Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
COMPARISON OF THE BASKA MASK AND I-GEL IN SHORT SURGICAL PROCEDURES

Background: Minor surgical procedures under general anaesthesia require a patent airway without the use of muscle relaxant. Being a contemporary, untrodden device, possessing the Baska mask® in one’s armamentarium can serve a diversified use in spontaneous and controlled ventilation. However, this invention is still in its early roots, and its competence on various fronts has to be evaluated. We aim to compare the Baska mask and I-gel in short surgical procedures. Our other objectives were to compare the sealing pressure, ease of insertion, number of attempts, insertion time, removal and the complications after removal of the device. Materials and Methods: It is a randomised single-blinded study, conducted on 50 American Society of Anesthesiologists’ physical status I and II female patients aged 18–40 years who underwent short surgical procedures. Patients were randomly categorized into two groups of 40 each; group Baska® mask and group I-gel, to compare the sealing pressure, ease of insertion, number of attempts, insertion time, removal and the complications after removal of the device. The results were analysed using unpaired t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-square test and ANOVA. A p value <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Result: There was no significant difference among the age and weight of patients in both groups. The Mallampati grading was comparable between both the groups. The number of attempts taken to insert the device were similar in both Baska mask and I-gel group. The first-time insertion success rate was 95% in both the groups. No significant difference in the time taken to insert the device. The mean sealing pressure with Baska mask was found to be 32.7±5.0 and that with I-gel was 28.5±6.2 cmH2O. There was no significant difference in the hemodynamic changes after insertion and removal of both the devices except that the mean arterial pressure after removal of Baska mask was higher (88.1±11.2 mmHg) than that after removal of I-gel (81.3±11.8 mmHg). After removal of the device, complications like cough, sore throat, blood stains and signs of aspiration were compared between the two groups and no significant difference was found. Conclusion: We conclude that both I-gel and Baska mask are easy to insert, but the Baska mask is superior in terms of sealing pressure without increase in the laryngopharyngeal morbidity.
A COMPARISON OF UNIAXIAL COMPRESSIVE RESPONSE AND INELASTIC DEFORMATION MECHANISMS IN FREEZE CAST ALUMINA-EPOXY COMPOSITES WITHOUT AND WITH RIGID CONFINEMENT

A COMPARISON OF UNIAXIAL COMPRESSIVE RESPONSE AND INELASTIC DEFORMATION MECHANISMS IN FREEZE CAST ALUMINAEPOXY COMPOSITES WITHOUT AND WITH RIGID CONFINEMENT Tareq Aljuhari Old Dominion University, 2022 Director: Dr. Dipankar Ghosh Cellular ceramics have an array of improved mechanical properties that make them incredibly desired for different applications such as armor systems, aircraft structures, automobiles bumpers, and biomedical implants. It is also desirable that porous architecture could be shaped into bulk complicated shapes and easy to scale-up with low manufacturing cost. Despite several efficient techniques to fabricate cellular ceramics, some limitations are preventing us from meeting the high demand of the after mentioned applications. For that, freeze casting, also called icetemplating, is technique of solidifying an aqueous ceramic suspension under the effect of unidirectional temperature gradient. In this study, Ice-templated porous specimens of different suspension percent (20 and 30 vol.%) were processed from the ultra-fine Al2O3 particles (d50 = 300 nm APA-0.5 Sasol, Tuscan, AZ). Porous ceramic specimens (20P and 30P), epoxy and composites (20C and 30C) were tested under uniaxial compression without and with rigid lateral confinement. It was found that for the porous materials, the confinement was effective and mainly dominant in 30P materials, whereas for 20P no effect was observed. For composites, 20C and 30C exhibited an increase in strength with rigid confinement, but the effect was more dominant in 30C than in 20C. For epoxy, the effect of confinement was relatively moderate. Furthermore, the compression test was stopped at the peak of the test, and the retrieved partially deformed specimens were investigated to study the dominant inelastic deformation mechanisms for both ceramic contents (20 and 30 vol.%) using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The images revealed that for 20C, using the lateral rigid confinement, the severity and intensity of material damages were significantly reduced. For 30C materials, it can be stated that the inelastic deformation mechanisms which caused the failure in freeze cast composites were almost the same without and with confinement. However, the intensity of the developed kink bands was less in the presence of lateral confinement. Also, more kink bands with higher inclination were observed inside the material on the interior surface after removing 1 mm, so it can be stated that kink bands were generated internally first and propagated to the exterior surface.
ETIOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS OF MICROBIAL KERATITIS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Background: Microbial keratitis is a serious cause of ocular morbidity in India second only to cataract. The etiological and epidemiological features of Infective keratitis depend on host factors, geographical location, and climate also tends to vary with time. Present study was aimed to study etiological diagnosis of microbial keratitis in a tertiary care hospital. Material and Methods: Present study was prospective, observational hospital-based study, conducted in patients of any age/gender, clinically diagnosed with microbial keratitis. Results: Among 44 patients, majority were from age group of 41-60 years (34.09 %) & male to female ratio of 3.4:1 Predisposing and associated risk factors noted were trauma (77.27 %), previous medications (topical steroid/ topical antibiotic + steroid combinations) (22.73 %), diabetes mellitus (20.45 %), exposure keratopathy (6.82 %), chronic dacryocystits (4.55 %) & recurrent conjunctivitis (2.27 %). Patients had history of, patients were using either topical steroid or topical steroid and antibiotic combinations (18.92%) and patient was using systemic steroid (2.7%). In majority of patients vision of hand movement with intact perception of light (PL) and Projection of rays (PR) (29.55 %) was noted followed by visual acuity between 6/9-6/18 (27.27 %) and only 1 patient had No PL at the time of presentation. On detailed examination, common ulcer location was paracentral (47.73 %) & central (34.09 %). Majority had corneal ulcer of size > 3 mm (50 %), involved <50% of the corneal stromal depth (63.64 %). Hypopyon was present in 13.64 % of patients. Corneal sensation was absent in 17 patients (38.64 %). Corneal scraping was done in all patients, culture positivity rate was 56.82 %, fungal growth was seen in 10 patients (22.73 %) & bacterial growth was seen in 15 patients (34.09 %). Conclusion: Trauma, previous ophthalmological medications, diabetes mellitus, exposure keratopathy were common etiologies observed for microbial keratitis.
A preliminary checklist of the vascular plants of the North Luangwa National Park, Zambia

A preliminary checklist of the vascular flora of the North Luangwa National Park (NLNP), Zambia, is presented, based upon specimens collected by the author. Species information presented comprises: scientific name, typical plant habit, fertile period, habitat and elevation in which the species was recorded. Habitat descriptions and a vegetation map of the park are also given. A total of 924 plant species were recorded, from 464 genera and 123 families. Seven previously undescribed species were provisionally designated "sp. nov.", and a further six specimens could not be satisfactorily matched at Kew. A new species record for Zambia was Pavetta eylesii S.Moore, a shrub of valley riverine and thicket habi tats.
ESTIMATION OF THE URIC ACID LEVEL FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF THE SEVERITY OF DISEASES WITH CLINICALLY DIAGNOSED SEPSIS

Background: The incidences of sepsis and septic shock depend on how acute organ dysfunction and infection are defined as well as on which data sources are studied. Hence this study was conducted to bring out the correlation between hyperuricemia in clinically diagnosed sepsis patients and morbidity and mortality. Materials and Methods: Total of 150 patients was included in the study. For the uric acid estimation of the included patients; blood samples were taken from the patient. For the biochemical estimation of the uric acid level the collaboration was done with the department of biochemistry, medical college and hospital. Result: Among the 150 study participants, 64 patients had elevated uric acid levels which constitutes about 42.7%, whereas 86 patients constituting 57.3% had normal uric acid levels. It can be inferred that among the study population, patients had type 2 diabetes mellitus as the most common comorbidity at 40%. The most prevalent comorbidities among the patients with hyperuricemia were diabetesmellitus type 2 and type 1, decompensated liver disease and cerebrovascular accident. Patients without any comorbidities about 36% of the study population also developed sepsis. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that Serum Uric acid may be potentially used as a marker of severity of illness as well as predictor of mortality and morbidity in patients with clinically diagnosed sepsis in the IMCU. This study recommends further studies on a large basis to confirm the observations.
Closure of "Observed Performance of Long Steel H-Piles Jacked into Sandy Soils"

Full-scale field tests were performed to study the behavior of two steel H-piles jacked into dense sandy soils. The maximum embedded length of the test piles was over 40 m and the maximum jacking force used was in excess of 7,000 kN. The test piles were heavily instrumented with strain gauges along their shafts to measure the load transfer mechanisms during jacking and the subsequent period of static load tests. Piezometers were installed in the vicinity of the piles to monitor the pore pressure responses at different depths. The time effect and the effect of installation of adjacent piles were also investigated in this study. The test results indicated that, although both piles were founded on stiff sandy strata, most of the pile capacity was carried by shaft resistance rather than base resistance. This observation implies that the design concept that piles in dense sandy soils have very large base capacity and small shaft resistance is likely to be inappropriate for jacked piles. It was also found that the variation in pore pressures induced by pile jacking was closely associated with the progress of pile penetration; the pore pressure measured by each piezometer reached a maximum when the pile tip arrived at the piezometer level. A nearby pile jacking was able to produce large tensile stresses dominating in the major portion of an installed pile; both the magnitude and distribution of the induced stresses were related to the penetration depth of the installing pile.
CORRECTIONS TO “AN AXIOMATIC APPROACH TO FREE AMALGAMATION”

Recent work of Scott Mutchnik [10, 11] has led to renewed interest in [5] and the class of free amalgamation theories. The purpose of this note is to correct a number of errors in the paper. I would like to thank Michele Bailetti for bringing the issues in Section 1.1 and Section 3 to my attention. The issue in Section 2 arose from discussions with Alex Kruckman, who also deserves very special thanks for fixing the issue in Section 3 by providing the proof of Proposition 3.1.
Projeto de controladores PID robustos para sistemas politópicos sujeitos à atraso incerto : uma abordagem LMI

ROBUST PID CONTROLLERS DESIGN FOR POLYTOPIC SYSTEMS WITH UNCERTAIN DELAY: A LMI APPROACH Author:Guilherme Aleksanders de Oliveira Supervisor: Eduardo Stockler Tognetti Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Sistemas Eletrônicos e de Automação Brasília, July of 2018 The main goal of this research is to design robust Proportional-Integral (PI) and Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controllers for continuous-time polytopic singleinput and single-output (SISO) systems subject to uncertain delay and uncertain parameters. It was made an extension of Parada et al [1] to second order systems with uncertain delay using polytopic systems, as performance criteria the maximum delay range of the controller is evaluated. Therefore, a modelling procedure is presented to represent uncertain affine transfer functions with time-delay to a polytopic state-space form such that the PI or PID gains are obtained as a state feedback problem. New Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs) delay-dependent conditions are proposed based on a Lyapunov-Krasovskii type functional and Finsler Lemma. As performance criteria, H∞ guaranteed cost and robust pole placement for minimum decay rate is considered. Numerical examples illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Characteristic Analysis of Featured Genes Associated With Stemness Indices in Colorectal Cancer

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) with self-renewal play an important role in tumor initiation and progression and are associated with drug resistance in cancer therapy. Here, we investigated the characteristics of stem cell-related genes in colorectal cancer (CRC) based on datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Oncomine. We found that the stemness indices were significantly overexpressed in CRC tissues and were associated with patient survival. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was performed to determine the modules of stemness and featured genes. Significant modules and 8 genes (BUB1, BUB1B, CHEK1, DNA2, KIF23, MCM10, PLK4, and TTK) were selected according to the inclusion criteria. Expression analyses of transcription and protein levels confirmed internal correlation and their relevance with the tumor. Functional analysis of these genes demonstrated their enrichment in pathways, including checkpoint, chromosomal region and protein serine/threonine kinase activity. These results suggested that the characteristics of the featured genes fit well with CRC pathology and could provide new strategies for individual prevention and treatment.
Normalized Coordinate Equations and an Energy Method for Predicting Natural Curved-Fold Configurations

Of the many valid configurations that a curved fold may assume, it is of particular interest to identify natural—or lowest energy—configurations that physical models will preferentially assume. We present normalized coordinate equations—equations that relate fold surface properties to their edge of regression—to simplify curved-fold relationships. An energy method based on these normalized coordinate equations is developed to identify natural configurations of general curved folds. While it has been noted that natural configurations have nearly planar creases for curved folds, we show that nonplanar behavior near the crease ends substantially reduces the energy of a fold.
Epidemiology of methicillin-resistant staphylococci in Europe.

Methicillin-resistant staphylococci are mostly resistant not only to all beta-lactams but also to a wide range of other antibiotics, and have emerged as major nosocomial pathogens during the past two decades. Considerable variations in the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) exist between institutions and between geographic areas. In Europe, in general, a north-south gradient is observed, MRSA strains being rare in Scandinavian hospitals (<2%) and far more prevalent in Mediterranean hospitals (>40%). Whether low or high, the rates of MRSA prevalence in European countries have remained approximately the same during the last decade. Recent findings suggest that MRSA might also be emerging as a community-acquired pathogen. The first stage in the emergence of MRSA is its acquisition by methicillin-susceptible S. aureus, and the integration into its chromosome, of the mecA gene, which, together with the other mec genes, is carried on a mobile genetic element, the staphylococcal chromosomal cassette mec (SCCmec). The origin of SCCmec elements as well as the mechanisms of their acquisition remain unknown. Molecular epidemiology studies using different techniques clearly indicate that the massive geographic spread of MRSA results from the dissemination of relatively few highly epidemic clones. Five major lineages (the so-called Iberian, Brazilian, Hungarian, New York/Japan and pediatric pandemic MRSA clones) have been defined. In Europe, the Iberian clone has been reported in several countries; the Brazilian, pediatric and Hungarian clones have also been detected, but less frequently. A unique Italian clone is predominant in Italy. As with S. aureus, coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) represent a serious concern in hospital-acquired infections. Despite marked geographic variations, in some areas of Europe high proportions (60-70%) of CNS are methicillin resistant. The formation of biofilm is a key virulence factor of S. epidermidis, the prominent CNS pathogen, which is the most common cause of bacteremia in device-related infections. Another emerging nosocomial pathogen, S. hemolyticus, is characterized by a tendency to develop multiple antibiotic resistances, with a unique predisposition to glycopeptide resistance.
Effect of Legumes as Part of a Low Glycemic Index Diet on Glycemic Control and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Results: The low-GI legume diet reduced HbA1c values by �0.5% (95% CI, �0.6% to �0.4%) and the high wheat fiber diet reduced HbA1c values by �0.3% (95% CI, �0.4% to �0.2%). The relative reduction in HbA1c values after the low-GI legume diet was greater than after the high wheat fiber diet by �0.2% (95% CI, �0.3% to �0.1%; P .001). The respective CHD risk reduction on the low-GI legume diet was �0.8% (95% CI, �1.4% to �0.3%; P=.003), largely owing to a greater relative reduction in systolic blood pressure on the low-GI legume diet compared with the high wheat fiber diet (�4.5 mm Hg; 95% CI, �7.0 to �2.1 mm Hg; P.001). Conclusion: Incorporation of legumes as part of a low-GI diet improved both glycemic control and reduced calculated CHD risk score in type 2 DM. Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01063361
Pulmonary , gastrointestinal and urogenital pharmacology KFP-H 008 blocks gastric acid secretion through inhibiting H +-K +-ATPase

1-(5-(1H-indol-5-yl)-1-(pyridin-3-ylsulfonyl)-1H-pyrrol-3-yl)-N-methylmethanamine (KFP-H008),a novel and potent potassium-competitive acid blocker for the treatment of acid secretion related diseases, has not been reported previously. In this study, we demonstrated that KFP-H008 inhibits basal acid secretion, 2-deoxyD-glucose(2DG-) stimulated gastric acid secretion in rats. KFP-H008 blocked histamine-stimulated acid secretion in rats and heidenhain pouch dogs and reversed acid output in isolated gastric perfusion under histamine stimulation. In all the animal experiments, KFP-H008 exerted a more effective, potent and longerlasting inhibitory action in comparison with lansoprazole, a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) commonly used in clinic. KFP-H008 inhibited H-K-ATPase activity both at pH 6.5 and pH 7.5, and was unaffected by pH. The inhibitory action was reversible and was achieved in a K-competitive manner. Furthermore, KFP-H008 did not affect Na-K-ATPase activity, thus exhibiting high selectivity, which is different from PPIs. In all, KFP-H008, a novel potassium-competitive acid blocker, may provide new option for the patients with acid-related diseases and provide longer-lasting inhibitory action than drugs commonly used in clinical treatment.
The Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Adolescents With Chronic Health Conditions

ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . iv DEDICATION . v LIST OF TABLES . x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS . xi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION . 12 Obesity in Children and Adolescents . 14 Chronic Health Conditions . 15 Association Between Obesity and Chronic Health Conditions . 15 Consequences of Overweight/Obesity and Chronic Health Conditions . 16 Physical Activity in Adolescents . 17 Sedentary Behavior in Adolescents . 18 Association between Overweight and Obesity and Activity Levels . 18 Gaps in the Literature. 19 Purpose . 20 Specific Aims . 20 Hypotheses . 21 CHAPTER II METHODS . 23 Participants . 23 vii Measures . 25 Secondary Chronic Health Condition Classification . 25 Autism Spectrum Disorder . 25 Asthma . 26 Depression. 26 Anxiety . 26 Disruptive Conduct Disorder: Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) 26 Learning Disability . 26 Developmental Delay. 26 Intellectual Disability/Mental Retardation . 26 Cerebral Palsy . 27 Speech Disorders . 27 Tourette’s syndrome . 27 Diabetes. 27 Epilepsy/Seizures . 27 Hearing Disabilities . 27 Vision Disabilities . 28 Bone, Joint, or Muscle Disabilities . 28 Brain Injury or Concussion . 28 BMI Classification . 28 viii Physical Activity . 28 Organized Sports Participation . 29 Club Participation . 29 Sedentary Behavior . 29 Screen time. 29 Computer Usage. 29 Covariates . 30 Statistical Analysis . 30 CHAPTER III – RESULTS . 31 Specific Aim I . 31 Specific Aim II . 35 Adolescents Classified as Normal Weight with One Secondary Chronic Health Condition. 35 Adolescents Classified as Normal Weight with Two or More Secondary Chronic Health Conditions . 36 Adolescents Classified as Overweight with One Secondary Chronic Health Condition. 39 Adolescents Classified as Overweight with Two or More Chronic Health Conditions . 39 Adolescents Classified as Obese with One Secondary Chronic Health Condition . 39
Marketing Malaysia to the Middle East Tourists: Towards A Preferred Inter-regional Destinations

This paper attempts to demonstrate the importance of the Middle East market to the Malaysian tourism industry, to discuss their travel profiles and behavior, and finally to suggest strategies to better position Malaysia as the most preferred inter-regional destination among the Arab tourists. It is estimated that there will be a total of 35 million outbound tourist arrivals from the Middle East in 2020. The Arab tourists tend to stay longer, spend more and are unfazed by the high tropical temperatures. The Middle East region is also a very viable market for tourism as it is home to a growing young population with a high per capita income, particularly the Saudi Arabia and UAE. This paper also discusses the pattern of outbound tourism from the region as well as the marketing efforts undertaken by the Malaysian tourism players to attract the Middle East travelers. Malaysia promotional efforts so far very much concentrated for tourism products and services within the Klang Valley area and tourism players in other parts of the country are still far from the so called “Arab Tourist’s Friendly”. It is suggested that Malaysia should focus more of their marketing efforts to well capture the Saudi Arabia and UAE outbound travel, to develop distinctive youth-oriented tourism products, to increase air links between major tourist cities in Malaysia and the Middle East, to start fully utilize the internet media for promotion and distribution, and to encourage the Arabs to purchase timeshare vacation homes in Malaysia.