324 research outputs found

    Factors Affecting the Rates of Childhood Poverty in Tennessee

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    Objective: The goal of this investigation is to analyze data to determine the factors that influence childhood poverty in Tennessee. Specifically, I am examining how child poverty has changed over the past years, as well as determining its associations with residential segregation (Black/white), food insecurity, teen births, low birthweights, child and infant mortalities, drug overdose deaths, access to healthy foods, premature deaths, and uninsured children. Data was used from the County Health Rankings website. Their data has been collected from surveys. Paired t-tests, unpaired t-tests, Pearson correlations, and stepwise linear regressions were performed. Results indicated that Tennessee has had decreased rates of child poverty from the years 2015 to 2020 and that Tennessee has lower rates of child poverty compared to Kentucky. It was found that infant mortality, residential segregation (Black/white), teen births, and food insecurity accounted for child poverty in Tennessee counties in 2020. Low birthweights, child mortality, and premature death correlated to child poverty in Tennessee. However, limited access to healthy foods, uninsured children, and drug overdose deaths did not demonstrate a correlation to child poverty in Tennessee counties. The identification of the associated risk factors to child poverty is important because it can be used to implement direct resources and policies to reduce the number of children living in poverty in Tennessee

    A Novel Approach for Arabic Text Steganography Based on the "BloodGroup" Text Hiding Method

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    Steganography is the science of hiding certain messages (data) in groups of irrelevant data possibly of other form. The purpose of steganography is covert communication to hide the existence of a message from an intermediary. Text Steganography is the process of embedding secret message (text) in another text (cover text) so that the existence of secret message cannot be detected by a third party. This paper presents a novel approach for text steganography using the Blood Group (BG) method based on the behavior of blood group. Experimentally it is found that the proposed method got good results in capacity, hiding capacity, time complexity, robustness, visibility, and similarity which shows its superiority as compared to most several existing methods

    The case for early use of rapid whole-genome sequencing in management of critically ill infants: late diagnosis of Coffin-Siris syndrome in an infant with left congenital diaphragmatic hernia, congenital heart disease, and recurrent infections.

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    Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) results from incomplete formation of the diaphragm leading to herniation of abdominal organs into the thoracic cavity. CDH is associated with pulmonary hypoplasia, congenital heart disease, and pulmonary hypertension. Genetically, it is associated with aneuploidies, chromosomal copy-number variants, and single gene mutations. CDH is the most expensive noncardiac congenital defect. Management frequently requires implementation of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which increases management expenditures 2.4-3.5-fold. The cost of management of CDH has been estimated to exceed $250 million per year. Despite in-hospital survival of 80%-90%, current management is imperfect, as a great proportion of surviving children have long-term functional deficits. We report the case of a premature infant prenatally diagnosed with CDH and congenital heart disease, who had a protracted and complicated course in the intensive care unit with multiple surgical interventions, including postcardiac surgery ECMO, gastrostomy tube placement with Nissen fundoplication, tracheostomy for respiratory failure, recurrent infections, and developmental delay. Rapid whole-genome sequencing (rWGS) identified a de novo, likely pathogenic, c.3096_ 3100delCAAAG (p.Lys1033Argfs*32) variant in ARID1B, providing a diagnosis of Coffin-Siris syndrome. Her parents elected palliative care and she died later that day

    Examining the influence of intermediaries in facilitating e-government adoption: an empirical investigation

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    YesThe adoption and diffusion of electronic government is often impeded by many social and individual factors relating to citizens. In this respect, intermediaries have emerged as a new model for delivering e-government services to overcome such obstacles. This study aims to examine the role of intermediaries in facilitating e-government adoption and diffusion using a survey based empirical study of 502 participants in Madinah City in Saudi Arabia. An extended UTAUT model is used as the theoretical basis utlising trust in the Internet and Intermediaries. The results of this study show that there are significant relationships among the factors that influence intention to use e-government, namely, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and trust of intermediary. In addition, the findings show that there is a significant relationship between facilitating conditions and usage behaviour proving that intermediaries can influence adoption of e-government services

    Evaluation the effect of high and low viscosity Nano-hydroxylapatite gel in repairing of an induced critical-size tibial bone defect in dogs: Radiolographical study

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    Many types of bioactive materials are categorized as bone tissue substitutes for reconstruction and regeneration of bone defects, such as nano-hydroxyapatite. The objective of the present study was to radiologically evaluate the bone healing process in experimentally induced tibial defects in dogs treated with two different viscosity concentrations of nano-hydroxyapatite gel. Twelve adult, healthy Mongrel dogs were included. A critical size bone defect of 3–0.7 cm was induced surgically in the lateral border of the tibial bone of the right limb of all dogs enrolled in this study. The dogs were then categorized into two treatment groups: Group 1 (6 dogs): The defect was filled with prepared hydroxyapatite nanogel at a concentration of 33%, and Group 2 (6 dogs) hydroxyapatite nanogel at a concentration of 24% was used as a filling material. The healing process of the tibial defect and associated clinical and radiolographical findings were recorded in all studied groups at 30 and 60 days postoperatively. The results of the current study showed complete healing of the induced defect in the absence of any signs of pain or discomfort. Radiographically, there was an increase in radiographic density in the first group at 60 days. There is continuing healing in the late stage of the bone segment with the surrounding area and a crossing callus with cortical irregularities, denoting a chronic periosteal reaction and a good healing process. In the second group, the defect was completely filled with cortical thickening, which appears denser, denoting a periosteal reaction. In conclusion, using hydroxyapatite nanogel with high viscosity as a bone substitute contributed to progressing bone tissue regeneration with good callus formation and giving perfect mechanical support to defective bone

    Antennas Performance Comparison of Multi-Bands for Optimal Outdoor and Indoor Environments Wireless Coverage

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    This paper aims to implement a wireless Wi-Fi network (Indoor and Outdoor) in order to cover the environment of the Oxford Institute (to learn languages and computer skills) in the best methods and lowest cost in order to provide Wi-Fi service for faculty members and all members of the administrative board and students. The realistic three-floor indoor and outdoor environments of the Institute were designed with Wireless InSite Package (WIP). In addition, emphasis was focus on the use of two types of transmitting devices (Directional and Omni-Directional). The aim of using these two devices is to determine which device is better to cover the Institute's environment well. In this work, a different frequency bands scenario was used to determine which band is suitable for coverage and stability of the wireless network. These bands are S-Band (2.4GHz), C-Band (5GHz), C-Band (10GHz), Ku-Band (15GHz), Ka-Band (28GHz), and MmWave (39GHz). Moreover, the focus has been on the most important basic parameters to determine the performance level of the two devices (Directional and Omni-Directional) as well as to determine the performance level of the wireless network. The most important of these parameters are Path Losses (LPath), Path Gain (GPath), Received Signal Strength (RSS), Strongest Received Power, Coverage Ratio (CR), and Received Signal Quality Ratio (RSQR). According to the results that emerged, it was observed that Omni-Directional antennas are much better than Directional antennas, especially in NLOS (None-Line-of-Sight) regions. It was also noted that CR, LPath, and RSS at S-Band (2.4GHz) are much better than the rest of the bands, so that the CR and the RSQR at this band reach 83.2184% and 95.7383%, respectively. While at the MmWave-Band (39GHz), it reaches 31.0345% and 70.7937% respectively

    Neurofilament light chain in the vitreous humor of the eye

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    Background: Neurofilament light chain (NfL) is a promising biomarker of neurodegeneration in the cerebrospinal fluid and blood. This study investigated the presence of NfL in the vitreous humor and its associations with amyloid beta, tau, inflammatory cytokines and vascular proteins, apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotypes, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores, systemic disease, and ophthalmic diseases. / Methods: This is a single-site, prospective, cross-sectional cohort study. Undiluted vitreous fluid (0.5–1.0 mL) was aspirated during vitrectomy, and whole blood was drawn for APOE genotyping. NfL, amyloid beta (AΞ²), total Tau (t-Tau), phosphorylated Tau (p-Tau181), inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and vascular proteins in the vitreous were quantitatively measured by immunoassay. The main outcome measures were the detection of NfL levels in the vitreous humor and its associations with the aforementioned proteins. Linear regression was used to test the associations of NfL with other proteins, APOE genotypes, MMSE scores, and ophthalmic and systemic diseases after adjustment for age, sex, education level, and other eye diseases. / Results: NfL was detected in all 77 vitreous samples. NfL was not found to be associated with ophthalmic conditions, APOE genotypes, MMSE scores, or systemic disease (p > 0.05). NfL levels were positively associated with increased vitreous levels of AΞ²40 (p = 7.7 × 10βˆ’5), AΞ²42 (p = 2.8 × 10βˆ’4), and t-tau (p = 5.5 × 10βˆ’7), but not with p-tau181 (p = 0.53). NfL also had significant associations with inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-15 (IL-15, p = 5.3 × 10βˆ’4), IL-16 (p = 2.2 × 10βˆ’4), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP1, p = 4.1 × 10βˆ’4), and vascular proteins such as vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (VEGFR1, p = 2.9 × 10βˆ’6), Vegf-C (p = 8.6 × 10βˆ’6), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1, p = 5.0 × 10βˆ’4), Tie-2 (p = 6.3 × 10βˆ’4), and intracellular adhesion molecular-1 (ICAM-1, p = 1.6 × 10βˆ’4). / Conclusion: NfL is detectable in the vitreous humor of the eye and significantly associated with amyloid beta, t-tau, and select inflammatory and vascular proteins in the vitreous. Additionally, NfL was not associated with patients’ clinical eye condition. Our results serve as a foundation for further investigation of NfL in the ocular fluids to inform us about the potential utility of its presence in the eye
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