Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Study on factors associated with post bronchodilator reversibility among patients presenting with dyspnea: An experience at a tertiary care academic hospital in Kerala

Background: The change in FEV1 after administration of a short-acting bronchodilator has been widely used for diagnosis of obstructive airway diseases. Many factors can influence the post bronchodilator reversibility. Aim: The aim of the present study was to estimate the presence of reversibility among the patients of obstructive airway disease and to identify the factors affecting it. Methods: Patients who presented to the department of respiratory medicine with symptoms of dyspnea were evaluated with spirometry. Spirometry and post bronchodilator reversibility (BDR) was defined as per international guidelines. SPSS 17 was used for statistical analysis and P < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Out of 100 patients studied, 33 had BDR. Median age of the population was 58 ± 17 years. There were 72 non-smokers and 58 men. A total of 32 had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 56 had asthma, and 12 had normal spirometry. The median pre and post bronchodilator FEV1 was 1.34L/Sec and 1.46 L/sec respectively. Twenty-seven of asthma (41%) and 6 of COPD (19%) had BDR (P = 0.05). Other factors associated with BDR were smoking (P = 0.035). There was no statistically significant correlation found between eosinophilia, gender, severity of obstruction, BMI, height, weight and age. Conclusion: The prevalence of post BDR in the study population was 33%. The factors affecting BDR were smoking status, and asthma. The study did not show any significant correlation between BDR and eosinophilia, gender, height and age.
Measurement of diffusion lung capacity (DLCO) in silicosis patients: Correlation with radiographic abnormalities on high-resolution CT scan chest

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate diffusion capacity of lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO) in patients with simple and complicated silicosis and to correlate abnormal findings detected, if any, with the computed tomography abnormalities in these patients. Methods: This study included 56 patients with simple and complicated silicosis and without tuberculosis, in whom we performed DLCO as per standard technique. Various computed tomography findings, that is, presence, size and distribution of nodules associated with relative parenchymal and vascular markings, were recorded in the study subjects and classified into standard grading to be finally compared with DLCO. Visual grading score system was used to describe the extent of emphysematous changes based on the area of abnormally low attenuation, vascular disruption, bullae and so on and data were recorded. Results: Results showed that 85.7% patients had small opacities of varying grades and 28.5% showed large opacities, with 16% of them having type 'C' large opacities. The mean DLCO (% predicted) of patients with category '0' high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) abnormality was 92.3 ± 6.8 (within normal limits), and this gradually decreased with increasing HRCT category to 44.2 ± 11.2 in grade '4' of progressive massive fibrosis (PMF) patients in this study (P < 0.01). This reflects a significant inverse correlation between visual HRCT category and the DLCO % predicted (r > −0.89, P < 0.001). The mean DLCO (% predicted) was 51 ± 12.6 in patients with grade '1' emphysema in HRCT, 53 ± 13.5 in grade '2', 43 ± 6.4 in grade '3' and 37.7 ± 6.3 in grade '4'; however, there was no correlation between emphysema grading and pulmonary functional index (r = −0.33, P = 0.15). Conclusion: This study observed significant abnormality in DLCO among silicosis patients and its strong correlation with the extent of radiological abnormality. HRCT finding of large opacities could be an important indicator of the severity of silicosis, as reflected by significantly reduced DLCO in such patients.
Comparison of endotracheal intubation with Macintosh versus King Vision video laryngoscope using coronavirus disease 2019 barrier box on manikins: A randomized crossover study

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus usually spreads through aerosol and close contact. Frontline health-care workers handle aerosol-generating procedures like endotracheal intubation. To reduce this risk, COVID-19 barrier box came into the picture. However, the COVID-19 barrier box may compromise easy and successful intubation, and their limitation must be studied. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to assess the time to successful intubation with or without the COVID-19 barrier box using the Macintosh laryngoscope and King Vision video laryngoscope (KVVL). We also assessed the first-pass success rate, ease of intubation, Cormack–Lehane (CL) grade, and requirement of external laryngeal manipulation. METHODS: We conducted this manikin-based randomized crossover study to assess the time to successful intubation by anesthesiologists (22) and emergency physicians (11) having 1 year or more experience with or without COVID-19 barrier box by using the Macintosh laryngoscope and KVVL. Our study randomized the sequence of the four different intubation scenarios. RESULTS: The comparison of mean duration of intubation between KVVL (13.21 ± 4.05 s) and Macintosh laryngoscope (12.89 ± 4.28 s) with COVID-19 barrier box was not statistically significant (95% confidence interval: 1.21–0.97). The ease of intubation, number of attempts, and requirement of external laryngeal manipulation were not statistically significant. Intubations were statistically significant more difficult with barrier box in view of higher CL grade. CONCLUSION: Time to intubation was longer with COVID-19 barrier box using KVVL as compared to Macintosh laryngoscope which was statistically not significant.
Yerbamate Tea Consumption: A Protective Factor in Parkinson Disease

Introduction Little is known about the association between Yerbamate (YMT) tea consumption and Parkinson disease (PD). We determined whether there was an association between YMT tea consumption and PD. Methods We conducted a multicenter case-control study in 3 countries (Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay). We applied a structured questionnaire about YMT tea consumption history. The survey also included information about factors previously associated with a decreased and increased risk of PD, apart from medical and demographic factors. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using multivariate unconditional binary logistic regression analysis. Results We included 215 cases and 219 controls. The mean age of the cases was 65.6 ± 10.5 years and that of controls was 63.1 ± 10.5 years (P < 0.02). Years of YMT tea consumption, number of liters drunk per day, and amount of YMT used for preparing the infusion were similar between cases and controls (P > 0.05), but not the number of times the YMT was added into the container (P = 0.003) and the YMT tea concentration per serving (P = 0.02). The multivariate analysis showed that YMT tea concentration per serving lowered the risk for PD, independent of potential confounders (odds ratio, 0.62; 95% confidence interval, 0.47–0.84). Conclusions This multicenter study highlights the association between an environmental factor, the YMT tea drinking, and PD. Although more evidence from longitudinal studies is needed, the results obtained here points toward a protective effect of the YMT tea concentration per serving on PD.
Comparative Analysis of Supervised Machine Learning Techniques on K-12 Educational Data

— The Anonymous School District (ASD) presented in this paper is implementing a comprehensive plan to intensify the information intelligence capacity to pinpoint educational needs of every student. Their main goal is to create analytical intelligence processes specific to the research needs of the school district and deploy an infrastructure that includes implementation of state of the art data analytics tools. The initial effort towards that goal is to research several machine learning techniques. The focus of this project is to assist the ASD research team in deployment of appropriate standards and procedures for efficiently forecasting and utilizing the large amount of data collected by the district. The goal of the project is to evaluate the most efficient machine learning techniques to forecast future trends. As a result, we developed a framework to transform raw data into minable data and apply several supervised learning techniques. Experiments were conducted to analyze the best technique.
A Framework for Cellular Phone Information Assembly with Consignment Fair Clustering and Twin Data Inserting in Radio Systems

: Since the sensing data in lots of applications are time-sensitive, data collection may be essential to be done within the particular time-frame. Hence, an effectual, furthermore to major data collection plan should intend at superior scalability, extended network lifetime furthermore to low data latency. We advise a 3-layer mobile data collection structure referred to as load balanced clustering furthermore to dual data uploading approach within our work. The unit utilizes distributed load balanced clustering meant for sensor self-organization. The unit features a sensor layer, cluster mind layer furthermore with a layer obtaining a mobile collector with two antennas and implements collaborative inter-cluster communication meant for energy-efficient transmissions between cluster mind group utilize dual data uploading for fast data collection, and optimize a mobile collector with two antennas mobility to completely enjoy advantages of multi-user multiple-input and multiple-output communication.
Dynamic Household Vehicle Decision Modeling Considering Plug-In Electric Vehicles

Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) offer alternatives to traditional vehicles that rely on petroleum-based fuels. While PEV customers can enjoy significant reductions in fuel costs, they incur a larger capital cost than users of traditional vehicles because PEV technology is still maturing. Therefore, consumers adopting PEVs face a trade-off between fuel cost savings with environmental benefits and extra capital cost. It is thus crucial for policy makers and PEV manufacturers to understand people’s vehicle decision-making process while considering their socio-economic and travel pattern characteristics as well as the built-environment factors. This paper presents a connected, two-stage, dynamic model of PEV adoption and vehicle-transaction decision-making. Two connected nested logit (NL) models are estimated. The upper level is a two-level NL model to predict choice of vehicle type between four fuel types: gasoline, diesel, hybrid gasoline–electric, and PEV. The lower level is an NL model of vehicle-transaction choice which accommodates four transaction decisions of buy, trade, dispose, and do nothing, while accounting for the log-sum from the vehicle-type choice model, and is estimated using two waves of a panel data set. We find that households with higher levels of income and education are more likely to adopt a PEV. We also found that primarily decision makers take into account the accessibility to charging stations as a critical factor in choosing PEVs.
Analysis of Private Sector Retiree’s Decision Towards EPF Retirement Benefit of Annuity-based Option

Many countries around the world have experienced an ageing population. As an emerging country, Malaysia also facing the same phenomena of ageing population, which brings the problems towards health issues, economic challenges, and longevity risk. As a result, these affect the financial position of the most retirees in the country. In fact, it has been reported that most of the private retirees in Malaysia had depleted all their retirement savings just within 3 to 5 years’ period after receiving the lump-sum payment of retirement benefit from EPF. Thus, inadequacy of retirement wealth among private sector retirees in Malaysia a major problem, as Malaysian life expectancy is projected at 75 years old. By simulating the distribution of retirement wealth through annuity-based option, it can be sustaining up to 15 years’ period. Therefore, the alternative retirement benefit option of annuity-based system provided by the EPF should be the best solution for this issue. Hence, this research aims to investigate the standpoint of the EPF members towards monthly withdrawal option likes annuity-based system instead of a lump-sum payment in order to sustain the balance of retirement savings for a certain period of time. Thus, 200 set of questionnaires was distributed among prospect retirees and found that they are willing to opt for annuity-based option instead of the traditional choice of lump-sum benefit payment.
Experimental Culture of the Giant Freshwater Prawn, Macrobrachium vollenhovenii (Herklots, 1857) around the FUTO Axis of Otamiri River, Imo State, Nigeria

: Culture trial of 7,488 juveniles of the giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium vollenhovenii (Herklots, 1857) was carried out for 180 d in concrete tanks to determine their adaptability, survival, feed utilization and growth performance under culture condition. Twelve experimental concrete tanks each measuring 10 m × 5 m × 1.0 m were used for the experiment from March to August 2016. The prawns were stocked two weeks after treatment of tanks with agricultural lime at the rate of 2,279 kg/ha and poultry manure at the rate of 114 kg/ha. Four experimental diets tested were designated as T 1 : powdered broiler starter, T 2 : commercial brine shrimp, T 3 : combination of broiler starter and brine shrimp and T 4 : Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experimental Station (MAFES) diet formula. Diets were randomly assigned to the four treatment tanks and replicated three times in a 4 × 3 = 12 experimental units as a completely randomized design experiment (CRD). Each tank was stocked with 624 juvenile prawns with mean total length of 1.5 cm and body weight of 10.0 g. Prawns were fed at 5% body weight and twice at 0600 h and 1800 h. Sampling for growth was carried out bi-weekly while water quality was tested weekly. Results were statistically evaluated with one way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Water quality of the four tanks was not significantly different ( p > 0.05) from one another throughout the culture period and conformed to recommended tolerable limits in prawn culture ponds. Growth performance was best in diet T 4 (the MAFES formula), with a survival rate of 75%, mean weight gain (MWG) of 65 g, relative growth rate (RGR) of 650%, specific growth rate (SGR) of 1.12%, average daily growth (ADG) of 0.3 g/day and food conversion ratio (FCR) of 1.44. The above values differed quite significantly ( p < 0.05) from growth responses of other diets. The computed gross ratio (GR) of 0.62 suggests that prawn culture is a highly lucrative business.
A Sliding Mode Control Approach for Gas Turbine Power Generators

Gas turbines are raising nowadays growing interest in the power generation industry. Being able to regulate their power production faster than any other form of conventional source, they are extremely valuable in compensating stochastic power fluctuations deriving from renewable energy sources in large-scale electrical grids, preserving grid stability, etc. In this context, gas turbines’ dynamic performance plays a key role and it needs to be enhanced (however preserving the machine lifetime at the same time). Nonlinear model based control systems can effectively deal with this problem, exploiting the system structure to obtain optimal dynamic performance. Therefore, this paper aims at developing a sliding mode model based control for gas turbines. The results obtained from its application on a heavy duty Ansaldo gas turbine model (AE94.3A4) are compared to the ones obtained to the traditional control employed in these applications.
Metals and detoxification mechanisms in shrimp: comparative approach between hydrothermal vent fields and estuarine environments

Hydrothermal vents are extreme deep-sea habitats that, due to their singular features, still intrigue scientific communities. Swift growth rates and profuse biomass of biological communities can be observed, despite of their inherently unstable physical-chemical and toxic conditions, indicating that organisms inhabiting this environment must be well adapted to these inhospitable conditions. The shrimp, Chorocaris chacei, Mirocaris fortunata and Rimicaris exoculata, dominate the vent fauna along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The biological consequences of the hydrothermal metal-rich environment in shrimp species are still largely unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was the determination of the metal levels (Ag, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn), metallothioneins (MT) and lipid peroxidation (LPO) in shrimp species collected in Rainbow, Lucky Strike and Menez-Gwen vent sites, in order to evaluate their different adaptation strategies toward metals when compared with two coastal shrimp species (Palaemon elegans and Palaemonetes varians) from the estuarine system Ria Formosa (Portugal). Results show significant differences in metal concentrations, MT levels and lipid peroxidation between vent and coastal shrimp and also between shrimp species from the same site. This indicates that biochemical responses in both vent and coastal shrimp are affected not only by the environmental characteristics but also by inter-specific differences. Nevertheless, these responses apparently grant a successful adaptation for the survival in a metal-extreme
POST-ACTIVATION POTENTIATION INFLUENCES DIFFERENTLY THE NONLINEAR SUMMATION OF CONTRACTIONS IN YOUNG AND ELDERLY ADULTS

The force enhancement of a twitch after a maximal conditioning muscle contraction (i.e. post-activation potentiation; PAP) is reduced with aging but its influence on the summation of force in response to repetitive stimulation at different frequencies is not known. The purpose of this work was to compare the electrically evoked mechanical responses of the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle between young and elderly adults after a 6-s maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). The results showed that immediately after the conditioning MVC, twitch torque (P t ) and its maximal rate of development (+dP t /dt) and relaxation (-dP t /dt) were significantly enhanced in both groups but the magnitude of potentiation was greater in young (148.0 ± 14.2%; 123.7 ± 16.5% and 185.4 ± 36.5%, respectively) compared with elderly adults (87.4 ± 15.2%; 63.8 ± 9.9% and 62.9 ± 11.0%, respectively). This age-related difference in potentiation of the twitch disappeared completely one minute after the conditioning MVC. The potentiation of torque and speed-related parameters in response to two- (PT 2 ) and three-pulse train (PT 3 ), delivered at a constant interval of 10 ms (100 Hz), was less than for a single pulse for both groups. In young adults, the magnitude of PAP on the successive individual mechanical contributions within a train of stimuli declined progressively such that the third contribution did not differ significantly from the same contribution before the conditioning MVC. In contrast, the second and third contributions did not potentiate (P>0.05) in elderly adults. Although the se contributions did potentiate significantly at lower frequency of stimulation (20 Hz) in the two groups, the difference in PAP between young and elderly adults still persisted. This overall attenuation of potentiation with aging, however, appears to have a moderate influence on the decrement of the muscular performance.
Sequence analysis of EscherichiacoliO157:H7 bacteriophage U V10 and identi¢cation of a phage-encoded immunity protein that modi¢es the O157 antigen

Bacteriophage F V10 is a temperate phage, which speciﬁcally infects Escherichia coli O157:H7. The nucleotide sequence of the F V10 genome is 39104bp long and contains 55 predicted genes. F V10 is closely related to two previously sequenced phages, the Salmonella enterica serovar Anatum (Group E1) phage e 15 and a prophage from E. coli APEC O1. The attachment site of F V10, like those of its two closest relatives, overlaps the 3 0 end of guaA in the host chromosome. F V10 encodes an O -acetyltransferase, which modiﬁes the O157 antigen. This modiﬁcation is sufﬁcient to block F V10 superinfection, indicating that the O157 antigen is most likely the F V10 receptor.
Structural and functional characteristics of the Val 44 Met IGF-I missense mutation: correlation with effects on growth and development

We have previously described the phenotype resulting from a missense mutation in the IGF-I gene, which leads to expression of IGF-I with a methionine instead of a valine at position 44 (Val 44 Met IGF-I). This mutation caused severe growth and mental retardation as well as deafness evident at birth and growth retardation in childhood, but is relatively well tolerated in adulthood. We have conducted a biochemical and structural analysis of Val 44 Met IGF-I to provide a molecular basis for the phenotype observed. Val 44 Met IGF-I exhibits a 90-fold decrease in type 1 IGF receptor (IGF1R) binding compared with wild-type human IGFI and only poorly stimulates autophosphorylation of the IGF1R. The ability of Val 44 Met IGF-I to signal via the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and Akt/protein kinase B pathways and to stimulate DNA synthesis is correspondingly poorer. Binding or activation of both insulin receptor isoforms is not detectable even at micromolar concentrations. However, Val 44 Met IGF-I binds IGF-binding protein 2 (IGFBP-2), IGFBP-3, and IGFBP-6 with equal afﬁnity to IGF-I, suggesting the maintenance of overall structure, particularly in the IGFBP binding domain. Structural analysis by nuclear magnetic resonance conﬁrms retention of near native structure with only local side-chain disruptions despite the signiﬁcant loss of function. To our knowledge, our results provide the ﬁrst structural study of a naturally occurring mutant human IGF-I associated with growth and developmental abnormalities and identiﬁes Val 44 as an essential residue involved in the IGF–IGF1R interaction.
Yang, Chao and Remenyte-Prescott, Rasa and Andrews, John (2015) Application of network traffic flow model to road maintenance. Proceedings of the ICE Transport, 168 (3). pp. 256-266. ISSN 1751-7710

This paper shows how the evolution of two-way traffic flows on a local highway network can be predicted over time, based on a network level traffic flow model (NTFM) that is used to model both urban and motorway road networks. After a brief review of the main principles of NTFM and its associated sub-models, the paper describes how a maintenance worksite can be modelled using a roadwork node sub-model and a network solution routine in NTFM. In order to model the two-way traffic flow in the road network, an iterative simulation method is utilised to generate the evolution of dependent traffic flows and queues. NTFM has been applied to model the traffic characteristics and effects of maintenance activities on the local Loughborough-Nottingham highway network. It was demonstrated that the methodology is useful in selecting various worksite arrangements in order to reduce maintenance effects on road users.