Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ENGAGING E-PORTFOLIOS IN AN INDEPENDENT LEARNING PROCESS

This study investigates the use of e-portfolios in an independent learning process of learners in English as a second language (ESL). In this study, the instructor uses e-portfolios to manage the self-learning records of learners, to allow learners to interact with peers, and to evaluate performance outcomes. Learners record their self-learning activities using e-portfolios in which they submit and archive the activities they have done. The learners interact with one another through e-portfolios to enhance their learning. By using mixed methodology (survey, interview, instructor’s feedback report and analysis of e-portfolios), this study explores how the use of eportfolios can help in learners’ independent learning process in English. The results indicate that learners have a mixed feeling towards the use of e-portfolios to assist their language learning experience. It is still uncertain that e-portfolio meets the needs of learners and provides an efficient and effective way to archive their tasks and facilitate peer feedback. This study also discusses the challenges that users of e-portfolios face in the process of English-language instruction, and the implications of the use of e-portfolios in language learning. It is hoped that the study will enable clearer focus to be given to the use of e-portfolios at both local and international levels.
Depression, anxiety and health‐related quality of life amongst patients who are starting dialysis treatment

BACKGROUND Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has a severe impact on patients' health-related quality of life (HRQL). The start of renal replacement therapy (RRT) significantly influences psychological, physical and social aspects of life. OBJECTIVES To analyse the HRQL and psychological status (anxiety and depression) at the start of RRT. METHODS We undertook an observational descriptive cross-sectional study. A total of 152 patients starting RRT were recruited for the study. HRQL was measured by the Kidney Disease and Quality of Life Short Form questionnaire. Levels of anxiety and depression were assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale questionnaire. Comorbidities and sociodemographic and clinical factors were also evaluated. FINDINGS HRQL in patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) is significantly affected by the initiation of RRT in all respects. States of anxiety and depression were present in 26.6% and 27% of patients, respectively. These states are significantly related to the emotional component of the quality of life. CONCLUSION The initiation of RRT has a strong impact on HRQL in comparison with a reference population and with other stages of CKD. The early detection of an altered psychological state is important, as this condition should be treated from the first stages of the disease, as it can significantly affect the subsequent development of RRT and the patient's quality of life.
Non-Syndromic Oral Clefts: A Glimpse on Environmental Risk Factors- A Mini-Review

Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com Children with OC tend to suffer from feeding problems and hence delayed growth, difficulties in speech, hearing disorders and physical disfigurement. This in turn leads to low self-esteem, social isolation and impairs a child’s ability to integrate into the surrounding environment [4,5]. In low income countries, where resources and multidisciplinary cleft care including surgical repair, dental treatment, speech therapy and psychological support are lacking, infant mortality has become common due to poor nutrition and high risk to acquire infectious diseases [6]. Having a child with oral cleft substantially imposes negative psychosocial and financial burdens for the affected family [7].
Quality of life in acromegaly and the association with the clinical parameters of the disease

Background: Quality of life is currently considered a major factor in the assessment of disease outcome. Most patients with acromegaly present with skin, bone and soft tissue alterations, as well as hypertension, diabetes mellitus and other cardiovascular symptoms and all these affect patient’s mood, personality, interpersonal relationships and social behavior. The aim of this study was to assess quality of life in acromegaly and the association with the clinical characteristics of the disease. Methods: This cross-sectional study included a total of 101 (45 male, 56 female) patients with acromegaly, mean age 59.51 ± 1.35 years (mean ± SEM), with a disease duration of 12.88 ± 0.96 years. All subjects completed the Acromegaly Quality of Life Questionnaire (AcroQoL). Results: Total (mean ± SEM) score was 86.15±1.37 (min22-max110), psychological parameters score was 54.98±0,95 (min 14-max 70), appearance score was 25.95±0.54 (min 7-max 35), personal relationship score was 29.37±0.52 (min7-max 35) and finally physical parameters score was 30.93±0.58 (min8- max 40). Women and older patients showed slightly worse scores. Patients with macroadenomas, those who received radiotherapy, and those with comorbidities appeared with less mean total QoL scores. Conclusion: The assessment of quality of life is a critical end point in the management of acromegaly and improvement of quality of life is a major aim in the therapeutic management of acromegaly. Background: Quality of life is currently considered a major factor in the assessment of disease outcome. Most patients with acromegaly present with skin, bone and soft tissue alterations, as well as hypertension, diabetes mellitus and other cardiovascular symptoms and all these affect patient’s mood, personality, interpersonal relationships and social behavior. The aim of this study was to assess quality of life in acromegaly and the association with the clinical characteristics of the disease. Methods: This cross-sectional study included a total of 101 (45 male, 56 female) patients with acromegaly, mean age 59.51 ± 1.35 years (mean ± SEM), with a disease duration of 12.88 ± 0.96 years. All subjects completed the Acromegaly Quality of Life Questionnaire (AcroQoL). Results: Total (mean ± SEM) score was 86.15±1.37 (min22-max110), psychological parameters score was 54.98±0,95 (min 14-max 70), appearance score was 25.95±0.54 (min 7-max 35), personal relationship score was 29.37±0.52 (min7-max 35) and finally physical parameters score was 30.93±0.58 (min8- max 40). Women and older patients showed slightly worse scores. Patients with macroadenomas, those who received radiotherapy, and those with comorbidities appeared with less mean total QoL scores. Conclusion: The assessment of quality of life is a critical end point in the management of acromegaly and improvement of quality of life is a major aim in the therapeutic management of acromegaly.
Human Albumin Infusion for Volume Resuscitation: Recommended and Controversial Uses

Human albumin (HA) is currently the most expensive substitute for blood plasma and has been used since 1940 as part of volume expansion and resuscitation. HA preparations are administered as volume expander in numerous pathologic conditions, such as in the management of ascites and its complications in cirrhotic patients, in therapeutic plasma exchange, during major operations and in patients with burns, trauma, critical illness or sepsis. However, literature data indicate that HA use is rather empirical than evidence-based. The current review aims to summarize the published literature, enlightening the circumstances where HA infusion can be recommended as an appropriate volume expander and indicating the pathologic conditions where its administration is yet controversial.
The Coaching Cycle

Military organizations have a long history of using simulations, role-play, and games for training. This also encompasses good practices concerning how instructors utilize games and gaming behavior. Unfortunately, the work of instructors is rarely described explicitly in research relating to serious gaming. Decision makers also tend to have overconfidence in the pedagogical power of games and simulations, particularly where the instructor is taken out of the gaming loop. The authors propose a framework, the coaching cycle, that focuses on the roles of instructors. The roles include instructors acting as game players. The fact that the instructors take a more active part in all training activities will further improve learning. The coaching cycle integrates theories of experiential learning (where action precedes theory) and deliberate practice (where the trainee’s skill is constantly challenged by a coach). Incorporating a coaching-by-gaming perspective complicates, but also strengthens, the player-centered design approach to game development in that we need to take into account two different types of players: trainees and instructor. Furthermore, the authors argue that the coaching cycle allows for a shift of focus to a more thorough debriefing, because it implies that learning of theoretical material before simulation/game playing is kept to a minimum. This shift will increase the transfer of knowledge.
FAKTOR RISIKO KEJADIAN SCABIES DI PONDOK PESANTREN NURUL ISLAM JEMBER (SCABIES RISK FACTORS IN PONDOK PESANTREN NURUL ISLAM JEMBER)

Scabies masih menjadi masalah kesehatan terutama di lingkungan padat penghuni seperti pondok pesantren. Karakteristik santri merupakan salah satu penyebab kejadian Scabies. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui hubungan jenis kelamin dan tingkat pendidikan dengan kejadian Skabies di Pondok Pesantren Nurul Islam Jember. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode observasional analitik dengan desain cross-sectional. Sampel yang diambil dalam penelitian ini adalah seluruh populasi dengan metode proportional sampling berjumlah 56 santri dan pengambilan sampel dilakukan pada bulan Juli 2017. Variabel dalam penelitian ini terdiri dari jenis kelamin, tingkat pengetahuan dan kejadian Skabies. Diagnosis Skabies berdasarkan anamnesis dan pemeriksaan dermatologi untuk menegakkan diagnosis skabies oleh dokter peneliti. Data yang diperoleh diolah dengan software pengolahan data dan dianalisis menggunakan uji chi square. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan santri pondok pesantren nurul islam sebagian besar berjenis kelamin perempuan (56,3%). Tingkat pengetahuan santri terkait PHBS mayoritas tergolong dalam pengetahuan kurang yaitu 73,2%. Status kesehatan para santri mayoritas menderita penyakit scabies yaitu 60,3%. Terdapat hubungan yang signifikan antara jenis kelamin terhadap angka kejadian skabies dengan Nilai P value= 0,021. Terdapat hubungan yang signifikan antara tingkat pengetahuan terhadap angka kejadian skabies dengan Nilai P value= 0. Pencegahan Scabies lebih penting dari pengobatan salah satunya dengan penyuluhan. Agar penyuluhan kesehatan memberikan hasil yang baik, penyuluhan harus disesuaikan dengan karakteristik demografi santri antara lain jenis kelamin dan tingkat pengetahuan.
The Potential of Cyclodextrins as Novel Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients: A Short Overview

Cyclodextrins (CDs) are cyclic oligosaccharides of natural origin that were discovered more than 100 years ago. The peculiar cone-like conformation of the sugar ring, expressing a lipophilic cavity and a hydrophilic external surface, allows these substances to spontaneously complex poorly soluble compounds in an aqueous environment. For more than 50 years, these substances have found applicability in the pharmaceutical and food industries as solubilizing agents for poorly soluble chemical entities. Nowadays, several research groups all over the world are investigating their potential as active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for the treatment of several illnesses (e.g., hypercholesterolemia, cancer, Niemann-Pick Type C disease). The aim of this review is to briefly retrace cyclodextrins’ legacy as complexing agents and describe the current and future prospects of this class of chemical entities in pharmaceutics as new APIs.
Multiple footprint stereo algorithms for 3D display content generation

This research focuses on the conversion of stereoscopic video material into an image + depth format which is suitable for rendering on the multiview auto-stereoscopic displays of Philips. The recent interest shown in the movie industry for 3D significantly increased the availability of stereo material. In this context the conversion from stereo to the input formats of 3D displays becomes an important task. In this paper we present a stereo algorithm that uses multiple footprints generating several depth candidates for each image pixel. We characterize the various matching windows and we devise a robust strategy for extracting high quality estimates from the resulting depth candidates. The proposed algorithm is based on a surface filtering method that employs simultaneously the available depth estimates in a small local neighborhood while ensuring correct depth discontinuities by the inclusion of image constraints. The resulting highquality image-aligned depth maps proved an excellent match with our 3D displays.
An Agent-Based Simulation of Blood Coagulation Processes

This article describes the creation of an agent-based model of blood coagulation within the Lindsay Composer (LC) computational framework, which can be used to simulate and visualize physiological processes inside the human body. Swarm Graph Grammars (SGG), a generic modelling language, are used to design the interaction behaviours of the involved bioagents which represent the cellular and chemical structures found in human blood. Physical interactions among the agents, such as collisions and binding, are computed by an embedded physics engine. In order to effectively retrace and to accurately model coagulation, comparisons with the results of established mathematical models are drawn. The blood coagulation simulation accounts for the formation, expression, and propagation of blood clots within the injured area of a blood vessel. We demonstrate how 3-dimensional, interactive agent-based models and programming frameworks provide complementary tools for research, for learning and for exploring the complicated nature of physiological processes.
An effective dynamic slot allocation strategy based on zone division in WCDMA/TDD systems

WCDMA/TDD systems deal efficiently with asymmetric traffic because the number of uplink and downlink slots in the TDD frame can be dynamically adjusted to match the traffic asymmetry in a cell. In a multi-cellular environment however, the traffic asymmetry between TDD cells may be significantly different and the application of slot allocation strategies on a per cell basis can result in high levels of inter-cell interference during 'crossed-slots'. In this paper we propose an adaptive dynamic slot allocation strategy (DSA) that resolves crossed-slot interference in multi-cell environments by dividing the coverage area of each cell into a number of distinct service zones. This is coupled with a co-ordination algorithm that ensures that system resources are allocated to users according to the level of mutual interference between the service zones. System capacity calculations validate our DSA strategy and demonstrate that it outperforms both conventional 'same slot' allocation schemes and other previously proposed DSA schemes in heterogeneous traffic environments.
Radical approach for centrally located echinococcal cysts of the liver

Introduction: Liver echinococcosis is still an endemic disease in Balkans. PAIR is actually considered the safest therapeutically approach for uncomplicated type I and II cysts, while surgery is indicated for type III or complicated cysts. It’s commonly believed that radical surgery could be considered the most appropriate treatment for hydrated disease, but with higher risk of morbidity, much more for centrally located cysts, especially in low-resources hospitals.
Vipassana Meditation Practices Enhance the Parasympathetic Activity during Sleep: a Case-Control Study of Heart Rate Variability across Sleep Cycles

1.1. Background:Sleep state related cardiac autonomic modulations are important for proper cardiovascular functions and to maintain homeostasis during sleep. The present study evaluates the efficacy of Vipassana meditation on cardio autonomic dynamicity across sleep cycles during sleep. 1.2. Methods:26 Senior Vipassana meditation practitioners and 23 non-meditating control subjects participated in the study. Whole night polysomnography with lead II ECG were carried out using 32 channel, 2110 digital EEG system (Nihon Kohden, Japan) and with 16 channels Power Lab data acquisition system (AD Instruments, Australia . Differences in sleep variables across sleep cycles among the meditation practitioners and control groups (between groups ) were analyzed by two way ANOVA with turkey posthoc test . The heart rate variability (HRV) was assessed during N2 and N3 and REM sleep state across three consecutive sleep cycles. The HRV variables-High frequency power (HF) and low frequency power (LF) density, their normalized units (HFnu and LFnu) and ratio (LF/HF ratio) were compared across sleep cycles using Analysis of variance with repeated measures for within group and ‘t’ test for between groups. 1.3. Results:Vipassana meditators showed significantly high HFnu irrespective of sleep states across sleep cycles. During REM sleep, as HF nu was concomitantly enhanced along with increased LFnu, the LF/HF ratio was reduced in meditators . In addition, meditators showed distinct sleep architecture with enhanced slow wave sleep and REM sleep states along with significantly reduced intermittent awakenings indicative of proper sleep organisation. 1.4. Conclusion: Vipassana meditation practice helps to establish a proper cardio autonomic dynamicity during sleep with a persistent increase in parasympathetic activity across sleep states. Such a state of heightened parasympathetic activity especially during REM sleep helps to buffer the sympathetic surges and helps to maintain a proper sympatho-vagal balance essential for quality sleep and cardio protection.
Japan-SWOG common arm analysis of paclitaxel/carboplatin in advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): A model for prospective comparison of cooperative group trials

7007 Background: Whether results of clinical trials performed outside the United States (US) can be fully extrapolated to US populations remains in question due to potential differences in trial designs, study-specific criteria, patient demographics, and population-related pharmacogenomics. Methods: We prospectively designed & conducted separate phase III trials in advanced NSCLC linked by a “common arm” with identical eligibility, staging, response & toxicity criteria, to: 1) determine similarities & differences in patient demographics & outcomes in cooperative group trials in Japan (Four Arm Cooperative Study or FACS) & the US (SWOG 0003), 2) provide the basis for global standardization in clinical trials in NSCLC, and 3) facilitate regulatory changes needed for joint Japan-US studies sponsored by the US National Cancer Institute (NCI). We performed a planned comparative analysis of the paclitaxel/carboplatin arms from FACS & S0003, identical except for paclitaxel dose of 200mg/m2 in FACS, 225mg/m2 in S.
Improving maximum entropy natural language processing by uncertainty-aware extensions and unsupervised learning

The maximum entropy (ME) method is a machine learning framew ork widely adopted for the natural language processing (NLP) due to its powerful but ro bust modeling capability. This thesis establishes two methods for further improving the ME met hod. These methods tackle the problem of overfitting and data sparseness, which generally arise in machine learning and still remain even with the ME method. First, we provide an extensio n of the ME method, inequality ME estimation, that takes unreliability of training data into account to c ontrol overfitting. Second, we propose the use of the states of unsupervised HMMs as features (HMM features), that enables us to obtain reliable and therefore anti-overfittin g features for ME models by exploiting HMMs trained by unsupervised learning from a large unlabele d corpus. In inequality ME estimation, we use box-type inequality con straints instead of using the equality constrains as in standard ME estimation, to factor in the unreliability of training data and thereby prevent the overfitting. In standard ME estimation, a model is estimated so that the model expectation of the feature becomes equal to the empiri cal expectation of the feature for all features. However, the equality constraint should not b e exactly satisfied in order to prevent overfitting because the empirical expectations are cal culated from limited training data and inevitably unreliable. To deal with this problem, we allow t he model to violate each equality constraint up to a predefined amount, which is desirably dete rmin d to reflect the unreliability of each constraint. By representing such violations with bo x-type inequality constraints and re-formulating ME estimation, we obtain a new ME model with a modified parametric form and objective function, which can be interpreted as a regula rized estimation. One important property of inequality ME estimation is that the solution ca n be sparse (i.e., many parameters become zero) and in fact it becomes sparse in most cases empir ically. Since features with zero parameters can be removed from the model, this property can b e viewed as feature selection, which is considered important to achieve good generalizati on as well as efficient processing. We evaluate this inequality ME estimation on two NLP tasks: t ext categorization and named entity recognition, to demonstrate its effectiveness and gen erality. Experimental results show that in both tasks inequality ME estimation has advantages in acc ur y and feature selection ability over similarly-motivated and currently most successfu l Gaussian MAP estimation as well as over naive methods such as count thresholding. Unlike inequality ME estimation, which in effect selects th e useful features from a given set of features, the second method generates reliable features for an ME model, using hidden states
Development of verb use in English-as-a-foreign-language primary and secondary school learners

The present paper analyses verb production in the essays of children and adolescent learners of English as a foreign language. Studies about verb production in the FL examine verb types, order of acquisition of verbs and verb types, order of production of verb types, or production of general purpose verbs. Nonetheless, attempts at exploring verb development of an English learning student population along several years are inexistent. The writings of 199 EFL learners were scrutinized twice for verb production. Data collection took place when learners were in 4th grade and four years later in grade 8. Results show that not only did older learners produce more verb tokens, they also produced more verb types and increased their production in all the measures taken. We interpret these findings as verbs playing a crucial role in linguistic, cognitive and discursive development; verbs as a reflection of learners' inner world. Additionally, we consider the role of schooling in verb production and the difficulties of learners in producing cognates.