Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Donor Outcomes in Living Donor Liver Transplantation—Analysis of 275 Donors From a Single Centre in India

Background Live donor liver transplantation is the predominant form of liver transplantation in India and in most Asian countries. Donor outcome reports are an important source of information to be shared with prospective donors at the time of informed consent. This is the first donor outcome series from India. Methods Analysis of donor characteristics and morbidity of 275 live donors from a single large volume center is documented. Results Two hundred seventy-five patients donated from November 2009 to October 2014, 144 were women and 131 were men, 180 donated to adults and 95 donated to children. Right lobe donors were majority at 62.2% followed by left lateral segment 28%. Two thirds of the live donors did not have any morbidity; 114 complications were encountered in 85 patients. The complications were graded as per Clavien 5 tier grading and major morbidity (grade III b, grade IV grade V) was 4.36%. Postoperative biliary complication was seen in 3 donors. Conclusions This large single-center study is the first donor outcome report from India, and the results are comparable to other published donor series. Documentation and regular audit of donor outcomes is important to help improve the safety of donor hepatectomy and to provide a database for informed consent of prospective donors.
HMA Pavement Performance and Durability

It has long been argued that at densities higher than approximately 92 percent (air void contents lower than 8 percent), a hotmix asphalt mixture is impermeable to water. However, as densities become lower (air void contents higher) than this, small decreases in the density can yield exponential increases in permeability. The objectives of this study were to better understand the increases in hot-mix asphalt pavement performance and durability that can be gained by increasing the initial pavement density and to better quantify the inter-relationship among pavement density, permeability, and moisture-induced damage. The long-term performance and durability of four hot-mix asphalt mixtures at four different air void contents were evaluated with the dynamic modulus and beam fatigue apparatus. The mixtures differed in both aggregate size and gradation. In order to evaluate durability effects, performance tests were performed on unconditioned, moisture conditioned and ovenaged samples. The results indicate that density (air void content) is a significant factor in the performance and durability of hotmix asphalt mixtures. Its effects vary with aggregate size and gradation, but increases in mixture density (reductions in air voids content) produce improvements in the dynamic modulus (reduction of rutting potential) and fatigue life of a mixture. Further, the fatigue life appears to be less sensitive to density (air voids content) than to moisture damage.
Assessing the Life-Cycle Performance of Hydrogen Production via Biofuel Reforming in Europe

Currently, hydrogen is mainly produced through steam reforming of natural gas. However, this conventional process involves environmental and energy security concerns. This has led to the development of alternative technologies for (potentially) green hydrogen production. In this work, the environmental and energy performance of biohydrogen produced in Europe via steam reforming of glycerol and bio-oil is evaluated from a life-cycle perspective, and contrasted with that of conventional hydrogen from steam methane reforming. Glycerol as a by-product from the production of rapeseed biodiesel and bio-oil from the fast pyrolysis of poplar biomass are considered. The processing plants are simulated in Aspen Plus® to provide inventory data for the life cycle assessment. The environmental impact potentials evaluated include abiotic depletion, global warming, ozone layer depletion, photochemical oxidant formation, land competition, acidification and eutrophication. Furthermore, the cumulative (total and non-renewable) energy demand is calculated, as well as the corresponding renewability scores and life-cycle energy balances and efficiencies of the biohydrogen products. In addition to quantitative evidence of the (expected) relevance of the feedstock and impact categories considered, results show that poplar-derived bio-oil could be a suitable feedstock for steam reforming, in contrast to first-generation bioglycerol.
Serum Leptin Is a Biomarker of Malnutrition in Decompensated Cirrhosis

Background and Aims Malnutrition is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in cirrhosis. There is no consensus as to the optimal approach for identifying malnutrition in end-stage liver disease. The aim of this study was to measure biochemical, serologic, hormonal, radiographic, and anthropometric features in a cohort of hospitalized cirrhotic patients to characterize biomarkers for identification of malnutrition. Design In this prospective observational cohort study, 52 hospitalized cirrhotic patients were classified as malnourished (42.3%) or nourished (57.7%) based on mid-arm muscle circumference < 23 cm and dominant handgrip strength < 30 kg. Anthropometric measurements were obtained. Appetite was assessed using the Simplified Nutrition Appetite Questionnaire (SNAQ) score. Fasting levels of serum adipokines, cytokines, and hormones were determined using Luminex assays. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine features independently associated with malnutrition. Results Subjects with and without malnutrition differed in several key features of metabolic phenotype including wet and dry BMI, skeletal muscle index, visceral fat index and HOMA-IR. Serum leptin levels were lower and INR was higher in malnourished subjects. Serum leptin was significantly correlated with HOMA-IR, wet and dry BMI, mid-arm muscle circumference, skeletal muscle index, and visceral fat index. Logistic regression analysis revealed that INR and log-transformed leptin were independently associated with malnutrition. Conclusions Low serum leptin and elevated INR are associated with malnutrition in hospitalized patients with end-stage liver disease.
Bipolar vaporization, resection, and enucleation versus open prostatectomy: optimal treatment alternatives in large prostate cases?

OBJECTIVES The study compared the transurethral resection in saline (TURis), transurethral vaporization in saline (TUVis), bipolar plasma enucleation of the prostate (BPEP), and open prostatectomy (OP) in a single-center, prospective, randomized controlled clinical setting exclusively involving large prostate patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS During a 4½ year enrollment period, 320 cases of prostate volume over 80 mL, maximum flow rate (Qmax) below 10 mL/second, International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) over 19, or urinary retention were included in the trial and equally randomized in the four study arms. Patients were assessed preoperatively as well as at the 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up checkups using the IPSS, quality of life (QoL) score, Qmax, postvoiding residual urinary volume (PVR), and prostate-specific antigen (PSA). RESULTS Similar preoperative parameters were established in the four series. OP and BPEP were characterized by resembling operating times, while TURis and TUVis displayed prolonged surgical durations. TURis emphasized a substantially decreased mean resected tissue weight. TUVis showed the lowest mean hemoglobin level drop, followed by TURis and BPEP (equivalent results) and finally OP (highest bleeding). OP described the longest mean catheterization period and hospital stay, followed by TURis, and afterward by TUVis and BPEP (similar data). During the follow-up period, statistically equivalent IPSS, QoL, Qmax, and PVR outcomes were established for OP, BPEP, and TURis. TUVis displayed significantly smaller Qmax improvements, but similar other functional features. Significantly lower mean PSA levels were determined secondary to OP and BPEP when compared to bipolar resection and subsequently to vaporization. CONCLUSIONS OP and BPEP emphasized the highest surgical efficiency (prolonged postoperative recovery for OP), while TUVis displayed the lowest hemorrhagic risks. On the medium term, generally resembling functional outcomes were determined for the four techniques, with significantly decreased mean PSA values secondary to OP and BPEP.
Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma of the kidney with neuroendocrine differentiation: A case report with review of literature

Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (chRCC) is a distinctive type of malignant kidney tumor characterized by large cells with defined cell membrane. Primary renal neuroendocrine tumors (NET) are rare with morphology similar to NET at other sites. There are few case reports describing the coexistence of these 2 neoplasms within the same tumor mass. We describe a case of chRCC with neuroendocrine features in a 70-year-old male patient who presented with hematuria and right flank pain. The histological and immunohistochemical features of both components were characteristic with no overlapping features. The neuroendocrine element was associated with nodal metastasis.
Collaborative Professional Development of Mentor Teachers and Pre-Service Teachers in Relation to Technology Integration

This study examines the collaborative professional development (CPD) of three pairs of mentor teachers and pre-service teachers in a junior high school. Of particular focus is the integration of technology into instruction, by using technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) to evaluate professional development. A qualitative research method based on classroom observations and focus group interviews (FGIs) is adopted. Additionally, data obtained from instructional plans, video-recorded classroom observations and FGIs are analyzed using a constant-comparison analysis method. Analysis results indicate that mentor teachers adjust their instruction methods when they receive the support of pre-service teachers specifically by moving from presenting technological content knowledge (TCK) to constructing various TCK bases. The pre-service teachers constantly apply TCK and technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) to develop professionally, especially in TPACK-related technology integration concepts. Notably, the CPD program benefits pre-service teachers more than mentor teachers because the former actively seek more opportunities to apply TPACK than the latter, who simply exchange digital instructional materials.
A viscoelastic model of anelasticity of fluid saturated porous rocks

A simple model for porous rocks is proposed based on classification of pores as either crack‐like or sphere‐ or tube‐like. Analytic results are used for the strain of each class to obtain expressions for effective moduli. Attenuation results from fluid flow among cracks and pores, and depends on a characteristic frequency. The parameters in the model can be estimated or measured independently. The model gives a very reasonable interpratation laboratory data on sandstone, where attenuation is due to cracks with a narrow distribution of aspect ratios.
Code puzzle: ActionScript 2.0 learning application based on problem based learning approach

Learning programming is difficult especially for novice programmers. The rapid development of mobile technology capabilities generates a new way of teaching called mobile learning. Thus, the purpose of this research was to develop a mobile game on the topic ActionScript 2.0 based on the Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach. The development of this Android mobile application uses ADDIE model as the reference model and Adobe Flash CS6 as the programming software. The respondents were 10 postgraduate students enrolled in an Authoring System course, one of the compulsory courses for the Master of Educational Technology program at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) where this study took place. The data analysis was conducted using the quantitative study approach and involved a motivational survey. The motivational survey comprising 16 items in the questionnaire adopted the ARCS Model of Motivation by [14]. This study found that through the implementation of PBL in the mobile game, students agreed that mobile games motivate them in learning programming, with mean value of 4.28 and standard deviation of 0.649.
The Rehabilitation of Younger Stroke Patients

The young stroke population represents a significant rehabilitation challenge. When compared to older stroke patients, young patients are more often employed, caring for dependants, and rely ing on workrelated income. Although much less common than in older patients, stroke in young adults has an annual incidence rate from 6 to 20 per 100,000 individuals annually (Leys et al. 2002). For every 5 individuals who experience a stroke, 1 is under the age of 65 while 5% of all stroke patients are younger than 45 years old. This represents a significant number of patients with some unique rehabilitation needs (Dixon et al. 2007; Stone 2007). This chapter reviews current research pertaining to incidence, risk, etiology, rehabilitation, recovery and prognosis of stroke in younger patients. Additional topics relevant to the young stroke population are also featured: Return to work, family stress, institutionalization, patient perceptions of care, and future needs.
Exploring genetic associations with ceRNA regulation in the human genome

Abstract Competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) are RNA molecules that sequester shared microRNAs (miRNAs) thereby affecting the expression of other targets of the miRNAs. Whether genetic variants in ceRNA can affect its biological function and disease development is still an open question. Here we identified a large number of genetic variants that are associated with ceRNA's function using Geuvaids RNA-seq data for 462 individuals from the 1000 Genomes Project. We call these loci competing endogenous RNA expression quantitative trait loci or ‘cerQTL’, and found that a large number of them were unexplored in conventional eQTL mapping. We identified many cerQTLs that have undergone recent positive selection in different human populations, and showed that single nucleotide polymorphisms in gene 3΄UTRs at the miRNA seed binding regions can simultaneously regulate gene expression changes in both cis and trans by the ceRNA mechanism. We also discovered that cerQTLs are significantly enriched in traits/diseases associated variants reported from genome-wide association studies in the miRNA binding sites, suggesting that disease susceptibilities could be attributed to ceRNA regulation. Further in vitro functional experiments demonstrated that a cerQTL rs11540855 can regulate ceRNA function. These results provide a comprehensive catalog of functional non-coding regulatory variants that may be responsible for ceRNA crosstalk at the post-transcriptional level.
Effect of Penetration Rate on Insertion Force in Trabecular Bone Biopsy

Bone biopsy is a common procedure in bone disease diagnoses, therapies and research. In this procedure, bone biopsy needles are inserted into bone tissues. Although needle insertion into bone is often essential for the diagnosis of bone diseases, the hard tissue-needle interactions are not quantitatively understood. In this paper, we describe a quantitative assessment of forces involved in insertion of healthy trabecular bone using clinically applied Jamshidi CrownTM bone biopsy needles of gauge 8 (4-mm diameter). The measured forces were related to the insertion depths up to 25 mm and insertion rates of 1 mm/s to 5 mm/s. At the initial insertion stage, a clear linear force-depth relation was measured. With the increase of the insertion depth, the forces increased nonlinearly. In the final stage of insertion, the forces increased much more quickly at the lower insertion rate than that at the higher insertion rate. The maximum insertion force reached approximately 1000 N when the insertion depth reached 25 mm at the insertion rate of 1 mm/s.
Neural activity of the anterior insula in emotional processing depends on the individuals' emotional susceptibility

Differences in personality factors between individuals may manifest themselves with different patterns of neural activity while individuals process stimuli with emotional content. We attempted to verify this hypothesis by investigating emotional susceptibility (ES), a specific emotional trait of the human personality defined as the tendency to “experience feelings of discomfort, helplessness, inadequacy and vulnerability” after exposure to stimuli with emotional valence. By administering a questionnaire evaluating the individuals' ES, we selected two groups of participants with high and low ES respectively. Then, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate differences between the groups in the neural activity involved while they were processing emotional stimuli in an explicit (focusing on the content of the stimuli) or an incidental (focusing on spatial features of the stimuli, irrespectively of their content) way. The results showed a selective difference in brain activity between groups only in the explicit processing of the emotional stimuli: bilateral activity of the anterior insula was present in subjects with high ES but not in subjects with low ES. This difference in neural activity within the anterior insula proved to be purely functional since no brain morphological differences were found between groups, as assessed by a voxel‐based morphometry analysis. Although the role of the anterior insula in the processing of contexts perceived as emotionally salient is well established, the present study provides the first evidence of a modulation of the insular activity depending on the individuals' ES trait of personality. Hum Brain Mapp, 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Treatment outcomes of gemcitabine in refractory or recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer patients.

BACKGROUND To study the response rate (RR), progression-free survival (PFS) and toxicity profiles of recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients treated with gemcitabine. MATERIALS AND METHODS Recurrent EOC patients who were treated with gemcitabine between January 2000 and December 2013 at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine Vajira Hospital were identified and medical records were reviewed. Clinico-pathological features including data of gemcitabine treatment, response and toxicity were collected. RESULTS We identified 43 EOC patients who had gemcitabine treatment. All except one patient who did not receive any adjuvant treatment, had received platinum-based chemotherapy. Among these 42 patients, 31.0% had refractory cancer to first-line chemotherapy while 69.0% had recurrence with 48.8% being platinum- sensitive. The total cycles of gemcitabine used were 203 (median 4, range 2-9 cycles). Overall RR was 11.6%: 19% in platinum-sensitive vs 4.5% in platinum-resistant groups (p=0.158) and 42.9% in the patients having gemcitabine together with platinum vs 5.6% using gemcitabine alone (P=0.024). Median PFS was 3.6 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.73-4.49 months): 8.1 months (95% CI, 2.73-4.49 months) in combination regimen vs 3.2 months (95% CI, 2.01-4.42 months) in single regimen (p=0.077) and 8.1 months (95% CI, 4.73-11.48 months) with the gemcitabine combination vs 2.7 months (95% CI, 1.98-3.38 months) by single gemcitabine in platinum sensitive patients (P=0.007). Common toxicities were hematologic which were well tolerated and manageable. CONCLUSIONS Gemcitabine has modest activity in pre-treated EOC. A combination regimen had higher activity than single agent in platinum sensitive patients with a significant improvement in RR and PFS.
Parental Autonomy Support Predicts Academic Achievement Through Emotion-Related Self-Regulation and Adaptive Skills in Chinese American Adolescents

The present study challenges the popular notion that overly controlling or restrictive parenting is the primary pathway to academic achievement for Chinese Americans. Although traditional Chinese values require parents to make good choices for their children by supervising and asserting strict limits using guǎn (safeguarding) and jiao xun (demandingness of excellence), such parental duties do not preclude the use of autonomy support or noncoercive discipline to promote children’s academic success. In this study, we examined the processes or mechanisms underlying the linkages between parental autonomy support, emotion-related self-regulation, adaptive skills, and academic achievement in 92 Chinese American adolescents (mean age 16 years, SD 1.4) and their first-generation immigrant parents. Study results indicate that parental autonomy support and emotion-related self-regulation are both promotive factors in adaptive and academic competencies. We propose that guǎn (管), or safeguarding, and jiao xun (教訓), or demandingness of excellence, represent parental strictness-supervision, which when counterbalanced by autonomy support, could be considered the yin and yang in parenting that promotes adolescents’ academic success without harming their social–emotional or psychological well-being.
Buprenorphine in The Treatment of Heroin Addiction

Heroin addiction is a significant health and social problem in most countries. A recent estimate is that there were between 15.2-21.1 million people abusing or dependent on opioids. The key determinant of the prevalence of heroin problems in a community appears to be availability. The highest levels of use (in terms of the proportion of the population aged 15-64 years) are found along the main drug trafficking routes out of Afghanistan (1), and more than half of the world’s opioid-using population are thought to live in Asia. Use of heroin is associated with a range of harms. The injecting of street drugs, and sharing of needles is a major route of transmission of blood-borne viruses (BBV), notably Hepatitis C and HIV. Age-adjusted mortality among heroin users is high, 1–3% per annum (2,3). Among younger heroin users, overdose is the most common cause of death, with suicide and violence also contributing to mortality (4). As addicts and former addicts age, deaths due to liver disease, AIDS, and a variety of medical conditions, become more common (5). Heroin use is strongly associated with social disadvantage, psychological problems and deviant behaviour (6). International studies suggest that for opioid dependent persons in the criminal justice system, and those seeking treatment, addiction is a chronic, relapsing and remitting condition (7) with a high risk of relapse even after periods of abstinence. Opioids have a range of physiological effects, but the critical issue which make opioids reinforcing is that, like most drugs of misuse, they act on a region of the brain dubbed the “reward pathway”. Drugs which stimulate dopamine release in this pathway – such as alcohol and nicotine, as well as opioids produce reduction in anxiety, and a sense of well-being and confidence. These reinforcing effects explain the appeal of recreational drugs. With repeated, especially continuous, exposure, higher doses are required to achieve the same subjective effects (tolerance), and with prolonged exposure, a withdrawal syndrome develops on stopping the drug. It is hypothesized that the chronic administration of opioids (and other drugs) produces enduring changes in brain neurotransmitter systems that leave the user vulnerable to relapse after abstinence has been achieved (8).