Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pattern of Presentation, Management and Early Outcome in Patients with Perforated Peptic Ulcer Disease in a Semi-urban Tertiary Hospital

Background Perforated peptic ulcer is a life-threatening complication with a high morbidity and mortality. It is the most common indication for emergency operation in peptic ulcer disease (PUD) patients. This study aimed to describe the pattern of presentation, management and early outcome in patients with perforated PUD. Methods This was a prospective study of patients who had operation for perforated PUD at Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), Ado-Ekiti, Southwestern Nigeria from June 2015 to May 2020. Results Forty-six patients were studied with their ages ranging from 21–85 years. Their mean age was 49.9±16.3 years while the median was 54 years. Males outnumbered females by a ratio of 5.5:1. Majority (56.5%) of the patients were farmers and artisans. Duration of symptoms was 6 hours to 9 days (mean 2.7±1.9 days). Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs use, herbal concoction, alcohol and smoking was found in 54.3%, 52.2%, 30.4% and 21.7% respectively. More duodenal perforations (63.0%) were recorded. Graham's patch closure was done for 27 (58.7%) while the remaining (41.3%) had primary closure with omentoplasty. Sixteen (34.8%) had postoperative complications with wound infection predominating. Overall postoperative mortality was 17.4%. Age ≥ 60 years (p=0.04), premorbid illness (p=0.01), delayed presentation ≥ 48 hours (p=0.01), shock (p=0.01) and intraperitoneal effluent ≥ 2000ml (p=0.03) were associated with mortalities. Conclusion Perforated PUD accounts for high morbidities and mortalities in our setting. Abuse of NSAIDs and herbal concoction ranked highest among the risk factors. Efforts at curtailing indiscriminate sales of NSAIDs and herbal concoction will reduce the menace.
Power allocation for uplink SC-FDMA systems with arbitrary input distribution

Existing power allocation schemes for single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems are based on the assumption of Gaussian inputs. However, in practical systems, the inputs belong to a set of finite symbol alphabets. In this reported work the power allocation problem in the uplink SC-FDMA system with arbitrarily distributed finite power inputs is considered. An optimal solution to the problem is found by using the relationship between minimum mean-square error and mutual information. Simulation results show that solution allocates power in accordance to the modulation scheme employed and achieves significant power saving compared to schemes that assume Gaussian inputs.
Individual Differences in the Activity of Dominant Forearm Muscles during VDT Work

In two studies on VDT work, activity of dominant forearm muscles was measured using surface electromyography. In the first study (n = 12), subjects used only a keyboard; whereas in the second study (n = 8), subjects used both keyboard and mouse. In both studies, analysis of results indicated that inter-subject differences in forearm muscle effort were significantly different (p < 0.05). In the first study, the minimum-to-maximum ratio for average extensor muscle activity was 1:3.7. In the second study, the minimum-to-maximum ratio was 1:2.2 for the flexor muscle activity and 1:3.7 for the extensor muscle activity. These results support the notion of differences in individual workstyles proposed by Feuerstein (1995). Individual typing styles play an important role play an important role in the stress on forearm muscles during VDT work and should be included in employee training protocols.
Maslow Hierarchy of needs and Aesthetic needs

The need for aesthetics/cosmetics has emerged as a rising trend recently. The needs are endless. Needs are not a country or region, needs are universal. Maslow's Aesthetic need is applied in almost every field. In order for a person to realize herself, she/he must first feel confident and feel good. At this point, successful aesthetic (surgical and non-surgical) applications allow the person to find her/himself. This situation is reflected in life success.
Closing the Citizen-Government Communication Gap: Content, Audience, and Network Analysis of Government Tweets

Abstract A key task in emergency management is the timely dissemination of information to decision makers across different scales of operations, particularly to individual citizens. Incidents over the past decade highlight communication gaps between government and constituents that have led to suboptimal outcomes. Social media can provide valuable tools to reduce those gaps. This article contributes to the existing literature on social media use by empirically demonstrating how and to what extent state-level emergency management agencies employ social media to increase public participation and promote behavioral changes intended to reduce household and community risk. Research to this point has empirically examined only response and recovery phases related to this process. This article addresses each phase of emergency management through the analysis of Twitter messages posted over a 3-month period. Our research demonstrates that while most messages conformed to traditional one-to-many government communication tactics, a number of agencies employed interactive approaches including one-to-one and many-to-many strategies.
Maintenance avelumab in metastatic urothelial cancer patients

The treatment outcomes of patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma remain poor. Despite the relatively high response rate to platinum-based chemotherapy, the median overall survival doesn't exceed 14 months. Immunotherapy with anti-PD-1/anti-PD-L1 antibodies in the second-line treatment shows significant activity but nearly 50% of patients are not eligible for such treatment because of poor performance status. Therefore, there is a need for new treatment strategies. In the phase III JAVELIN Bladder 100 clinical trial, the maintenance treatment with avelumab in patients who achieved disease control with platinum-based first-line chemotherapy resulted in prolongation of overall survival and progression-free survival with good safety profile.
Gain control dynamics of thulium-doped fiber amplifier at 2 μm

This work is novel in that it explains the modeling and simulation of a thulium-doped fiber amplifier (TDFA) in a reconfigurable wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) system operating at 2 μm. We use the optical gain-clamping technique in order to control gain amplification and eliminate deleterious channel power fluctuations resulting from input power variation at the TDFA. The investigated system consists of 12 channels with -4 dBm total input power. Simulation results indicate that approximately1.5dB power excursion is produced after dropping 11 channels in unclamped-gain amplifier, and only 0.005 dB in a clamped-gain amplifier. Additionally, a clamped configuration brings the power excursion from 4.2 dB to under 0.08 dB, after adding 11 channels to the investigated system. Hence, optical gainclamping is a simple and robust technique for controlling the power transient in amplifiers at 2 μm.
Semi-parametric regression function estimation for environmental pollution with measurement error using artificial flower pollination algorithm

Artificial Intelligence Algorithms have been used in recent years in many scientific fields. We suggest employing flower pollination algorithm in the environmental field to find the best estimate of the semi-parametric regression function with measurement errors in the explanatory variables and the dependent variable, where measurement errors appear frequently in fields such as chemistry, biological sciences, medicine, and epidemiological studies, rather than an exact measurement. We estimate the regression function of the semi-parametric model by estimating the parametric model and estimating the non-parametric model, the parametric model is estimated by using an instrumental variables method (Wald method, Bartlett's method, and Durbin's method), The non-parametric model is estimated by using kernel smoothing (Nadaraya Watson), K-Nearest Neighbor smoothing and Median smoothing. The Flower Pollination algorithms were employed and structured in building the ecological model and estimating the semi-parametric regression function with measurement errors in the explanatory and dependent variables, then compare the models to choose the best model used in the environmental scope measurement errors, where the comparison between the models is done using the mean square error (MSE). These methods were applied to real data on environmental pollution/ air pollution in the city of Baghdad, and the most important conclusions that we reached when using statistical methods in estimating parameters and choosing the best model, we found that the Median-Durbin model is the best as it has less MSE, but when using flower The pollination algorithm showed that the Median-Wald model is the best because it has the lowest MSE, and when we compare the statistical methods with the FPA in selecting semi-parametric models, we notice the superiority of the FP algorithm in all methods and for all models.
An Empirical Analysis on Software Development Efforts Estimation in Machine Learning Perspective

The prediction of effort estimation is a vital factor in the success of any software development project. The available of expert systems for the software effort estimation supports in minimization of effort and cost for every software project at same time leads to timely completion and proper resource management of the project. This article supports software project managers and decision makers by providing the state-of-the-art empirical analysis of effort estimation methods based on machine learning approaches. In this paper ? ve machine learning techniques; polynomial linear regression, ridge regression, decision trees, support vector regression and Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) are investigated for the purpose software development effort estimation by using bench mark publicly available data sets. The empirical performance of machine learning methods for software effort estimation is investigated on seven standard data sets i.e. Albretch, Desharnais, COCOMO81, NASA, Kemerer, China and Kitchenham. Furthermore, the performance of software effort estimation approaches are evaluated statistically applying the performance metrics i.e. MMRE, PRED (25), R2-score, MMRE, Pred(25). The empirical results reveal that the decision tree-based techniques on Deshnaris, COCOMO, China and kitchenham data sets produce more adequate results in terms of all three-performance metrics. On the Albretch and nasa datasets, the ridge regression method outperformed then other techniques except pred(25) metric where decision trees performed better.
Systematic analysis of digital reading studies in the digital age

Accepted: 15.06. 2021 Digitalization has led to significant changes in reading like it does in almost every field. When traditional print reading is considered together with digital reading, it can be argued that digital reading differs from printed reading in many respects. Given the complex nature of reading, it is predictable that an in-depth examination of digital reading is needed. In this context, this research aims to determine the trends and prominent concepts/topics by examining the studies on digital reading in a systematic and holistic manner. In the research, peer reviewed articles related to the concept of digital reading indexed in the Web of Science database were analyzed. Data analysis methods such as content analysis, descriptive analysis and bibliometric analysis were used in the research. As a result of the research, it was seen that there was a significant increase in digital reading studies especially in recent years. It is also determined that digital reading studies are concentrated in developed countries. The data on the participants were also examined in the studies. Accordingly, it was identified that the highest number of studies took place at the K-12 level, and the participants generally had a lower-tomedium socioeconomic status. The sampled papers were also analyzed in terms of reading methods and it was seen that digital shared reading was used more than other reading methods. When the most commonly used variables, the most used concepts in the abstract sections or the most used keywords are examined, it is noticeable that the concept of reading comprehension comes to the fore. When the authors/references that received the most references in the field were analyzed, it was determined that OECD reports were referenced the most. In line with the findings obtained, results were discussed mutually with the literature and various inferences were made.
Vinca ( Catharanthus roseus ) Extracts Attenuate Alloxan-Induced Hyperglycemia and Oxidative Stress in Rats

The present study was carried out to investigate the effectiveness of Catharanthus roseus extracts in modulating the hyperglycemia and oxidative stress (OS) of alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Treatment of rats with alloxan caused a significant (p≤0.05) increased in serum glucose concentration by the ratio of 273.61% compared to normal control group. Supplementation of the rat diets with 300, 400 and 500 mg/kg of ethanolic Catharanthus roseus stems extract (CRSE) and ethanolic Catharanthus roseus leaves extract (CRLE) decreased this value which recorded 184.72, 113.47 and 76.39%, and 139.86, 112.91 and 57.36%, respectively. The rate of attenuation exhibited a dose dependent increase with both extracts consumption. Also, CRLE is more effective in the attenuation process than CRSE. The same behavior was recorded for the biomarkers of OS levels in serum i.e. malonaldehyde (MDA). In contrary, significant (P≤0.05) improving in different antioxidant defense systems in both serum (glutathione fractions, GSH), and RBC's (antioxidant enzymes including glutathione peroxidase, GSH-Px, glutathione reductase, GSH-Rd and catalases, CAT) were recorded. Such biochemical changes observed in the present study were confirmed by the histopathological examination results. In conclusion, Catharanthus roseus possess a variety of beneficial activities and have the potential to impart therapeutic effect holistically in complicated disorders like diabetes and its complications.
CEAL - Flight Simulation Technology Applied to Rehabilitation Research

The Toronto Rehabilitation Institute is developing the Challenging Environment Assessment Laboratory (CEAL) in a new dedicated facility. CEAL represents the integration of knowledge in flight simulation applied to create environments for studying human balance and locomotive behaviour. A high-performance 60-inch motion platform will deliver accelerations and create inclines to the cabins that can be mounted onto its upper frame. These cabins represent three environments - a visual surround dome with a treadmill and a wheelchair simulator, an ice chamber (with a real ice floor, snow, wind and low ambient temperatures) to simulate cold weather climates, and a generic cabin for multi-purpose research such as walking on stairs. In all of these environments, a high-performance realtime computing platform will be used to monitor and stimulate the participants. Computergenerated imagery will represent the visual environment. Research will concentrate on creating realistic, reproducible challenges facing persons with varying grades of mobility, illness, and age-related conditions, and to effectively develop new assistive devices. All of this is made possible through the proper integration of the stimuli provided to the human participants. CEAL is currently being integrated in its new premises in Toronto.
Volumetric morphometry reveals spindle width as the best predictor of mammalian spindle scaling

Kletter et al. introduce Spindle3D, an open-source image analysis tool that allows for consistent and automated morphometric quantification of the mitotic spindle and chromatin in confocal images. They analyze various cell types via Spindle3D and find that mitotic spindle width is a robust predictor of mammalian spindle scaling.
Technical Note: Mathematical Properties of the Optimal Product Line Selection Problem Using Choice-Based Conjoint Analysis.: Mathematical Properties of the Optimal Product Line Selection Problem Using Choice-Based Conjoint Analysis.

Selecting and pricing product lines is an essential activity in many businesses. In recent years, quantitative approaches for such tasks have been gaining in popularity. One often-employed method is to use data from traditional rankings/ratings-based conjoint analysis and attack the product line selection problem with enumeration or heuristics. In this note, we employ a relatively new methodology known as choice-based conjoint analysis (to model customer preferences) and investigate its mathematical properties when used to model the product line selection problem. Despite some inherent limitations resulting from its aggregated formulation, we show that this more parsimonious conjoint approach has some special mathematical properties that lead to an efficient optimal algorithm to tackle the product line/price selection problem. As a result, problems of realistic size can be solved efficiently using standard, commercially available mathematical programming codes.
Musical play in the early years: the impact of a professional development programme on teacher efficacy of early years generalist teachers

ABSTRACT Teacher Efficacy (TE) refers to teachers’ confidence in their ability to promote student’s learning. Research shows that generalist teachers’ TE for music education is generally low, with many teachers associating music education with innate musical talents – a problem exacerbated by music education programmes that focus on singing or playing instruments. Musical play is a form of music education in which young children more or less freely explore and create with sound with limited guidance from a teacher, requiring fewer musical skills. This paper reports on an in-situ professional development program (PD) that focused on musical play as a means of enhancing early years teachers’ TE for musical play and for music education in general. For this study, a mixed method exploratory multiple-case study was used. Three early years teams (N = 14) took part in a PD that focused on knowledge and skills related to facilitating musical play. Data were collected through surveys and interviews. Findings demonstrate that taking part in the PD enhanced teachers’ TE for musical play and for 50% of the respondents for music education in general. The PD’s design features longer duration, collective participation, active learning and qualitative curriculum materials had contributed to teachers’ learning.
Prevalence, Management, and Associated Factors of Obesity, Hypertension, and Diabetes in Tibetan Population Compared with China Overall

Tibetans’ life expectancy lags behind China’s average. Obesity and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) contribute to health disparity, but NCD patterns among Tibetans are unknown. To examine the prevalence, management, and associated factors for obesity, hypertension, and diabetes among Tibetans, compared with China’s average, we systematically searched PubMed and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases for studies between January 2010 and April 2021. Thirty-nine studies were included for systematic review, among thirty-seven that qualified for meta-analysis, with 115,403 participants. Pooled prevalence was 47.9% (95% CI 38.0–57.8) for overweight/obesity among adults (BMI ≥ 24 kg/m2) and 15.4% (13.7–17.2) among children using Chinese criteria, which are lower than the national rates of 51.2% and 19.0%, respectively. The estimate for hypertension (31.4% [27.1–35.7]) exceeded China’s average (27.5%), while diabetes (7.5% [5.2–9.8]) was lower than average (11.9%). Men had a higher prevalence of the three conditions than women. Residents in urban areas, rural areas, and Buddhist institutes had monotonically decreased prevalence in hypertension and diabetes. Awareness, treatment, and control rates for hypertension and diabetes were lower than China’s average. Urban residence and high altitude were consistent risk factors for hypertension. Limited studies investigated factors for diabetes, yet none exist for obesity. Tibetans have high burdens of obesity and hypertension. Representative and longitudinal studies are needed for tailored interventions. There are considerable variations in study design, study sample selection, and data-analysis methods, as well as estimates of reviewed studies.
Noise Reduction Technology for F/A-18 E/F Aircraft

This paper summarizes both experimental and computational research associated with efforts to produce aeroperformance efficient solutions for the reduction of noise for the F/A-18 E/F aircraft undergoing the Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP) mission. Acoustic measurements of baseline and suppressed 1/10’th scale model nozzle configurations at actual engine operating conditions are reported. The model studies have been conducted along the engine cycle lines for the GEAE F414-400, F404-402, and F404-400 engines in preparation for full-scale aeroperformance and acoustic evaluation of the F404-400 engine at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in Lakehurst, N.J. The noise suppression concepts investigated are those that can be implemented with simple modifications to existing jet engine nozzle parts. These involve the following performance efficient concepts: corrugated internal divergent secondary flap seals and external divergent primary flap chevrons. Experimental measurements have indicated that at Military power, corrugated seals suppress noise by 4 dB relative to the baseline and 2 dB by chevrons. The results with corrugated seals also showed significant reduction in plume Infrared emission. Model-scale computations indicate that all concepts reduce the jet flow turbulent kinetic energy. Based on these predictions and the JET3D code of NASA LaRC, it is shown that the turbulent exhaust flow with suppression concept deployed leads to reduction of noise with minimal performance penalty. The predictions actually show performance enhancement when internal corrugations are utilized.
Transient Stability Improvement of Multi-Machine Power System with Large-Capacity Battery Systems

An emergency control has been applied to power systems to avoid cascading outages by making the best use of existing equipment under severe fault conditions. Battery energy storage system (BESS) is one of the attractive equipment for the emergency control according to its growing installed capacity in the current grid. This paper investigates an effective use of BESS for transient stability improvement, and proposes a novel control scheme using wide-area information. The proposed control scheme adopts two stability indices, the energy function and rotor speed of the critical machine, to make it applicable to multi-machine power systems. Besides, it can control active and reactive power injection of the BESS coordinately to make the best use of its converter capacity for the stability enhancement. Digital simulations are conducted on the 32-machine meshed system with multiple BESSs. The results demonstrate that the BESSs controlled by the proposed method can improve the first swing stability and the system damping, and it is made clear how they improve the transient stability of the multi-machine power system. In addition, an impact of the reactive power control on the bus voltages around the installation sites is investigated to discuss a preferable way of their installation.