Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conjunction is more than just a grammatical resource: a comparative study of conjunctions in U.S. and Chinese mathematics lessons

Policy and research suggest that mathematical learning is supported when students speak clearly, coherently and logically. Conjunctions can be instrumental to support this in that they help connect different ideas and allow speakers to elaborate, extend, and enhance their mathematical statements. Borrowing from the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) perspective, conjunction analysis was conducted on 13 U.S. lessons and 17 Chinese lessons to examine differences in the frequency and use of conjunctions between U.S. and Chinese lessons. Findings indicated that students in the Chinese sample had a higher probability of producing conjunctions than their U.S. peers in both internal conjunctions, which connect large chunks of information, and external conjunctions, which connect small chunks of information. Both in the Chinese and U.S. sample, students had a higher likelihood to produce external conjunctions than internal conjunctions. In terms of logical relationships of conjunctions, Chinese students had a higher probability of producing conjunctions of comparison, consequence, and time logical relationships than U.S. students. Within the Chinese sample, consequence logical relationships were more frequently seen than other types of logical relationships, while within the U.S. sample, consequence and addition logical relationships occurred quite often. More importantly, across lessons and cultural samples, a strong negative relationship was found between teachers’ using internal conjunctions and students’ using internal conjunctions. The significance of these differences lies in their potential impact not only for constructing but also communicating mathematical ideas to others.
Additive Effect of Spinal Cord Volume, Diffuse and Focal Cord Pathology on Disability in Multiple Sclerosis

Introduction: Spinal cord (SC) pathology is strongly associated with disability in multiple sclerosis (MS). We aimed to evaluate the association between focal and diffuse SC abnormalities and spinal cord volume and to assess their contribution to physical disability in MS patients. Methods: This large sample-size cross-sectional study investigated 1,249 patients with heterogeneous MS phenotypes. Upper cervical-cord cross-sectional area (MUCCA) was calculated on an axial 3D-T2w-FatSat sequence acquired at 3T using a novel semiautomatic edge-finding tool. SC images were scored for the presence of sharply demarcated hyperintense areas (focal lesions) and homogenously increased signal intensity (diffuse changes). Patients were dichotomized according EDSS in groups with mild (EDSS up to 3.0) and moderate (EDSS ≥ 3.5) physical disability. Analysis of covariance was used to identify factors associated with dichotomized MUCCA. In binary logistic regression, the SC imaging parameters were entered in blocks to assess their individual contribution to risk of moderate disability. In order to assess the risk of combined SC damage in terms of atrophy and lesional pathology on disability, secondary analysis was carried out where patients were divided into four categories (SC phenotypes) according to median dichotomized MUCCA and presence/absence of focal and/or diffuse changes. Results: MUCCA was strongly associated with total intracranial volume, followed by presence of diffuse SC pathology, and disease duration. Compared to the reference group (normally appearing SC, MUCCA>median), patients with the most severe SC changes (SC affected with focal and/or diffuse lesions, MUCCA<median) had an almost 5-times higher risk of having moderate disability (OR 4.75, 95% CI 3.07–7.49, p < 0.001). Patients with normally appearing SC and MUCCA below the median had a 2-fold increased risk of being in the moderate disability group when compared to the reference patients (OR 2.15, 95% CI 1.26–3.67, p < 0.001). In contrast, patients with MUCCA above the median with SC lesions/diffuse changes did not differ significantly from the reference group. Conclusion: Low cervical SC volume is a strong independent predictor of physical disability in MS patients. The contribution of focal SC lesions and diffuse changes to the worse disability outcomes is limited and present especially in patients with low SC volume.
Combination of metformin and p38 MAPK inhibitor, SB203580, reduced myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in non-obese type 2 diabetic Goto-Kakizaki rats

Diabetic cardiomyopathy, especially myocardial ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury, is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in type 2 diabetic patients. The increasing of basal p38 MAP Kinase (p38 MAPK) activation is a major factor that aggravates cardiac death on diabetic cardiomyopathy. In addition, metformin also shows cardio-protective effects on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury. In this study, we investigated the effect of the combination between metformin and p38 MAPK inhibitor (SB203580) in diabetic rats subjected to I/R injury. H9c2 cells were induced into a hyperglycemic condition and treated with metformin, SB203580 or the combination of metformin and SB203580. In addition, cells in both the presence and absence of drug treatment were subjected to simulated ischemia/reperfusion injury. Cell viability and cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were determined. Moreover, the Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats were treated with metformin, SB203580, and the combination of metformin and SB203580 for 4 weeks. Diabetic parameters and cardiac functions were assessed. Finally, rat hearts were induced ischemia/reperfusion injury for the purpose of infarct size analysis and determination of signal transduction. A high-glucose condition did not reduce cell viability but significantly increased ROS production and significantly decreased cell viability after induced sI/R. Treatment using drugs was shown to reduce ROS generation and cardiac cell death. The GK rats displayed diabetic phenotype by increasing diabetic parameters and these parameters were significantly decreased when treated with drugs. Treatment with metformin or SB203580 could significantly reduce the infarct size. Interestingly, the combination of metformin and SB203580 could enhance cardio-protective ability. Myocardial I/R injury significantly increased p38 MAPK phosphorylation, Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and caspase-3 level. Treatment with drugs significantly decreased the p38 MAPK phosphorylation, Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, caspase-3 level and increased Akt phosphorylation. In conclusion, using the combination of metformin and SB203580 shows positive cardio-protective effects on diabetic ischemic cardiomyopathy.
Spectral Matching using Bitmap Indices of Spectral Derivatives for the Analysis of Hyperspectral Imagery

ii Dedication . iv Acknowledgments . v Vita . vi List of Tables.x List of Figures . xi 1. Chapter 1 : Introduction . 1 1.1 Optical Remote Sensing Image Data.2 1.2 Multispectral and Hyperspectral Remote Sensing System . 4 1.3 Imaging Spectrometer . 6 1.4 Calibration . 8 1.5 Hyperspectral Imaging Data Analysis and Interpretation Methods . 9 1.6 Problems with Hyperspectral Data Analysis and Spectral Matching . 10 1.6.1 Large Data Volume . 10 1.6.2 Increase in Data Processing Time. 11 1.6.3 Spectral Variability and Mixed Pixel . 11 viii 1.7 Motivation of This Research and Proposed Spectral Matching Method . 12 1.8 Thesis Layout . 13 2. Chapter 2 : Literature Review . 15 2.1 Spectral Matching via Vector Computation . 15 2.1.1 Spectral Angle Mapping Measure . 15 2.1.2 Euclidian Distance Measure . 16 2.1.3 Spectral Correlation Measure . 17 2.2 Absorption Feature Matching . 18 2.3 Spectral Matching via Binary Coding . 21 3. Chapter 3 : Spectral Derivative Analysis and Smoothing Techniques . 24 3.1 Laboratory Data and Hyperspectral Imaging Data . 25 3.2 Spectral Derivative Analysis in Hyperspectral Imaging Data . 26 3.2.1 Finite Approximation . 28 3.3 Smoothing Techniques for Hyperspectral Imaging Data . 29 3.3.1 Moving Average Smoothing Filter . 30 3.3.2 Savizky-Golay Smoothing Filter . 30 4. Chapter 4 : Bitmap Indexing . 32 4.1 Hyperspectral Imaging Data considering with Bitmap Index . 32 4.1.1 The Concept of the Bitmap Index . 32 ix 4.1.2 The Advantages of Bitmap Index . 33 4.2 Binning . 35 4.3 Binary Representation of Decimal Numbers . 35 4.4 Shannon’s Entropy Equation . 36 5. Chapter 5 : Data Description and Building Bitmap Index . 38 5.1 Study Area Description . 38 5.2 Study Data Description . 39 5.2.1 AVIRIS Data . 39 5.2.2 Spectral Library . 40 5.3 Smoothing and Extracting the Spectral Derivatives . 41 5.4 Building a Bitmap Index. 46 6. Chapter 6 : Matching and Mapping Techniques . 57 6.1 Matching Algorithm . 57 6.2 Mapping Algorithm . 61 6.3 Mineral Mapping Results . 64 7. Chapter 7 : Conclusion and Future Work . 73 8. Bibliography . 75
Delays in diagnosis in patients with pulmonary and extrapulmonary sarcoidosis

Aim: Sarcoidosis is a multisystemic disease with typical or atypical pulmonary and extra-pulmonary symptoms or frequently without symptoms. Presence of typical clinical findings and symptoms contribute to rapid diagnosis, whereas asymptomatic progression leads to delays in the diagnosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the delay in diagnosis in between patients with pulmonary and/or extra-pulmonary involvement and related symptoms and those without symptoms. Material and Methods: Patients in the sarcoidosis clinics between 2010-2015, were retrospectively evaluated. The cases were grouped according to the presence or absence of symptoms (pulmonary and/or extra-pulmonary). The groups were compared with regard to the delay in diagnosis. Results: Among the 300 patients, 209 (69%) were female. The mean age was 43±11.68. The disease was stage I in 67.3%, stage II in 23.7%, stage III in 5.7% and stage 0 in 3.3% of the patients. No significant difference was observed between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients with regard to total duration until diagnosis (p=0.78). A statistically significant difference was observed between patients groups with regard to physician-related delayed diagnosis(p=0.026). The mean delay in physician-related diagnosis was observed to be longer in asymptomatic cases (21.44 days) compared to patients with pulmonary symptoms (13.66 days)(p=0.036). In asymptomatic cases, the mean duration of physician-related delayed diagnosis (21.44 days) was observed to be longer in comparison with patients with extra-pulmonary symptoms (12.79 days)(p=0.016). In patient-related delayed diagnosis, no difference was observed between groups with regard to the duration until diagnosis(p=0.78). Conclusion: Comparison of delayed diagnosis between patients with or without pulmonary and/or extra-pulmonary symptoms revealed a longer duration of delay in asymptomatic cases compared to symptomatic cases. The timing of diagnosis is very important in sarcoidosis in order to reduce morbidity and mortality; a suspicious approach to asymptomatic patients will increase the possibility of diagnosis and prevent delayed diagnosis.
Effect of N-acetylcysteine on cochlear function in patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing hemodialysis

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on cochlear function in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methodology: The statistical population of this controlled clinical trial included all CKD patients. In total, 64 samples, selected from patients visiting the Dialysis Center of Al-Zahra Hospital from February 2017 to May 2017, were equally randomized into the intervention and control groups. At the baseline, the pure-tone audiometry (PTA) and Distortion Product Oto Acoustic Emissions (DP-OAE) tests were conducted. Then, NAC was administered in the intervention group for 8 weeks. Aforementioned hearing tests were repeated at the end of the interventions and results were compared. Finally, data analysis was carried out in SPSS. Results: Based on the mean scores of hearing threshold, there was no significant between-group difference in the speech discrimination score (SDS) speech reception threshold (SRT) of the left and right sides following NAC administration (P > 0.05). Comparison of the mean OAE following NAC administration showed a significant between-group difference, based on the mean signal/noise ratios (S/N 1000, 2000, and 4000) of the both right and left ears (P < 0.05). To compare the mean DP-OAE changes before and after the intervention between the two groups, the difference between pre- and post-intervention DP-OAE variables was first computed. Then, these changes were compared. A significant between-group difference was observed in S/N ratios of 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz of the both right and left sides before and after the intervention (P < 0.05). In contrast, changes in other variables did not imply a significant between-group difference (P > 0.05). Conclusion: This study showed the effectiveness of NAC in improving cochlear function in 1, 2, and 4 KHz; whereas, it did not significantly affect the hearing threshold.
A Study on the Effects of Pain Stimulus on the Blood Pressure and Heart Rate of Undergraduate Medical Students - A Randomized Control Trial

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of pain stimulus on blood pressure and heart rate amongst students in Melaka Manipal Medical College, Muar campus. In this randomized-controlled trial study, 60 volunteers were randomized to Group A (intervention) and Group B (control) groups with sample size of 30 each. A questionnaire was given before the intervention to determine their androgyny and to screen for smoking and hypertension. Their systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and heart rate (HR) were assessed before any intervention. Participants were then admistered their respective intervention and their SBP, DBP, HR and Pain Score were assessed after 10 seconds and 30 seconds. Their anxiety was assessed after 30 seconds. Unpaired t-test was used to compare mean of both groups and paired t-test was used to compare the before and after of each variable. Our results showed that there were significant systolic blood pressure, pain score and anxiety results in group A compared to group B. However, there are no other significant differences in result between Group A and Group B. The results were analysed by Epi Info Version 7 and GraphPad software to calculate Unpaired t-test, Paired t-test and Chi-Square test. The conclusion is that this study shows that there was some relation between the cold pressor test causing pain and the participants systolic blood pressure after 30 seconds, pain score and anxiety. However, there was no relation between the pain stimulus and participants diastolic blood pressure and heart rate.
Prevalence of Dermatophytosis and Antifungal Activity of Ethanolic Crude Leaf Extract of Tetradenia riparia against Dermatophytes Isolated from Patients Attending Kampala International University Teaching Hospital, Uganda

Dermatophyte infections are a global health problem but neglected in Uganda. This work aimed at determining prevalence of dermatophytosis and antifungal activity of ethanolic crude leaf extract of Tetradenia riparia against dermatophytes isolated from patients attending Kampala International University Teaching Hospital (KIU-TH), Uganda. A total of 100 samples of skin and nail scrapings were collected and processed using standard microscopy (KOH) and cultural methods. T. riparia leaves were collected and processed with 95% ethanol using standard extraction method. The crude leaves ethanolic extract was tested against three dermatophytes: Trichophyton tonsurans, T. mentagrophyte, and Microsporum audouinii using modified agar well diffusion method. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of the ethanolic leaves crude extract were also determined using broth tube dilution and culture, respectively. Out of 100 samples collected, 49 (49%, 95%CI: 0.3930-0.5876) were found positive for microscopy. The prevalence of dermatophytosis was significantly (p=0.001) associated with age groups of participants with higher infection among those aged 11-20 and 21-30 years with 75.0% each. Out of the 49 that were positive by microscopy, 28 (57.15%, 95% CI: 0.1987-0.3739) were positive by culture. Thirty-one (31) fungal isolates were obtained which included both dermatophyte and non-dermatophyte fungi. T. verrucosum had highest distribution 6 (19.35%) among dermatophytes species while Aspergillus spp. were found to have highest distribution 7 (22.58%) among non-dermatophyte species. The result of the antidermatophytic test showed that T. riparia ethanolic crude leaves extract had activity against tested dermatophytes at 1 g/ml. MIC and MFC of the crude extract of T. riparia against tested dermatophytes ranged from 62.5 to 250 mg/ml and 125 to 500 mg/ml, respectively. The findings of this study reported the presence of dermatophytes causing dermatophytosis among patients attending KIU-TH. The results of the current study showed that T. riparia leaves ethanolic crude extract has antidermatophytic activity against tested dermatophytes.
Penurunan Tingkat Kelelahan Pasien Gagal Ginjal yang Menjalani Hemodialisis Melalui Promosi Kesehatan Teknik Relaksasi Nafas Dalam

Gagal Ginjal Kronik (GGK) merupakan masalah kesehatan serius dunia, sebagai peringkat ke 12 penyebab kematian, dan peringkat ke 17 penyebab kecacatan. Disisi lain data riset kesehatan dasar tahun 2013 menunjukkan pasien GGK di Indonesia sebesar 0.2% sementara prevalensi GGK di provinsi NTB sebesar 0,1%. Penatalaksanaan gagal ginjal yang dilakukan melalui terapi hemodialisis dengan durasi waktu selama 4-5 jam dapat menyebabkan pasien cenderung mengalami kelelahan. Untuk mengurangi tingkat kelelahan perlu diberi promosi kesehatan tentang penatalaksanaan kelelahan melalui teknik relaksasi napas dalam yang bertujuan untuk memaksimalkan jumlah oksigen yang masuk dan disuplai ke seluruh jaringan sehingga tubuh dapat memproduksi energi dan menurunkan tingkat kelelahan. Oleh karena itu, promosi kesehatan penting untuk memberikan informasi kepada pasien, sehingga pasein dapat melakukan relaksasi napas dalam secara mandiri. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengaruh promosi kesehatan teknik relaksasi napas dalam terhadap penurunan tingkat kelelahan pada pasien hemodialisis sehingga pasien dapat melakukan secara mandiri. Penelitian ini menggunakan desain pre-experimental dengan rancangan one group pre-test and post-test dengan sampel dari pasien yang menjalani hemodialisis di ruang hemodialisis RSUD propinsi NTB pada bulan juli hingga oktober 2018. Jumlah sampel sebanyak 60 orang yang diambil secara purposive sampling. Hasil uji statistik dengan menggunakan wilcoxon signed rank test menunjukkan bahwa terdapat pengaruh yang signifikan pemberian promosi kesehatan teknik relaksasi napas dalam terhadap penurunan tingkat kelelahan pada pasien hemodialisis.
Effect of Initial Cytoreductive Nephrectomy with Target Therapy versus Target Therapy Alone in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Single Institutional Study

Background: The metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients treated with upfront cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN) combined with immunotherapy results in overall survival (OS) improvement. It is unclear whether mRCC patients treated with target therapy will also benefit from CN. The aim of the study was to identify the benefit of upfront CN followed by targeted therapy (TTs) versus TTs alone on OS of patients with mRCC, and to evaluate pre-operative variables for selection of patients who would benefit from CN, and also the response rate (RR) and the progression-free survival (PFS). Methods: A retrospective study was performed in our Department on patients diagnosed with mRCC within the period of January 2013 to April 2018. Data that were collected included patients and tumor characteristics. Patients were divided into two groups: 1) received upfront CN followed by TTs, and the 2) one treated with TTs alone. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier method, univariate analysis with log-rank test was used to estimate predictors of survival in the CN group, and Cox regression was used for multivariate analysis. Results: The median OS of all patients was 14 months, and was 19 and 10.5 months in CN and non-CN respectively with significant difference (P˂0.001). Lower hemoglobin level (P=0.012), high neutrophil count (P˂0.001), low albumin level (P=0.006), number of metastatic sites ≥3 (P˂0.001), and patients with number of risk factors ≥3 (P˂0.001) have a negative impact on OS in CN group. Conclusions: Upfront CN before TTs in mRCC carries better survival than TTs alone. Five pre-operative variables (i.e. hemoglobin level, neutrophil count, albumin level, number of metastatic sites, and number of risk factors) were identified as suitable for selection of patients who will benefit from CN.
Transcriptomic Analysis Identifies RNA Binding Proteins as Putative Regulators of Myelopoiesis and Leukemia

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a common and aggressive hematological malignancy. Acquisition of heterogeneous genetic aberrations and epigenetic dysregulation lead to the transformation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) into leukemic stem cells (LSC), which subsequently gives rise to immature blast cells and a leukemic phenotype. LSCs are responsible for disease relapse as current chemotherapeutic regimens are not able to completely eradicate these cellular sub-populations. Therefore, it is critical to improve upon the existing knowledge of LSC specific markers, which would allow for specific targeting of these cells more effectively allowing for their sustained eradication from the cellular milieu. Although significant milestones in decoding the aberrant transcriptional network of various cancers, including leukemia, have been achieved, studies on the involvement of post-transcriptional gene regulation (PTGR) in disease progression are beginning to unfold. RNA binding proteins (RBPs) are key players in mediating PTGR and they regulate the intracellular fate of individual transcripts, from their biogenesis to RNA metabolism, via interactions with RNA binding domains (RBDs). In this study, we have used an integrative approach to systematically profile RBP expression and identify key regulatory RBPs involved in normal myeloid development and AML. We have analyzed RNA-seq datasets (GSE74246) of HSCs, common myeloid progenitors (CMPs), granulocyte-macrophage progenitors (GMPs), monocytes, LSCs, and blasts. We observed that normal and leukemic cells can be distinguished on the basis of RBP expression, which is indicative of their ability to define cellular identity, similar to transcription factors. We identified that distinctly co-expressing modules of RBPs and their subclasses were enriched in hematopoietic stem/progenitor (HSPCs) and differentiated monocytes. We detected expression of DZIP3, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, in HSPCs, knockdown of which promotes monocytic differentiation in cell line model. We identified co-expression modules of RBP genes in LSCs and among these, distinct modules of RBP genes with high and low expression. The expression of several AML-specific RBPs were also validated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Network analysis identified densely connected hubs of ribosomal RBP genes (rRBPs) with low expression in LSCs, suggesting the dependency of LSCs on altered ribosome dynamics. In conclusion, our systematic analysis elucidates the RBP transcriptomic landscape in normal and malignant myelopoiesis, and highlights the functional consequences that may result from perturbation of RBP gene expression in these cellular landscapes.