Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders and Associated Risk Factors among Selected Factory Workers in Penang, Malaysia

Background: Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) described as the major work-related health issue among the industrial workers by exposing to physical factors like overuse, poor posture and heavy lifting in the work setting. Objective: To determine the prevalence of MSDs and associated risk factors among factory workers of a selected company in Penang, Malaysia. Methodology: A detailed validated questionnaire contributed to MSDs were administrated to 626 workers in the company. The participants were 403 female and 223 male workers volunteers to participate in this study. Data analyzed with the use of SPSS Window Version 21.0, Pearson 2 used to identify the relationship between musculoskeletal pain and the participants risk factors. Results: The result showed that the highest prevalence rate was 45.4% of cases musculoskeletal disorders by the factory workers. The most common MSDs among the workers are shoulder (21.8%) followed by lower back (18.7%), upper back (14%) and neck region (13.6%). Among all the workers, Chinese ethnicity workers those who work in the 12-hour shift (71.4%) likely to get MSDs compared to workers in 8 hours shift (28.6%). The Chi-square statistics showed a significant association between the working hours and the pain symptoms (2 (1), N = 17) = 4.496, p < . 05). Whereas the participant's age, gender, work performance, and sleep patterns were not associated with the MSDs in this study. Conclusion: This study concluded the prevalence rate is moderately high and recommends establishing MSDs intervention at workplaces and awareness training as an integral part to reduce the risk factors.
Development of Optimal Tour Time Model for Tourist Destinations in A City: Application in Pokhara City Network

When a tourist visits a city, they tend to visit as many touristic places in the city as possible within their time limit. So, for optimization of their limited time budget and allowing them to spend their maximum time in the destination, this paper proposes a model to find an optimal route for the destination points a tourist is interested into. The computer model developed in this paper makes a sub-tour within the original network and search for an optimal tour route hence giving total travel time and total time required to visit desired destinations, and returning back to the place where you started from. The model enables fast decision support for tourists. The model developed is then applied in network of Pokhara and optimal route is found for a sample set of destinations.
Unmet need for family planning -- analysis of NFHS data for selected states in India.

Unmet need for family planning signifies the gap between reproductive intentions of couples and their actual contraceptive behavior. If measured accurately it can indicate the potential demand for family planning services and the likely impact on fertility if the demand is not met effectively. This paper examines the unmet need for family planning among currently married women in the Indian states of Maharashtra Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh on the basis of an in-depth analysis of National Family Health Survey data (1992-1993) with a view to gaining insight into the reasons leading to unmet need for family planning. Analysis in this paper suggests that in both Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra younger women women with more living children Muslim women urban women and women who have completed middle school high school or higher education were more likely to have unmet needs for family planning. On the other hand in Uttar Pradesh those women who were more likely to have unmet need included rural women illiterate women and women not exposed to the media. These findings highlight the need for state-specific strategies based on survey findings supplemented by qualitative research on barriers in the process of translating the unmet need into met need.
Kurcz powiek – od rozpoznania do właściwego leczenia

Background: Blepharospasm is a movement disorder characterized by involuntary spasms of eye-closing muscles. This second most common adult-onset focal dystonia still raises many doubts among ophthalmologists and neurologists. Aim of the study: To present current knowledge about blepharospasm with historical background of the disease. Methods: Literature review regarding diagnosis, pathophysiology and treatment of blepharospasm. Results: Different types of eye-closing spasms, the spread of dystonia, co-occurrence of eyelid opening apraxia, enhanced blinking, sensory trick and psychiatric disorders define blepharospasm as a heterogeneous condition. Actual genetic, elec-trophysiological and neuroimaging studies reveal complex and multifocal involuntary movements generators defining blepharospasm and other focal dystonias as a ”communication node disorders” where botulinum toxin acting at the end of all pathways is the first-line treatment. Conclusions: The history of blepharospasm as a neurological condition that affects the eye shows that the most important discoveries regarding the diagnosis, pathophysiology and treatment of this disease have occurred owing to ophthalmologists and neurologists. Therefore, the future of blepharospasm will also depend on this cooperation.
Tracking Pain in Resting State Networks in Patients with Hereditary and Diabetic Neuropathy.

Introduction Chronic pain is associated with maladaptive plastic changes in the brain. It is usually more prominent in acquired pathologies of nerve fibers as in diabetic neuropathy despite less severe degeneration than hereditary neuropathies. Based on clinical differences concerning pain perception, we hypothesized that functional connectivity analysis would reveal distinct patterns in resting-state networks in these groups. Methods Ten diabetic patients with painful neuropathy (5F/5M; mean age=50.10±6.05 years), 10 patients with hereditary neuropathy (5F/5M; mean age=37.80±14.01 years), 18 age-and gender-matched healthy controls (eight for painful diabetic neuropathy and 10 for hereditary neuropathy) and seven diabetic controls without painful neuropathy were enrolled in the study. All subjects (n=45) underwent a 5-min resting-state scan in a 3T magnetic resonance scanner. The images were analyzed with seed-based functional connectivity method. The group-level maps of the default mode network and insula-cingulate network were identified for each group. Results Patients with hereditary neuropathy displayed increased connectivity between left insula and left anterior cingulate cortex and inversely correlated activity between left insula and left inferior parietal lobule compared to their controls. In patients with painful diabetic neuropathy, the major findings were the increased connectivity between left anterior cingulate cortex and posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus, and the increased connectivity between medial prefrontal cortex and left medial temporal region compared to their controls. Conclusion This study revealed that hereditary and diabetic painful neuropathy patients exhibit different patterns of functional connectivity. The clinical differences in these groups regarding the presence of neuropathic pain may relate to this difference in cortical organization.
Irreversible Electroporation for the Treatment of Aggressive High-Grade Glioma

Malignant gliomas (MG), most notably glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), are among the most aggressive of all malignancies. High-grade variants of this type of brain cancer are generally considered incurable with singular or multimodal therapies. Many patients with GBM die within one year of diagnosis, and the 5-year survival rate in people is approximately 10%. Despite extensive research in diagnostic and therapeutic technologies, very few developments have emerged that significantly improve survival over the last seven decades. Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a new non-thermal focal tissue ablation technique that uses low-energy electric pulses to destabilize cell membranes, thus achieving tissue death. The procedure is minimally invasive and is performed through small electrodes inserted into the tissue with treatment duration of about one minute. The pulses create an electric field that induces an increase in the resting transmembrane potential (TMP) of the cells in the tissue. The induced increase in the TMP is dependent on the electric pulse parameters. Depending on the magnitude of the induced TMP the electric pulses can have no effect, transiently increase membrane permeability or cause spontaneous death. In this dissertation we hypothesize that irreversible electroporation is capable of ablating normal (gray and white matter) and pathological (MG and/or GBM) brain tissue in a highly focused non-thermal manner that is modulated through pulse parameters and electrode configuration. Through a comprehensive experimental and numerical investigation, we tested and attained results strongly supporting our hypothesis. Specifically, we developed numerical models that were capable of simulating an entire IRE treatment protocol and would take into account pulse parameters (e.g. duration, frequency, repetition rate and strength) in addition to
The Acute Effects of caffeine and L-theanine on Cognition in Older Adults

Introduction: Cognitive decline is an impairment that affects many adults and has the potential to be decelerated. Previous studies show that caffeine and L-theanine positively affect cognition in a young population. L-theanine is an amino acid found in tea that produces a relaxation affect. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the acute effects of caffeine and L-theanine on cognition in older adults. Methodology: Fifty-three older adults ages 55 and older participated in this study. Each adult completed the Mini Mental State Exam and participated in a health questionnaire. Both Trails Making Tests (Trails A and Trails B) and the Stroop Color-Word test were administered to measure cognition. Only the trails B and the last portion of the Stroop Color-Word test will be analyzed because they proposed the greatest challenge to the individual. This doubleblind controlled trial randomly assigned the participants 100 mg caffeine, 200 mg of Ltheanine, or a placebo (microcrystalline cellulose). After a 60-minute wait period, all tests were repeated and compared to baseline measurements. Results: There was no statistically significant group by time interaction for the Trails B test (p = 0.389). However, there was a time effect interaction between pre-and post-measurements (p = 0.000) showing that time to complete the test decreased. The Stroop Color Word test also had no statistically significant group by time interaction (p = 0.632), but the time effect showed a significant difference (p = 0.001). Each group improved their testing time, but not one specific supplement statistically influenced that improvement. Discussion: Although not statistically significant, Trails B and the Stroop Color Word test showed a decrease in time to complete each test, suggesting that caffeine and L-theanine could affect cognition. The rate of absorbance decreases with age, therefore the wait period
Late-life restoration of mitochondrial function reverses cardiac dysfunction in old mice

Mitochondrial dysfunction is a hallmark of aging but whether restoration of mitochondrial function can reverse pre-existing age-related diseases is not well-established. Diastolic dysfunction is a prominent feature of cardiac aging in both mice and humans, and we show here that 8-week treatment with the mitochondrial targeted peptide SS-31 (elamipretide) can substantially reverse this deficit in old mice. Mechanistically, SS-31 treatment normalized the increase in proton leak and reduced mitochondrial ROS in cardiomyocytes from old mice; these cellular changes were accompanied by reduced protein oxidation and a shift towards a more reduced protein thiol redox state in old hearts. The improvement in diastolic function was associated with increased phosphorylation at Ser282 of cMyBP-C but was independent of titin isoform shift. SS-31 treatment cannot further improve cardiac function of old mice that express mitochondrial-targeted catalase (mCAT), implicating normalizing mitochondrial oxidative stress as an overlapping mechanism. Late-life viral expression of mCAT produced similar functional benefits in old mice, further indicating that reduction of mitochondrial ROS as a critical mechanism. Despite their similar functional benefits, SS-31 and mCAT differentially regulated cMyBP-C and cTnI phosphorylation, suggesting divergence of mechanisms downstream of mitochondrial ROS reduction. Overall, these results demonstrate that pre-existing cardiac aging phenotypes can be reversed by targeting mitochondrial dysfunction and implicate mitochondrial energetics and redox signaling as therapeutic targets of cardiac aging.
Comparison of multiple modulation techniques for various topologies of multilevel converters for single phase AC motor drive

There are various types of Multilevel Converters (MCs) in addition to various types of modulation techniques for these types of MCs; the challenges in selecting the best one of them with regard to the amount of the required of components, and its harmonics content. So, a comparison study among these types has been done in this paper. For comparison study, the simulation of seven level of two popular topologies of MCs: Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) converter, and Cascaded-MCs were carried out with Matlab/Simulink software program. These converters are used to drive a single phase capacitor start motor drive. Multicarrier modulation control techniques are used for controlling the MCs; these techniques involve two main type: Level Shifted Carrier (LSC), and Phase Shifted Carrier (PSC). The comparison is made with respect to the performance factors as, the amplitude of the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD), and the DC-bus utilization performance which measured by Root Mean Square of the output voltage Vrms at variable modulation indices and variable carrier frequency. Based on simulation results it's found, that the cascaded-MC with PSC modulation method gives best results, in addition to the Alternative Phase Opposition Disposition APOD-LSC modulation technique (with even number of modulation frequency) generate the output voltage with a lower harmonic content compared with the other techniques.
Pituitary aggressive tumors and carcinomas:epidemiological, molecular, clinical, radiological,pathological and therapeutic characterization

Knowledge about epidemiological, clinical, molecular and pathological characteristics of pituitary aggressive tumors and carcinomas is still scant, and strong evidence about the best therapeutic approach is yet to be achieved. The current study has confirmed pituitary carcinomas to be exceptionally rare, but highlighted that atypical tumors might be more common than previously thought. Apart from the clear-cut definition of atypical and malignant pituitary tumors, based on WHO criteria and on the presence of distant metastases, respectively, nowadays tumors size, recurrence, laterosellar extension and responsiveness to conventional medical treatments appear to be the best clinical and radiological criteria to discriminate pituitary tumors with a true aggressive behavior. Conversely, tumor invasiveness is not a good predictor of tumor aggressiveness and cannot discriminate pituitary atypical and malignant tumors from typical and benign adenomas. Radiotherapy and medical treatments remain the most commonly used therapeutic approaches for pituitary aggressive tumors, but fail to induce the achievement of disease control in most patients. Experience with new target therapies, such as pasireotide and everolimus, is still scant, however in vitro data support the use of combined treatment with pasireotide and everolimus as potential valid alternative treatment in patients with aggressive pituitary tumors poorly responsive to conventional medical treatments. Drug responsiveness can be, however, influenced by specific tumor receptor eterogeneity, tachyphylaxis or other factors influencing drug effectiveness, such as somatostatin receptors and mTOR components expression profile, and in turn early identification of molecular markers able to predict responsiveness to treatment might drive endocrinologists through the choice of the best individualized adjuvant therapy in patients with pituitary aggressive tumors and carcinomas.
Too much love will kill you: the development and function of group emotional awareness

This paper aims to enhance clarity for the conceptualization and measurement of group emotional awareness by defining it as an emergent state. The authors explore the emergence of this state through two studies designed to explore the four characteristics (global, radically novel, coherent and ostensive) of emergent phenomena (Waller et al., 2016). ,In Study 1, the authors explore in an experimental setting the formation of group emotional awareness and regulation as emergent states as a result of compositional effects (team members’ self-perceptions of their individual emotional awareness capabilities) and group norms regarding emotional awareness. Study 2 uses an experimental design to explore how pre-existing expectations of group emotional awareness, based on previous dyadic interactions between team members, can prevent conflict escalation (from task to relationship conflict) in project teams. ,Individual perceptions of members’ own abilities and group norms interact in the emergence of group emotional awareness. Group emotion regulation can develop only under an optimal level of emergent group emotional awareness; groups that build emotional awareness norms compensate for their members’ low awareness and develop equally efficient regulatory strategies as groups formed of emotionally aware individuals. However, the conjunction of personal propensity towards awareness and explicit awareness norms blocks the development of regulatory strategies. Group emotional awareness (both as a developed state and as an expectation) reduces the escalation of task to relationship conflict. ,Designing for the exploration of the four characteristics of emergence allowed us to gain new insights about how group emotional awareness emerges and operates too much awareness can hurt, and affective group expectations have the power to shape reality. These findings have strong implications for practitioners’ training of emotional awareness in organizations.
Dual tobacco smoking is the new trend among adolescents: Update from the Irbid-TRY

ABSTRACT The current study evaluated the prevalence and contributing factors to smoking styles, particularly cigarette (Cg) and waterpipe (Wp), and dual (combined Cg and Wp) smoking, in adolescents. Tobacco consumption pattern and style, and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics were obtained from all participants. A total of 2,407 adolescents participated, of which 57.6% consumed tobacco. The prevalence of dual was 30%, which was greater than Wp only (21.1%) and Cg only (6.7%). Additionally, male adolescents are more likely to smoke Cg only (OR = 2.15; 95%CI: 1.3/3.4; p = 0.001), Wp only (OR = 1.3; 95%CI: 1/1.8; p = 0.05), and dual (OR = 2.95; 95%CI: 2.2/3.9; p = 0.001). Adolescents in grade 10 were more likely to be dual smokers as compared to grades 7 (OR = 0.5; 95%CI: 0.3/0.7; p = 0.001) and 8 (OR = 0.5; 95%CI: 0.3/0.7; p = 0.001). The study indicates that gender and grade can predict smoking status with dual is most prevalent in older boys. The data also show that dual smoking exceeds combined Cg-only and Wp-only smoking. Compared with previous studies, we are witnessing an increase in dual consumption, while Wp only and Cg only are decreasing, suggesting a shift in adolescent smoking-style selections. Therefore, studies and cessation programs for adolescents, especially for dual smoking among older boys, are warranted. Additionally, studies are needed to examine the health effects of dual smoking among adolescents.
An evaluation of the effectiveness and validity of the preparatory year programme in preparing students for studying in Taibah university in Saudi Arabia

This study is entitled ‘Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Validity of the Preparatory Year Programme at preparing Students for Studying in Taibah University’. Within the Taibah University, students are distributed to the various specializations at the university according to their results at the end of this preparatory year. It is a relatively new programme that has not been subjected to sufficient evaluation. The study explored the strengths and weaknesses of the programme with a focus on identifying ways to contribute to its improvement and development. The study used a mixed approach where the use of multiple linear regression was used to examine the ability of the admission criteria to predict the academic performance of programme students through examining the results of 3878 students. The results show that stronger acceptance criteria were provided by the achievement test followed by a student’s high-school mark and finally a capability test. To evaluate the effectiveness of the programme elements and the achievement of its objectives from the perspective of students and trainers, data was collected through 1972 student questionnaires, 98 trainer questionnaires and eight semi-structured interviews with students and four with trainers. Studying the effectiveness of the programme from the viewpoint of faculty members was done using 167 questionnaires and five semi-structured interviews. The results show the weaknesses of the university environment and the failure of the programme to meet its goals from the students’ and trainers’ viewpoints. The evaluation by faculty members of the effectiveness of the programme showed a positive view of the programme and expressed the view that students who have completed the programme have better skills and more knowledge than those who have not. The study recommended to allocate the largest proportion of a weighted percentage for acceptance to achievement test-results, followed by high school, and finally aptitude test-results. Furthermore, the study found that the teaching and assessment methods need to be reviewed, and the content and goals of the preparatory year programme would benefit from being re-aligned.
Scaling up health workforce education and training: Guide for applying the bottlenecks and best buys approach.

Health workers are a cornerstone of efforts to improve health service coverage and achieve better health outcomes. However in 2013 the Global Health Workforce Alliance and World Health Organization estimated a global deficit of 7.2 million doctors nurses and midwives. Clearly more health workers must be educated and trained. Unfortunately the capacity to increase the supply of health workers is constrained by the limited number of institutions that produce health workers and the scarcity of resources to scale up education and training. CapacityPlus’s Bottlenecks and Best Buys Approach is designed to help educational institutions identify obstacles to increasing the production of competent and qualified graduates that can be overcome through limited yet strategic investments. This guide draws from the project’s experience of adapting and applying the approach in more than 30 nursing midwifery medical health assistant and community health extension worker schools both public and privately owned in seven African countries. It identifies the stakeholders who should be involved the steps in conducting a bottlenecks assessment and a method for using the results to identify and build consensus on the most effective and affordable actions (best buys) for overcoming bottlenecks. The guide also provides tools and examples for strategic steps in the approach such as engaging stakeholders conducting a situation analysis defining the school’s scale-up goal leading group interviews analyzing the results and presenting the final bottlenecks and best buys report to external stakeholders and potential investors.