Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The “Black-and-White Cookie” Sign – A Case Series of a Novel Ultrasonographic Sign in Gastric Outlet Obstruction

Gastric outlet obstruction (GOO) is a rare condition occurring as a consequence of numerous processes that prevent gastric emptying. Presenting symptoms of GOO are non-specific and include nausea, vomiting, epigastric discomfort and decreased appetite. The diagnosis of GOO is often challenging. Emergency physicians must have a heightened awareness of GOO to ensure proper diagnosis and rapid treatment. Although the gold standard for diagnoses of GOO is endoscopy, many patients are identified by computerized tomography imaging. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a rapid and non-invasive technique for evaluating patients in the emergency department. Previous literature has validated the use of ultrasound in diagnosing various intra-abdominal pathologies including bowel obstructions and appendicitis; however, there is limited research on evaluating gastric disease.1 We report three cases of GOO diagnosed with the “black-and-white cookie” sign on POCUS.
Skyline Community Search in Multi-valued Networks

Given a scientific collaboration network, how can we find a group of collaborators with high research indicator (e.g., h-index) and diverse research interests? Given a social network, how can we identify the communities that have high influence (e.g., PageRank) and also have similar interests to a specified user? In such settings, the network can be modeled as a multi-valued network where each node has d ($d \ge 1$) numerical attributes (i.e., h-index, diversity, PageRank, similarity score, etc.). In the multi-valued network, we want to find communities that are not dominated by the other communities in terms of d numerical attributes. Most existing community search algorithms either completely ignore the numerical attributes or only consider one numerical attribute of the nodes. To capture d numerical attributes, we propose a novel community model, called skyline community, based on the concepts of k-core and skyline. A skyline community is a maximal connected k-core that cannot be dominated by the other connected k-cores in the d-dimensional attribute space. We develop an elegant space-partition algorithm to efficiently compute the skyline communities. Two striking advantages of our algorithm are that (1) its time complexity relies mainly on the size of the answer s (i.e., the number of skyline communities), thus it is very efficient if s is small; and (2) it can progressively output the skyline communities, which is very useful for applications that only require part of the skyline communities. Extensive experiments on both synthetic and real-world networks demonstrate the efficiency, scalability, and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
MEMBANGUN KEMAMPUAN KOMUNIKASI MATEMATIS DALAM PEMBELAJARAN MATEMATIKA

Until now, the role of teachers in building students' mathematical communication skills, especially in mathematics is still very limited. Communication skills are a very important aspect that needs to be owned by students who want to succeed in their studies. Similarly, according to Kist (Clark, 2005) effective communication skills is an ability that needs to be owned by the students for all subjects. Mathematical communication skills (mathematical communication) in the learning of mathematics is very necessary to be developed. This is because through mathematical communication students can organize mathematical thinking both orally and in writing. In addition, students are also able to provide an appropriate response among students and media in the learning process. Even in the association community, someone who has good communication skills will tend to be more adaptable to anyone where it is located in a community, which in turn will be a success in life. In this paper, the author presents the notion of mathematical communication skills, with coverage of two things: the ability of students to use mathematics as a tool of communication (language of mathematics), and the student's ability to communicate mathematics is learned as the content of the message should be delivered. How and why communication is important to build a mathematical community through open communication in the classroom.
Which Benefits and Harms of Using Fenugreek as a Galactogogue Need to Be Discussed during Clinical Consultations? A Delphi Study among Breastfeeding Women, Gynecologists, Pediatricians, Family Physicians, Lactation Consultants, and Pharmacists

Background Breastfeeding women with hypogalactia are commonly recommended to use fenugreek as a galactogogue. This study aimed to achieve formal consensus among breastfeeding women and healthcare providers on which potential harms and benefits of using fenugreek need to be communicated and discussed during clinical consultations. Methods A two-iterative round Delphi technique was used in two separate panels of breastfeeding women (n = 65) and healthcare providers (n = 56) to achieve formal consensus on a list of 24 and 16 items related to potential harms and benefits of fenugreek. Results About 70% of the healthcare providers recommended quite often herbal remedies for breastfeeding women and about 68% of the women had been recommended to use herbal remedies many times by their healthcare providers. Consensus was achieved on 21 potential harms and 14 potential benefits of using fenugreek to enhance human milk supply that need to be discussed with breastfeeding women during consultations. Conclusion Probably, potential harms and benefits of recommending fenugreek as herbal galactogogue for breastfeeding women seeking recommendations to increase their human milk supply need to be discussed during clinical consultations. Further observational studies are needed to assess what is being discussed in daily consultations when herbal remedies are recommended.
The β3‐integrin endothelial adhesome regulates microtubule‐dependent cell migration

Integrin β3 is seen as a key anti‐angiogenic target for cancer treatment due to its expression on neovasculature, but the role it plays in the process is complex; whether it is pro‐ or anti‐angiogenic depends on the context in which it is expressed. To understand precisely β3's role in regulating integrin adhesion complexes in endothelial cells, we characterised, by mass spectrometry, the β3‐dependent adhesome. We show that depletion of β3‐integrin in this cell type leads to changes in microtubule behaviour that control cell migration. β3‐integrin regulates microtubule stability in endothelial cells through Rcc2/Anxa2‐driven control of active Rac1 localisation. Our findings reveal that angiogenic processes, both in vitro and in vivo, are more sensitive to microtubule targeting agents when β3‐integrin levels are reduced.
A Comparative Study for Contour Detection Using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks

Contour detection plays an important role in a wide range of applications such as image segmentation, object detection, shape matching, scene understanding, etc. In this study, we conduct a comprehensive analysis of contour detection using existing convolutional neural network (CNN) architectures. Given that contour detection can be considered as a classification task (e.g., contour or non-contour), six types of pretrained CNN (trained on ImageNet dataset) are individually used for domain-specific fine-tuning on contour dataset. The contour detection can then be achieved by sliding-window strategy, in which each image window (corresponding to a local patch) is used to extract features followed by classification. The features extraction is implemented by extracting the activation vectors from the fully-connected layers (except for the classification layer) of a fine-tuned CNN. Random forest classifier is adopted to predict whether the central pixel of a local patch is passed by contour or not. Experiments on a widely-used dataset called Berkeley Segmentation Data Set (BSDS500) demonstrate that fine-tuning technique can significantly improve the performance of contour detection.
Vitamin E attenuates nicotine‐ and noise‐induced reproductive impairment in male albino Wistar rats

Previous studies showed that exposure to stress or nicotine induced reproductive impairment in male rats. Here, we assessed the effect of an antioxidant (vitamin E) on nicotine‐, stress‐ and nicotine + stress‐induced reproductive impairment in male rats. Forty‐eight male albino Wistar rats were divided into eight groups as follows; control, stress (generator noise 90–120 dB, 8 hr/day), nicotine (1.5 mg kg−1 day−1), nicotine + stress, vitamin E (100 mg kg−1 day−1), stress + vitamin E, nicotine + vitamin E and stress + nicotine + vitamin E. Sperm count, viability, motility and rapid progressive forward movement decreased significantly (p < 0.05), while percentage of nonmotile spermatozoa increased significantly (p < 0.05) in stress, nicotine and nicotine + stress groups, compared with control. Serum testosterone and follicle‐stimulating hormone decreased significantly (p < 0.05) in stress, nicotine and nicotine + stress groups, compared with control. Serum luteinising hormone decreased (p < 0.05) significantly in stress and nicotine + stress groups, compared with the control. Histology of the testes showed loss of germ cells in numerous seminiferous tubules, and epididymal histology showed decreased sperm density in stress, nicotine and nicotine + stress groups compared with the control. These negative changes were more severe in the nicotine + stress group. Vitamin E ameliorated the negative changes in the above parameters. This may be attributable to its antioxidant property.
Altered Feeding Behaviors and Adiposity Precede Observable Weight Gain in Young Rats Submitted to a Short-Term High-Fat Diet

Information regarding the early effects of obesogenic diets on feeding patterns and behaviors is limited. To improve knowledge regarding the etiology of obesity, young male Wistar rats were submitted to high-fat (HFD) or regular chow diets (RCDs) for 14 days. Various metabolic parameters were continuously measured using metabolic chambers. Total weight gain was similar between groups, but heavier visceral fat depots and reduced weight of livers were found in HFD rats. Total calorie intake was increased while individual feeding bouts were shorter and of higher calorie intake in response to HFD. Ambulatory activity and sleep duration were decreased in HFD rats during passive and active phase, respectively. Acylated and unacylated ghrelin levels were unaltered by the increased calorie intake and the early changes in body composition. This indicates that at this early stage, the orexigenic signal did not adapt to the high-calorie content of HFD. We hereby demonstrate that, although total weight gain is not affected, a short-term obesogenic diet alters body composition, feeding patterns, satiation, ambulatory activity profiles, and behaviours in a young rat model. Moreover, this effect precedes changes in weight gain, obesity, and ensuing metabolic disorders.
Monetary Policy Analysis When Planning Horizons Are Finite

It is common to analyze the effects of alternative possible monetary policy commitments under the assumption of optimization under rational (or fully model-consistent) expectations. This implicitly assumes unrealistic cognitive abilities on the part of economic decision makers. The relevant question, however, is not whether the assumption can be literally correct, but how much it would matter to model decision making in a more realistic way. A model is proposed, based on the architecture of artificial intelligence programs for problems such as chess or go, in which decision makers look ahead only a finite distance into the future and use a value function learned from experience to evaluate situations that may be reached after a finite sequence of actions by themselves and others. Conditions are discussed under which the predictions of a model with finite-horizon forward planning are similar to those of a rational expectations equilibrium, and under which they are instead quite different. The model is used to reexamine the consequences that should be expected from a central bank commitment to maintain a fixed nominal interest rate for a substantial period of time. “Neo-Fisherian” predictions are shown to depend on using rational expectations equilibrium analysis under circumstances in which it should be expected to be unreliable.
Physical fitness predicts technical-tactical and time-motion profile in simulated Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu matches

Background Among combat sports, Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) present elevated physical fitness demands from the high-intensity intermittent efforts. However, information regarding how metabolic and neuromuscular physical fitness is associated with technical-tactical performance in Judo and BJJ fights is not available. This study aimed to relate indicators of physical fitness with combat performance variables in Judo and BJJ. Methods The sample consisted of Judo (n = 16) and BJJ (n = 24) male athletes. At the first meeting, the physical tests were applied and, in the second, simulated fights were performed for later notational analysis. Results The main findings indicate: (i) high reproducibility of the proposed instrument and protocol used for notational analysis in a mobile device; (ii) differences in the technical-tactical and time-motion patterns between modalities; (iii) performance-related variables are different in Judo and BJJ; and (iv) regression models based on metabolic fitness variables may account for up to 53% of the variances in technical-tactical and/or time-motion variables in Judo and up to 31% in BJJ, whereas neuromuscular fitness models can reach values up to 44 and 73% of prediction in Judo and BJJ, respectively. When all components are combined, they can explain up to 90% of high intensity actions in Judo. Discussion In conclusion, performance prediction models in simulated combat indicate that anaerobic, aerobic and neuromuscular fitness variables contribute to explain time-motion variables associated with high intensity and technical-tactical variables in Judo and BJJ fights.
Personalized Network Modeling in Psychopathology: The Importance of Contemporaneous and Temporal Connections

Recent literature has introduced (a) the network perspective to psychology and (b) collection of time series data to capture symptom fluctuations and other time varying factors in daily life. Combining these trends allows for the estimation of intraindividual network structures. We argue that these networks can be directly applied in clinical research and practice as hypothesis generating structures. Two networks can be computed: a temporal network, in which one investigates if symptoms (or other relevant variables) predict one another over time, and a contemporaneous network, in which one investigates if symptoms predict one another in the same window of measurement. The contemporaneous network is a partial correlation network, which is emerging in the analysis of cross-sectional data but is not yet utilized in the analysis of time series data. We explain the importance of partial correlation networks and exemplify the network structures on time series data of a psychiatric patient.
Influencing factors of equity crowdfunding financing performance — An empirical study

Equity crowdfunding is in full swing, and the factors that influences the financing success have drawn considerable attention from researchers in Accounting, Finance and etc. This paper presents an empirical examination of the factors that influence the performance of equity crowdfunding financing with the data from “Jingdong Dongjia” in China. Based on the “lemon market” theory and signal theory, we examined the influencing factors to the behavior of the first set of investors of financing projects, and those to the eventual amount of money they can raise. We found that the percentage contributed by lead invest and the future information accounted for the confidence of the first investors. While for the eventual complete percentage, project quality is proved to the driving power.
The Internalization of Mathematics Stereotypes in Elementary School Children

This study investigated mathematics-related gender stereotypes, internalization of these stereotypes in 2 and 5* grade children, and whether there is a relationship between internalization and the underperformance of girls in mathematics. There is evidence that gender stereotype internalization occurs throughout elementary school with an increasing impact on girls' mathematical competence and performance (e.g., Muzzatti & Agnoli, 2007). However, there has been no definite determination with respect to the point at which this process begins. Parents and teachers have displayed gender stereotypical beliefs concerning children as young as three years of age (Lee & Schell, under review). This factor can influence children's attitudes towards mathematics (Bleeker & Jacobs, 2004). The current study included 37 second graders (18 boys, 19 girls) and 27 fifth graders (12 boys, 15 girls). Each student completed tasks designed to measure gender stereotypical beliefs of their own abilities, perceptions of their parents' beliefs, internalization of occupations and activities related to masculine and feminine domains, and an assessment of their actual mathematics ability. Parents and teachers were asked to complete a questionnaire to ascertain their gender-stereotypical beliefs of the students' academic abilities. The findings revealed that children had not internalized mathematics gender stereotypes, girls did not underperform, and adults did not display stereotypical beliefs regarding children's academic competencies. These results may be described by a myriad of explanations such as gender stereotype flexibility, girls' equivalent or higher level of performance in academics, and time of data collection. Implications for future research will be discussed. GENDER STEREOTYPES IN MATH iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank the students, parents, teachers, and principal of Williamsburg Public School. The study would not have been possible without their cheerful participation. I am additionally grateful to the teachers and Principal of Williamsburg P.S. for their kindness and patience during the data collection process. An immense amount of gratitude goes to my advisor, Dr. Joanne Lee, for her continued dedication and patience throughout this research project. Thank you to my committee members, Dr. Donna Kotsopoulos and Dr. Eileen Wood, for their reviews and feedback on my initial proposal and final document. Thank you to Dr. Christine Alksnis, the external thesis examiner, for her invaluable feedback. Additionally, I am very grateful to Samantha Makosz for her many hours of help with data collection. GENDER STEREOTYPES IN MATH iv
The Arctic's sea ice cover: trends, variability, predictability, and comparisons to the Antarctic

As assessed over the period of satellite observations, October 1978 to present, there are downward linear trends in Arctic sea ice extent for all months, largest at the end of the melt season in September. The ice cover is also thinning. Downward trends in extent and thickness have been accompanied by pronounced interannual and multiyear variability, forced by both the atmosphere and ocean. As the ice thins, its response to atmospheric and oceanic forcing may be changing. In support of a busier Arctic, there is a growing need to predict ice conditions on a variety of time and space scales. A major challenge to providing seasonal scale predictions is the 7–10 days limit of numerical weather prediction. While a seasonally ice‐free Arctic Ocean is likely well within this century, there is much uncertainty in the timing. This reflects differences in climate model structure, the unknown evolution of anthropogenic forcing, and natural climate variability. In sharp contrast to the Arctic, Antarctic sea ice extent, while highly variable, has increased slightly over the period of satellite observations. The reasons for this different behavior remain to be resolved, but responses to changing atmospheric circulation patterns appear to play a strong role.
All-Trans Retinoic Acid Induces CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ Regulatory T Cells by Increasing FOXP3 Demethylation in Systemic Sclerosis CD4+ T Cells

Background Retinoic acid (RA) is an active metabolite of vitamin A and has been reported to improve the clinical symptoms of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). However, the mechanism of RA in the prevention of SSc remains unclear. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are a subpopulation of T cells with immunosuppressive activity. The quantitative and functional defects of Tregs may mediate the immune dysfunction in SSc. The addition of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) to human naïve CD4+ cells could promote the maturation of Tregs and increase the stable expression of Foxp3. In this study, we explored the role of RA on Tregs in SSc CD4+ T cells and its possible epigenetic mechanisms, so as to further understand the mechanisms of RA on SSc. Methods CD4+ T cells were isolated from peripheral blood of SSc and treated with or without ATRA and/or transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). The percentage of CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ Tregs was counted by flow cytometry. FOXP3 mRNA and protein levels were measured by quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting, respectively. Bisulfite sequencing was performed to determine the methylation status of the FOXP3 proximal promoter sequences. Results The expression of Tregs and FOXP3 in CD4+ T cells from patients with SSc increased in response to ATRA. Moreover, combined stimulation with ATRA and TGF-β resulted in the enhancement of these effects. Further studies revealed that stimulation with ATRA increased the expression of FOXP3 in SSc CD4+ T cells by downregulating FOXP3 promoter methylation levels. Conclusions ATRA acts as an inducer of Treg response in SSc CD4+ T cells via demethylation of the FOXP3 promoter and activation of FOXP3 expression. This may be one of the molecular mechanisms for ATRA, and therefore, RA can be used for the treatment of SSc.
Local Hematocrit Fluctuation Induced by Malaria-Infected Red Blood Cells and Its Effect on Microflow

We investigate numerically the microscale blood flow in which red blood cells (RBCs) are partially infected by Plasmodium falciparum, the malaria parasite. The infected RBCs are modeled as more rigid cells with less deformability than healthy ones. Our study illustrates that, in a 10 μm microvessel in low-hematocrit conditions (18% and 27%), the Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells (Pf-IRBCs) and healthy ones first form a train of cells. Because of the slow moving of the Pf-IRBCs, the local hematocrit (Hct) near the Pf-IRBCs is then increased, to approximately 40% or even higher values. This increase of the local hematocrit is temporary and is kept for a longer length of time because of the long RBC train formed in 27%-Hct condition. Similar hematocrit elevation at the downstream region with 45%-Hct in the same 10 μm microvessel is also observed with the cells randomly located. In 20 μm microvessels with 45%-Hct, the Pf-IRBCs slow down the velocity of the healthy red blood cells (HRBCs) around them and then locally elevate the volume fraction and result in the accumulation of the RBCs at the center of the vessels, thus leaving a thicker cell free layer (CFL) near the vessel wall than normal. Variation of wall shear stress (WSS) is caused by the fluctuation of local Hct and the distance between the wall and the RBCs. Moreover, in high-hematocrit condition (45%), malaria-infected cells have a tendency to migrate to the edge of the aggregates which is due to the uninterrupted hydrodynamic interaction between the HRBCs and Pf-IRBC. Our results suggest that the existence of Pf-IRBCs is a nonnegligible factor for the fluctuation of hematocrit and WSS and also contributes to the increase of CFL of pathological blood flow in microvessels. The numerical approach presented has the potential to be utilized to RBC disorders and other hematologic diseases.