Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prospective Comparison of Liver Stiffness Measurements between Two Point Shear Wave Elastography Methods: Virtual Touch Quantification and Elastography Point Quantification

Objective To prospectively compare technical success rate and reliable measurements of virtual touch quantification (VTQ) elastography and elastography point quantification (ElastPQ), and to correlate liver stiffness (LS) measurements obtained by the two elastography techniques. Materials and Methods Our study included 85 patients, 80 of whom were previously diagnosed with chronic liver disease. The technical success rate and reliable measurements of the two kinds of point shear wave elastography (pSWE) techniques were compared by χ2 analysis. LS values measured using the two techniques were compared and correlated via Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Spearman correlation coefficient, and 95% Bland-Altman limit of agreement. The intraobserver reproducibility of ElastPQ was determined by 95% Bland-Altman limit of agreement and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results The two pSWE techniques showed similar technical success rate (98.8% for VTQ vs. 95.3% for ElastPQ, p = 0.823) and reliable LS measurements (95.3% for VTQ vs. 90.6% for ElastPQ, p = 0.509). The mean LS measurements obtained by VTQ (1.71 ± 0.47 m/s) and ElastPQ (1.66 ± 0.41 m/s) were not significantly different (p = 0.209). The LS measurements obtained by the two techniques showed strong correlation (r = 0.820); in addition, the 95% limit of agreement of the two methods was 27.5% of the mean. Finally, the ICC of repeat ElastPQ measurements was 0.991. Conclusion Virtual touch quantification and ElastPQ showed similar technical success rate and reliable measurements, with strongly correlated LS measurements. However, the two methods are not interchangeable due to the large limit of agreement.
Shape sensitive geometric permutations

We prove that a set of <i>n</i> unit balls in <i>R<sup>d</sup></i> admits at most <i>four</i> distinct geometric permutations, or line transversals, thus settling a long-standing conjecture in combinatorial geometry. The constant bound significantly improves upon the &THgr;(<i>n</i><sup><i>d</i>-1</sup>) bound for the balls of arbitrary radii. Intrigued by this large gap between the two bounds, we also investigate how the number of geometric permutations varies as a function of shape, size, and spacing of objects. Our results include a tight bound of 2<sup><i>d</i>-1</sup> on the geometric permutations of <i>n</i> disjoint rectangular boxes in <i>R<sup>d</sup></i>, and a constant bound on the geometric permutations for disks in the plane when the ratio between the largest to smallest disks is bounded. An important consequence of the former theorem is that if the smallest bounding boxes containing a set of geometric objects in <i>R<sup>d</sup></i> are pairwise disjoint, then those objects admit only 2<sup><i>d</i>-1</sup> permutations, which is a significant improvement on the <i>&Ogr;</i>(<i>n</i><sup>2<i>d</i>-2</sup>) bound known for general convex objects.
The Long-Term Discount Rate

We study the term structure of interest rates in a two-tree exchange economy. Even when one of the trees is very small, interest rates are determined differently than in a single tree economy. Rather than always being flat, the yield curve is usually upward sloping but may be downward sloping. In the latter case, the slope predicts a future increase in consumption growth rates and lower future short-term interest rates. In addition, the short and the long interest rates are driven by different variables. As in the one-tree model, the short rate depends on risk aversion; however the long rate depends on consumption growth and volatility, but \emph{not} on the representative investor's risk aversion. Therefore, our results provide a resolution of the risk-free rate puzzle, and demonstrate the fragility of the one-tree model.
Simple classification into large topic ontology of web documents

The paper presents an approach to classifying Web documents into large topic ontology. The main emphasis is on having a simple approach appropriate for handling a large ontology and providing it with enriched data by including additional information on the Web page context obtained from the link structure of the Web. The context is generated from the in-coming and out-going links of the Web document we want to classify (the target document), meaning that for representing a document we use, not only text of the document itself, but also the text from the documents pointing to the target document, as well as the text from the documents the target document is pointing to. The idea is that providing enriched data is compensating for the simplicity of the approach while keeping it efficient and capable of handling large topic ontology.
TRANSLATION AS A METHOD IN TEACHING ESP: AN INDUCTIVE THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF LITERATURE

Using translation in ESP teaching and learning is an important issue but it has been very scarcely researched so far because of the negative connotations with the grammar-translation method. But since the last decade of the 20th century, revival of interest in the use of translation and use of L1 in foreign language teaching has been noticeable. Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to analyse academic publications on the use of translation (and L1) in the ESP teaching and learning in order to see what aspects are raised by researchers and practitioners as regards the efficiency of translation as a teaching method in ESP classes in higher education. The objectives of this paper are: (1) to see what important and telling themes are evident in the selected academic publications, and (2) to analyse the attitudes of the authors of the papers towards using translation as a supplementary teaching method in teaching/learning ESP. For this paper, inductive thematic analysis has been chosen as a useful qualitative analytic method (Brown and Clarke 2006). The data corpus for this paper (14 quality papers) has been collected by conducting a systematic literature search of two academic online databases: EBSCO Academic Search Complete and Web of Science. Initially, emerging themes have been grouped under two headings – learner needs and teaching practices – and elaborated further on as specific themes: defining learner profile, course design, translation as a communicative activity, focusing on accuracy, facilitating understanding, defining specific tasks, consolidating particular skills, balancing the amount of translation in the ESP classroom. The inductive thematic analysis of the academic publications done for this paper shows that translation-based activities are useful for the ESP learner and that translation is an efficient ESP teaching and learning method if the amount of translation done is well-balanced, activities are well-planned and the learner profile and needs in each specific course well-analysed. Translation activities consolidate reading, writing, speaking and listening skills of the ESP learners, facilitate communication and comprehension of a specific field, develop analytic skills and teach to focus on accuracy.
Learning Strategic Depth: Implications of Turkey's New Foreign Policy Doctrine*

Turkey stands at the threshold of all major trends within its neighborhood and is actively seeking to harness the assets that its geography and historical experiences afford it. As a staunch ally of the United States which has traditionally privileged its “strategic partnership,” Turkey’s global role has shifted from being a Western geo-strategic military deterrent to an exemplary model of a Muslim-majority, secular, and democratic nation. This article offers an
A novel 180° hybrid ring coupler proposal and realization

The 180° hybrid coupler are among the most fundamental building blocks in radio frequency circuits and microwave integrated circuits. These couplers can be found in many applications, including dividers and combiners, modulators and demodulators, balanced mixers, balanced power amplifiers and in the feed network of antenna arrays. The 180° hybrid couplers exhibit some advantages, such as its simple design methodology and a high degree of isolation between the input ports. It also has serious drawbacks, such as a relatively narrow bandwidth and a large occupied area. In this paper a novel hybrid coupler was proposed to cure the problems of conventional hybrid ring coupler such as narrow bandwidth and large area consumption. The main idea of the proposed hybrid coupler is suspended microstrip line. First the proposed hybrid coupler was designed, simulated, realized and measured. As result, proposed hybrid coupler has more bandwidth and smaller than conventional hybrid ring coupler.
The Extent to Which Emotional Intelligence, Locus of Control and Self-Efficacy Contribute to the Perception of Online Learning.

Online learning is now entrenched in the mainstream educational system and continues to provide educational opportunities for millions of Americans. However, as online education increases, there is a need to improve the quality of education. This dissertation examines the extent to which emotional intelligence, locus of control, and selfefficacy contribute to the perception of online learning. The applied research methodology was a quantitative cross-correlational design. The statistical population was 156 online students selected from a Midwest university. A survey containing 21 items with Likert-type responses was developed to assess students' overall perceptions of online learning. The research questions for this study integrated emotional intelligence, locus of control, and self-efficacy concepts. The result indicated a statistically significant correlation for males and is inconsistent with extant literature that has examined students' perception of online learning. Additionally, study findings indicated a statistically significant relationship among emotional intelligence, locus of control, and self-efficacy with regard to students’ online learning. This will help learners cultivate emotional intelligence, locus of control, and self-efficacy, and importance of competence in students' success in online learning.
The Impact of Emergency Physician Seniority on Clinical Efficiency, Emergency Department Resource Use, Patient Outcomes, and Disposition Accuracy

AbstractThe ability of emergency physicians (EPs) to continue within the specialty has been called into question due to high stress in emergency departments (EDs). The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of EP seniority on clinical performance.A retrospective, 1-year cohort study was conducted across 3 EDs in the largest health-care system in Taiwan. Participants included 44,383 adult nontrauma patients who presented to the EDs. Physicians were categorized as junior, intermediate, and senior EPs according to ⩽5, 6 to 10, and >10 years of ED work experience. The door-to-order and door-to-disposition time were used to evaluate EP efficiency. Emergency department resource use indicators included diagnostic investigations of electrocardiography, plain film radiography, laboratory tests, and computed tomography scans. Discharge and mortality rates were used as patient outcomes. Disposition accuracy was evaluated by ED revisit rate.Senior EPs were found to have longer door-to-order (11.3, 12.4 minutes) and door-to-disposition (2, 1.7 hours) time than nonsenior EPs in urgent and nonurgent patients (junior: 9.4, 10.2 minutes and 1.7, 1.5 hours; intermediate: 9.5, 10.7 minutes and 1.7, 1.5 hours). Senior EPs tended to order fewer electrocardiograms, radiographs, and computed tomography scans in nonurgent patients. Adjusting for age, sex, disease acuity, and medical setting, patients treated by junior and intermediate EPs had higher mortality in the ED (adjusted odd ratios, 1.5 and 1.6, respectively). Compared with EPs with ⩽10 years of work experience, senior EPs take more time for order prescription and patient disposition, use fewer diagnostic investigations, particularly for nonurgent patients, and are associated with a lower ED mortality rate.
Filaments in Galactic Winds Driven by Young Stellar Clusters

The starburst galaxy M82 shows a system of Hα-emitting filaments that extend to each side of the galactic disk. We model these filaments as the result of the interaction between the winds from a distribution of super stellar clusters (SSCs). We first derive the condition necessary for producing a radiative interaction between the cluster winds (a condition that is met by the SSC distribution of M82). We then compute three-dimensional (3D) simulations for SSC wind distributions that satisfy the condition for a radiative interaction, as well as for distributions that do not satisfy this condition. We find that the highly radiative models, which result from the interaction of high-metallicity cluster winds, produce a structure of Hα-emitting filaments that qualitatively agrees with the observations of M82, while the nonradiative SSC wind interaction models do not produce filamentary structures. Therefore, our criterion for radiative interactions (which depends on the mass-loss rate, the terminal velocity of the SSC winds, and the mean separation between the SSCs) can be used to predict whether or not an observed galaxy should have associated Hα-emitting filaments.
Connected components of spaces of surface group representations II

In [HL1], we discussed the connected components of the space of surface group representations for any compact connected semisimple Lie group and any closed compact (orientable or nonorientable) surface. In this sequel, we generalize the results in [HL1] in two directions: we consider general compact connected Lie groups, and we consider all compact surfaces, including the ones with boundaries. We also interpret our results in terms of moduli spaces of flat connections over compact surfaces.
Land cover/land use change in semi-arid Inner Mongolia: 1992–2004

The semi-arid grasslands in Inner Mongolia (IM) are under increasing stress owing to climate change and rapid socio-economic development in the recent past. We investigated changes in land cover/land use and landscape structure between 1992 and 2004 through the analysis of AVHRR and MODIS derived land cover data. The scale of analysis included the regional level (i.e. the whole of IM) as well as the level of the dominant biomes (i.e. the grassland and desert). We quantified proportional change, rate of change and the changes in class-level landscape metrics using the landscape structure analysis program FRAGSTATS. The dominant land cover types, grassland and barren, 0.47 and 0.27 million km2, respectively, have increased proportionally. Cropland and urban land use also increased to 0.15 million km2 and 2197 km2, respectively. However, the results further indicated increases in both the homogeneity and fragmentation of the landscape. Increasing homogeneity was mainly related to the reduction in minority cover types such as savanna, forests and permanent wetlands and increasing cohesion, aggregation index and clumpy indices. Conversely, increased fragmentation of the landscape was based on the increase in patch density and the interspersion/juxtaposition index (IJI). It is important to note the socio-economic growth in this fragile ecosystem, manifested by an increasing proportion of agricultural and urban land use not just at the regional level but also at the biome level in the context of regional climate change and increasing water stress.
Identification of a Campylobacter jejuni-secreted protein required for maximal invasion of host cells

The food‐borne pathogen Campylobacter jejuni is dependent on a functional flagellum for motility and the export of virulence proteins that promote maximal host cell invasion. Both the flagellar and non‐flagellar proteins exported via the flagellar type III secretion system contain a sequence within the amino‐terminus that directs their export from the bacterial cell. Accordingly, we developed a genetic screen to identify C. jejuni genes that encode a type III secretion amino‐terminal sequence that utilizes the flagellar type III secretion system of Yersinia enterocolitica and a phospholipase reporter (yplA). We screened a library of 321 C. jejuni genes and identified proteins with putative type III secretion amino‐terminal sequences. One gene identified by the screen was Cj1242. We generated a mutation in Cj1242, and performed growth rate, motility, secretion and INT 407 cell adherence and internalization assays. The C. jejuni Cj1242 mutant was not altered in growth rate or motility when compared with the wild‐type strain, but displayed an altered secretion profile and a reduction in host cell internalization. Based on the phenotype of the C. jejuni Cj1242 mutant, we designated the protein Campylobacter invasion antigen C (CiaC). Collectively, our findings indicate that CiaC is a potentially important virulence factor.
The Neurobiology of Pain, Affect and Hypnosis

Abstract Recent neuroimaging studies have used hypnotic suggestion to distinguish the brain structures most associated with the sensory and affective dimensions of pain. This paper reviews studies that delineate the overlapping brain circuits involved in the processing of pain and emotions, and their relationship to autonomic arousal. Also examined are the replicated findings of reliable changes in the activation of specific brain structures and the deactivation of others associated with the induction of hypnosis. These differ from those parts of the brain involved in response to hypnotic suggestions. It is proposed that the activation of a portion of the prefrontal cortex in response to both hypnotic suggestions for decreased pain and to positive emotional experience might indicate a more general underlying mechanism. Great potential exists for further research to clarify the relationships among individual differences in reactivity to pain, emotion, and stress, and the possible role of such differences in the development of chronic pain.
Future research into the treatment of vitiligo: where should our priorities lie? Results of the vitiligo priority setting partnership

Background Vitiligo is the most frequent depigmentation disorder of the skin and is cosmetically and psychologically devastating. A recently updated Cochrane systematic review ‘Interventions for vitiligo’ showed that the research evidence for treatment of vitiligo is poor, making it difficult to make firm recommendations for clinical practice.
Psychological Health Before, During, and After an Economic Crisis: Results from Indonesia, 1993-2000

The 1997 Indonesian financial crisis resulted in severe economic dislocation and political upheaval, and the detrimental consequences for economic welfare, physical health, and child education have been established in several studies. The crisis also adversely impacted the psychological well-being of the Indonesian population. Comparing responses of the same individuals interviewed before and after the crisis, we document substantial increases in several different dimensions of psychological distress among male and female adults across the entire age distribution. In addition, the imprint of the crisis can be seen in the differential impacts of the crisis on low education groups, the rural landless, and residents in those provinces that were most affected by the crisis. Elevated levels of psychological distress persist even after indicators of economic well-being such as household consumption had returned to pre-crisis levels, suggesting the deleterious effects of the crisis on the psychological well-being of the Indonesian population may be longer lasting than the impacts on economic well-being.
Cost-effectiveness of traffic enforcement: case study from Uganda

Background: In October 2004, the Ugandan Police department deployed enhanced traffic safety patrols on the four major roads to the capital Kampala. Objective: To assess the costs and potential effectiveness of increasing traffic enforcement in Uganda. Methods: Record review and key informant interviews were conducted at 10 police stations along the highways that were patrolled. Monthly data on traffic citations and casualties were reviewed for January 2001 to December 2005; time series (ARIMA) regression was used to assess for a statistically significant change in traffic deaths. Costs were computed from the perspective of the police department in $US 2005. Cost offsets from savings to the health sector were not included. Results: The annual cost of deploying the four squads of traffic patrols (20 officers, four vehicles, equipment, administration) is estimated at $72,000. Since deployment, the number of citations has increased substantially with a value of $327 311 annually. Monthly crash data pre- and post-intervention show a statistically significant 17% drop in road deaths after the intervention. The average cost-effectiveness of better road safety enforcement in Uganda is $603 per death averted or $27 per life year saved discounted at 3% (equivalent to 9% of Uganda’s $300 GDP per capita). Conclusion: The costs of traffic safety enforcement are low in comparison to the potential number of lives saved and revenue generated. Increasing enforcement of existing traffic safety norms can prove to be an extremely cost-effective public health intervention in low-income countries, even from a government perspective.
Teaching Graduate and Undergraduate Research Methods

This article describes a departmental initiative designed to integrate the teaching of graduate and undergraduate sociology through research methodology and the completion of actual research projects. The goal was to develop a multilevel team approach within which faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates would view their work as part of a connected project. The authors describe the three central components of the multilevel approach: a newly required research seminar for graduate students, an approach to teaching research methods in a joint seminar of graduate and undergraduate students, and an approach to teaching undergraduate research methods that includes having graduate students model research techniques for undergraduates. The authors then assess each of these components based on course evaluations and additional data gathered from participants. The authors conclude with a series of suggestions about how this model might be expanded and developed further in their own and other institutional contexts.
Evaluation Results of a Teacher Professional Development Program in Greece on Gifted and Talented Children Education (GATCE)

According to research results, gifted students need early intervention processes. However, school administrators and teachers have limited knowledge of the identification of giftedness and the development of programs for the specific student population, especially in Greece. An eight-month training program was designed and implemented to meet the K-6th- grade teachers’ learning needs about gifted education in a school district in Central Greece. The objective of this study is (was) to evaluate the results of the in-service teachers’ professional development program on gifted and talented children’s Education (GATCE) in Greece and its impact to the participants. The sample comprised of 47 K-6th grade teachers, 2 trainers and 1 education consultant. The results showed that most of the participators were satisfied with the eight-month training and considered it would help them effectively integrating theory about gifted students’ education into their instruction. Study results also indicated that the majority of the participants were involved in relevant tasks regarding the development of their lesson plans and the implementation of activities in the classroom. Since the completion of the training, the participants worked in groups to enrich the national curriculum and to develop activities for their gifted students.