Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A systematic review of randomized controlled trials for management of persistent post-treatment fatigue in thyroid cancer survivors.

BACKGROUND Fatigue that persists post-treatment is commonly reported by thyroid cancer (TC) survivors. METHODS A systematic review of published English language randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on interventions for management of persistent post-treatment fatigue in TC was conducted. This review excluded studies on short-term interventions used in preparation for radioactive iodine diagnostic scans or treatment. An electronic search was executed in six databases and supplemented by a hand search. Two reviewers independently reviewed all citations from the electronic search and relevant full-text studies. Two abstractors independently critically appraised included studies and abstracted the data. The data were qualitatively summarized. RESULTS A total of 1086 unique citations and 25 full-text studies were reviewed. Four studies summarizing the results of three RCTs were included. The interventions included: combination triiodothyronine with levothyroxine (L-T4) therapy compared to L-T4 alone (one RCT), reduction in degree of thyrotropin (TSH) suppression using L-T4 compared to maintenance of TSH suppression (one RCT), and supervised exercise compared to inactivity (two RCTs examining different fatigue outcomes in same population). Trial duration ranged from 10 weeks to six months. All trials had limitations, and the number of TC survivors included in respective RCTs ranged from 15 to 36. Hormonal treatment RCTs had mixed fatigue outcome results within respective trials. However, multiple measures suggesting improvement in fatigue were reported following the exercise intervention. CONCLUSIONS There is paucity of RCTs to guide evidence-based management of persistent post-treatment fatigue in TC survivors. RCTs of interventions for prevention or treatment of fatigue in TC survivors are needed.
Immunological changes and increased expression of myxovirus resistance protein a in thyroid tissue of patients with recent onset and untreated Graves' disease.

BACKGROUND Few studies have systematically examined the immune cells that infiltrate thyroid tissue at the time of the onset of Graves' disease (GD). The role of viruses in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid diseases is controversial. The present study analyzed inflammatory responses with respect to signs of virus infection. METHODS Thyroid tissue was obtained from 22 patients with newly diagnosed and untreated GD, 24 patients with chronic GD, and 24 controls. Inflammation was assessed by immunostaining for CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, plasma cells (CD138+), and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDCs). The production of interferon-inducible myxovirus resistance protein A (MxA) was analyzed as a sign of virus infection. RESULTS The degree of thyroid inflammation and fibrosis was significantly higher in both patient groups compared with that in controls. The number of CD4+ T cells and plasma cells (activated B cells) was significantly higher in both patient groups. CD8+ cells were only present in patients with chronic disease. MxA expression and the number of PDCs increased only in patients with newly diagnosed GD. There was a strong positive correlation between the number of PDCs and the number of MxA+ leucocytes. CONCLUSION The increase in CD8+ T cells during the chronic stage of GD suggests that they may play a role in progression of the autoimmune process from early to chronic thyroiditis. Upregulation of MxA expression during the early stages of the disease, and the positive correlation between the number of PDCs and the number of MxA+ leucocytes, suggests that activated PDCs secrete type I IFNs at the lesion site, possibly in response to viral infection.
[ASSOCIATION BETWEEN MUSCULAR FITNESS AND PHYSICAL HEALTH STATUS AMONG CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS FROM BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA].

OBJECTIVE epidemiological and experimental evidence suggest the role of muscular strength has been increasingly recognized in the prevention of chronic disease in early life, and features of the cardiometabolic disease have also been negatively associated with muscle strength in adulthood. The aim of this study was to examine whether the association between muscular fitness and physical health status among children and adolescents from Bogotá, Colombia. METHODS cross-sectional study in 921 schoolchildren aged 8-11 years from Bogotá, Colombia. A muscular fitness score (MFS) was measured using handgrip strength and standing long jump and vertical jump. Each of these variables was standardized as follows: standardized value = (value = mean)/SD. The muscle fitness score was calculated as the mean of the three standardized scores. MFS was recoded into quartiles Q1 (low fitness) to Q4 (high fitness). The body mass index (BMI), skinfold thickness, waist and hip circumference, body composition by bioimpedance (BIA), blood pressure and self-declaration sexual maturation were measured such as indicators associated with future cardiovascular events. RESULTS the average age was 13.0 ± 2.6 years. Participants with Q4 (high fitness), show a better physical health status (BMI, blood pressure, body fat and waist circumference (BMI, blood pressure, body fat and waist circumference, p[linear X2] = 0.01). Individuals with Q1 and Q3 (low fitness) had 4.06 times (95%CI 2.60 to 6.34; p = 0.043) risk of excess body fat and 1.57 times (95%CI 1.02 -1.89; p = 0.020) risk of abdominal obesity. CONCLUSION our results show that muscle fitness is associated with better physical health status. The testing of muscle strength at early ages should be included in health- monitoring systems.
The Simple View of Reading

This study examined whether the simple view of reading framework is consistently applicable among high school Korean EFL learners. In addition, it was investigated whether an oral reading fluency component is an efficient predictor for reading comprehension on top of decoding skills and linguistic comprehension skills. Thirty tenth-grade students in Korean high school were selected as participants in this research, and their decoding skills, listening comprehension, oral reading fluency, and reading comprehension in English were assessed. The data demonstrated that decoding was not an important component in predicting English reading proficiency, which does not support the original version of the simple view of reading. Instead, it was revealed that oral reading fluency had a strong predictive power of reading comprehension. Furthermore, it was found that the model should be modified as an additive model (listening comprehension + fluency) instead of a productive one. The result is discussed with respect to reading comprehension, taking into account learners’ grade level and EFL learners’ English education circumstances.
Hairy cell leukemia. Disease pattern and prognosis

The authors reviewed the clinical course of 31 consecutive patients with hairy cell leukemia seen at the University of California Los Angeles. The clinical presentation included varying degrees of pancytopenia, splenomegaly, and bone marrow infiltration with hairy cells. Ten patients were identified as having an “atypical” disease, which is defined as absence of palpable splenomegaly and/or marrow cellularity of less than 45%. These atypical patients had clinically milder disease and significantly less anemia than the usual patient (mean hemoglobin, 12.1 g/dl versus 9.4 g/dl; P = 0.016), although neutropenia and thrombocytopenia were comparable. Mortality and infection rates were similar in both groups. Infections were common in all patients, but opportunistic infections and septicemia were rare in patients prior to initiation of therapy. Two thirds of the patients who received corticosteroids and/or cytotoxic agents had serious infections, with a 50% mortality rate. Nearly 70% of the neutropenic patients (leukocyte count less than 1000) who received any form of treatment had a serious infection. The most important factors predicting mortality were chemotherapy and an age older than 50 years. Patients who survived 2 years with their disease had an excellent prognosis, and four patients in this series are alive and well with their disease for more than 10 years.
Modeling wet deposition and concentration of inorganics over Northeast Asia with MRI-PM/c

Abstract. We conducted a regional-scale simulation over Northeast Asia for the year 2006 using an aerosol chemical transport model, with time-varying lateral and upper boundary concentrations of gaseous species predicted by a global stratospheric and tropospheric chemistry-climate model. The present one-way nested global-through-regional-scale model is named the Meteorological Research Institute–Passive-tracers Model system for atmospheric Chemistry (MRI-PM/c). We evaluated the model's performance with respect to the major anthropogenic and natural inorganic components, SO42−, NH4+, NO3−, Na+ and Ca2+ in the air, rain and snow measured at the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET) stations. Statistical analysis showed that approximately 40–50 % and 70–80 % of simulated concentration and wet deposition of SO42−, NH4+, NO3−and Ca2+ are within factors of 2 and 5 of the observations, respectively. The prediction of the sea-salt originated component Na+ was not successful at near-coastal stations (where the distance from the coast ranged from 150 to 700 m), because the model grid resolution (Δx=60 km) is too coarse to resolve it. The simulated Na+ in precipitation was significantly underestimated by up to a factor of 30.
Estudo morfológico de Schistosoma mansoni pertencentes a linhagens de Belo Horizonte (MG) e de São José dos Campos (SP)

Foram estudados morfologicamente exemplares de S. mansoni adultos das linhagens de Belo Horizonte (MG), e de Sao Jose dos Campos (SP), Brasil. Concluiu-se haver diferencas significativas referentes as medidas de comprimento do verme, distância entre as ventosas oral e acetabular, distância entre a parte anterior dos vermes e a extremidade distal das gonadas e quanto ao numero de testiculos.
[Urine Dipstick Screening tests: can they allow to conclude the absence of a urinary tract infection in diabetic hospitalised patients].

UNLABELLED Asymptomatic urinary tract infections are common in diabetic patients. The aim of this 10 months prospective study is to evaluate urinary dipstick tests versus cytobacteriological examination to conclude the absence of urinary tract infection in diabetic subjects. Each diabetic patient hospitalised for less than 8 hours and for whom it was decided a cytobacteriological examination was included in the study (141 samples). At the same time (and at patient's bedside) a dipstick urinalisys (glucose, leucocytes, nitrite, blood, protein, and ketone) was carried out. Sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, post test probability and negative likehood ratio were calculated. RESULTS the combination of leucocyte zone with nitrite zone (both negative) has a 85,2% sensitivity, avoids 65% of cytobacteriology, but has an odd ratio at 0,20. Those results are improved when the glucose zone (negative test or less than 4 crosses) is taken into account, with a 96,3% sensitivity, 63,4% cytobacteriology avoided and a negative likehood ratio at 0,06. CONCLUSION The addition of the glucose test to the usual leucocytes and nitrite tests seems to allow one to conclude the absence of urinary tract infection in diabetic patients; this is worth studying with a more extensive sample.
Application of a Fourier‐based method for rapid calculation of field inhomogeneity due to spatial variation of magnetic susceptibility

Inhomogeneous B0-magnetic fields generate distortion in magnetic resonance images, particularly those produced using echo planar imaging, and are responsible for signal reduction due to intravoxel dephasing in gradient echo experiments. Such effects increase in magnitude in proportionality with the static field strength, and with the growing use of high-field (3 T and above) systems in medical imaging, it is increasingly important to be able to quantify field inhomogeneities. Here, we describe the implementation and use of a method for rapidly calculating frequency shifts due to spatially varying magnetic susceptibility that is based on an approach previously used to calculate long-range dipolar field effects. The method relies on a simple expression that relates the three-dimensional Fourier transforms of the magnetization distribution and the field, and can naturally include the effect of the sphere of Lorentz. It has been used to evaluate field inhomogeneity in the head due to the variation of magnetic susceptibility with tissue type and to calculate the change in field inhomogeneity that occurs due to small rotations of the head. In addition, this approach has been used to simulate the effect of lung volume changes in generating respiration induced resonant offsets in the brain. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Concepts Magn Reson Part B (Magn Reson Engineering) 25B: 65–78, 2005
PARTICIPATORY PLANNING—A HEURISTIC FOR ADJUSTING INTERVENTIONS TO THE CONTEXT

Abstract Recent studies indicate that the impact of intervention techniques depends upon the specific context in which the intervention takes place, including characteristics of the target group and the spatial situation. Starting from the assumption that interventions can optimally be tailored to the specific situation by involving the target group right from the planning stage of the intervention, a heuristic has been developed which should encourage the best possible participation. The use of this heuristic is demonstrated by reporting a participatory intervention process carried out to improve correct sorting of recyclables in a student hall of residence. As proposed, the planning group took into account group characteristics and the specific context of intervention in their choice and design of measurements. Target behaviour was measured by re-sorting and analysing the contents of packaging and garbage containers over a period of 30 weeks. Incorrect sorting of recyclables decreased from 38 per cent average contamination to 22·5 per cent during and after intervention concerning the packaging containers and from 69 to 53 per cent concerning unclassified garbage containers. In a control group no decrease was observed. It is discussed whether the specific tailoring of the measurements is responsible for the long-term effects or participation as a whole.
The impact of students’ exploration strategies on discovery learning using computer-based simulations

Discovery-based learning designs incorporating active exploration are common within instructional software. However, researchers have highlighted empirical evidence showing that “pure” discovery learning is of limited value and strategies which reduce complexity and provide guidance to learners are important if potential learning benefits are to be achieved. One approach to reducing complexity in discovery learning is limiting the range of possible actions for the learner to ensure that they do not undertake exploratory activities leading to confusion. This article reports on a study in which the learning outcomes from two learning conditions using computer-based simulations were compared. One condition allowed exploration through manipulation of simulation parameters, while the other allowed observation of simulation output from preset parameters, the latter condition designed to limit the complexity of the task. Learning outcomes for the 158 university student participants were assessed via pre-tests and post-tests of conceptual understanding. Students’ exploration activities were recorded and their strategies subsequently coded as either systematic or unsystematic. The results showed that when compared with observation, systematic exploration resulted in learning benefits, while unsystematic exploration did not. These results have implications for the design of discovery learning tasks and instructional guidance within computer-based simulations.
User education program as determinant of electronic information resources usage in Nimbe Adedipe University Library, Nigeria

Purpose – The focus of this study is the development of effective user education programs that will enhance the use of electronic information resources (EIR) in an era of electronic information for the students of the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, which consequently could be adapted for students in other higher institutions of learning.Design/methodology/approach – This study was carried out during the first semester of the 2010/2011 academic session (November 2010 to February 2011), employing a survey method. The target population is postgraduate students (postgraduate diploma, Master's degree and Doctor of Philosophy students) of the seven colleges that run postgraduate programs at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. Of a total population of 330 postgraduate students, 250 postgraduate students were selected randomly using a purposive sampling technique since the student population was not evenly distributed across the colleges. Administration and retrieval of the questionnaire lasted for six.
Perceived learning outcomes from Moodle

This study explores the intrinsic and extrinsic features of Moodle learning managements system and how these features motivate students to use an e-learning portal, which subsequently influences their perceived learning effectiveness and academic performance. Theoretical underpinning of motivation theory, self-determination theory (SDT), and cognitive evaluation theory (CET) is used to design the framework. The quantitative empirical research to test the hypothesized relationships was conducted on 276 online students in Pakistan who use Moodle for online learning. By analysing the responses using AMOS, the findings reveal that both the intrinsic motivators (communication module features, course content module features and course delivery module features) and extrinsic motivator (assignment module feature) significantly influence the students’ perceived learning effectiveness, which results in improve academic performance.
Completion-detecting carry select addition

Logic analysis, circuit implementation and verification of a novel self-timed adder scheme based on carry select (CS) logic are presented. The preliminary analysis of the variable-time behaviour of CS logic justifies the design of self-timed CS adders, and identifies the best choice for the block size to optimise the average performance. The logic design and full-custom circuit implementation is described of a completion-detecting CS adder by means of precharged CMOS logic. The correct asynchronous operation of the circuit is verified by means of layout level SPICE simulation referring to a 0.35 /spl mu/m CMOS process. The worst-case addition time is comparable with the fastest fixed-time adders which is a considerable result for a completion-detecting technique. The hardware overhead can be limited to 23% over a conventional CS adder. SPICE simulation estimates an average detected addition time of 1.6 ns for a 64 bit adder, including the precharge time.
Consortium

Abstract Most of the University libraries in Venezuela were neglected entities with scattered funds and disorganized services during the 60s through the early 90s. University libraries were not structured as a system but libraries used to subscribe to sufficient serial publications prior to 1982 due to the strong currency. Each library was working to serve their users in a classical manner and without automation of library services. The aim of forming a national consortium is to share resources, create efficiency, cost savings, and to promote participation on the basis of mutual benefit.
A new scheduling technique for the resource–constrained project scheduling problem with discounted cash flows

In this paper, we discuss the resource–constrained project scheduling problem with discounted cash flows. We introduce a new schedule construction technique which moves sets of activities to improve the project net present value and consists of two steps. In particular, the inclusion of individual activities into sets, which are then moved together, is crucial in both steps. The first step groups the activities based on the predecessors and successors in the project network, and adds these activities to a set based on their finish time and cash flow. The second step on the contrary does so based on the neighbouring activities in the schedule, which may but need not include precedence related activities. The proposed scheduling method is implemented in a genetic algorithm metaheuristic and we employ a penalty function to improve the algorithm’s feasibility with respect to a tight deadline. All steps of the proposed solution methodology are tested in detail and an extensive computational experiment shows that our results are competitive with existing work.
Predictive Performance Models and Multiple Task Performance

This symposium presents five models that predict how performance of multiple tasks will interact in complex task scenarios. The models are discussed, in part, in terms of the assumptions they make about human operator divided attention. The different assumptions about attention are empirically validated in a multitask helicopter flight simulation reported in the present paper. It is concluded from this simulation that the most important assumption relates to the coding of demand level of different component tasks. The potential gains to be made multiple resource assumptions remain uncertain.
Faculty Use of Technological Resources in Turkey

Although use of technology is a common research subject both world-wide and in Turkey, little, if any research has been carried out on the faculty use of technologies in Turkey. A partial replication study was conducted in a Turkish university to find out the faculty use of technology resources from the points of familiarity, use and effective factors as incentives and barriers. A 61 item Likert-type questionnaire was sent to 305 faculty members (professors, associate professors and assistant professors only). The number of replies received totalled 144. Results show that the faculty knew and therefore used the traditional technologies more often and lacked familiarity and use in computerized technologies. The frequency of use revealed that the faculty mostly used computers as word processors. The most effective factors for use were the availability of the technologies, increase in student interest and improvement on student learning. The incentives were time release, clerical assistance and grants, whereas the most important barrier was the lack of easily accessible resources.
Lava-flow textural trends using SAR: the Virunga Volcanic Chain, East Africa

Multi-frequency polarimetric Shuttle Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C) data acquired in October 1994 were analyzed for the Virunga Volcanic Chain, East Africa. The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data can be used to define the roughness, texture, orientation, and dielectric properties of scattering elements of volcanic surfaces. SIR-C acquired C- and L-band SAR in two polarizations, horizontal transmit and receive (HH), and horizontal transmit and vertical receive (HV). The SAR backscatter from the volcanoes is mainly controlled by roughness and vegetation cover, as there is a correlation between radar intensity parameters and age of lava-flow. This is best illustrated by the ratio of C-HV/C-HH, and to some extent, L-HV/L-HH, which show positive linear relationships with age of flow until a threshold age of /spl sim/30 years (/spl sim/12000 days) is reached. The H-polarized incident energy is converted to significant amounts of V-polarized backscatter, so that the cross-polarized backscatter intensity increases with flow age. For flows older than /spl sim/30 years, the backscatter signature is from volume scattering due to vegetation cover. The vegetation signature threshold with time can serve as an age proxy to determine recent flank eruption frequency.