Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Echocardiographic Screening Methods for Pulmonary Hypertension: A Practical Review

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a debilitating condition defined as mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) ≥ 25 mmHg. The importance of impaired right ventricular (RV) hemodynamics is increasingly being recognized in treatment of patients with PH. In World Health Organization Group 1 patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, upfront combination therapy has recently been proposed to improve long-term survival. Also, the mPAP in Group 2 and 3 PH patients has been shown to be strongly associated with clinical outcomes. Thus, screening and monitoring of RV hemodynamics are becoming increasingly important. The gold standard for measuring RV hemodynamics is right heart catheterization (RHC). Although RHC can obtain the most accurate results, it is invasive, cumbersome to patients, and often associated with complications, making it unsuitable for a screening or monitoring modality. Echocardiography is useful in estimating hemodynamic parameters that can be obtained from RHC. Accordingly, the role of echocardiography in evaluating such patients with PH is becoming more important. In this article, we review practical echocardiographic methods in approximating RV hemodynamics for PH.
Detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in broiler and broilers farm workers in Duhok, Iraq by using conventional and PCR techniques

Livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has become a global public health concern. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence rates of MRSA infection amongst broiler chickens and broilers farm workers. The total samples used in this study were 306. Cloacal swab samples from 231 broilers and nasal swab samples from 75 broilers farm workers were collected from five farms in Duhok city, Iraq. Isolation and identification of MRSA isolates were carried out and the antibiotic susceptibility were screened. Molecular characterization of all isolates was performed by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique to detect the mecA gene. S. aureus was detected among 84% (63/75) of the farms workers samples and among 84.8% (196/231) of the broiler's samples. The S. aureus isolated from farm workers and broilers appeared resistant to oxacillin 28.6% (18/63), and 32.1% (63/196), respectively. MRSA colonization in farm workers and broilers was 24% (18/75) and 27.3% (63/231) respectively. The S. aureus isolates showed the most resistant to chloramphenicol and the least resistant to vancomycin. The results of the PCR assays revealed that 85.7% (12/14) of S. aureus isolates from farm workers and 44.4% (16/36) of S. aureus isolates from broilers were positive for the mecA gene. The direct handling of broilers by farm workers plays the important role for transport the MRSA isolates from broilers to broilers farm workers.
Using Boron, Magnesium and some Amino Acids to Improve Yield and Fruit Quality of Roomy Red Grapevines

This study was carried out during 2017 and 2018 seasons to study the effect of boric acid, Magnesium sulphate and some amino acids (Tryptophan, Methionine and Arginine) at 0.05%, 0.2% and 0.1% respectively, either alone or combination on solving clusters looseness, shot berries and coloration problems in Roomy Red grapevines grown under Minia region. Vegetative growth, vine nutritional status, berry setting %, yield, cluster weight as well as physical and chemical characteristics of the berries were positively affected by using amino acids, magnesium sulphate and boric acid either as a single or in combinations when compared to the check treatment. Also, shot berries % and total acidity reduced greatly with application of such treatments. Using boric acid, magnesium sulphate and amino acids influenced positively the studied characters in ascending order. Combined applications showed more effects rather than single ones in this respect. Three sprays of a mixture containing boric acid, Magnesium sulphate and some amino acids (Tryptophan, Methionine and Arginine) at 0.05%, 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively, was responsible for obtaining higher yield, lower shot berries and clusters looseness as well as promoting berries quality of Roomy Red grapevines.
Extração de Ontologias a partir de Histórias: um estudo exploratório em storytelling Alternative Title: Ontology Extraction from Stories: an exploratory study in storytelling

RESUMO Empresas e sistemas de TI estão enfrentando um aumento na complexidade do ambiente caracterizada pela colaboração, mudança e variedade de clientes, fornecedores e produtos. Aplicar a técnica de group storytelling pode contribuir para a Gestão do Conhecimento da organização. A contagem de histórias traz benefícios desde a captura até fixação da informação, passando pela comunicação e entendimento dos conceitos. Empresas americanas (3M e Apple), japonesas (Sony e Toshiba) e européias (ClubMed e Océ) já utilizam esta abordagem na prática. Por outro lado, a Engenharia de Ontologias pode contribuir na melhoria da qualidade da informação e oferecer uma solução para lidar com a gestão do conhecimento de forma sistemática. No entanto, a especificação e gestão de ontologias realizadas de forma manual podem ser caras, tediosas, enviesadas e propensas a erro. O aprendizado automático de ontologias é uma abordagem que extrai ontologias a partir de dados, tanto estruturados como não estruturados (textos). Este trabalho apresenta, em fase exploratória, uma proposta capaz de especificar automaticamente os elementos que compõem uma ontologia, a partir do conhecimento tácito dos envolvidos no domínio. Um estudo exploratório foi capaz de obter os conceitos de uma ontologia, de forma automática, a partir de histórias contadas numa ferramenta de group storytelling sobre os processos de negócio de uma das secretarias de uma Universidade de Ensino Superior Federal.
Protective effects of Bacillus sp. MBIA2.40 and gallipro on growth performance, immune status, gut morphology and serum biochemistry of broiler chickens feeding by aflatoxin B1

A total of 540 one-day old male broilers Ross 308 were allocated to 6 treatments in a completely randomized designed with a 2×3 factorial arrangement (aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and probiotics) with 6 replicates and 15 birds in each. Factors include aflatoxin B1 (control, 500 ppb) and probiotics (control, 108 cfu/mL Bacillus sp. MBIA2.40, 0.2 g Gallipro per kg). Results showed that adding 500 ppb AFB1 to broiler diets resulted in a significant decrease of body weight gain and feed intake (P 0.05). In general, the results of this study showed that adding of Bacillus sp. MBIA2.40 and Gallipro in contaminated diets reduce negative effects of AFB1 and consequently these probiotics (especially Bacillus sp. MBIA2.40) have a protective effect against aflatoxicosis in broiler chickens. © 2019 PSJ. All Rights Reserved.
Climate-dependent propagation of precipitation uncertainty into the water cycle

Abstract. Precipitation is a crucial variable for hydro-meteorological applications. Unfortunately, rain gauge measurements are sparse and unevenly distributed, which substantially hampers the use of in situ precipitation data in many regions of the world. The increasing availability of high-resolution gridded precipitation products presents a valuable alternative, especially over poorly gauged regions. This study examines the usefulness of current state-of-the-art precipitation data sets in hydrological modeling. For this purpose, we force a conceptual hydrological model with multiple precipitation data sets in >200 European catchments to obtain runoff and evapotranspiration. We consider a wide range of precipitation products, which are generated via (1) the interpolation of gauge measurements (E-OBS and Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) V.2018), (2) data assimilation into reanalysis models (ERA-Interim, ERA5, and Climate Forecast System Reanalysis – CFSR), and (3) a combination of multiple sources (Multi-Source Weighted-Ensemble Precipitation; MSWEP V2). Evaluation is done at the daily and monthly timescales during the period of 1984–2007. We find that simulated runoff values are highly dependent on the accuracy of precipitation inputs; in contrast, simulated evapotranspiration is generally much less influenced in our comparatively wet study region. We also find that the impact of precipitation uncertainty on simulated runoff increases towards wetter regions, while the opposite is observed in the case of evapotranspiration. Finally, we perform an indirect performance evaluation of the precipitation data sets by comparing the runoff simulations with streamflow observations. Thereby, E-OBS yields the particularly strong agreement, while ERA5, GPCC V.2018, and MSWEP V2 show good performances. We further reveal climate-dependent performance variations of the considered data sets, which can be used to guide their future development. The overall best agreement is achieved when using an ensemble mean generated from all the individual products. In summary, our findings highlight a climate-dependent propagation of precipitation uncertainty through the water cycle; while runoff is strongly impacted in comparatively wet regions, such as central Europe, there are increasing implications for evapotranspiration in drier regions.
Rebalancing Return and Hedge Effectiveness of Dynamic Portfolio Insurance Strategies: A simulation Based Study

Dynamic portfolio insurance strategies can be used to protect a stock market exposure against large losses. The implementation of these strategies entails a regular rebalancing which serves to adjust the current asset allocation to the one desired according to the strategy. An alternative to regular rebalancing could be a onetime portfolio allocation at the beginning of the investment period with no further adjustment up to the end of the period (“buy-and-hold”, B&H). An essential criterion for deciding on a portfolio insurance strategy is its performance in comparison to the B&H strategy.The aim of this paper is to study the performance of different dynamic portfolio insurance methodologies through a simulation process based on normally distributed stock returns. The analysis focuses on the Constant Proportion Portfolio Insurance (CPPI), Time Invariant Portfolio Protection (TIPP), and a modified version of the Time Invariant Portfolio Protection methodology (TIPP-M). The performance is measured using a rebalancing return and a hedge effectiveness measure. The results of the simulation analysis suggest that CPPI is the best strategy according to the rebalancing return while the TIPP strategy leads to the best hedge effectiveness results. TIPP-M is similar to TIPP but seems to be slightly worse. Keywords: Portfolio insurance, Constant Proportion Portfolio Insurance, CPPI, Time Invariant Portfolio Protection, TIPP, Buy-and-Hold, Rebalancing Return, Hedge Effectiveness, Monte Carlo Simulation JEL Classification: G11 DOI : 10.7176/RJFA Publication Date : DOI : 10.7176/RJFA/10-20-01 Publication date :October 31 st 2019
Multi-frame interpolation of Bayer images using optical flow

A recent image sensor in a camera contains millions of pixels. The pixel itself records only the intensity of a single light signal of red, green, or blue in the Bayer patterned sensor. When the camera moves position slightly, however, the different kinds of wavelength light signals can be recorded in a different pixel. In other words, we can complement the missing color signals in the Bayer pattern by the captured ray from the moved camera. Consequently, a full-color image can be generated without demosaicing, but the capturing method may cause a false-color. In our proposed method, we take more than 50 images to complement the pixels because the camera position is moved artificially rather than mechanically. Besides, we use the dense optical flow to track the movement of all pixels between the reference image and the other images. All images are converted from Bayer images to grayscale images to calculate the optical flow. Then, the pixels are linked according to the optical flow, the missing color pixel values in reference Bayer image are complemented from the other corresponding Bayer images. In our experiments, we generated sharper images than the demosaiced method.
Effects of Field Trip and Peer Tutoring Instructional Strategies on Students’ Science Process Skills Acquistion in Basic Science and Technology in Junior Secondary Schools in Osun State

The study investigated the effects of field trip and peer tutoring instructional strategies (as against the conventional method of teaching) on secondary school students’ science process skills (observation, classification, communication, measurement, inference and prediction) acquisition in Basic Science and Technology in Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) in Osun State. These were with a view to provide information on usability of the strategies to enhance the students’ development of science process skills through Basic Science and Technology lesson in Osun State classrooms. The study employed the pretest, post-test control group quasi experimental research design. The population for the study comprised all junior secondary school students in Osun State. The study sample consisted of 315 Junior Secondary II (JS II) students in nine intact classes selected from nine schools using simple random sampling technique. The instrument used for data collection was Science Process Skills Performance Test (SPSPT). Data collected were analysed using mean, standard deviation and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The results of the study showed that there was significant effect of the treatment (use of field trip and peer tutoring) on science process skills of secondary school students as follow: Observation (F=1.030, p<0.05), classification Original Research Article Olajide; JESBS, 32(4): 1-12, 2019; Article no.JESBS. 53679 2 (F=3.529, p<.05), communication (F=1.326, p<0.05), measurement (F=6.623, p<0.05), inference (F=12.310, p<0.05) and prediction (F=21.210, p<0.05); with peer tutoring leading in observation, classification, communication and measurement skills of students in Basic Science and Technology with x̄=30.6000, x̄=31.3429, x̄=24.9429 and x̄=25.3714 while students exposed to field trip strategy, exhibited higher students’ inference and prediction skills in Basic Science and Technology with x̄=22.9714 and x̄=27.4847 respectively. The study concluded that field trip and peer tutoring instructional strategies are effective and innovative teaching methods in improving students’ science process skills acquisition in Basic Science and Technology in secondary schools in Osun State, Nigeria.
Effects of Cultivation Conditions on the Expression Level of Recombinant scFv Antibody against EpEX in Escherichia coli

The EpCAM (epithelial cell adhesion molecule) is a cell surface antigen over expressed in many types of epithelial cell cancers including colon, stomach, pancreas, lung, ovarian, and breast. So, it can be an attractive target for active and passive immunotherapy of cancers. ScFv (single chain fragment variable) fragment is a class of engineered antibodies in which the genes coding for the heavy (VH) and light chains (VL) of an immunoglobulin have been linked with a short flexible peptide linker. Inexpensive media, rapid growth rates, and relatively minimal laboratory set up make Escherichia coli (E. coli) a suitable host for expression of a large variety of recombinant proteins. Here, we assessed the effect of cultivation conditions on the level of expressed scFv against extracellular domain of EpCAM (EpEX) in E. coli. pET22b-antiEpEX-scFv was transformed into prepared E. coli Rosetta™(DE3) competent cells. To evaluate the effect of cultivation conditions on protein expression level, three factors of incubation temperature (25, 30, 37°C), the IPTG (isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactoside) concentration (0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1 mM), and induction duration (3, 5, 7, 18 h) were considered. SDS-PAGE and western blot analysis demonstrated an estimated 30 kDa-size protein band which was related to the recombinant scFv expressed in E. coli Rosetta™(DE3) strain. At optimal condition (5 h after induction with 0.5 mM IPTG at 25 °C), the final production yield of the antiEpEX-scFv was 403.29 ± 87.50 μg/mL. Our results provide a foundation for the development of scFv-based drugs’ production as effective therapeutic agents in cancers with epithelial origin. HIGHLIGHTS The antiEpEX-scFv was successfully expressed in E. coli Rosetta™(DE3) strain. The highest concentration of protein was obtained with 0.5 mM IPTG at 30°C. The final yield of recombinant antiEpEX-scFv was approximately 403.29 ± 87.50 mg/L.
Why Do Markets Change? Some Conventionalist Considerations on the Stability and Dynamic of Markets

»Warum ändern sich Märkte? Einige konventionentheoretische Überlegungen zur Stabilität und zur Dynamik von Märkten«. This paper wants to develop a dynamic approach of markets. We take the economics of conventions (EC) as the basic theoretical framework and expand it regarding concepts, which help to answer the question under which circumstances markets are either (persistently) stable or (radically) dynamic. We introduce EC as a European research program focusing on uncertainty as the fundamental problem on markets. Then we develop the concept of market regimes to draw on some main pillars of the EC and at the same time to focus attention more, as it is usually the case, on the question why conventions are stable and why they change. We argue that usually markets are relatively stable; however, crises, exogenous factors, and divergent interpretations of quality on the individual level (dissatisfaction/critique of key actors) lead to change of conventions and consequently changing market regimes. Analytically, the existing regime fails to overcome uncertainty and establish market coordination. The empirical part of the paper illustrates the theoretical concepts with the case of a regional wine market where radical change led to the fall of the market convention and the rise of the domestic convention.
Construction of the professional identity of portuguese language teachers during their initial teacher education

IUniversidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. IIUniversidade de Bath, Bath, United Kingdom. ABSTRACT This paper presents the results of a research project developed with the objective of understanding, from a teacher identity and cognition perspective, the concepts constructed by pre-service teachers of what it means to be a teacher and teach and learn portuguese in working conditions characterized by social and cultural diversity, as well as economic adversity. The study reveals how two undergraduate students in Letras (a teaching degree which entitles its holders to teach disciplines both in middle and high school) participating in a national teacher education program resorted to representations of the school and teaching in order to build references that constituted the foundations of both their formative experiences as teachers and the mental projections they constructed of their pedagogical work and professional identity. The data analysis focused on the referral processes produced by the participants based on the contrast between their previous and current experiences and expectations, captured by the methodological tools used in the research.
Climate change and mycotoxins

The role of climate change on mycotoxin profile and activity was reviewed. The unprecedented spread and relocation experienced by some regulated mycotoxins on food and feed items were investigated. Aspergillus species and aflatoxin, originally associated with tropical and subtropical climate characteristics of Sub-Saharan Africa are now comfortable guests in temperate zones. The same applies to Fusarium and Penicilium species, earlier thought to be strictly specific to temperate regions of Europe, now encountered in tropical Africa, with their toxins like zearalenone and trichothecenes, particularly in recent surveillance studies. This review is an update on the unstable trend on a global mycotoxin map with reference to the obvious climatic dynamics, having Africa in view
Spatial-temporal patterns of functional feeding groups in mountain streams of Córdoba, Argentina

Trophic structure of benthic communities is inレuenced by the availability of food resources which indeed may be conditioned by stream size, shading and substrate. This study aims to analyze the distribution of macroinvertebrate Functional Feeding Groups in different habitats of mountain streams (Córdoba, Argentina) and to assess the environmental variables conditioning this distribution at the habitat level. Four streams were sampled in two hydrological periods (high and low discharge) and three benthic samples were taken in rifレes and runs of coarse and ルne substrate. Gathering collectors were dominant in most of the habitats, streams and periods except in rifレes during the low water period in which ルltering collectors dominated. At the habitat level, current velocity, substrate, abundance of macroalgae and twigs and leaves were the most important variables explaining functional feeding group distribution. Functional feeding group abundances varied in relation to the stream, the hydrological period and the habitat. The dominance of collectors demonstrates the importance of the role of this functional group and that ルne detritus is the main food resource in these lotic ecosystems. The phenology and life history of the species, and the amount and type of organic matter retained in each habitat may explain the observed spatial-temporal patterns. [
Estimate the level of cholesterol and triglycerides in patient with type II diabetes in the province of Najaf

Abstract Background and Objectives: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a group of metabolic disorders of carbohydrate metabolism in which glucose is underutilized, producing hyperglycemia. Furthermore, it is proposed that the underutilization of glucose is associated with changes in the lipid profile. Changes in lipid profiles are also well related to the severity of DM. This study involved 50 were patients admitted with a diagnosis of DM; blood samples were drawn under aseptic precautions from cases of DM and healthy controls. Necessary investigations were carried out and values were tabulated for cases and controls separately for statistical evaluation. Our Results show that the DM patients compared to controls significant increase in the following parameters were observed. Cholesterol ratios increased. Furthermore, the levels of triacylglycerol increased. We conclude that there is a statistically significant large effect in cholesterol and TG a level of cases compared with controls, cholesterol level is increased and TG levels were well associated with blood sugar also increased .
Aging in America and Meals on Wheels: Exploring Impacts on Food Insecurity, Health Outcomes, and Hospitalizations

In the U.S., the 65 and older demographic is expected to double in size by 2050 and with older adults accounting for more than a third of hospital stays, it can be expected that the portion of hospital stays by older adults will increase accordingly. One program that has been linked to reducing hospitalizations and improving health outcomes is Meals on Wheels (MOW). Secondary analysis of existing data from the Eighth National Survey of OAA Participants was conducted to explore the impact of MOW service on health outcomes, hospitalizations, and food insecurity while focusing on the following research question: does MOW service reduce the number of hospitalizations and improve health outcomes, and if so, how does the length of service influence these relationships? This research showed that respondents to the survey have high levels of self-reported health improvement (76.1 to 91.5%) and low levels of food insecurity (9.4 to 29.7%) after MOW participation.