collective emotions and discuss their key features. Next, we focus our attention on the emergent properties of collective emotions and map them using three dimensions: quality, magnitude, and time course. Finally, we discuss pressing open questions and future directions for research on collective emotions.
Characterization of Pectin Nanocoatings at Polystyrene and Titanium Surfaces

The titanium implant surface plays a crucial role for implant incorporation into bone. A new strategy to improve im- plant integration in a bone is to develop surface nanocoatings with plant-derived polysaccharides able to increase adhe- sion of bone cells to the implant surface. The aim of the present study was to physically characterize and compare poly- styrene and titanium surfaces nanocoated with different Rhamnogalacturonan-Is (RG-I) and to visualize RG-I nano- coatings. RG-Is from potato and apple were coated on aminated surfaces of polystyrene, titianium discs and titanium implants. To characterize, compare and visualize the surface nanocoatings measurements of contact angle measure- ments and surface roughness with atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and confocal microscopy was performed. We found that, both unmodified and enzymatic modified RG-Is influenced surface wettability, without any major effect on surface roughness (Sa, Sdr). Furthermore, we demonstrated that it is possible to visualize the pectin RG-Is molecules and even the nanocoatings on titanium surfaces, which have not been presented before. The compari- son between polystyrene and titanium surface showed that the used material affected the physical properties of non-coated and coated surfaces. RG-Is should be considered as a candidate for new materials as organic nanocoatings for biomaterials in order to improve bone healing.
Implicit skinning

Geometric skinning techniques, such as smooth blending or dual-quaternions, are very popular in the industry for their high performances, but fail to mimic realistic deformations. Other methods make use of physical simulation or control volume to better capture the skin behavior, yet they cannot deliver real-time feedback. In this paper, we present the first purely geometric method handling skin contact effects and muscular bulges in real-time. The insight is to exploit the advanced composition mechanism of volumetric, implicit representations for correcting the results of geometric skinning techniques. The mesh is first approximated by a set of implicit surfaces. At each animation step, these surfaces are combined in real-time and used to adjust the position of mesh vertices, starting from their smooth skinning position. This deformation step is done without any loss of detail and seamlessly handles contacts between skin parts. As it acts as a post-process, our method fits well into the standard animation pipeline. Moreover, it requires no intensive computation step such as collision detection, and therefore provides real-time performances.
Study of Staging, Grading and Prognostic Factors of Renal Cell Carcinoma

Introduction: Renal cell carcinoma is by far the most common malignant tumor of the kidney and it accounts for 80-85% of malignant kidney tumors. All Renal cell carcinomas are adenocarcinomas derived from renal tubular epithelial cells. The prognosis of Renal cell carcinoma depends upon age, sex, race, tumor size, histological subtype, nuclear grade, distant metastasis and pathological staging. Material and Methods: The present study is both a retrospective and prospective study conducted at a tertiary care teaching hospital. Histopathological evaluation of Renal cell carcinomas was carried out for four and a half years correlating with old records, histopathology slides, special stains and immunohistochemistry. A total number of 113 nephrectomy specimens were taken into consideration in the present study. H&E stained sections of the Renal cell carcinoma specimens were studied to grade and type the tumor and to evaluate the prognostic factors. Special stains and immunohistochemistry were also used wherever required. Results: A total number of 113 nephrectomy specimens were analysed and 26 diagnosed cases of Renal cell carcinoma were included in the study. Maximum number of cases were seen in 40-49 years age group (30.7%) and also in 60-69 years age group (30.7%). Maximum number of cases diagnosed were of Clear cell Renal cell carcinoma (61.5%). Least common subtype diagnosed was Collecting duct Renal cell carcinoma (3.8%). Tumor size was >4cm in maximum number of cases i.e 20 (76%). Most of the subtypes of Renal cell carcinoma had Fuhrman nuclear grades 2 and 3. Conclusion: In the present study, among the histological subtypes of Renal cell carcinoma, Clear cell variant of Renal cell carcinoma was the most common histological subtype, accounting for 61.5% of cases. Nuclear grading is important in predicting survival of patients with Renal cell carcinoma. Nuclear grading is strongly related to both tumor size and stage. Nuclear grading and staging of the histological subtypes strongly influences the survival of patients, as thus proven in this study.
How effective has the Spanish lockdown been to battle COVID‐19? A spatial analysis of the coronavirus propagation across provinces

Abstract This paper examines the propagation of COVID‐19 across the Spanish provinces and assesses the effectiveness of the Spanish lockdown of the population implemented on March 14, 2020 in order to battle this pandemic. To achieve these objectives, a standard spatial econometric model used in economics is adapted to resemble the popular reproduction models employed in the epidemiological literature. In addition, we introduce a counterfactual exercise that allows us to examine the Gross domestic product (GDP) gains of bringing forward the date of the Spanish Lockdown. We find that the number of COVID‐19 cases would have been reduced by 70.4% in the absence of spatial propagation between the Spanish provinces. We also determine that the lockdown prevented the propagation of the virus within and between provinces. As such, the Spanish lockdown reduced the number of potential COVID‐19 cases by 82.8%. However, the number of coronavirus cases would have been reduced by an additional 11.6% if the lockdown had been brought forward to March 7, 2020. Finally, an earlier lockdown would have saved approximately 26,900,000,000 euros.