Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Plant foods and risk of laryngeal cancer: A case‐control study in Uruguay

In order to examine the relationships between plant foods, defined as the grouping of vegetables, fruits, tubers and legumes, with the risk of developing laryngeal cancer, a case‐control study was conducted in Uruguay between 1998–1999. The study included 148 cases with histologically verified squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx, which were frequency matched on age, residence and urban/rural status with 444 hospitalized controls, afflicted by non‐neoplastic conditions. Both series of patients were face‐to‐face interviewed in the hospitals shortly after admittance using a detailed questionnaire. This questionnaire included 62 queries on food items, representative of the usual diet of the Uruguayan population. Food items and food groups were adjusted for tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking and total energy intake. High consumption of plant foods was associated with an OR of 0.42 (95% CI 0.21–0.84). Among subgroups of plant foods, fruits and raw vegetables were associated with a strong reduction in risk (OR for the highest quartile of raw vegetables 0.29, 95% CI 0.15–0.56). Also, legumes were associated with a protective effect (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.33–1.19). Among individual food items, tomatoes and oranges were associated with the stronger protective effects (OR for tomato intake 0.32, 95% CI 0.17–0.58). The joint effect of heavy smoking and the low intake of vegetables and fruits displayed an increased risk of 19.2 (95% CI 5.7–64.9). Int. J. Cancer 87:129–132, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
USING CONCEPT MAP SOFTWARE TO IMPROVE SUMMARY WRITING QUALITY

This study suggests that conceptual summarizing of multiple sources is key to deep learning and useful to language learning strategies. The participants of this study were 68 students from three classes studying in upper intermediate reading course at English Department of State Polytechnic of Sriwijaya in Palembang. The t test indicated that the students who received strategic summarizing intervention in this study received significantly higher marks after eight reading and summarizing measures using computer based concept map. Collected data from questionnaire and focus group discussion showed that during summarizing from multiple sources using computer-based concept map the students employed prereading, conceptual reading and summarizing strategies. We could note the student activities which stressed the various aspects of conceptual learning. It is suggested that conceptual summarizing of multiple sources using computer-based concept map is used in English reading because it allows students to process information from sources, without which they are not able to organize main ideas into a coherent summary. It also facilitates students to become familiar with the textual structure of English academic summary writing.
Beta-lactam resistance in Aeromonas spp. caused by inducible beta-lactamases active against penicillins, cephalosporins, and carbapenems

Use of cefoperazone in a patient with Aeromonas caviae in the respiratory tract selected a mutant that constitutively produced beta-lactamase. This mutant, in contrast to its parental strain with an inducible beta-lactamase, showed enhanced resistance to newer cephalosporins and aztreonam. This observation suggested that species of Aeromonas, like those of other genera with inducible beta-lactamases, may pose therapeutic problems associated with the rapid development of multiple beta-lactam resistance. Thus, a study was designed to identify the beta-lactamases in 12 strains representing four species of Aeromonas and assess their role in drug resistance. Eleven strains possessed inducible beta-lactamases. One strain showed no detectable activity. An analysis of substrate and inhibitor profiles, isoelectric points, and beta-lactam susceptibility patterns revealed the presence of at least four distinguishable inducible beta-lactamases. These enzymes were involved in the resistance of strains within the genus to penicillins, cephalosporins, aztreonam, and imipenem but not cefoxitin. Unlike most other organisms with inducible beta-lactamases, all four strains of A. caviae, one of four strains of A. sobria, and one of three strains of A. hydrophila possessed two distinct inducible beta-lactamases. Furthermore, substrate and inhibitor profiles revealed that many of these Aeromonas beta-lactamases were distinct from inducible enzymes that have been characterized in other genera of gram-negative bacteria.
Polarisation of Employment Over Households Revisited: The Belgian Case

Over the last 30 years the share of individuals in the Belgian working-age population without employment (‘individual joblessness’) has fallen continuously, while the share of households with no working-age member in employment (‘household joblessness’) remained fairly stable. In this paper we examine why individual joblessness and household joblessness diverge. The growing gap between both measures of joblessness reflects changes in household composition and changes in the distribution of individual employment over households. We describe the latter phenomenon by constructing a measure of ‘polarisation of employment over households’, which is based on the difference between observed and ‘expected’ household joblessness. On the basis of changes in household formation and changes in individual joblessness one would have expected household joblessness in Belgium to decrease. However, increasing polarisation, i.e. an increasingly unequal distribution of jobs over households, has counteracted this ‘expected’ evolution. Singles constitute households that are most vulnerable to the polarisation we describe, but a shift towards such more vulnerable households offers only a small share of the explanation of the evolution over time. We observe rising levels of polarisation, both in single adult households and couples. Within these household groups, changes in polarisation are similar, but increasing polarisation among couples is the most important factor in the overall increase in polarisation. The personal characteristics associated with individual joblessness (gender, education, age, region, origin) explain a significant part of this polarisation on the level of households. In 2012, almost half of polarisation in single adult households can be explained through typical individual characteristics of singles. In couples almost one third of polarisation is related to individual characteristics and marital selection. However, this also means that a substantial part of household joblessness cannot be explained by these individual characteristics. A comparison of Belgium with three low-polarisation countries (Germany, France, the Netherlands) and two high-polarisation countries (Ireland and the United Kingdom) suggests that polarisation is high in Belgium, when compared to Germany, France and the Netherlands, for the following reason. First, more than in those countries, Belgian singles have a weak socio-economic profile in terms of age, skills and origin: compared with the total population, they are more often low-skilled, older, and born outside the European Union. Second, the difference in individual joblessness between individuals with strong profiles and individuals with weak profiles is larger in Belgium than in those countries (whether it concerns singles or not). The latter factor is reinforced by regional differences within Belgium. Third, educational homogamy in couples is larger in Belgium than in Germany, France and the Netherlands.
Mucosal blood flow in the human nose following local challenge with histamine

Nasal blood flow was measured using the 133Xe wash‐out method in 10 non‐allergic subjects and 13 asymptomatic hay fever patients. Determinations were made before and 15 min after challenge with diluent, 0.13 mg, 1.3 mg and 13 mg of histamine/nasal cavity. Nasal symptom scores were recorded. The nasal inspiratory peak flow was determined simultaneously in the hay fever patients. No differences in blood flow or symptom score recordings were found between the normal subjects and allergic patients under basal conditions or after histamine challenge. The nasal blood flow increased after challenge with the highest histamine dose. The increase was 34% (P< 0.05) from baseline in normals and 47% (P<0.05) in allergies. There was a dose‐dependent increase in nasal symptom scores following histamine challenge, again with no difference between normal and allergic subjects. The nasal peak flow decreased in a similar manner with a maximum decrease of 74% (P< 0.001). The present study gives further support to the notion that histamine is not the only mediator involved in vascular reactions during allergic rhinitis.
Effect of standing on short term heart rate variability across age

This study examined the response of heart rate variability measures to standing in three age groups of male subjects: Children (6–11 years), young adults (20–30 years) and elderly (60–70 years). Supine and standing heart rate variability indices were measured in all the subjects using power spectral analysis. The effect of posture on heart rate variability was assessed using the change in heart rate variability measures over resting values during the first 2 min following active standing. There was an attenuated response in normalized low frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF) power to standing in the elderly as compared with young adults and children. Heart rate variability responses to standing were highest in the young adults, followed by the children and the elderly, although the differences between the young adults and children were not significant. More studies are needed to characterize HRV responses to posture in children.
Quality assessment of sardines during storage by measurement of fluorescent compounds

Sardine alterations during chilled storage (0 degrees C) were investigated by measuring the fluorescence ratio between two excitation/emission maxima (393/463 nm, 327/415 nm) and compared with common quality indices. Sardines were also maintained at 15 degrees C to accelerate all reactions occurring at 0 degrees C. Other quality indices (total volatile base-nitrogen, free fatty acids, formation of conjugated dienes, and thiobarbituric acid values) were determined and the use of the fluorescence ratio (fluorescence shift, delta F) was analyzed. A high correlation was found between the delta F and the total volatile base-nitrogen (r = 0.93, at 0 degrees C; r = 0.92, at 15 degrees C).
Investigating Mode Errors on Automated Flight Decks: Illustrating the Problem-Driven, Cumulative, and Interdisciplinary Nature of Human Factors Research

Objective: The goal of this article is to illustrate the problem-driven, cumulative, and highly interdisciplinary nature of human factors research by providing a brief overview of the work on mode errors on modern flight decks over the past two decades. Background: Mode errors on modern flight decks were first reported in the late 1980s. Poor feedback, inadequate mental models of the automation, and the high degree of coupling and complexity of flight deck systems were identified as main contributors to these breakdowns in human-automation interaction. Various improvements of design, training, and procedures were proposed to address these issues. Methods: The author describes when and why the problem of mode errors surfaced, summarizes complementary research activities that helped identify and understand the contributing factors to mode errors, and describes some countermeasures that have been developed in recent years. Results: This brief review illustrates how one particular human factors problem in the aviation domain enabled various disciplines and methodological approaches to contribute to a better understanding of, as well as provide better support for, effective human-automation coordination. Conclusion: Converging operations and interdisciplinary collaboration over an extended period of time are hallmarks of successful human factors research. Application: The reported body of research can serve as a model for future research and as a teaching tool for students in this field of work.
Automatic identification of slow biphasic complexes in EEG: an effective tool to detect encephalitis

Objective: the presence of slow biphasic complexes in EEG was found to be associated to different neural diseases, in particular inflammatory. This paper proposes a method to identify automatically the complexes and provides preliminary tests on paediatric patients with encephalitis. Approach: a prototype waveform was computed aligning and averaging complexes manually identified during years of investigation. A wide range of amplitudes and durations was noticed. The proposed automatic method is based on the cross-correlation of the tested EEG with scaled versions of the prototype waveform. The waves with high correlation with the prototype are identified as complexes if their amplitude and duration are reasonable and if they do not appear as pseudo-periodic oscillations. Main results: the algorithm was tested on a dataset of 128 EEGs from healthy controls and patients (for which the follow-up was also available). Experts assigned to each trace a severity score with 5 levels considering both electrophysiological and clinical manifestations. The number and amplitude of complexes are markers of encephalitis, they show statistically significant differences across EEGs with different severity scores and correlate with the condition of patients during the follow-up (median correlation about 80%). Significance: inflammatory brain pathologies can have serious sequelae. Quickness of diagnosis and targeted therapeutic interventions are essential to avoid or limit the damages. The proposed automated method is feasible for the fast, accurate and non-invasive diagnosis of encephalitis and the follow-up of patients.
The tongue of Franciscana (La Plata dolphin), Pontoporia blainvillei.

Anatomical reports on the digestive organ, especially on the tongue, of the fresh-water dolphin, family Platanistidae, seem to be lacking. Concerning the Ganges dolphin, Platanista gangetica, Roxburgh reported it as a new species of the dolphin, early in 1803. In his report the descriptions of the tongue were very brief. Since then, the anatomical observations of the tongue of this animal have been reported by Anderson (1879) and recently by Arvy and Pilleri (1970). Sonntag (1922) made a comparative anatomical study of the cetacean tongue in which Platanista's tongue was mentioned in comparison. Anatomical descriptions on the Franciscana (La Plata Dolphin), Pontoporia blainvillei were made by Burmeister in 1869, in which the macroscopic structure of the tongue was rather briefly reported without histological observations. As we have as yet very little information about the tongue of Pontoporia we took advantage of the chance of observing the Pontoporia's tongue, the macroand light microscopical structures of which are described here.
Solution of MHD Flow of Fluid and Heat Transfer Problem via Optimal Homotopy Asymptotic Method

In this paper, we use the optimal homotopy asymptotic method (OHAM) for the solution of Non-linear two dimensional incompressible laminar boundary layer flow of fluid in the presence of transverse magnetic field. The obtained results for the stream function and velocity profile were comparable in terms of accuracy with that obtained by A. Abdullah (2009) who studied the heat transfer problem using homotopy analytic method and compared with the numerical results reported previously.
Multi-modal emotion recognition using semi-supervised learning and multiple neural networks in the wild

Human emotion recognition is a research topic that is receiving continuous attention in computer vision and artificial intelligence domains. This paper proposes a method for classifying human emotions through multiple neural networks based on multi-modal signals which consist of image, landmark, and audio in a wild environment. The proposed method has the following features. First, the learning performance of the image-based network is greatly improved by employing both multi-task learning and semi-supervised learning using the spatio-temporal characteristic of videos. Second, a model for converting 1-dimensional (1D) landmark information of face into two-dimensional (2D) images, is newly proposed, and a CNN-LSTM network based on the model is proposed for better emotion recognition. Third, based on an observation that audio signals are often very effective for specific emotions, we propose an audio deep learning mechanism robust to the specific emotions. Finally, so-called emotion adaptive fusion is applied to enable synergy of multiple networks. In the fifth attempt on the given test set in the EmotiW2017 challenge, the proposed method achieved a classification accuracy of 57.12%.
Anoxia and salinity changes: a new Permian catastrophe record

Abstract. Bituminous shales are associated to worldwide geological events, such as mass extinction, anoxia and climatic changes, mainly when preserved in carbonate ramps, and constitute reliable records of this dynamics. However, a minority of data still exist that measure the Permian, especially in the Southern Hemisphere associated to Panthalassic Ocean as compared to numerous studies of Oceanic Anoxic Events in the Cretaceous or associated to Tethys. The Late Permian extinction was the most severe extinction of the past 500 million years, which wiped out over 90 % of marine species. Before the Permian-Triassic boundary (e.g. Early-Middle Permian successions) geochemical and geological anomalous aspects has received more attention due the information about the Late Paleozoic icehouse-greenhous transitions, which is one of the triggers for the catastrophic ectinction. Therefore the Irati Formation, Permian interval of Paraná Basin in southern Brazil, is suitable for the study of these intricate processes due to the presence of Permian bituminous shales and carbonates. Based on core descriptions, spectral gamma ray data and organic geochemistry, a stratigraphic scheme is here proposed to support paleoenvironmental inferences. We identified three depositional sequences formed internally by T-R cycles of highest frequency. The sedimentary facies analysis indicates a carbonate ramp subdivided into outer, middle and inner. Climatic and sea level changes are defined, and also oscillations in the salinity, oxygenation and organic matter source. Bituminous shales record normal salinity, with anoxia levels and even euxinia, associated to the increase in bioproductivity. Carbonate facies register periods of hypersalinity under oxic environment and semi-arid conditions. The accumulation of Mesosaurus skeletal remains results from the action of reworking fluxes, creating an endemic facies in this region. Climatic versus eustatic influence were differentiated, and also the controlling hierarchies. These results are evidence for the environmental dynamics from the Permian, that generated extreme global events, mainly in Gondwana.
Evidence for Differential Unroofing in the Adirondack Mountains, New York State, Determined by Apatite Fission‐Track Thermochronology

Apatite fission‐track ages of 168–83 Ma for 39 samples of Proterozoic crystalline rocks, three samples of Cambrian Potsdam sandstone, and one Cretaceous lamprophyre dike from the Adirondack Mountains in New York State indicate that unroofing in this region occurred from Late Jurassic through Early Cretaceous. Samples from the High Peaks section of the Adirondack massif yielded the oldest apatite fission‐track ages (168–135 Ma), indicating that it was exhumed first. Unroofing along the northern, northwestern, and southwestern margins of the Adirondacks began slightly later, as shown by younger apatite fission‐track ages (146–114 Ma) determined for these rocks. This delay in exhumation may have resulted from burial of the peripheral regions by sediment shed from the High Peaks. Apatite fission‐track ages for samples from the southeastern Adirondacks are distinctly younger (112–83 Ma) than those determined for the rest of the Adirondack region. These younger apatite fission‐track ages are from a section of the Adirondacks dissected by shear zones and post‐Ordovician north‐northeast‐trending normal faults. Differential unroofing may have been accommodated by reactivation of the faults in a reverse sense of motion with maximum compressive stress, σ1, oriented west‐northwest. A change in the orientation of the post–Early Cretaceous paleostress field is supported by a change in the trend of Cretaceous lamprophyre dikes from east‐west to west‐northwest.
Assessing Quality of Life in Spinal Surgery

Dear Editor, I have read with interest the article by Farzanegan et al. (1). The authors focused on a very important aspect of quality-of-life assessment in lumbar discopathy patients following neurosurgical procedures. In their daily clinical practice, neurosurgeons by and large concentrate only on the presence of neurological deficits (paresis or paralysis) and pain, while ignoring the social aspect of recovery. This is partly due to the nature of work of the operating surgeon and associated time constraints, and partly to the prevailing patterns of clinical care and the belief that further treatment should rest with other medical professionals, mostly rehabilitation specialists. The use of quality-of-life scales that account for the patient’s psychological well-being and social aspects appears to have a significant impact on comprehensive evaluation of treatment outcomes. Assessment of neurological deficits and muscle strength is mostly based on the Frankel neurological performance scale and the ASIA impairment scale (2, 3). Evaluation of pain intensity commonly relies on visual analog scales (VAS) (4). Quality of life is popularly assessed with the Oswestry Disability Index, which serves to determine the degree of disability related to thoracic and lumbosacral spine problems (5, 6), while the neck disability index (NDI) form is used in the case of patients with cervical spine pathology (7, 8). The authors used the 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36) (9), which assesses health-related quality of life, to evaluate their patients before surgery and at 6 and 12 months post-surgery. They also accounted for a number of other factors directly influencing health, such as social and demographic factors. Collating such data required considerable precision and systematic work. The results reveal statistically significant improvements in health status after the surgery compared to pre-operative data (1). The final outcome of surgery is influenced by a number of factors. In my opinion, the most important determinants of treatment success are the choice of an appropriate surgical technique according to the specific needs of the patient and performing a technically correct procedure without complications. However, mental and social aspects of recovery should not be neglected. Each patient needs a sincere talk, an explanation of the details of the treatment plan, a discussion of the expected benefits and surgery-related risks. The patient must also be certain that he or she will not be left alone should problems arise in the post-operative period and that help will be provided. This approach helps achieve better long-term treatment outcomes reflected in quality-of-life scales. In conclusion, the optimum approach to a comprehensive evaluation of the health of patients following spinal surgery would be to simultaneously apply traditional scoring systems for neurological status and pain and methods assessing the quality of life.