Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
F-FDG PET / Contrast-Enhanced CT for Initial Staging and Strategic Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer : A Prospective Study

Background: Selection of the best treatment option for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) depends on optimal initial staging. Objective: Evaluate the clinical impact of 18F-FDG PET/CT on the management of Thai patients with NSCLC. Material and Method: Twenty-four patients with NSCLC underwent FDG PET/CT for initial staging. The best treatment options between preand post-FDG PET/CT staging were identified for each patient. Changes in treatment management decisions and the diagnostic values (sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy) of nodal and distant metastases were assessed. Results: Pre-FDG PET/CT staging included five patients with stage IA, four patients with stage IB, one patient with stage IIB, three patients with stage IIIA, and 11 patients with stage IV disease. A difference between preand post-FDG PET/CT staging was noted in 10/24 patients (41.7%). FDG PET/CT examination resulted in upstaging in 7/24 patients (29%) and downstaging in three patients (12.5%). The pre-FDG PET/CT staging was accurate in 14/24 patients (58.3%) while the post-FDG PET/CT staging was accurate in 19/24 patients (79.2%). The treatment management decisions were changed in 5/24 patients (20.8%). FDG PET/CT prevented futile surgery in two patients. Conclusion: FDG PET/CT has an important role in NSCLC staging. Additional PET/CT information could influence therapeutic options and reduced unnecessary surgery in patients with metastatic disease.
Optimal Distinctiveness Needs as Predictors of Identification in the Anime Fandom

As a test of optimal distinctiveness theory, we examined the opposing motivations of inclusion/belongingness and differentiation/distinctiveness as predictors of group identification in a sample of anime fans. Participants were recruited from an anime convention and from anime-related websites and completed measures of inclusion, intergroup distinctiveness, and identification with the anime community. The results were in line with optimal distinctiveness theory, as participants who felt a sense of belongingness and who perceived the anime fandom as distinct from other groups reported the highest degree of identification with the fandom. The results illustrate the relative normality of the anime fandom, insofar as its group identification is driven by the same motivations that underlie identification with other groups.
Caractérisation et détection de parole spontanée dans de larges collections de documents audio

Processing spontaneous speech is one of the many challenges that Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) systems have to deal with. The main evidences characterizing spontaneous speech are disfluencies (filled pause, repetition, repair and false start) and many studies have focused on the detection and the correction of these disfluencies. In this study we define spontaneous speech as unprepared speech, in opposition to prepared speech where utterances contain well-formed sentences close to those that can be found in written documents. Disfluencies are of course very good indicators of unprepared speech, however they are not the only ones : ungrammaticality and language register are also important as well as prosodic patterns. This paper proposes a set of acoustic and linguistic features that can be used for characterizing and detecting spontaneous speech segments from large audio databases. To better define this notion of unprepared speech, a set of speech segments representing an 11 hour corpus (French Broadcast News) has been manually labelled according to a level of spontaneity. We present an evaluation of our features on this corpus and describe the correlation between the Word-Error-Rate obtained by a state-of-the-art ASR decoder on this BN corpus and the level of spontaneity.
New Zealand Society of Animal Production online archive

Prolonged postpartum anoestrous intervals (PPAI) are the major source of infertility in New Zealand dairy cows. Postpartum supplementation with mono propylene glycol (MPG) was previously shown to reduce PPAI in heifers. The present experiment tested this treatment in four large commercial dairy herds. During the six-week period preceding the planned start of mating (PSM; week 0), cows were drenched either once (1xMPG) or twice (2xMPG) daily with 200 ml MPG, or served as untreated controls (CON). Analyses were confined to the group of cows that were anoestrus at Week  6 or calved between Week  6 and Week -4 relative to PSM (n = 662 to 669 per treatment). Change in body condition score between Week  6 and Week 1(∆BCS), and proportion of cows that were anoestrus at Week 1 were influenced by herd, age and time of calving (P<0.05) but not by treatment (P>0.1). Treatment did not influence the proportion of anoestrous-treated cows inseminated after oestrus detection (n =263), or the pregnancy rate among all cows. Pre-mating supplementation with MPG did not influence ∆BCS, the percentage of cows that were anoestrus at Week 1, or rates of submission and conception. Change in BCS affected both milk yield and pregnancy rates, where cows that gained BCS produced less milk but showed higher 6-week pregnancy rates. This study highlighted that key factors influencing the percentage of anoestrus at PSM are cow age, time of calving and management of the herd.
Maximization of communication facilities on network of personal computers

Communication is an integral part of man without which it will be practically impossible for man to achieve anything meaningful in life. It is a fact that most 21st century organizations have a network of computers in place, however majority of these organizations have not fully utilize the facilities available to them on their network. In this paper, we present the implementation of VoIP, desktop sharing, virtual team, file sharing, life chat and internal memo transmission on a network of personal computers using Microsoft NetMeeting to reduce the cost associated with internal communication within an organization.
Ethnic Structure , Inequality and Governance of the Public Sector in Lithuania

The social, political, and economic changes that took place in the 1990s in Lithuania have influenced the strategies of all ethnic groups in the public sphere. These strategies include adaptations to new requirements of citizenship, the need for civic loyalty and knowledge of the state language, and participation in newly formed bodies in the private and non-governmental sector. Individuals actively embraced the changes, adopted a passive posture, or avoided adaptation by emigrating or living in closed communities. The issues of statehood and independence have had an impact on the relatively young history of Lithuania’s democracy. Like most countries of Eastern Europe, the ethnic understanding of a nation has deep roots, whereas the civic understanding of the concept is relatively rare or of recent origin. The Soviet period spawned a process of labour migration, especially for specialists and qualified workers, from Russia. During the early years of independence, therefore, there was a tendency for people with higher qualifications to emigrate from Lithuania as the ideology of cultural nationalism took place. Socio-economic inequalities and differences are not very striking among most ethnic groups, although ethnic Lithuanians’ participation in the labour market is better than other groups. Ethnic minorities and ethnic Lithuanians organize themselves separately to influence the composition of the public sector, although they collaborate in the electoral processes and the formation of political bodies and coalitions. Electoral data suggest that most minority MPs are elected on the platforms of the ethnic, Lithuanian-led political parties. However, minority parties are weakly represented in the Seimas
KIT-REPORT 160 Vertex Disjoint Paths in Upward Planar Graphs

The k-vertex disjoint paths problem is one of the most studied problems in algorithmic graph theory. In 1994, Schrijver proved that the problem can be solved in polynomial time for every fixed k when restricted to the class of planar digraphs and it was a long standing open question whether it is fixed-parameter tractable (with respect to parameter k) on this restricted class. Only recently, [13]. achieved a major breakthrough and answered the question positively. Despite the importance of this result (and the brilliance of their proof), it is of rather theoretical importance. Their proof technique is both technically extremely involved and also has at least double exponential parameter dependence. Thus, it seems unrealistic that the algorithm could actually be implemented. In this paper, therefore, we study a smaller class of planar digraphs, the class of upward planar digraphs, a well studied class of planar graphs which can be drawn in a plane such that all edges are drawn upwards. We show that on the class of upward planar digraphs the problem (i) remains NP-complete and (ii) the problem is fixed-parameter tractable. While membership in FPT follows immediately from [13]’s general result, our algorithm has only single exponential parameter dependency compared to the double exponential parameter dependence for general planar digraphs. Furthermore, our algorithm can easily be implemented, in contrast to the algorithm in [13].
Body size and reproductive parameters in the wild boar Sus scrofa

Parameters involved in the reproductive performance of wild boar Sus scrofa Linnaeus, 1758, such as fertility rates and litter size, show considerable intrapopulational variability. Inthis work authors analyze a total of 198 femaled, culled by hunting in the Villuercas region (Caceres, Spain), in an area with food suplementary throughout the year.
A comparison of teacher interaction patterns with high-skilled and low-skilled middle school students during an instructional unit

This ■nvestigation was conducted to compare the teacher ■nteraction patterns of a fema■ e and a ma■ e m■ dd■ё schOO■ phys■ ca■ educator w■ th ■ow― ski■ ■ed and high― ski■■ed students dur■ ng an ■nstruct iona■ vo■■eyba■■ un■ to The subjects were a fema■ e and a me■ e physica■ educator at the m■ dd■ e schoo■ ■eve■ from‐ the‐ centra■ New York area・ . The teachers were v■ deotapQd fOr the entire ■nstructiona■ unit of vol■ eyba■■, seven c■ ass periods, during the 1984-1985 schOb■ yeare A ski■■ test was administered at the start of the un■ t to class■ fy students as ■ow― Or high― ski■■ed. Then five high― ski■led and five low― ski■■ed students ■n each instructOris c■ ass were se■ ected as subjects fttr this study. The data Were Obtained from ‐ the seven videotapes of the unito Each tape was ana■ yzed using the Dyadic AdaptatiOn Of cAFIAS (DAC). Visua■ compar■ sons ■ndicated that differences ■n the teachorsi ■nteractions to the high― and ■Ow― ski■■ed studbnts did` eX■ st. Genera■ ly the high― ski■■ed students rece■ ved more praise, acceptance, and infOrmation and exhibited morё interpretive responseso The low― ski■■ed students receiVed mttre directiOn and cr■ tic■ sm and exhibited more predictab■ e responsese ・ ・
Beyond a transaction : Independent Vocabulary Study Approaches for English Conversation School Students in Japan

Despite vocabulary size being widely recognized as a key predictor of L2 reading and listening proficiency, it could be argued that many students within English conversation schools in Japan (eikaiwa) are not given sufficient opportunities for theoretically principled vocabulary study. This paper analyzes existing research on independent study approaches as well as complementary classroom-based pedagogical practices that foster both incidental and deliberate vocabulary learning. Through the utilization of both mobile assisted language learning (MALL) and extensive reading (ER) programs, measured changes to a language course are suggested that could be feasibly implementable within the specific constraints of an eikaiwa setting. Furthermore, potential institutional, technical and affective obstacles that could hamper such a program's effectiveness are identified and discussed. This paper hopes to provide approaches to vocabulary instruction based on empirical data, while also remaining accessible to teachers in a context often overlooked in academic and pedagogical literature. VOCABULARY LEARNING IN AN ENGLISH CONVERSATION
Pegylated interferon a 2 a plus ribavirin versus pegylated interferon a 2 b plus ribavirin for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C in HIV-infected patients

Hospital Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain; Hospital La Paz, Madrid, Spain; Hospital La Fé, Valencia, Spain; Hospital Donostia, San Sebastián, Spain; Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain; Hospital 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain; Hospital Prı́ncipe de Asturias, Alcalá de Henares, Spain; Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain; Hospital General Universitario, Valencia, Spain; Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain; Hospital La Princesa, Madrid, Spain; Agencia de Ensayos Clı́nicos de Gesida, Madrid, Spain
New Zealand Society of Animal Production online archive

Farmers in southern New Zealand identified areas where knowledge was needed to improve the outcomes from mating ewe lambs at seven months of age. Anecdotal evidence suggested that ewe lambs growing rapidly at mating were less likely to become pregnant. Farmers recorded ewe lamb live weight in March and late May, and pregnancy diagnosis data. Data analysis showed no relationship between liveweight gain and number of ewe lambs pregnant. Farmers retained their original views that liveweight gain before and during mating should be below 100 g/d. Feeding levels in late pregnancy were considered to influence ease of lambing and lamb survival. The amount of feed offered to ewe lambs in late pregnancy on eight farms was compared to tailing percentage and lamb mortality. Feed offered to single bearing ewe lambs in late pregnancy ranged from 0.75 to 1.6 kg dry matter/d. Late pregnancy feed allowance and lamb mortality were unrelated. Analysis of winter liveweight gain data from both on-farm studies and survey results over two years showed that winter liveweight gains of 10 to 14 kg, including conceptus weight, minimised lamb losses (P <0.05). Farmers changed management practices to improve winter liveweight gain, and improve the accuracy of late pregnancy feed allocation.
Operating Experience with the Broadband Acquisition System on the RT-13 Radio Telescopes

The Broadband Acquisition System (BRAS) was designed to digitize wideband signals from receivers of radio telescopes, pack the digital samples into VDIF frames, and transmit them through 10G Ethernet interface. The system has been installed at the Badary and Zelenchukskaya observatories on the recently constructed 13-meter radio telescopes (RT-13) in February–March 2015 [1]. Since November 2015, IAA RAS performs regular observations with the RT-13 equipped with BRAS. In addition, BRAS has been used in several international experiments. The paper describes the design of BRAS and its performance and results.
A God of Vengeance and of Reward ?

theories of democratic politics prize congruence between citizens’ preferences and their elected representatives’ actions in office. elections are a critical means for achieving such policy congruence, providing voters the opportunity to chasten representatives who are out of step with constituent preferences and to reward the faithful. do voters act this way? recent studies based on observational data find they do, but these data are somewhat limited. We employ a survey experiment to estimate the extent to which information about policy congruence affects voters’ evaluations of representatives. We informed some subjects how often their member of Congress’s voting decisions match their own stated preferences on the same policies. We find that information about congruence enhances accountability by affecting constituent evaluations of representatives and may also affect citizens’ propensity to participate in upcoming elections.
Efficiency of some Antioxidants and Bioagents in Controlling Rhizoctonia Damping-off of Snap Bean

Four antioxidants, i.e. ascorbic, citric , oxalic and salicylic acid and eight bioagents, i.e. Bacillus megaterium, B. subtilis, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Serratia marcescens, Trichoderma album, T. harzianum, T. lignorum and T. viride were tested in vitro, under greenhouse and in vivo against Rhizoctonia damping-off of snap bean plants. In vitro, all the tested bioagents caused significant reduction to the linear growth of R. solani. T. viride caused the highest reduction followed by T. lignorum then T. harzianum, respectively. Under greenhouse conditions, sowing soaked bean seeds in the tested antioxidants or coated with the tested bioagents in soil artificially inoculation with R. solani significantly reduced the incidence of preand post-emergence dampingoff with significant increase in the fresh and dry weight of roots and shoots compared with control treatment. Salicylic acid and S. marcescens gave the highest percentages of survived plants. S. marcescens induced the highest increase of fresh and dry weight of shoots followed by B. megaterium then salicylic acid and T. viride. S. marcescens followed by B. megaterium and T. viride resulted in the highest increase in the fresh and dry weight of roots. In general, all the tested antioxidants and bioagents significantly reduced the incidence of damping-off and root-rot under field conditions. The obtained results showed that, the use of antioxidants and bioagents caused considerable increase in the activity of peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, chitinase and β-1,3-glucanase enzymes that play an important role in plant defence mechanisms against pathogens infection.
A Study on Clients ’ Satisfaction on the National Health Insurance Scheme among Staff of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto

s: The objectives of this study are: to examine the extent of the satisfaction of the clients of National Health insurance Scheme in Usmanu Danfidiyo University Sokoto and to determine the factors that influence the client’s satisfaction of the scheme. The study was a cross sectional survey. It uses questionnaire to generate required information from a sample of 535 respondents all drawn from the university’s faculties. Chi Square and logit regression model were used to analyse the data generated therefrom. The study revealed low rate of satisfaction with the scheme among respondents. It also indicates that general knowledge of the scheme; educational level, knowledge of financial contribution, marital style and occupational level of the clients have positive and significant influence on client’s satisfaction. It recommends that every provider should strive to provide the best of services to their clients with the view of having to meet their expectations and satisfaction. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date of Submission: 26-10-2017 Date of acceptance: 16-11-2017 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes in roost occupancy and abundance in attic-dwelling bats during decreasing roost availability in Burgenland , Austria Friederike

In the course of two consecutive (1990–1997 and 2004–2008) surveys of potential bat roosts in 312 attics of large buildings in Burgenland, Austria, changes in attic occupancy by bats and in the abundance of adult bats in maternity roosts were determined. We located 308 bat roosts in 228 attics and found nine species of roosting bats, six (mouse-eared bats pooled) of them occurring on a regular basis, the other three only accidentally. Our results provide evidence that a continuous, steep and rapid decrease of roosts of attic-dwelling bats took place over the study period. In 110 attics bat occupation persisted, and in almost the same number (107 attics) former roosts were found to be abandoned during the second survey period. Roost occupancy and utilisation as a maternity or solitary roost were highly fluctuating. Also, the composition of species sharing one roost changed frequently between the two surveys. Decreasing roost availability influenced abundance trends of the six species differently. Over the course of the two surveys, the numbers of adults in maternity colonies increased in the mouse-eared bats (M. myotis + M. blythii pooled) and in M. emarginatus, and decreased in Rhinolophus hipposideros, Eptesicus serotinus and Plecotus austriacus. The conservation status of three attic-dwelling bat species listed in the Annexes II and IV of the Habitats Directive has deteriorated since Austria became member of the European Union. Attic-dwelling bat species, changes in roost occupation, abundance trends, Austria
Classroom Observations Of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Patterns And Characteristics Of Attention Over Time

Investigated differences in attentional processes between children diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and their classroom peers. Models of attention gleaned from laboratory experiments provided a theoretical structure for hypothesizing between-group attentional differences. Seventy-five children with ADHD and 36 normal control children were observed in their regular classrooms over a 1-week time interval. Explication of between-group differences revealed that children with ADHD were approximately 21% less attentive on average. Both groups exhibited an accelerating-decelerating pattern of attention over time, however, children with ADHD cycled at a rate twice that of same-aged peers. Six variables derived from observed attention were examined for diagnostic utility using logistical regression, odds ratios, total predictive value, and receiver operating characteristics. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Improving main and supporting ideas identification, summarizing and drawing conclusions skills through graphic organizers

This qualitative study aimed to identify the usefulness of Graphic Organizers (GOs) to improve reading comprehension skills of a group of fifteen fifth grade male students in a school in Neiva-Colombia. The general objective of this study was to recognize the effectiveness of GOs to identify main and supporting ideas and if there was improvement of any other reading comprehension skill as well. The data were collected through questionnaires, the use of artifacts, students logs and knowledge tests. It was found that students needed training in the use of GOs because they had not used them previously; but when they had learned to use it, most learners were able to overcome their difficulties to comprehend. In fact, after students had the appropriate training and had mastered to use the GOs, they not only showed improvement in the main and supporting ideas identification skill; but in the summarizing and drawing conclusions skills as well.