Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effectiveness of the Computer and Internet Literacy Project in Public High Schools of Tarlac Province, Philippines.

Evaluation is important to gauge the strengths, weaknesses and effectiveness of any activity. This study evaluated the iSchools Project implemented in the Public High Schools of Tarlac Province, Philippines by the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) in partnership with the selected State Universities and Colleges. Using survey questionnaires, data were gathered from the public high school teachers who were the recipients of the project. To supplement data from the survey, interviews with Principals and ICT Coordinators and actual observation of classes in the laboratory were also done. Findings showed that the beneficiary schools encountered problems in project implementation. These problems include hardware failure, difficulty on the use of software package, lack of follow-up on capability building, no available internet connection, limited access to the laboratory, and lack of repair/maintenance of the equipment in the laboratory. Despite these problems, however, the project was rated by the teachers as very satisfactory in terms of project administration, project components, and project delivery system. This implies that the project in general was effective in attaining its objectives which is ICT integration in education and to bridge the digital divide among public high school teachers.
Effects of oral curcumin ingested before or after eccentric exercise on markers of muscle damage and inflammation

We examined the effect of curcumin (CUR) ingestion before or after exercise on changes in muscle damage and inflammatory responses after exercise. We conducted two parallel experiments with different CUR ingestion timings using a double‐blind crossover. In Exp. 1, ten healthy men ingested 180 mg d−1 of CUR or placebo (PLA) 7 days before exercise. In Exp. 2, ten other healthy men ingested 180 mg d−1 of CUR or PLA 7 days after exercise. They performed 30 maximal isokinetic (120°s−1) eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors using an isokinetic dynamometer, and this was repeated with the other arm ≥4 weeks later. Maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) torque of the elbow flexors, elbow joint range of motion (ROM), muscle soreness, and serum creatine kinase (CK) activity were measured before, immediately after, and 1‐7 days after exercise. Plasma interleukin‐8 (IL‐8) was measured before, immediately after, 12 hours after, and 1‐7 days after exercise. The changes were compared over time. In Exp. 1, no significant differences were found between CUR and PLA subjects for each parameter. However, increases in IL‐8 were significantly reduced 12 hours after exercise when CUR was ingested before exercise. In Exp. 2, compared to the PLA subjects, MVC torque and ROM were higher 3‐7 days and 2‐7 days after exercise (P < 0.05), respectively, whereas muscle soreness and CK activity were lower 3‐6 days and 5‐7 days after exercise (P < 0.05), respectively, in CUR subjects. CUR ingestion before exercise could attenuate acute inflammation, and after exercise could attenuate muscle damage and facilitate faster recovery.
Understanding Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a major cause of disability affecting about 1% of the population. Although much effort has been expended on research into the causes and cures of RA, little progress has been made. The focus of treatment in RA is on reducing the disabling consequences of the disease and controlling the symptoms. Understanding Rheumatoid Arthritis examines the nature of RA and its symptoms of pain and stiffness. The role of health care professionals and the individual's encounters with the doctor are important to understand as these experiences influence the individual's behaviour and understanding of their RA. This book will be an invaluable aid to the considerable number of people who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, their families, carers and all health professionals involved in its treatment.
Effect of metformin on antipsychotic drug-induced galactorrhea-amenorrhea syndrome

Objective To observe the clinical effect of metformin in treating antipsychotic drug-induced galactorrheaamenorrhea syndrome(GAS). Methods 116 patients with GAS in our hospital received antipsychotic drug-therapy,and combined with metformin.The efficacy was evaluated by determining prolactin level before treatment,4 and 8 weeks after treatment. Results 40 cases were cured,42 cases were markedly effective,24 cases were effective,10 cases were in-valid, and the total effective rate was 91.4%. Further analysis showed that before and after treatment the differences of prolactin level were significant(P0.01). Conclusion Effect of metformin for treatment of antipsychotic drug-induced GAS is satisfactory.
Interactive CD-ROM Storybooks and Young Readers’ Reading Comprehension

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in the level of young readers’ reading comprehension when one group of students read an interactive CD-ROM storybook and another group of students read the same story from a conventionally printed book. A univariate analysis of variance was used to compare scores on oral retellings and comprehension questions. There was no significant difference in mean scores on the retellings between the two groups. There was a significant difference in mean scores on the comprehension questions between the two groups. When comprehension was measured through the use of comprehension questions, students reading the CD-ROM storybook scored higher.
Unsteady Free Convection Flow of Casson Nanofluid Over a Nonlinear Stretching Sheet

In this work, the buoyancy-driven unsteady flow of Casson nanofluid is analyzed. The effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis on the flow fields are studied in the presence of magnetic field. Moreover, the convective boundary conditions on temperature and concentration walls are also considered. The similarity solutions are obtained numerically through Keller-box scheme. The accuracy of numerical results is verified via comparison with the results of accessible literature. Investigations perceived that the dimensionless temperature is not much affected with Brownian motion and thermophoretic parameters, whereas the impact of both parameters is noted stronger on nanoparticles concentration. The velocity field is observed more pronounced with the strength of magnetic parameter. Also, the influence of Casson fluid parameter on velocity and nanoparticle concentration is noticed opposite. The influence of magnetic parameter on velocity and temperature is seen more pronounced as compared to nanoparticle concentration. Further, the impact of Biot number on dimensionless temperature and nanoparticles concentration is found identical for both steady and unsteady flows. A reduction in velocity field is also observed with increment in slip parameter.
Memoria operativa, comprensión lectora y rendimiento escolar

Se presentan los resultados de un estudio de tipo predictivo transversal en el que se midieron las variables memoria operativa, comprensión de lectura y rendimiento académico a 80 estudiantes chilenos de séptimo año básico, primer y tercer año de enseñanza media. Para la medición se utilizó LECTUM, prueba de comprensión lectora estandarizada para Chile y TAL, instrumento que mide la memoria operativa mediante la amplitud lectora. El rendimiento académico se obtuvo calculando el promedio de las calificaciones anuales de las asignaturas que conforman el currículum de cada curso. Los resultados muestran que la memoria operativa predice tanto el desempeño lector de los escolares como el rendimiento general y que, a su vez, la comprensión lectora resulta ser un buen predictor del rendimiento académico.
Raster-Based Background Filtering for Roadside LiDAR Data

The roadside deployed light detecting and ranging (LiDAR) has been a solution to fill the data gap for the transition period from the unconnected-vehicles environment to the connected-vehicles system. For the roadside LiDAR system, background filtering is an initial but important step. This paper presented a raster-based method for background filtering with roadside LiDAR data. The proposed method contains four major parts: region of interest (ROI) selection, rasterization, background area detection, and background array generation. The location of the background points was stored in a 3D array. The performance of the raster-based method was tested with the data collected at different scenarios. The comparison to the state-of-the-art also confirmed the robustness of the proposed method.
A corpus study of semantic patterns in compounding

Abstract Studies of modifier-noun compounds have indicated that they tend to follow regular semantic patterns (e.g., Downing, Language 53: 810–842, 1977; Warren, Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis. Gothenburg Studies in English Goteborg 41: 1–266, 1978). The results of several psycholinguistic studies have supported the hypothesis that people rely on statistical knowledge about how nouns tend to be used in combination in order to facilitate the interpretation of novel compounds (e.g., Gagné & Shoben, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition 23: 71–87, 1997; Maguire, Maguire & Cater, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 36: 288–297, 2010; Storms & Wisniewski, Memory and Cognition 33: 852–861, 2005). We conducted a series of corpus analyses in order to establish the salience and reliability of semantic patterns in English compounds. These analyses demonstrated that similar concepts tend to appear in combination with similar sets of nouns. In addition, categorizing combinations according to the semantic category of the modifier and head revealed consistent regularities in productivity reflecting the likelihood of plausible relationships. These findings support the idea that statistical knowledge about semantic patterns in compounding can be used to facilitate the interpretation of novel compounds. The implications for existing theories and models of conceptual combination are discussed.
Toxicity profile of cisplatin given at one full dose versus three divided doses for three consecutive days.

e14018Background: Cisplatin has been extensively used as a chemotherapeutical agent for treatment of many types of solid cancers for decades. Although it has been approved for use at 75 mg/m2 q3w,many doctors still prefer to administer cisplatin at divided doses for several days. We undertook this study to compare cisplatin at 75 mg/m2 for patients enrolled in our prospective clinical trials and the drug at 25 mg/m2 for 3 consecutive days for those contemporarily treated in our Hospital in terms of toxicity. Methods: 483 metastatic breast cancer patients who underwent at least one cycle of cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy were included. They received cisplatin 75 mg/m2 on day 1 with three-day hydration, q3w (cisplatin 1-day arm) or cisplatin 25 mg/m2 on day 1-3 with no hydration, q3w (cisplatin 3-day arm). Cisplatin-related adverse events were collected and analyzed, focusing on nephrotoxicity, neutropenia, nausea, vomiting, and serum electrolyte. Results: 256 patients (53.0%) received 3-day cispl.
Abdominal Tuberculosis; Presentation, Diagnosis and Management

Abdominal Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be an important medical, social and economic problem in developing countries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in India alone there are 3–4 million new cases of TB every year and because 2–5% of these are abdominal, it is estimated that there would be approximately 100–200 000 cases of abdominal TB in India every year. The situation is grim in other developing countries also. With the increasing incidence of AIDS and Crohn’s disease diagnosing and treating abdominal tuberculosis is becoming a challenge to the physicians and surgeons. Abdominal tuberculosis comprises tuberculous infection of the gastrointestinal tract (esophagus to anal canal), mesentery, lymph nodes and omentum, peritoneum, and the solid organs related to the gastrointestinal tract, such as the liver, pancreas and spleen [1]. Tuberculosis of the gastrointestinal tract is the sixth most frequent form of extrapulmonary site after lymphatic, genitourinary, bone and joint, miliary and meningeal tuberculosis [2].
Autoencoder-based Feature Learning from a 2D Depth Map and 3D Skeleton for Action Recognition

3D skeleton is compact for human action recognition. Existing approaches focus mainly on performing action recognition with only joint coordinates. However, they are difficult recognizing some similar or complex actions based on skeleton data only. Furthermore, they could have poor performance when the estimated skeletal joints are not reliable or when the actions share a large overlap in the sequences. Noticing that the existing 3D skeleton data is usually obtained from depth map and a neural network can simulate arbitrary relationships, we propose an efficient approach for action recognition by combining 2D depth information with 3D skeleton information using a new deep architecture called Deep Multimodal Auto-Encoder (DMAE) in this paper. First, the framework of DMAE employs two Auto-Encoders to extract hidden representations for the 2D depth maps and the 3D skeletons. Second, DMAE uses a two-layer neural network to map the hidden representations of the 2D depth maps to those of the 3D skeletons. Third, based on a Back-propagation Neural Network (BP-NN), it can jointly explore the hidden 2D/3D representations and the appropriate relationships between them. We finally use Temporal Pyramid Matching (TPM) on the learned features to generate temporal representations and perform classifications using a linear SVM. Additionally, we demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of DMAE by extensive experimentation using two popular action datasets.
English [r]-sandhi: a sociolinguistic perspective

resume : La liaison en [r] de l'anglais a fait l'objet de nombreuses discussions en matiere de phonologie. Cependant, ce phenomene n'a jamais jusqu'ici ete analyse au moyen d'un corpus representatif consequent. Cet article sert a combler ce vide, a travers une etude sociolinguistique effectuee dans les villes de Newcastle upon Tyne et de Derby. La distribution du [r]- sandhi se revele etre plus complexe que prevue. Cette decouverte entraine plusieurs repercussions interessantes au niveau des modeles phonologiques. L'ensemble de l'etude montre egalement l'utilite de la methodologie quantitative concernant l'approche des questions theoriques.
How to prevent adverse events of vascular stapling in thoracic surgery: recommendations based on a clinical and experimental study.

Background Advances in the development of staplers for pulmonary vessels have contributed to safe and convenient procedures in thoracic surgery. However, adverse events (AEs) can occur during vascular stapling and cause fatal hemorrhage. We aimed to assess the risk level of using the vessel stapling procedure to reduce such AEs. Methods First, an animal experiment using pig cardiopulmonary blocks was conducted. Pulmonary arteries were closed with staplers under stressful conditions such as lifting or twisting; vessel stump endurance was analyzed through different methods. Second, AEs associated with clinical stapler use for pulmonary vessels were retrospectively reviewed by studying clinical videos of 263 patients. Results In the animal experiment, the pressure resistance was significantly lower in the twisted group than in the no strain group (no strain vs. lifting: P=0.2008, no strain vs. twisting: P=0.002, no strain vs. twisting and lifting: P<0.0001). Regarding clinical stapler use, 754 staplers were used against the vessels. AEs occurred in 9 cases, and 7 cases were suspected to be caused by vessel tension. Conclusions The pulmonary vessel stapling causes stress due to twisting and lifting that decreased stump durability. Avoiding such stress when using stapler for vessels leads to a safer thoracic surgery.
Question answering over knowledge bases with continuous learning

Answering complex natural language questions with crisp answers is crucial towards satisfying the information needs of advanced users. With the rapid growth of knowledge bases (KBs) such as Yago and Freebase, this goal has become attainable by translating questions into formal queries like SPARQL queries. Such queries can then be evaluated over knowledge bases to retrieve crisp answers. To this end, three research issues arise: (i) how to develop methods that are robust to lexical and syntactic variations in questions and can handle complex questions, (ii) how to design and curate datasets to advance research in question answering, and (iii) how to efficiently identify named entities in questions. In this dissertation, we make the following five contributions in the areas of question answering (QA) and named entity recognition (NER). For issue (i), we make the following contributions: We present QUINT, an approach for answering natural language questions over knowledge bases using automatically learned templates. Templates are an important asset for QA over KBs, simplifying the semantic parsing of input questions and generating formal queries for interpretable answers. QUINT is capable of answering both simple and compositional questions. We introduce NEQA, a framework for continuous learning for QA over KBs. NEQA starts with a small seed of training examples in the form of questionanswer pairs, and improves its performance over time. NEQA combines both syntax, through template-based answering, and semantics, via a semantic similarity function. Moreover, it adapts to the language used after deployment by periodically retraining its underlying models. For issues (i) and (ii), we present TEQUILA, a framework for answering complex questions with explicit and implicit temporal conditions over KBs. TEQUILA is built on a rule-based framework that detects and decomposes temporal questions into simpler sub-questions that can be answered by standard KB-QA systems. TEQUILA reconciles the results of sub-questions into final answers. TEQUILA is accompanied with a dataset called TempQuestions, which consists of 1,271 temporal questions with gold-standard answers over Freebase. This collection is derived by judiciously selecting time-related questions from
Distinctive Capabilities: Can it be a source of competitive advantage?

The aim of this research was to explore the effect of distinctive capabilities to competitive advantage rattan furniture industry. The samples of this verificative research are 70 companies member of ASMINDO Cirebon, East Java, Indonesia. In this research we use stratified proportional random sampling and simple linear regression to analyze. The level of competitive advantage of rattan furniture industry Cirebon is positively influenced by the distinctive capabilities. Keywords—competitive advantage; distinctive capabilities; rattan furniture industry
OSTEOPROTECTIVE EFFECT THREE ANTI INFLAMMATORY PLANTS IN OVARIECTOMIZED WISTAR RATS

Summary Osteoporosis is a metabolic bone disease, characterized by increased porosity of the skeleton resulting from reduced bone mass. The drug discovery process in this direction is very attractive, because of non-availability of suitable, safe and effective means for the management of this condition. The objective of the study was to evaluate antiosteoporotic activity of three medicinal plants described in Ayurveda, namely, Litsea glutinosa, Curcuma aromatica and Terminalia arjuna. Ovariectomized rats model was used in this study for evaluation. Effects were evaluated by using serum and tissue biochemical parameters. The effect on health status during the treatment was evaluated by regularly checking the overall body weight of the ovariectomized rats. Litsea and Curcuma showed significant effects on ameliorating the changes induced by Ovariectomy, while Terminalia had no effect. Both these plants had potent inhibitory activity, similar to that was observed by Estrogen supplementation. Bone remodeling markers were upregulated in OVX animals and their ameolioration was achieved by plant treatment. Thus, our study is first to provide scientific evidence that Litsea and curcuma are having osteoprotective effect as they ameliorate changes induced by Ovariectomy
Predictive factors for late (>5 years) distant recurrences in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative breast cancer patients: >20-year follow-up.

543 Background: ER+ breast cancer (BC) by virtue of tumor dormancy can present with delayed recurrences, frequently years after initial diagnosis. Methods: Over 2,500 charts of ER+/HER2 negative BC patients were reviewed. Patients with follow up 5 years were excluded. 35 late distant recurrences with minimum follow up of 5 years were identified. Data was analyzed with 50 patients without recurrences during same period. Following factors were used for analysis: age at diagnosis, tumor diameter, smoking history, T- and clinical stage at diagnosis, lymph node involvement (LNI), tumor-grade, histology, progesterone receptor(PR) status, duration of adjuvant therapy and treatment modalities. Recurrence and time to recurrence were assessed. Wilcoxon rank sum, Kruskal-Wallis tests and Chi-square tests were used for univariate analyses. Multivariate analysis was conducted using logistic regression and proportional hazards models. Results: The me.
Plasma Proinflammatory Cytokines Are Markers of Disease Severity and Bacterial Burden in Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

Background Type 1, type 17, and other proinflammatory cytokines are important in host immunity to tuberculosis (TB) in animal models. However, their role in human immunity to TB is not completely understood. Methods To examine the association of proinflammatory cytokines with pulmonary TB (PTB), we examined the plasma levels of type 1 (interferon [IFN]γ and tumor necrosis factor [TNF]α), type 17 (interleukin [IL]-17A and IL-17F), and other proinflammatory (IL-6, IL-12, and IL-1β) cytokines in individuals with PTB, latent TB (LTB), or healthy controls (HC). Results Individuals with PTB exhibited significantly higher plasma levels of most of the above cytokines compared with LTB or HC individuals. Principal component analysis based on these cytokines could clearly distinguish PTB from both LTB or HC individuals. Pulmonary TB individuals with bilateral or cavitary disease exhibited significantly higher levels of IFNγ, TNFα, IL-17A, and IL-1β compared with those with unilateral or noncavitary disease. Pulmonary TB individuals also exhibited a significant positive relationship between IFNγ, TNFα, and IL-17A levels and bacterial burdens. In addition, PTB individuals with delayed culture conversion exhibited significantly higher levels of IFNγ, TNFα, IL-17A, and IL-1β at baseline. Finally, the plasma levels of all the cytokines examined were significantly reduced after successful chemotherapy. Conclusions Therefore, our data demonstrate that PTB is associated with heightened levels of plasma proinflammatory cytokines, which are reversed after chemotherapy. Our data also reveal that proinflammatory cytokines are markers of disease severity, bacterial burden, and delayed culture conversion in PTB.
Causes, Burden, and Prevention of Clostridium difficile Infection

AbstractClostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a potentially deadly cause of diarrhea that is virtually always connected to health care system exposures, both inpatient and outpatient. Once a disease mainly of hospitals, 75% of CDI cases are now diagnosed outside of hospitals. However, the diagnosis location may not reflect where C. difficile spores were acquired or antibiotic exposure occurred. Changing epidemiology and increasing awareness about the role of every segment of the health care system in mediating this disease make it clear that reducing its burden will also require active participation from all US health care professionals.