Prevalence and Contributing Factors of Orthostatic Hypotension in the Cardiology Department of the CHU Ignace Deen in Conakry

Introduction: Orthostatic Hypotension (OH) is a frequent situation during consultation in hypertensive patients. The prevalence in the general population increases with age and it is recommended to systematically search for it in patients with multiple comorbidities. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of orthostatic hypotension;describe their socio- demographic profile, the various clinical and paraclinical aspects and the predisposing factors of orthostatic hypotension in treated hypertensives, controlled or not. Method: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study, from January 2 to June 30, 2022 in the cardiology department of the Ignace Deen National Hospital. Included in this study were all patients who presented with orthostatic hypotension under antihypertensive treatment, regardless of age and sex, and who agreed to participate in the study. The non-inclusion criteria were hypertensive patients without OH and those who had not agreed to participate in the study. Each patient had blood pressure and heart rate measured in the supine position at room temperature and with an empty bladder. Then the measurement is taken again three (3) minutes after the switch to orthostatism. We retained the diagnosis of OH if the SBP drops by at least 20 mmHg and/or the PAD by at least 10 mmHg three (3) min after the transition to orthostatism. Our data obtained were analyzed in the Epi-info 7.4.0 software. Results: During our study period, we investigated 385 presented with OH, 12.2%. The mean age of the patients was 60.83 years ± 10.01 years and hypertensive patients, 47 of whom the M/F sex ratio was 0.81. In our study, blood pressure was not controlled in 36.2% of our patients with a predominance of grade 3 hypertension, a rate of 55.32%. Renal failure, anemia, heart failure and stroke were the main comorbidities associated with the occurrence of HO. The most incriminated factors were age with a frequency of 74.47%, followed by obesity at 44.68% and diabetes at 27.66%. BP was normally controlled with a rate of 68.8% in treated hypertensive patients with OH. It is found much more in patients using triple therapy, a rate of 61.71%. Conclusion: The prevalence of OH is high in our department. It is found much more in patients using triple therapy. The most incriminated factors were age followed by obesity and diabetes.

Factors driving surface deformations in plain area of eastern Zhengzhou City,China

With the rapid socio-economic development and urban expansion,land subsidence has emerged as a major environmental issue,impeding the high-quality development of the plain area in eastern Zhengzhou City,Henan Province,China.However,effective prevention and control of land subsidence in this region have been challenging due to the lack of comprehensive surface deformations monitoring and the quantitative analysis of the factors driving these deformations.In order to accurately identify the dominant factor driving surface deformations in the study area,this study utilized the Persistent Scattered Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar(PS-InSAR)technique to acquire the spatio-temporal distribution of surface deformations from January 2018 to March 2020.The acquired data was verified using leveling data.Subsequently,GIS spatial analysis was employed to investigate the responses of surface deformations to the driving factors.The findings are as follows:Finally,the geographical detector model was utilized to quantify the contributions of the driving factors and reveal the mechanisms of their interactions.The findings are as follows:(1)Surface deformations in the study area are dominated by land subsidence,concentrated mainly in Zhongmu County,with a deformation rate of−12.5–−37.1 mm/a.In contrast,areas experiencing surface uplift are primarily located downtown,with deformation rates ranging from 0 mm to 8 mm;(2)Groundwater level,lithology,and urban construction exhibit strong spatial correlations with cumulative deformation amplitude;(3)Groundwater level of the second aquifer group is the primary driver of spatially stratified heterogeneity in surface deformations,with a contributive degree of 0.5328.The contributive degrees of driving factors are significantly enhanced through interactions.Groundwater level and the cohesive soil thickness in the second aquifer group show the strongest interactions in the study area.Their total contributive degree increases to 0.5722 after interactions,establishing them as the primary factors influencing surface deformation patterns in the study area.The results of this study can provide a theoretical basis and scientific support for precise prevention and control measures against land subsidence in the study area,as well as contributing to research on the underlying mechanisms.

The Contribution Margin due to a Limiting Factor in the Presence of Several Sales Options: Actuality Is Not Always As It Appears at the Beginning of the Analysis

The analysis of company data useful for economic decisions,if not interpreted in an overall view of the company situation,can lead to wrong conclusions.This is the case when a company has to choose between several sales options for one or more products in the presence of a limiting factor.The continuation of the investigation often denies the initial analysis.Not everything is as it appears,therefore,at the beginning of the deepening of the data useful for economic decisions.As it is well known,the choices of profitability concerning the planning of the sale of company products take place,at least in the majority of cases,through the determination of the contribution margin,i.e.the profitability margin connected to the individual goods/services sold by the companies(selling price net of variable costs).The contribution margin can be determined with four objectives:(1)Determination of the yield of the single product,net of variable costs only.In this case,the margin defines unitary,from net product yield to unitary contribution margin.(2)Determination of the return on total sales of an individual product,net of variable costs.In this hypothesis,reference is made to the first level(or gross)contribution margin.(3)Determination of the ability of the individual product to contribute to the coverage of fixed costs common to the company.This margin is determined net of special product variable and fixed costs.This aggregate is defined as a Level II(or semi-gross)margin.(4)Determination of the useful value in the planning choices in case of presence of scarce productive factors.In this case,it must identify the so-called unitary margin for low factor.Here we will only deal with the problem of the use of the contribution margin in the presence of rare factors.To complete the analysis,below are some very brief considerations regarding,respectively,the unitary,level I,and level II contribution margin in order to better understand where the problem of the most convenient choice of income is located in the event of the presence of rare production factors,especially in an environment characterized by a plurality of sales options.

Impact of COVID-19 on Safety Performance for Motorcycles: Pre-and during-Pandemic Conditions

Florida has the highest number of motorcycle fatalities in the United States and contains the second largest population of registered motorcycles. The COVID-19 pandemic influenced the roads, traffic, and driving behavior in the continental United States. Motorcycle crashes decreased during the COVID-19 years (2020 and 2021) while the fatality rates increased. The purpose of this study is to 1) investigate motorcycle crashes before and during the Pandemic period to understand the impacts on motorcycle safety and contributing factors to the crash severity levels;2) develop the crash predictive model for different degrees of severity in motorcycle crashes in Florida. Florida statewide crash data were collected. T tests have been conducted to compare the contributing factors between two periods. The injury severities are significantly different among all five levels between those during normal period and the Pandemic period. A crash predictive model has been developed to determine the facts to injury severity levels for motorcycle crashes. A total of eight variables are found to significantly increase the injury severity levels for motorcycle crashes during the Pandemic period.

Distribution of heavy-metals in the Grand Canal(Hangzhou section)and its contributing factors

The Grand Canal (Hangzhou section), People's Republic of China, has been highly contaminated by heavy metals from both industrial and municipal sources since 1950s. This study investigated the distribution of heavy metals including As, Cr, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn. The results showed that these metals are largely accumulated in the top 0 3 meter layer of the river sediment.Despite the contamination, heavy metal concentrations in solution are increased in some locations only. The only exception is Zn whose concentrations are extremely high both in solution and in the top layer sediment. The top layer sediment appears to have reached almost its sorption capacity with respect to aqueous Zn. The extent of contamination is in the sequence of Zn>Cu>Pb>As>Cd. It is speculated that Cu distribution has been significantly affected by its binding to organic matter in the top layer sediment. Based on Pb distribution in both water and sediment, it is suggested that Pb transport in the canal is associated with colloids or particles suspended in water. The study showed that the top layer sediment in the Grand Canal serves as a sink to anthropogenic contaminants consisting of heavy metals as well as organic compounds.

Factors contributing to clinical picture and progression of Huntington's disease

Huntington’s disease（HD）is an autosomal dominant,monogenic,progressive,neurodegenerative and rare disease with a frequency of10 per 100,000 in the Caucasian population and occurring more rarely in other races（Squitieri et al.,1994）.HD is,nevertheless,one of the most frequently and extensively studied diseases of those caused by a dynamic mutation.The HD mutation is located on the short arm of the 4th chromosome within the HTT gene.

The audit expectation gap： A review of the contributing factors

The audit expectation gap is critical to the auditing profession because the greater the unfulfilled expectations from the public, the lower is the credibility, earning potential and prestige associated with the work of auditors. The aim of this paper is to uncover the causes of an audit expectation gap. It is revealed that the existence of an audit expectation gap is due to complicated nature of an audit function; conflicting role of auditors; retrospective evaluation of auditors＇ performance; time lag in responding to changing expectation; and self-regulation process of the auditing profession.

Vascular dysfunctions and platelet activations by arsenic: two major contributing factors to cardiovascular disease

Arsenic in drinking water is a worldwide health problem that is associated with cardiovascular disease, but the cause is currently unknown. In order to examine whether arsenic affects vasomotor tone in blood vessels, we investigated the effect of arsenic on agonist-induced vasorelaxation and vasoconstriction using the isolated rat aortic rings in in vitro organ bath system. Treatment with inorganic arsenite (AsⅢ) inhibited acetylcholine-induced relaxation of aortic rings by inhibiting production of nitric oxide in endothelium.

A Study of New Consumption from the Perspective of Mediatization:Essence, Contributing Factors, and Reinvention of Rules

Most of the existing literature on the emergence of new consumption and its essence is based on the discussion of micro consumption phenomena. This paper takes new consumption phenomena in the digital media-dominated polymedia environment as the object of study to review the theoretical history of “mediatization,” and explores new consumption’s emergence, essence, and related issues systematically through deductive reasoning. More specifically, this paper is to first interpret the mediatization theory and then analyze two dimensions(i.e., the formation of mediatized consumption and the resultant reinvention of practice rules) from the perspective of media affordances. On this basis, we conclude mediatized consumption’s essence, forms, and practice rules. This study indicates that new consumption is essentially mediatized consumption, which concerns “media-shaped consumption” and “consumption-shaped media,” and that new consumption has two representations;consumption-oriented media and banal consumption. Media affordances make new consumption fields human-oriented, connecting “people” and “things,” and are becoming a major contributor to the formation of mediatized consumption. Thus, the practice rules concerning “people, goods, and fields” in the new consumption sector are reinvented;the social interactions in the “middle region” are highlighted;the imaginative, narrative, and social characteristics of goods are emphasized;and the cross-field integration of consumption is realized.

Magnitude and Factors Contributing to Erectile Dysfunction among Diabetic Men Attending the Diabetic Clinic at Debre Tabor Comprehensive and Specialized, Hospital in North West, Ethiopia 2020, Institutional Based Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Erectile dysfunction, which is defined as difficult to attain and maintain an erectile function enough to permit sufficient sexual performance, is accepted to be a big problem especially among diabetic patients. Objective To assess the Magnitude and factors contributing to Erectile Dysfunction Among Diabetic men attending the diabetic clinic in Debre Tabor Comprehensive and Specialized hospital, North West Ethiopia. Methods: Hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted on 362 participants in Debre Tabor Comprehensive and Specialized Hospital from August - December 2020 using systematic random sampling technique. Data were analyzed with SPSS Version 23. Binary and multivariable logistic regressions were done to identify factors which were contributing to erectile dysfunction. P-value < 0.05 and the corresponding 95% CI of odds ratios were considered to declare the result as statistically significant. Results: Three hundred sixty-two diabetes patients participating in the study with the mean age being 44.4 ± 14.47 (range: 18 - 78) years were interviewed. The majority (59.7% with CI: 54.4:64.6) of the diabetes patients suffered from erectile dysfunction and 13.3% (95% CI 17.8% - 26.8%) were found to have severe erectile dysfunction. Bi-variable analysis showed duration of diabetes (>10 years), type of diabetes (type II), physical exercise, drinking alcohol, BMI, blood glucose, and blood pressure were associated with erectile dysfunction at 5% level (p ≤ 0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that duration of diabetes 10 years (AOR = 6.2, 95% CI: 2.78 - 13.85, p = 0.001), co-existing hypertension (AOR: 3.59, 95% CI: 1.58 - 8.19, p = 0.002), physically inactive (AOR = 2.87, 95% CI: 1.53 - 8.31, p = 0.003), unsafe level alcohol intake (AOR: 3.09;95% CI 1.45 - 6.59*, p = 0.003) and raised blood glucose (AOR: 15.26, 95% CI: 7.82 - 29.77, p = 0.004) were independent risk factors but no association was found with other variables. Conclusion: The magnitude of erectile dysfunction in this study population was 59.7% and associated with the type of diabetes;duration of diabetic, physical exercise, alcohol drinking, increase in blood pressure, and elevated blood glucose level were independently correlated with erectile dysfunction.

Factors contributing to myasthenic crisis after thymectomy-a multivariate analysis study

Objective To evaluate the risk factors of myasthenic crisis (MC) after thymectomy for myasthenia gravis (MG) . Methods A retrospective study was conducted in 84 patients with MG from July 1995 to December 2009. The following factors were evaluated: sex,age,history of preoperative myasthenic crisis,Ossermen classification, steroid hormones use and anticholinesterase drugs before operation,operation methods,operation time,thymoma,

An improved apparent permeability model considering full pore pressure range,variable intrinsic permeability and slippage coefficient

Although the slippage effect has been extensively studied,most of the previous studies focused on the impact of the slippage effect on apparent permeability within a low pore pressure range,resulting in the inability of matching the evolution of permeability in the remaining pressure range.In this paper,a new apparent permeability model that reveals the evolution of permeability under the combined action of effective stress and slippage in the full pore pressure range was proposed.In this model,both intrinsic permeability and slippage coefficient are stress dependent.Three experimental tests with pore pressure lower than 2 MPa and a test with pore pressure at about 10 MPa using cores from the same origin under constant confining stress and constant effective stress are conducted.By comparing experimental data and another apparent permeability model,we proved the fidelity of our newly developed model.Furthermore,the contribution factor of the slippage effect Rslip is used to determine the low pore pressure limit with significant slippage effect.Our results show that both narrow initial pore size and high effective stress increase the critical pore pressure.Finally,the evolutions of the slippage coefficient and the intrinsic permeability under different boundary conditions were analyzed.

Positive Research on China’s Economic Growth Quality——Analyze the Fluctuating Situation of the Factor Input and Aggregative Productivity

To analyze China’s fluctuating situation of the factor input and aggregative productivity is not only the main method to seek the source of the economic growth but also the main way to weigh the level of economic growth quality.As to economic growth ofa country,the improvementofthe productivity is extremely important.The growth of the output can be realized through two kinds of ways: increasing the quantity of factor input of or improving the efficiency of the input and output.There fore, the level of economic growth quality does not mainly depend on the amount of invested factor,but the importance of improving the productivity since resources are rare. The relative improvement of efficiency in use of the invested factor marks the economic growing quality.So,in order to understand the economic growth quality of China to some extent, it must analyze Chinese factor input and aggregative productivity. This is the main topic that this text will be probed into.

Risk Factor for Malnutrition in Children Aged 6 to 59 Months Hospitalized in a Pediatric Ward in the South of the Sahara

Malnutrition is a major public health problem in Mali, along with the country’s political and security instability. We initiated this work with the objective of determining the frequency as well as the risk factors favoring the occurrence of malnutrition in children aged 6 - 59 months hospitalized in the pediatrics department of the Gabriel Touré University Hospital in Bamako, country reference service to identify potential interventions to plan. A cross-sectional study was carried out over a period of 4 months. A bivariate logistic regression analysis allowed us to identify risk factors with degree of significance if p < 0.05. During the study period, 2888 children were hospitalized, including 348 aged 6 to 59 months, or a frequency of 12.04%. One in two children was malnourished, i.e. a frequency of 50%. It more frequently affected infants aged between 6 and 23 months with a frequency of 33.7%, with a hospital frequency of growth retardation which was 23% including 14.7% of severe form. The emaciation was 27% of which 18.7% were severe form. The underweight was 42.2% with 31% in severe form. We found the diet inequality in all malnourished and non-malnourished children. A bivariate analysis showed that children with an out-of-school mother have a 2.4-fold risk of being malnourished (OR = 2.425;CI = 1.9 - 4.2;p < 0.03). Also children from households with no stable income (non-salaried father) have twice the risk of children from a household with stable income (OR = 2.120;IC = 1.1 - 4.1;p < 0.002). Finally, inappropriate nutrients (early introduction of food and early weaning) have been strongly associated with the occurrence of malnutrition. The prevalence of malnutrition reflects the way children eat. Emphasis should be placed on nutritional education and financial stability in households.

Determinants of Anemia among Pregnant Women at Debre Tabor Comprehensive and Specialized Hospital

Background: Anemia is one of the most occurring nutritional deficiency problems in the world especially in Africa. It can be prevalent in women of reproductive age, particularly during pregnancy when it is often a contributory cause of maternal mortality. In our country Ethiopia, anemia prevalence is increased from 2011 to 2016 in all anemia categories. Even though scarce information is known about the problem in Ethiopia and studies related to the problem are not available at Debre Tabor comprehensive and specialized hospitals. Hence, we aimed to assess the prevalence and factors associated with anemia among pregnant women who are attending antenatal care at Debre Tabor Comprehensive and specialized hospitals. Methods: Institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from October 15 to November 15, 2020, with a sample size of 232 pregnant women participants selected using a systematic random sampling method. Laboratory determination of hemoglobin level was done at Anti-natal care follow-up. The data was entered into Epi info Version 7.2 and exported to SPSSS version 23 for analysis. Descriptive statistics using frequency and other summary statistics were used to present the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of women. Binary and multivariable logistic regression was done to identify factors associated with anemia using an odds ratio at 95% CI and p-value < 0.05 significance level. Result: The magnitude of anemia showed that 12.9% with 95% CI (9.4% - 17.7%). The mean age of the participants was 33 years with a range of 18 - 39 years. Rural residency (AOR: 2.82;95% CI: 1.02 - 4.87, p-0.001), multi-parity were (AOR: 3.12;95% CI: 2.43 - 7.56, p-0.045), previous malaria attack (AOR: 1.91;95% CI: 1.04 - 4.88, p-0.023), and having history of abortion (AOR: 2.10;95% CI: 1.18 - 6.79, p-0.014) were factors associated to anemia in pregnancy. Conclusion: This study found a relatively high magnitude of anemia among pregnant women. Rural residency, multi-parity, previous malaria attack, and having a history of abortion were found to be independent predictors of anemia in pregnancy.

A novel method for analyzing dominant oscillation mode based on improved EMD and signal energy algorithm

In this paper, a novel method that integrates the improved empirical mode decomposition （EMD） and signal energy algorithm is proposed to estimate the dominant oscillation parameters and corresponding mode shape. Firstly, the EMD with symmetrical extrema extension （SEE） is utilized to decompose the measured data from wide area measurement system （WAMS） into a finite set of intrinsic mode functions （1MFs）. Then, the signal energy algorithm is used to calculate the approximate oscillation parameters of the IMFs. The nodes involved the dominant oscillation mode are classified based on the calculated frequency and reasonable threshold. Furthermore, for the dominant oscillation mode, the IMF with maximum mean amplitude is defined as the reference. Next, the relative phases （RPs） between the reference IMF and other 1MFs are calculated in order to identify the negative and positive oscillation groups. According to the values of RPs, the coherent group and corresponding node contribution factor （NCF） can be identified, and the dominant approximate mode shape （AMS） can also be determined. The efficiency of the proposed approach is tested by applying it to synthetic signal and measured data from the simulation model.

Synergistic impacts of anthropogenic and biogenic emissions on summer surface O_3 in East Asia

A factor separation technique and an improved regional air quality model （RAQM） were applied to calculate synergistic contributions of anthropogenic volatile organic compounds （AVOCs）,biogenic volatile organic compounds （BVOCs） and nitrogen oxides （NOx） to daily maximum surface O3（O3DM） concentrations in East Asia in summer （June to August 2000）.The summer averaged synergistic impacts of AVOCs and NOx are dominant in most areas of North China,with a maximum of 60 ppbv,while those of BVOCs and NOx are notable only in some limited areas with high BVOC emissions in South China,with a maximum of 25 ppbv.This result implies that BVOCs contribute much less to summer averaged O3DM concentrations than AVOCs in most areas of East Asia at a coarse spatial resolution （1×1） although global emissions of BVOCs are much greater than those of AVOCs.Daily maximum total contributions of BVOCs can approach 20 ppbv in North China,but they can reach 40 ppbv in South China,approaching or exceeding those in some developed countries in Europe and North America.BVOC emissions in such special areas should be considered when O3 control measures are taken.Synergistic contributions among AVOCs,BVOCs and NOx significantly enhance O3 concentrations in the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan region and decrease them in some areas in South China.Thus,the total contributions of BVOCs to O3DM vary significantly from day to day and from location to location.This result suggests that O3 control measures obtained from episodic studies could be limited for long-term applications.

Investigation on occupant injury severity in rear-end crashes involving trucks as the front vehicle in Beijing area, China

Purpose： Rear-end crashes attribute to a large portion of total crashes in China, which lead to many casualties and property damage, especially when involving commercial vehicles. This paper aims to investigate the critical factors for occupant injury severity in the specific rear-end crash type involving trucks as the front vehicle （W）. Methods： This paper investigated crashes occurred from 2011 to 2013 in Beijing area, China and selected 100 qualified cases i.e., rear-end crashes involving trucks as the FV. The crash data were supplemented with interviews from police officers and vehicle inspection. A binary logistic regression model was used to build the relationship between occupant injury severity and corresponding affecting factors. More- over, a multinomial logistic model was used to predict the likelihood of fatal or severe injury or no injury in a rear-end crash. Results： The results provided insights on the characteristics of driver, vehicle and environment, and the corresponding influences on the likelihood of a rear-end crash. The binary logistic model showed that drivers＇ age, weight difference between vehicles, visibility condition and lane number of road signifi- cantly increased the likelihood for severe injury of rear-end crash. The multinomial logistic model and the average direct pseudo-elasticity of variables showed that night time, weekdays, drivers from other provinces and passenger vehicles as rear vehicles significantly increased the likelihood of rear drivers being fatal. Conclusion： All the abovementioned significant factors should be improved, such as the conditions of lighting and the layout of lanes on roads. Two of the most common driver factors are drivers＇ age and drivers＇ original residence. Young drivers and outsiders have a higher injury severity. Therefore it is imperative to enhance the safety education and management on the young drivers who steer heavy duty truck from other cities to Beiiing on weekdays.

Application of a New Superposition CES Production Function Model

In the analysis on economic growth factors, calculating the contribution rate of influencing factor to economic growth using the CES production function model is a common and important research field. The CES production function model has a variety of forms, and the superposition CES production function model proposed in the paper is a new model. With regard to the model’s parameter estimation, the paper proposes a modified particle swarm optimization which has a fast convergence rate and a high precision. With regard to the calculation of factor contribution rate, the paper offers a new scientific calculation method with the superposition CES production function model. At last, the paper makes an empirical analysis on the contribution rate of Chinese economic growth factors and the result obtained consists with the reality.

Mutant epidermal growth factor receptor contributes to head and neck cancer growth and resistance to EGFR targeting

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and its expression levels correlate with decreased patient survival. Nonetheless, therapies aiming at blocking EGFR has shown limited efficacy in a proportion of patients with HNSCC in clinical trials. Sok et al. in a recent paper (Clin Cancer Res, 2006, 12:5064-5073 ) attempted to ascertain whether it is due to mutation of EGFR. As the most common form of mutation of EGFR seen in several other types of cancer is a truncation mutation,