Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stroke patients' outcomes and satisfaction with care at discharge from four referral hospitals in Malawi: A cross-sectional descriptive study in limited resource

Background Stroke is the fourth leading cause of mortality and disability in Malawi. There is paucity of studies reporting on acute stroke functional outcomes, quality of life and satisfaction with care among patients with stroke. This study aimed to determine stroke outcomes and satisfaction with care in the country's central hospitals. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study, recruiting 114 adult patients with stroke and their caregivers, was done. FIM, EQ-5D-5L, SASC and C-SASC were used to collect data. Univariate associations were assessed using the Kruskal-Wallis Test for categorical variables and the Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test for continuous variables. Results With 79% of the original study sample taking part, there was improvement in patients' functional status at discharge compared to on admission with notable improvement in self-care (p<0.001), sphincter control (p<0.001), locomotion (p<0.001), and social cognition (p<0.001), but no significant improvement in transfers (p=1.000), and communication (p=0.865). Satisfaction with care was high, with no significant differences between males and females (p=0.415), age in years (p=0.397), and distance to the clinic (p=0.615). Satisfaction ratings were also high from caregivers' responses and their scores were not associated with age (p=0.663) or distance to the hospital (p=0.872). Quality of life was poor, most patients were either unable or had severe limitation in functional dimensions of mobility (22(28%), self-care (19(25%) and performance of usual activities (25(33%). Every additional year in age was associated with average of 0.36 decrease in quality of life score coefficient, −0.36 (95% CI: −0.63; −0.10); p=0.008. Conclusion Patients with stroke experience improvement in functional outcomes on discharge compared to on admission. Patients and caregivers were satisfied with care provision despite having poor quality of life post stroke treatment. There is need to focus proven interventions on areas of stroke care that can impact patients' quality of life in resource limited settings.
Concentrations of Selected Adipokines, Interleukin-6, and Vitamin D in Patients with Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma in Respect to Thyroid Cancer Stages

The relationships between thyroid cancer and obesity are not fully understood. Adipokines, proinflammatory cytokines, and vitamin D may mediate these associations. In this study, we estimated serum concentrations of leptin, adiponectin, chemerin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and vitamin D in patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). We searched for associations between the adipokines, IL-6, vitamin D, anthropometric parameters, and TNM AJCC/UICC 2017 classification in 177 patients diagnosed with PTC (151 women and 26 men). Normal weight patients were predominantly classified as clinical stage I. The prevalence of stages higher than I was significantly higher in PTC patients with BMI ≥ 25 or with metabolic syndrome. Using logistic regression waist circumference ≥ 88 cm in women and ≥102 cm in men, upper tertiles of IL-6 and leptin were associated with a higher clinical stage. There were no differences in the prevalence of microcarcinomas in analyzed groups (BMI ≥ 25 versus BMI < 25 and with metabolic syndrome presence versus without metabolic syndrome). No significant relationships between serum concentrations of leptin, adiponectin, chemerin, IL-6, vitamin D, and tumor size in PTC were found. Although insulin resistance represented by the HOMA index was associated with anthropometric variables and with serum leptin, adiponectin, chemerin, and IL-6 concentrations, in our study, no statistically significant relations with PTC staging were identified.
Knockdown of TRPV2 channels in sensory neurons increases limb use and weight bearing but does not affect spontaneous flinching behavior in a mouse model of bone cancer

Bone cancer pain is a complex pain state involving ongoing pain and movement-related pain, which are thought to be caused by different mechanisms. Transient receptor potential vanilloid subfamily 1 (TRPV1) is involved in ongoing pain but not movement-related pain. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of transient receptor potential vanilloid subfamily 2 (TRPV2) in bone cancer pain. Proportions of TRPV1- and TRPV2-immunoreactive neurons in lumbar dorsal root ganglia innervating the femurs of male mice were examined by using Fluoro-Gold. Mice were intrathecally injected with small interfering RNA (siRNA) against TRPV2 or scrambled siRNA for three consecutive days from day 14 after sarcoma injection into the left femur. In the mice with bone cancer, the number of spontaneous flinches was quantified for assessment of ongoing pain, and limb use and weight bearing were assessed as indications of movement-related pain. Changes in TRPV2 protein levels in dorsal root ganglion were evaluated by Western blotting. We also examined the effects of intrathecal administration of siRNA against TRPV2 or scrambled siRNA on thermal and mechanical sensitivities in normal mice without tumors. The proportions of TRPV1-immunoreactive and TRPV2-immunoreactive neurons were 21% and 22% of neurons in dorsal root ganglia innervating the femur, respectively. Tumor-bearing mice exhibited an increased number of spontaneous flinches and impaired limb use and weight bearing at day 13 after sarcoma injection. TRPV2 protein level in dorsal root ganglia at day 13 was comparable to that at baseline. siRNA against TRPV2 significantly improved limb use and weight bearing but did not affect the number of spontaneous flinches compared to those in the group treated with scrambled siRNA. siRNA against TRPV2 did not affect thermal or mechanical sensitivity in normal mice. The results suggest that TRPV2 is involved in movement-related pain but not ongoing pain in mice with bone cancer.
Sinusoidal Obstruction Syndrome (SOS) in Multiple Myeloma with Renal Failure

SOS is a rare complication of stem cell transplantation and has significant morbidity and mortality. We present three cases of SOS and highlight underlying risk factors for its development, such as impaired clearance of alkylating agents (especially melphalan) in patients with renal failure and prolonged infection. Although, melphalan and cyclophosphamide cause SOS less commonly than alkylating agents such as busulfan, physicians must use caution when administering these drugs to patients with underlying comorbidities such as renal failure that may increase the likelihood of development of SOS. This is due to unpredictable pharmacokinetics in patients with renal failure and therefore close drug monitoring is required. With the recent FDA approval of defibrotide in 2016, outcomes of SOS have improved and physician awareness is important for prompt diagnosis and treatment.
Analysis of mutations in primary and metastatic synovial sarcoma

Synovial sarcoma is the most common pediatric non-rhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcoma and accounts for about 8–10% of all soft tissue sarcoma in childhood and adolescence. The presence of a chromosomal translocation-associated SS18-SSX-fusion gene is causally linked to development of primary synovial sarcoma. Metastases occur in approximately 50–70% of synovial sarcoma cases with yet unknown mechanisms, which led to about 70–80% mortality rate in five years. To explore the possibilities to investigate metastatic mechanisms of synovial sarcoma, we carried out the first genome-wide search for potential genetic biomarkers and drivers associated with metastasis by comparative mutational profiling of 18 synovial sarcoma samples isolated from four patients carrying the primary tumors and another four patients carrying the metastatic tumors through whole exome sequencing. Selected from the candidates yielded from this effort, we examined the effect of the multiple missense mutations of ADAM17, which were identified solely in metastatic synovial sarcoma. The mutant alleles as well as the wild-type control were expressed in the mammalian cells harboring the SS18-SSX1 fusion gene. The ADAM17-P729H mutation was shown to enhance cell migration, a phenotype associated with metastasis. Therefore, like ADAM17-P729H, other mutations we identified solely in metastatic synovial sarcoma may also have the potential to serve as an entry point for unraveling the metastatic mechanisms of synovial sarcoma.
Descriptive analysis of colorectal cancer in Zambia, Southern Africa using the National Cancer Disease Hospital Database

Introduction Colon cancer is preventable. There is a plethora of data regarding epidemiology and screening guidelines, however this data is sparse from the African continent. Objective: we aim to evaluate the trends of colorectal cancer (CRC) in a native African population based on age at diagnosis, gender and stage at diagnosis. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of the Cancer Disease Hospital (CDH) registry in Zambia, Southern Africa. Results 377 charts were identified in the CDH registry between 2007 and 2015, of which 234 were included in the final analysis. The mean age at diagnosis was 48.6 years and 62% are males. Using descriptive analysis for patterns: mode of diagnosis was surgical in 195 subjects (84%), histology adenocarcinoma in 225 (96.5%), most common location is rectum 124 (53%) followed by sigmoid 31 (13.4%), and cecum 26 (11%). 122 subjects (54%) were stage 4 at diagnosis. Using the Spearman rank correlation, we see no association between year and stage at diagnosis (p = 0.30) or year and age at diagnosis (p = 0.92). Conclusion Colorectal cancer was diagnosed at a young age and late stage in the Zambian patients.
Assessment of Acute Pain Management and Associated Factors among Emergency Surgical Patients in Gondar University Specialized Hospital Emergency Department, Northwest Ethiopia, 2018: Institutional Based Cross-Sectional Study

Background Adequate pain management has led to increased comfort in emergency patients, reducing morbidity and improving long term outcomes. Different pain management modalities have been applied in the emergency department among which systemic analgesia is commonly used by preceding a nerve block. Several factors have been associated with poor pain management in low resource setting areas. We aimed to determine pain management modalities and associated factors among emergency surgical patients. Patients and Methods After obtaining ethical approval from Ethical Review Committee, 203 volunteer patients were enrolled. Institutional based cross-sectional prospective study was conducted from April to May 2018 in Gondar University Specialized Hospital Emergency Department. The severity of pain was measured through Numerical Rating Scale and statistical analysis was performed using SPSS statistical package version 23. Descriptive statistics cross-tab and binary logistics were performed to identify factors related to pain management in emergency department. Results A total of 203 patients, 138 (68%) males and 65 (32%) females with response rate of 94%, participated in this study. Among them, 66% patients received analgesia within two hours of ED presentation with a mean ± SD of 61.0 ± 34.1 minutes. 70.4 % of patients complained of moderate and severe pain after receiving analgesia. There was a significant difference between trauma and nontrauma patients in mean time of analgesia receiving and residual pain severity (p < 0.001). Age, trauma, physician pain assessment, and severity of pain were the predicting factors for analgesia delivery. Conclusion The overall practice of pain management in Gondar University Specialized Hospital Emergency Department was not adequate. Therefore, it is vital to implement an objective pain assessment method and documentation of the pain severity to improve pain management practice.
Neurofuzzy c-Means Network-Based SCARA Robot for Head Gimbal Assembly (HGA) Circuit Inspection

Decision and control of SCARA robot in HGA (head gimbal assembly) inspection line is a very challenge issue in hard disk drive (HDD) manufacturing. The HGA circuit called slider FOS is a part of HDD which is used for reading and writing data inside the disk with a very small dimension, i.e., 45 × 64 µm. Accuracy plays an important role in this inspection, and classification of defects is very crucial to assign the action of the SCARA robot. The robot can move the inspected parts into the corresponding boxes, which are divided into 5 groups and those are “Good,” “Bridging,” “Missing,” “Burn,” and “No connection. ” A general image processing technique, blob analysis, in conjunction with neurofuzzy c-means (NFC) clustering with branch and bound (BNB) technique to find the best structure in all possible candidates was proposed to increase the performance of the entire robotics system. The results from two clustering techniques which are K-means, Kohonen network, and neurofuzzy c-means were investigated to show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. Training results from the 30x microscope inspection with 300 samples show that the best accuracy for clustering is 99.67% achieved from the NFC clustering with the following features: area, moment of inertia, and perimeter, and the testing results show 92.21% accuracy for the conventional Kohonen network. The results exhibit the improvement on the clustering when the neural network was applied. This application is one of the progresses in neurorobotics in industrial applications. This system has been implemented successfully in the HDD production line at Seagate Technology (Thailand) Co. Ltd.
Acute Appendicectomy or Conservative Treatment for Complicated Appendicitis (Phlegmon or Abscess)? A Systematic Review by Updated Traditional and Cumulative Meta-Analysis

Background The existing evidence on the treatment of complicated appendicitis favors conservative treatment rather than acute appendicectomy. Update traditional meta-analysis and consequently cumulative meta-analysis was performed to track the accumulation of evidence over time. Methods Studies were identified by a systematic literature search of the EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane Library and Google Scholar databases. The main outcome measures were duration of the first hospitalization, overall duration of hospitalization, duration of intravenous (IV) antibiotic treatment, overall complications, abdominal/pelvic abscesses, wound infections, re-admissions and unplanned re-operations. Results Overall complications, abdominal/pelvic abscesses, wound infections and unplanned procedures were significantly lower in the conservative treatment cohort. In contrast, subgroup analysis of three randomized controlled trials (RCTs) revealed no significant difference in abdominal/pelvic abscesses (odds ratio (OR): 0.46, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.17 - 1.29, P = 0.14). No significant differences were found in the duration of the first and overall hospitalizations. Of the note, high-quality RCTs demonstrated a shorter hospital stay by 1 day for the laparoscopic appendicectomy cohort compared to conservative treatment (mean difference (MD): -0.99, 95% CI: -1.31 to -0.67, P < 0.0001). Conclusion The present meta-analysis demonstrates that a shift in paradigm has begun, with a more widespread use of the laparoscopic approach for the management of complicated appendicitis.
Gastrointestinal Dysfunctions Are Associated with IL-10 Variants in Parkinson's Disease

Inflammation has been demonstrated to be involved in Parkinson's disease (PD) pathogenesis. There were evidences that the disturbance of the protective function of IL-10 gene contributed to PD. In our study, haplotype analyses were conducted of IL-10 rs1800871 and rs1800872 on 371 PD patients. Because the two SNPs exposed significant linkage disequilibrium demonstrated by Haploview software, we included 177 carriers of both rs1800871 and rs1800872 and 190 noncarriers in clinical phenotype analyses. As to nonmotor symptoms, the score of the gastrointestinal dysfunction domain in Nonmotor Symptom Scale (NMSS) was lower in the carrier group of both SNPs than in the noncarrier group in PD patients (SC: −0.198, p : 023). Other nonmotor symptoms reflected by relevant rating scales showed negative results. As to comorbidity, no significant statistical significance was observed between the two SNPs and Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). In conclusion, we found less severe gastrointestinal dysfunctions of both IL-10 rs1800871 and rs1800872 carriers than noncarriers in PD.
Bilinear Bandits with Low-rank Structure

We introduce the bilinear bandit problem with low-rank structure where an action is a pair of arms from two different entity types, and the reward is a bilinear function of the known feature vectors of the arms. The problem is motivated by numerous applications in which the learner must recommend two different entity types as one action, such as a male / female pair in an online dating service. The unknown in the problem is a $d_1$ by $d_2$ matrix $\mathbf{\Theta}^*$ with rank $r \ll \min\{d_1,d_2\}$ governing the reward generation. Determination of $\mathbf{\Theta}^*$ with low-rank structure poses a significant challenge in finding the right exploration-exploitation tradeoff. In this work, we propose a new two-stage algorithm called "Explore-Subspace-Then-Refine" (ESTR). The first stage is an explicit subspace exploration, while the second stage is a linear bandit algorithm called "almost-low-dimensional OFUL" (LowOFUL) that exploits and further refines the estimated subspace via a regularization technique. We show that the regret of ESTR is $\tilde{O}((d_1+d_2)^{3/2} \sqrt{r T})$ (where $\tilde{O}$ hides logarithmic factors), which improves upon the regret of $\tilde{O}(d_1d_2\sqrt{T})$ of a naive linear bandit reduction. We conjecture that the regret bound of ESTR is unimprovable up to polylogarithmic factors.
Segmentation-Discarding Ordered-Statistic Decoding for Linear Block Codes

In this paper, we propose an efficient reliability based segmentation-discarding decoding (SDD) algorithm for short block-length codes. A novel segmentation- discarding technique is proposed along with the stopping rule to significantly reduce the decoding complexity without a significant performance degradation compared to ordered statistics decoding (OSD). In the proposed decoder, the list of test error patterns (TEPs) is divided into several segments according to carefully selected boundaries and every segment is checked separately during the reprocessing stage. Decoding is performed under the constraint of the discarding rule and stopping rule. Simulations results for different codes show that our proposed algorithm can significantly reduce the decoding complexity compared to the existing OSD algorithms in literature.
A Comprehensive guide to Bayesian Convolutional Neural Network with Variational Inference

Artificial Neural Networks are connectionist systems that perform a given task by learning on examples without having prior knowledge about the task. This is done by finding an optimal point estimate for the weights in every node. Generally, the network using point estimates as weights perform well with large datasets, but they fail to express uncertainty in regions with little or no data, leading to overconfident decisions. In this paper, Bayesian Convolutional Neural Network (BayesCNN) using Variational Inference is proposed, that introduces probability distribution over the weights. Furthermore, the proposed BayesCNN architecture is applied to tasks like Image Classification, Image Super-Resolution and Generative Adversarial Networks. The results are compared to point-estimates based architectures on MNIST, CIFAR-10 and CIFAR-100 datasets for Image CLassification task, on BSD300 dataset for Image Super Resolution task and on CIFAR10 dataset again for Generative Adversarial Network task. BayesCNN is based on Bayes by Backprop which derives a variational approximation to the true posterior. We, therefore, introduce the idea of applying two convolutional operations, one for the mean and one for the variance. Our proposed method not only achieves performances equivalent to frequentist inference in identical architectures but also incorporate a measurement for uncertainties and regularisation. It further eliminates the use of dropout in the model. Moreover, we predict how certain the model prediction is based on the epistemic and aleatoric uncertainties and empirically show how the uncertainty can decrease, allowing the decisions made by the network to become more deterministic as the training accuracy increases. Finally, we propose ways to prune the Bayesian architecture and to make it more computational and time effective.
Do You See What I See?Detecting Hidden Streaming Cameras Through Similarity of Simultaneous Observation

Small, low-cost, wireless cameras are becoming increasingly commonplace making surreptitious observation of people more difficult to detect. Previous work in detecting hidden cameras has only addressed limited environments in small spaces where the user has significant control of the environment. To address this problem in a less constrained scope of environments, we introduce the concept of similarity of simultaneous observation where the user utilizes a camera (Wi-Fi camera, camera on a mobile phone or laptop) to compare timing patterns of data transmitted by potentially hidden cameras and the timing patterns that are expected from the scene that the known camera is recording. To analyze the patterns, we applied several similarity measures and demonstrated an accuracy of over 87% and and F1 score of 0.88 using an efficient threshold-based classification. Furthermore, we used our data set to train a neural network and saw improved results with accuracy as high as 97% and an F1 score over 0.95 for both indoors and outdoors settings. From these results, we conclude that similarity of simultaneous observation is a feasible method for detecting hidden wireless cameras that are streaming video of a user. Our work removes significant limitations that have been put on previous detection methods.
Editorial: Binge Drinking in the Adolescent and Young Brain

This study was supported by the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028672, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). EL-C was supported by a Postdoctoral Fellowship of the FCT (SFRH/BPD/109750/2015), as well as by the Psychology Research Centre (UID/PSI/01662/2013), co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007653)