Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Awareness, Attitude, and Understanding toward Epilepsy among Workers in a State Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri, Northeastern Nigeria

Background: Epilepsy is a common presentation at clinics in Psychiatric Hospitals, Teaching Hospitals, and general practice. In developing countries and Africa especially, awareness, attitude, and understanding are generally poor. People still believe in spirits as the cause of epilepsy. Objectives: The objectives were to assess the awareness; attitude and knowledge of Hospital workers in general practice concerning epilepsy. Methodology: The respondents were workers of all cadres who were working at a State Specialist Hospital and the study used a survey method proposed by Caveness and Gallup, with modifications and adaptations on the self-administered questionnaire. Results: One hundred and forty-four staffs of State Specialist Hospital completed the questionnaire containing items addressing demographics, awareness, attitude, and knowledge. Of these respondents, 89 were males and 55 were females. The mean age was 34.34 years. 96.5% heard of the disease, 77.8% knew someone with the disease, 64.6% will not object to their children playing with someone with epilepsy and 37.5% will not allow a relative to marry someone with epilepsy. Fifty-five percent (55%) of the respondents said; they will not employ such patients, and that patients with epilepsy should not be employed with others. Knowledge towards epilepsy was good, where 71.5% felt it was caused by a brain disorder. Conclusion: We found out that awareness and knowledge of epilepsy among Hospital staff were generally good. However, the attitude of healthcare workers had reservations towards patients with epilepsy (PWE) either working for them or working with other people. This attitude arose from deeply ingrained cultural misconceptions acquired over time. Thus, there is a need for consistent hospital staff education, aimed at allaying fears, mistrust as well as to lessen the stigma towards epileptics.
Resonance Raman spectra of Heme and metalloproteins

Resonance Raman Spectroscopy of Metalloporphyrins Vibrational Modes of Coordinated CO, CN, O and NO Heme Protein Structure and the Iron-Histidine Stretching Mode Transient and Cryogenic Studies of Photodissociated Hemoglobin and Myoglobin Cytochrome C Cytochrome P450 and the Transform Analysis of Heme Protein Raman Spectra Raman Scattering by Cytochrome Oxidase and Heme a Model Compounds Chlorophylls and the Photosynthetic Membrane Resonance Raman Spectroscopy of Blue Copper Proteins Nonheme Respiratory Proteins Metal-Tyrosinate Proteins Iron-Sulphur Proteins and Analog Complexes.
Risk of nodal disease in patients with MRI-detected extramural vascular invasion in rectal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The impact of magnetic resonance imaging–detected extramural vascular invasion (mrEMVI) in distant metastasis is well known but its correlation with prevalence of lymph node metastasis is less studied. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the prevalence of nodal disease in mrEMVI–positive and negative cases in rectal cancer. Methods: Following guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, a systematic literature search in PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and EMBase was carried out to identify relevant studies published up to May 2019. Results: Our literature search generated 10 studies (863 and 1212 mrEMVI–positive and negative patients, respectively). The two groups (mrEMVI–positive and negative) were significantly different in terms of nodal disease status (odds ratio [OR] 3.15; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.12–4.67; p < 0.001). The prevalence of nodal disease was 75.90% vs 52.56% in the positive mrEMVI vs negative mrEMVI group, respectively (p < 0.001). The prevalence of positive lymph node in positive mrEMVI patients treated with neoadjuvant/adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT/CRT) (OR 2.47; 95% CI 1.65–3.69; p < 0.001) was less compared with the patients who underwent surgery alone (OR 6.25; 95% CI 3.74–10.44; p < 0.001). Conclusion: The probability of positive lymph nodes in cases of positive mrEMVI is distinctly greater compared with negative cases in rectal cancer. Positive mrEMVI indicates risk of nodal disease prevalence increased by threefold in rectal cancer.
Membrane insertion mechanism and molecular assembly of the bacteriophage lysis toxin ΦX174‐E

The bacteriophage ΦX174 causes large pore formation in Escherichia coli and related bacteria. Lysis is mediated by the small membrane‐bound toxin ΦX174‐E, which is composed of a transmembrane domain and a soluble domain. The toxin requires activation by the bacterial chaperone SlyD and inhibits the cell wall precursor forming enzyme MraY. Bacterial cell wall biosynthesis is an important target for antibiotics; therefore, knowledge of molecular details in the ΦX174‐E lysis pathway could help to identify new mechanisms and sites of action. In this study, cell‐free expression and nanoparticle technology were combined to avoid toxic effects upon ΦX174‐E synthesis, resulting in the efficient production of a functional full‐length toxin and engineered derivatives. Pre‐assembled nanodiscs were used to study ΦX174‐E function in defined lipid environments and to analyze its membrane insertion mechanisms. The conformation of the soluble domain of ΦX174‐E was identified as a central trigger for membrane insertion, as well as for the oligomeric assembly of the toxin. Stable complex formation of the soluble domain with SlyD is essential to keep nascent ΦX174‐E in a conformation competent for membrane insertion. Once inserted into the membrane, ΦX174‐E assembles into high‐order complexes via its transmembrane domain and oligomerization depends on the presence of an essential proline residue at position 21. The data presented here support a model where an initial contact of the nascent ΦX174‐E transmembrane domain with the peptidyl‐prolyl isomerase domain of SlyD is essential to allow a subsequent stable interaction of SlyD with the ΦX174‐E soluble domain for the generation of a membrane insertion competent toxin.
Occurrence of extended spectrum β-lactamase and AmpC-producing Escherichia coli in retail meat products from the Maritime Provinces, Canada

This study was conducted to determine the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance to the extended-spectrum cephalosporins (ESC) in Escherichia coli isolates recovered from retail meat products collected in the Maritime Provinces of Canada using both selective and traditional culture methods, and genotypically using multiplex polymerase chain reactions. ESC-R E. coli was detected in 33/559 (5.9%) samples using the traditional culture compared to 151/557 (27.1%) samples using the selective culture method. The recovery of ESC-R E. coli isolates was more common in poultry compared to beef and pork (P<0.001). Multi-drug resistance, ESBL, and AmpC phenotypes were more common in chicken-derived isolates than other retail meat products (P<0.001). From the 98 isolates selected, 76 (77.6%) isolates were positive for either ESBL and AmpC β-lactamases or both. Among the 76 isolates, blaCMY-2 (78.9%), blaCTXM (46.1%), blaTEM (21.1%), and blaSHV (1.3%) were detected. Among the blaCTXM-producing isolates; blaCTXM-1, blaCTXM-2, and blaCTXM-9 phylogenetic groups were detected. β-lactamase genes were detected more in chicken-derived isolates compared to other meat types (P<0.01). This study demonstrated the occurrence of ESBL and AmpC resistance genes in retail meat products in Maritime Provinces of Canada. Also, selective culture significantly improved the recovery of ESC-R E. coli isolates from retail meat samples.
Effect of Fluid Administration on Fluid Consumption and Hydration Status

The use of an external fluid administrator (EFA) to deliver fluids is a recent phenomenon in athletics. However, this has yet to be compared to the traditional method of self administration (SA). PURPOSE: To examine the influence fluid administration methods have on fluid consumption, hydration status, and perceptual variables. METHODS: Nineteen recreationally active individuals [14 males, 5 females (30±10y; 176±8cm; 72.5Kg) participated in two days of exercise with varying the method of fluid administration (self-administration SA; external fluid administration EFA) between days. EFA refers to when someone else squirts water into the participant’s mouth, whereas SA, the participant squirts water into their own mouth. The water bottle (WB) was kept equal distance from the mouth for both conditions. Participants weight (t-shirt and/or shorts only) and urine samples were collected prior to exercise. Participants then completed a 10-min warm-up. Participants had a 2-min fluid break before the exercise protocol (EP), which included a series of five 15-minute stations. Exercises provided aerobic and anaerobic demands, including hill jogging, push-ups, jumping jacks, ladder drills, and intermittent rest. After completing each station, participants received a 5-min fluid breaks where they drank ad libitum. Fluid variables and perceptual variables were collected during every fluid break. Following the final fluid break, participants provided a post-exercise weight and urine sample. The order of conditions and exercise stations were randomly assigned. Fluid variables assessed were volume consumed per
Assessing the Effects of Important Factors and Province Heterogeneity on Different Quantiles of Hospitalization Cost

ABSTRACT Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of some covariates on different quantiles of the cost of hospitalization. The effect of the province that the individual belongs to on these quantiles will be also examined. Methods: We employed a linear quantile-mixed model (LQMM) for analyzing the cost of hospitalization in Iranians Utilization of Health Services (IUHS) survey considering the province effect, the effects of some important covariates, and also the effect of the choice of the random-effects distribution. For this, both classical and Bayesian approaches are used for parameter estimation. Results: The results of data analysis show that ward, type of hospital, and duration of hospitalization are significant factors on quantiles of the cost of hospitalization, of course with different impacts on different quantiles. Our findings reveal significant discrepancies in the cost of hospitalization in different provinces and significant heterogeneity among provinces. Conclusion: More works must be done related to hospitalization cost and its consequences since it is a matter of social life. To be exact, one should notice that provinces with hospitals involving high hospitalization costs may have households dealing with poverty.
Mechanisms of Macromolecular Interactions Mediated by Protein Intrinsic Disorder

Intrinsically disordered proteins or regions (IDPs or IDRs) are widespread in the eukaryotic proteome. Although lacking stable three-dimensional structures in the free forms, IDRs perform critical functions in various cellular processes. Accordingly, mutations and altered expression of IDRs are associated with many pathological conditions. Hence, it is of great importance to understand at the molecular level how IDRs interact with their binding partners. In particular, discovering the unique interaction features of IDRs originating from their dynamic nature may reveal uncharted regulatory mechanisms of specific biological processes. Here we discuss the mechanisms of the macromolecular interactions mediated by IDRs and present the relevant cellular processes including transcription, cell cycle progression, signaling, and nucleocytoplasmic transport. Of special interest is the multivalent binding nature of IDRs driving assembly of multicomponent macromolecular complexes. Integrating the previous theoretical and experimental investigations, we suggest that such IDR-driven multiprotein complexes can function as versatile allosteric switches to process diverse cellular signals. Finally, we discuss the future challenges and potential medical applications of the IDR research.
Advanced airway management in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest – to intubate or not to intubate: a narrative review of the existing literature

Restoring partial flow of oxygenated blood is a fundamental goal of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The ideal devices used for this purpose should have features such as low incidence of complications, high survival rate, rapid control of the airway, and adequate ventilation. Besides limiting the frequency and duration of interruptions in chest compressions, they can improve the survival and clinical outcomes of return of spontaneous circulation during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The overall rates of survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest have improved dramatically in recent years. However, optimal airway management during out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is a controversial issue. The proposed standard of care, i.e. endotracheal intubation, may have paradoxical adverse effects on intended outcomes by interrupting cardiopulmonary resuscitation and by reduction of coronary and cerebral perfusion pressure during resuscitation. The aim of this narrative review is to provide health care providers with an overview of relevant studies in the area, with a focus on alternative advanced airway techniques.
Evaluation of the suppressive effect of intermittent aeration on nitrite-oxidising bacteria in a mainstream nitritation-anammox process

An alternative to conventional removal of nitrogen through autotrophic nitrification and heterotrophic denitrification is autotrophic nitritation-anammox. The anammox bacteria oxidise ammonium directly to nitrogen gas with nitrite as an electron acceptor. Total autotrophic removal of nitrogen in the mainstream would bring wastewater treatment plants closer to being energy self-sufficient as it would allow for a significant reduction of aeration and an increased chemical oxygen demand reduction in the pre-treatment. An increased chemical oxygen demand reduction by mechanical treatment would potentially generate a greater biogas yield in the subsequent anaerobic digestion of the sludge.Nitritation-anammox processes have been successfully implemented over the world for treatment of ammonium rich sludge liquor of higher temperatures, while the feasibility of a mainstream implementation is still under evaluation. Lower ammonium concentrations, lower operating temperatures and better effluent quality represent the main challenges considering this energy autarkic treatment technique.Terminating nitrification at nitritation, i.e. favouring ammonia-oxidising bacteria while supressing nitrite-oxidising bacteria, is vital for a functioning nitritation-anammox process. This study aims to evaluate the suppressive effect of intermittent aeration on nitrite- oxidising bacteria while sustaining anammox activity by ex-situ batch tests in a pilot-scale moving bed biofilm reactor at Sjolunda Wastewater Treatment Plant in Malmo, Sweden. The pilot plant consists of one reactor treating sludge liquor and two mainstream reactors, connected in series, receiving effluent from a high-loaded activated sludge plant.The batch test showed a slight decrease of nitrite-oxidising bacteria activity when the reactors were intermittently aerated. Some loss in activity is expected as oxygen supply is decreased when aeration is switched from continuous to intermittent. Furthermore, the decrease coincided with an increased organic carbon loading favouring fast growing heterotrophic bacteria. The decrease in nitrite-oxidising bacteria activity can thereby be coupled with an increased competition for dissolved oxygen and space with heterotrophic bacteria.The suppression of nitrite-oxidising bacteria was not selective as results indicate a decrease in ammonia-oxidising bacteria activity as well. The nitrogen removal rate was decreased during the study while the potential anammox activity was stable in the mainstream and increased in the sludge liquor reactor. This indicates that the anammox bacteria are not hampered but rather that the availability of nitrite, i.e. the activity of ammonia-oxidising bacteria, is the limiting factor of the process.
Musculoskeletal microbiology: The utility of the microbiome in orthopedics

The past 15 years have witnessed a renaissance in the study of the microbes that colonize the human body. The vast majority of the human microbiome resides within the gut. Alterations to the gut microbiome have been associated with the pathogenesis and progression of wide‐ranging diseases throughout the body—including atherosclerosis, depression, and obesity. Our understanding of the effects of the gut microbiome on the musculoskeletal system remains in its infancy, but preclinical work has demonstrated an effect of the gut microbiome on the success of orthopedic surgical procedures, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and muscle mass. In this perspective I review preclinical findings demonstrating that an impaired presurgical gut microbiome can increase the likelihood of developing periprosthetic joint infection and how alterations in the gut microbiome can reduce bone strength by impairing bone tissue material properties. In addition to discussing these examples, I review the hypothesis that many chronic non‐communicable diseases have become more prevalent in modern industrialized societies as a result of changes in the composition of the gut microbiome resulting from changes in environment/lifestyle (diet, sanitation, antibiotic use). The most burdensome musculoskeletal disorders are chronic and non‐communicable and may therefore be related to generational shifts in the composition of the gut microbiome, a possibility I illustrate by reviewing changes in the prevalence of osteoarthritis over the last century. Microbiome‐based therapeutics are potentially innocuous, inexpensive, and have the potential to be effective with only occasional use, making them attractive for addressing the needs of chronic and/or slowly progressing musculoskeletal disorders.
Comparison of the fecal microbiota composition between the blue Sheep (Pseudois nayaur) fed with Lolium perenne and Sorghum sudanense.

Lolium perenne L. and Sorghum sudanense (Piper) Stapf. are two common forages fed to the captive blue sheep. However, the effect of these two forages on the gastrointestinal microbiota is largely unknown. We analyzed the microbiota diversity in feces of the captive blue sheep fed with L. perenne (F1) and S. sudanense (F2) by 16S rRNA sequencing. A total number of 20 major phyla and 29 genera fecal bacterial communities were detected in the two groups. The F1 and F2 groups shared common microbiota at the phylum level, which mainly consisted of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005, Eubacterium_coprostanoligenes_group, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-013 and Ruminococcaceae_UCG-010 were top four dominant taxa at the genus level. The percentage of Ruminococcaceae_UCG-010 in F2 was significantly higher than that in F1 (~2.75 fold). The diversity and abundance of the microbial community in F2 were higher than that in F1. Although both of the L. perenne and S. sudanense effect the blue sheep gastrointestinal microbiota metabolism, the S. sudanense improves more aspects in metabolism and biogenesis. In summary, our results demonstrated that the L. perenne and S. sudanense effect the blue sheep gastrointestinal microbiota in different ways. But S. sudanense efficiently improved the blue sheep gastrointestinal microbiota.
Combined annoyance response from railroad and road traffic noise in an alpine valley

Context: The aim of this study was to verify the contributing effect in the cases of combined road traffic noise and railroad traffic noise on total noise annoyance. Materials and Methods: After opening the four-track railway of the Lower Inn Valley Route in Austria, an evaluation study was conducted by an interview survey (n=1003). The data of this survey included answers on annoyance caused by railroad, road traffic noise and total annoyance as well as self-evaluated noise sensitivity. Results: When annoyance is only related to one of these sources, a 10% share of highly annoyed persons was observed at 59 dB for road noise and 60 dB for railroad noise. The annoyance model including both noise sources with a coefficient of 0.145 for road noise, 0.034 for railroad noise and 0.431 for noise sensitivity (all p-values < 0.01) showed a regression coefficient R2 of 0.299. The presence of road background noise did not influence the annoyance on railway noise. Conclusion: The combined influence of road and railway noise showed an increase of total annoyance.
Deformation memory in the lithosphere: A comparison of damage-dependent weakening and grain-size sensitive rheologies

Strain localization in the lithosphere and the formation, evolution, and maintenance of resulting plate boundaries play a crucial role in plate tectonics and thermo-chemical mantle convection. Previously activated lithospheric deformation zones often appear to maintain a “memory” of weakening, leading to tectonic inheritance within plate reorganizations including the Wilson cycle. Different mechanisms have been proposed to explain such strain localization, but it remains unclear which operate on what spatio-temporal scales, and how to best incorporate them in large-scale mantle convection models. Here, we analyze two candidates, 1), grain-size sensitive rheology and, 2), damage-style parameterizations of yield stress which are sometimes used to approximate the former. Grain-size reduction due to dynamic recrystallization can drive localization in the ductile domain, and grain growth provides a time-dependent rheological hardening component potentially enabling the preservation of rheological heterogeneities. We compare the dynamic weakening and hardening effects as well as the timescales of strength evolution for a composite rheology including grain-size dynamics with a pseudo-plastic rheology including damage(or “strain”-) dependent weakening. We explore the implications of different proposed grain-size evolution laws, and test to which extent strain-dependent rheologies can mimic the weakening and hardening effects of the more complex micro-physical behavior. Such an analysis helps to better understand the parallels and differences between various strainlocalization modeling approaches used in different tectonics and geodynamics communities. More importantly, our results contribute to efforts to identify the key ingredients of strainlocalization and damage hysteresis within plate tectonics and how to represent those in planetary-scale modeling.
Vehicular Visible Light Communications: A Survey

Visible Light Communications (VLC) is becoming a mature communication technology, particularly for indoor usage. The application in outdoor environments is especially interesting in the scope of Vehicular VLC (V-VLC), however, there are some critical challenges remaining. In general, VLC is a good complement to Radio Frequency (RF)-based communication. For automotive use cases, V-VLC can benefit from the huge available spectrum and the readily available Light Emitting Diode (LED)-based lighting systems of modern cars. Its Line Of Sight (LOS) characteristics, the directionality of the light, and the smaller collision domain substantially reduces interference. In this survey article, we study the state of the art of V-VLC and identify open issues and challenges. We study the V-VLC communication system as a whole and also dig into the characteristics of the VLC channel. For the beginner in the field, this review acts as a guide to the most relevant literature to quickly catch up with current trends and achievements. For the expert, we identify open research questions and also introduce the V-VLC research community as a whole.