Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
COVID-19 suspicion and diagnosis in pregnancy: A big conundrum!

Introduction: This article aims to discuss all the challenges faced in the diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in pregnancy, isolation of suspected and positive patients, their management, and the strategies to prevent the transmission of infection among the healthy population and medical fraternity. The diagnosis of COVID in pregnancy is influenced by many factors, including normal physiological changes in pregnancy, comorbid conditions associated with pregnancy, and the presence of asymptomatic infection in patients. Suspicion of COVID-19 in pregnant females is of utmost importance at a primary health center for risk mitigation of exposure to medical personnel. Material and Methods: A retrospective study was carried out in the labour room in a tertiary care center in India. Two groups were made, suspected COVID and confirmed COVID in pregnant patients. The case records were analysed. Results: Out of a total of 5164 admissions, 95 patients were admitted as suspected (1.8%), but only two patients were COVID-positive amongst them. 84% of COVID-positive patients were asymptomatic. Fever was the most common symptom in both groups (P-value: 0.15). Preeclampsia and anaemia were the most common comorbidities in both groups, not statistically significant. There were 32% of intensive acre unit (ICU) admissions in suspected COVID patients, and 77% of them were having respiratory distress. Conclusion: COVID-19 presents as an asymptomatic infection in most pregnant patients. Physiological changes to the cardiorespiratory and immune systems along with associated comorbidities in pregnancy, increase a woman's susceptibility and delay diagnosis. Consideration of patients as suspected COVID at triage stations on the basis of only contact or travel history poses a great burden on the health care system. Although triage is an essential tool to identify symptomatic COVID patients, universal testing strategies should continue simultaneously. Streamlining medical care professionals into self-sufficient teams ensures adequate clinical coverage amongst the suspected COVID, confirmed COVID, and routine labour room admissions.
A New Standardized Clinical Model for Evaluation of Nerve Guides: A Single-Blinded Randomized Controlled Prospective Study

Background: Autologous nerve transplantation is the accepted clinical standard for reconstruction of peripheral nerve defects. Bioengineered nerve guides as an alternative to autologous nerve transplantation have been described in previous studies and several different types are commercially available. Examination of the implementation of these devices in the clinical setting is an important step in determining their applicability in reconstructive nerve surgery. Methods: In a single-blinded randomized controlled prospective study, the authors examined 34 patients undergoing diagnostic nerve biopsy (2 cm). The biopsy-induced nerve gap was interposed using a segment of the lesser saphenous vein in 16 patients. Eighteen patients had no nerve reconstruction and served as a control group. A further 10 participants were included as a healthy cohort. Nerve regeneration was assessed using von Frey filaments preoperatively and 1 day and 3, 6, 9, and 12 months postoperatively. Results: Patients who received defect bridging of the sural nerve with a venous graft showed better regeneration of lateral foot sensitivity than patients without venous graft. Conclusions: The distal sural nerve biopsy can be used as a baseline model to evaluate peripheral nerve regeneration. Newly developed nerve guides could be tested in other unpredictable and challenging clinical peripheral nerve lesions. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, II.
Buffering effects of social security benefits for persons with psychiatric disability on caregivers’ burden and quality of life

Introduction: Out-of-pocket mental health care expenditure has a catastrophic impact on the families living with severe mental illness, with high levels of burden and poor quality of life. Aim: The present study aims to understand the buffering effects of social security benefits for persons with psychiatric disability on caregivers' burden and quality of life. Methodology: Two groups of caregivers of people with severe mental illnesses, those receiving disability benefits (n = 100) for the past 6 months and those who were not receiving any benefits (n = 72), were recruited from the out-patient follow-up services. Both the groups were assessed with the Burden Assessment Scale (BAS) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHO QoL-Bref). Result: Those who were receiving the disability-related social benefits had reported better quality of life only in psychological and social domains. The maximum value of Pearson's correlation coefficient was observed between physical and psychological domains (r = 0.12; not significant), and the values did not change even after controlling for the social security status. Discussion: The current study did not find full support for buffering effects of social security benefits on caregivers' quality of life. Thus, there is a need for a comprehensive plan for social security benefits, especially for persons with psychiatric disability, as caregivers are already experiencing high levels of financial stress.
Rising trend of dengue in urban areas: A challenge

Context: Dengue, a mosquito-borne illness, is endemic over 100 countries around the world. Dengue cases have been on rise in India in the past decade. The present study was conducted to describe dengue cases of a ward in an urban area. Aims: To analyse the 5-year trend of cases of dengue fever, the 5-year trend of disease burden attributable to dengue as a proportion of all consultations, and the 5-year trend of mortality attributable to dengue as a proportion of all deaths in an urban area. Settings: The present study is a retrospective record-based study, carried out from January 2014 to December 2019. Material and Methods: Descriptive analysis was used to describe the cases. Standard statistical tools such as Chi square for linear trends were utilised for data analysis. Results: Except for a marginal dip in the year 2017, we observed that the trend of dengue significantly increased during the period of our study (Chi square for linear trend = 217.54; P = 0). We also observed a generally significantly increasing trend in burden of dengue as a disease, measured as a proportion of all consultations (Chi square for linear trend = 14302.72; P = 0). Mortality attributable to dengue measured as a ratio of deaths because of dengue and deaths because of all causes also shows a generally increasing trend with a slight decrease in 2018 (Chi square for linear trend = 371.24; P = 0). Conclusion: Dengue cases and the percentage of consultations attributable to dengue show an increasing trend over the past 5 years.
Object marking restrictions on Shona causative and applicative constructions

Abstract Bantu languages, Shona included, are well noted for their agreement systems that morphologically mark grammatical relations in the verbal structure in the form of subject and object agreement. While researchers agree that subject-verb agreement is obligatory and co-occurs with subject pro-drop, object marking is more ambiguous and widely treated as pronominal. This article focuses on the restrictions that characterise object marking in relation to causatives and applicatives in Shona, looking particularly at double objecthood that is characteristic of these constructions. This article argues that there are various kinds of restrictions that object marking exhibit, namely, the restrictions as to which of the two objects can attract a corresponding object marker, the co-occurrence restrictions of the object marker with either of the objects in causative and applicative constructions, the morphosyntactic implications of such restrictions, and passivisation possibilities – where we argue that passives block object marking; and also that subjectivising the theme is blocked in both causative and applicative constructions. The objective of this article is to contribute to accounting for variations of the object dropping phenomenon.
A Numerical Method for Two- Dimensional Hypersonic Fully Coupled Electromagnetic Fluid Dynamics

We describe three mathematical models for predicting the interaction between electromagnetic fields and electrically conductive flows: one is based on the full coupling between the full Maxwell equations and the Navier-Stokes equations, a second one is based upon the application of the MHD approximation and the third one descends from the second under the assumption of low magnetic Reynolds number. Then, we discuss the insulating wall boundary condition, as it is applied to the three models, in case of a configuration where the magnetic field is perpendicular to a two-dimensional planar flow field. Finally, we propose a numerical method for solving the full magneto-fluid dynamics equations where the insulating wall boundary condition is implemented.
Theory & Methods: Modelling Correlated Zero‐inflated Count Data

This paper extends the two‐component approach to modelling count data with extra zeros, considered by Mullahy (1986), Heilbron (1994) and Welsh et al. (1996), to take account of possible serial dependence between repeated observations. Generalized estimating equations (Liang & Zeger, 1986) are constructed for each component of the model by incorporating correlation matrices into each of the maximum likelihood estimating equations. The proposed method is demonstrated on weekly counts of Noisy Friarbirds (Philemon cornic‐ulatus), which were recorded by observers for the Canberra Garden Bird Survey (Hermes, 1981).
Electromagnetic jets from compact objects

The possibility that at least some astrophysical jets are initially electromagnetic in origin is examined. Subsequent pick-up of ionization would convert such electromagnetic jets into hydrodynamic jets. In such a model, relativistic outflow is formed into highly collimated beams simply through the interaction with the surrounding medium. Forming jets under such general circumstances is encouraging in view of the range of scales that appear to be involved. The overall properties of such jets are largely determined by a single dimensionless parameter: the characteristic electrostatic potential drop rewritten as a particle Lorentz factor. Consequently, the determination of any one observable, such as the total power output, also determines the particle energy scale, the electromagnetic field strengths, etc. 18 references.
Goodness of Fit via Non‐parametric Likelihood Ratios

Abstract. To test if a density f is equal to a specified f0, one knows by the Neyman–Pearson lemma the form of the optimal test at a specified alternative f1. Any non‐parametric density estimation scheme allows an estimate of f. This leads to estimated likelihood ratios. Properties are studied of tests which for the density estimation ingredient use log‐linear expansions. Such expansions are either coupled with subset selectors like the Akaike information criterion and the Bayesian information criterion regimes, or use order growing with sample size. Our tests are generalized to testing the adequacy of general parametric models, and to work also in higher dimensions. The tests are related to, but are different from, the ‘smooth tests’ that go back to Neyman [Skandinavisk Aktuarietidsskrift 20(1937) 149] and that have been studied extensively in recent literature. Our tests are large‐sample equivalent to such smooth tests under local alternative conditions, but different from the smooth tests and often better under non‐local conditions.
Photographic B-band monitoring of NGC 4151

On presente les resultats du programme d'observation photographique de la galaxie de Seyfert NGC 4151 pour la periode allant de fevrier 1968 a mars 1983. On a construit une courbe de lumiere optique qui couvre l'epoque pendant laquelle la galaxie a ete observee dans l'UV, 1978-83
Nonlinear evolution of self-gravitating plasmas

The nonlinear evolution of a self-gravitating magnetized plasma is examined using a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation code. The initial configurations are self-consistent two-dimensional solutions of the magnetohydrostatic (MHS) equations, including self-gravitation. These solutions are known to be unstable in the ideal MHD limit without self-gravitation due to the coalescence instability. Our results are relevant for structure forming processes which are determined by the combined interaction of gravitational and magnetic fields such as cloud collisions in the interstellar medium or clump collisions inside magnetized molecular clouds.
Confusion Limits to the Measurement of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effects in Clusters of Galaxies at Millimeter Wavelengths

We present estimates of the confusion limits to measurements of the thermal and kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (S-Z) effects on arcminute angular scales at millimeter wavelengths. Measurements of the amplitude of the thermal S-Z effect (Comptonization) can be combined with measurements of the X-ray brightness of the cluster to yield values for the Hubble constant, H 0 . The ratio of the kinetic and the thermal S-Z effects can be combined with the X-ray gas temperature to yield the radial component of the peculiar velocity of the cluster. The confusion limit to measurement of the thermal S-Z effect has minima at frequencies near 100 and 300 GHz. The estimated 1 σ confusion limit to measurement of the Compton y parameter are Δy≃10 -6 and 6×10 -6 , respectively
The Learning Algorithms of Coupled Discrete Hidden Markov Models

A hidden Markov model (HMM) encompasses a large class of stochastic process models and has been successfully applied to a number of scientific and engineering problems, including speech and other pattern recognition problems, and biological sequence analysis. A major restriction is found, however, in conventional HMM, i.e., it is ill-suited to capture the interactions among different models. A variety of coupled hidden Markov models (CHMMs) have recently been proposed as extensions of HMM to better characterize multiple interdependent sequences. The resulting models have multiple state variables that are temporally coupled via matrices of conditional probabilities. This paper study is focused on the coupled discrete HMM, there are two state variables in the network. By generalizing forward-backward algorithm, Viterbi algorithm and Baum-Welch algorithm commonly used in conventional HMM to accommodate two state variables, several new formulae solving the 2-chain coupled discrete HMM probability evaluation, decoding and training problem are theoretically derived.
On generation of picosecond inhomogeneous shear strain fronts by laser-induced gratings

The processes leading to excitation of inhomogeneous, plane compression/dilatation bulk acoustic strain pulses and shear bulk acoustic strain fronts following the creation of a transient laser interference pattern at a mechanically free surface of an elastically isotropic medium are described. It is shown that the characteristic frequencies of these acoustic disturbances can be much higher than those corresponding to the spatial period of the laser-induced grating. As well, it is shown that the inherent dispersive nature of these bulk acoustic eigenmodes provides plausible explanation for the reported observations of acoustic echo transformation in thin film, ultrafast laser ultrasonics experiments.
Supersymmetric quantum merchanics, orthogonal states and the Pauli exclusion principle

Starting from the orthonormal eigenfunctions which are the solutions of the Schrödinger equation for a given potential it is shown that sets of functions orthogonal to the eigenstates inside a region of varying radius R may be constructed. These sets of functions may in turn be used to construct a new set of functions which satisfy bound-state boundary conditions and are themselves solutions of the Schrödinger equation in a new potential. The bound-state spectrum of the new potential is related to the spectrum of the original potential in a definite manner. The relationship of this construction of a new potential to the inverse scattering theory approach based on the Gelfand–Levitan equation and the potentials constructed using supersymmetric quantum mechanics (SUSYQM) is explored. The connection of this approach to other approaches based on the implementation of orthogonality and their relation to Pauli exclusion principle is examined.
A numerical nonlinear analysis of the flow around two- and three-dimensional partially cavitating hydrofoils

The partially cavitating two-dimensional hydrofoil problem is treated using nonlinear theory by employing a low-order potential-based boundary-element method. The cavity shape is determined in the framework of two independent boundary-value problems; in the first, the cavity length is specified and the cavitation number is unknown, and in the second the cavitation number is known and the cavity length is to be determined. In each case, the position of the cavity surface is determined in an iterative manner until both a prescribed pressure condition and a zero normal velocity condition are satisfied on the cavity. An initial approximation to the nonlinear cavity shape, which is determined by satisfying the boundary conditions on the hydrofoil surface rather than on the exact cavity surface, is found to differ only slightly from the converged nonlinear result. The boundary element method is then extended to treat the partially cavitating three-dimensional hydrofoil problem. The three-dimensional kinematic and dynamic boundary conditions are applied on the hydrofoil surface underneath the cavity. The cavity planform at a given cavitation number is determined via an iterative process until the thickness at the end of the cavity at all spanwise locations becomes equal to a prescribed value (in our case, zero). Cavity shapes predicted by the present method for some three-dimensional hydrofoil geometries are shown to satisfy the dynamic boundary condition to within acceptable accuracy. The method is also shown to predict the expected effect of foil thickness on the cavity size. Finally, cavity planforms predicted from the present method are shown to be in good agreement to those measured in a cavitating three-dimensional hydrofoil experiment, performed in MIT's cavitation tunnel.
Femtosecond laser processing in magneto-optical glasses

Femtosecond laser direct writing (FLDW) is developing rapidly but to date, there is no native optical isolator (needed to mitigate reflections in any optical system) for the platform. As a step towards integrated glass isolators, we have investigated FLDW in kHz and MHz pulse rate regimes for two magneto-optical glasses (TG20 and MR3-2) to ultimately create one-way structures based on the Faraday effect. Previously, we fabricated basic waveguides obtaining single-mode guidance at 632 nm (the Faraday effect is strongest near the Tb3+ resonance at 485 nm) in both regimes. kHz regime waveguides were isotropic but had high propagation loss due to associated photodarkening (which could be post-annealed). The propagation loss of the MHz regime waveguides was acceptable due to lower photodarkening, but the waveguides were too narrow to confine light properly because of the very strong focus of the writing beam. To try to combine the lower loss with larger waveguide width, we created overlapping structures using a series of superposed waveguides arranged in rings in MHz regime. The confinement in these multi-ring structures was indeed improved and the structure propagation loss was intermediate between that of one-path waveguides created in kHz and MHz regimes. For most other glasses, MHz FLDW systems operate in a heat-accumulation regime, producing waveguide diameters much larger than the writing laser spot size and superposed waveguides that merge into one by melting. Here, the sub-unit waveguides maintained their individual identity indicating that the heat-accumulation effect was absent.
A Year Without Paper: Tablet Computers in the Classroom

Students can be seen throughout any campus in America carrying their cell phones, laptop computers, and iPhones. I've seen a tremendous increase in the student use of laptop computers during lectures and students often ask for electronic copies of lectures rather than printed versions. In an attempt to adapt to my students' increasingly technology‐driven lifestyle, I issued a tablet computer to all of my students, and for a year all course materials were digital, with no distribution of paper.
A simple analysis for the optimization of the normal polar magneto-optical Kerr effect in multilayer coatings containing a magnetic film

The Fresnel differential approach is used to derive a formula for the modulus of the normal polar Kerr coefficient for a multilayer system containing a single magnetic film. This particular function of the magneto-optical effect is chosen since it invariably appears in expressions for the signal-to-noise ratio associated with first order effects. The resulting formula determines how much superior optimized quadrilayers are than simpler bilayer structures, if at all; and also how the signal-to-noise ratio depends on the fundamental optical constants of the magnetic film.
An LMI and fuzzy model approach to H ∞ PI controller design

Abstract A Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) approach for designing the H ∞ Proportional‐Integral (PI) controller for nonlinear dynamic systems is studied. The whole operating range of a nonlinear system is partitioned into several regimes. A local linear model containing time‐varying norm‐bounded uncertain parameters is identified with parameter uncertainties for each region. These local linear models are then integrated as a norm‐bounded Tagaki‐Sugeno (TS) nonlinear fuzzy model. The robust PI control design problem based on these norm‐bounded uncertain linear models is then transformed into a series of standard H ∞ control problems, where the latter is further formulated as LMIs. By adopting the LMI expressions, a symmetric positive definite matrix with guaranteed overall system stability can be easily determined and then be further used to infer the robust multiple PI controller parameters. One chemical process, a double‐effect evaporator, is illustrated to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed LMI‐based H ∞ PI controller design method for nonlinear dynamic processes.
Stable field emission from tetrapod-like ZnO nanostructures

Stable field emission is realized from well-separated tetrapod-like ZnO nanostructures with high purity. The ZnO nanostructures are painted on a highly doped silicon substrate covered by a Au layer with a thickness of 300nm. An emission current density of 18mA∕cm2 is obtained and degradation was not observed over a three day period. The fluctuations of the emission current are less than 2%. These experimental results indicate that tetrapod-like ZnO nanostructures are promising materials as cold cathodes for mass production.
Dynamical Systems with a Continuum of Randomly Matched Agents

Many models postulate a continuum of agents of finitely many different types who are repeatedly randomly matched in pairs to perform certain activities (e.g. play a game) which may in turn make their types change. The random matching process is usually left unspecified, and some Law of Large Numbers is informally invoked to justify a deterministic approximation of the resulting stochastic system. Nevertheless, it is well-know that such laws of large numbers may not hold in this framework. This work shows that there exist random matching processes over a continuum of agents satisfying properties which are sufficient to simplify the analysis of the stochastic system. Moreover, the evolution of the population frequencies of types induced by this system can be described (almost surely) through a set of deterministic equations.