Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EFFECTIVENESS OF SHALLOW SOIL IMPROVEMENT ON THE PERFORMANCE OF ROCKING-ISOLATED BRIDGE PIERS : MONOTONIC AND CYCLIC PUSHOVER TESTING

An alternative seismic design philosophy, in which soil failure is used as a “fuse” for the superstructure has recently been proposed, in the form of “rocking isolation”. Within this context, foundation rocking may be desirable as a means of bounding the inertia forces transmitted onto the superstructure, but incorporates the peril of unacceptable settlements in case of a low static factor of safety FSv . Hence, to ensure that rocking is materialized through uplifting rather than sinking, an adequately large FSv is required. Although this is feasible in theory, soil properties are not well-known in engineering practice. However, since rockinginduced soil yielding is only mobilized within a shallow layer underneath the footing, “shallow soil improvement” is considered as an alternative approach to release the design from the jeopardy of unforeseen inadequate FSv. For this purpose, this paper studies the metaplastic rocking response of SDOF structures, with emphasis on the effectiveness of shallow soil improvement stretching to various depths below the foundation. A series of reduced-scale monotonic and slow-cyclic pushover tests are conducted on relatively slender SDOF systems lying on a square surface foundation. It is shown that shallow soil improvement may, indeed, be quite effective provided that its depth is equal to the width of the foundation.
CT Imaging in Pediatric Nasofrontal Cephaloceles

Abstract The purpose of this study was to describe the use of cranial computerized tomography (CT) imaging in children with nasofrontal cephaloceles. We report the results in six children, four females and two males, aged day 1 to ten years. We include clinical notes, photographs and CT images collected over 2 years in Burkina Faso. We found various aspects of facial dysmorphisms and cranial CT associated with nasofrontal cephaloceles as observed in five children; the sixth showed a complex form of mixed nasofrontal and nasoorbital defects. Other common malformations were interhemispheric cysts and agenesis of the corpus callosum. The joint description of facial dysmorphism and cranial CT features in nasofrontal cephaloceles emphasizes the importance of making the correct diagnosis in developing countries. This allows planning for reconstructive surgery, which can have a favorable impact on the family’s and society’s attitude towards these children.
Analysis of First Tritium Data of the KATRIN Experiment

The neutrino is the second most abundant known particle in the universe, after the photon, and the knowledge of its absolute mass scale has a large impact on cosmological models as well as the nature of particle masses in general. While neutrino oscillation experiments have proven that neutrinos are not massless, they are only sensitive to the relative differences of individual mass eigenstates. A possibility to measure the absolute neutrino mass scale independently of the neutrino mass model is by studying the shape of the β -decay spectrum close to its endpoint. The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment is designed to determine the effective electron neutrino mass using this method with a sensitivity of 200 meV (90 % CL). First KATRIN tritium β -decay data was taken in May and June 2018. The goal of these measurements was to test analysis tools and probe the β -spectrum for systematic effects. In this thesis the first tritium data of KATRIN is analysed and various strategies for data and systematics handling are compared. For this purpose a new analysis tool Fitrium (Fit Tritium) was developed and applied to the data. Its main feature is that it is optimized for highperformance and the utilization of the analysis strategies discussed in this thesis. The analysis of this first measurement campaign with Fitrium demonstrated a very good agreement of the model predictions and the experimental spectrum. Most importantly, it could be shown that the effective endpoint of the β -spectrum is stable over time and distributed homogeneously over the individual pixels. The focus of this thesis was to perform a detailed comparison of different techniques to combine data sets of several runs and detector pixels and to test various strategies of how to include systematic uncertainties. To combine the 148 detector pixels, three different techniques, namely the uniform, the single-pixel and the multi-pixel fit, were applied and the fit results were compared. All three agree within uncertainty for the sensitivity of first tritium. Two different options, run appending and run stacking, were tested for treating the data of multiple runs. The advantage of run appending is that it makes no approximation while run stacking eases data handling. For the statistics available in first tritium, no major difference in the fit results was found. In order to take systematic effects into account, the nuisance parameter and the Monte Carlo propagation, as well as the covariance matrix method was investigated. A combination of these techniques was successfully applied to a set of 27 runs corresponding to about three days of tritium data giving a comprehensive overview of the analysis results of this first measurement phase. The analysis code and strategies developed in this thesis will be of key importance for the forthcoming neutrino mass measurement starting in March 2019. iii
Learning in colour: children with grapheme-colour synaesthesia show cognitive benefits in vocabulary and self-evaluated reading

Cognitive benefits associated with grapheme-colour synaesthesia in adults are well documented, but far less is known about whether such benefits might arise in synaesthetes as children. One previous study on a very small group of randomly sampled child synaesthetes found cognitive benefits in short-term memory and processing speed (the ability to quickly scan an array of images and discriminate between them), but was inconclusive for a test of receptive vocabulary. Using a stratified population sample (Growing Up in Scotland Project, Edinburgh, UK: Scottish Executive, 2007), we investigated the performance of a large cohort of child grapheme-colour synaesthetes using four literacy measures taken at age 10 years. These were three verbal comprehension measures (expressive vocabulary, receptive vocabulary and sentence comprehension) and one measure of academic self-concept in reading (plus one measure of academic self-concept in numeracy as a comparison). After controlling for demographic differences between groups, synaesthetes showed significantly enhanced performance for expressive and receptive vocabulary compared to their peers, but no benefits in sentence comprehension. Child synaesthetes also reported significantly higher academic self-concept for reading, but not for numeracy. Finally, we found that synaesthetes made significantly more progress than controls across the primary school years, although they began school with no a priori advantage. Our study provides powerful new evidence that children with grapheme-colour synaesthesia show vocabulary and literacy differences, which we contextualize within a theory of synaesthetic development. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Bridging senses: novel insights from synaesthesia’.
Synaesthesia: a distinct entity that is an emergent feature of adaptive neurocognitive differences

In this article, I argue that synaesthesia is not on a continuum with neurotypical cognition. Synaesthesia is special: its phenomenology is different; it has distinct causal mechanisms; and is likely to be associated with a distinct neurocognitive profile. However, not all synaesthetes are the same, and there are quantifiable differences between them. In particular, the number of types of synaesthesia that a person possesses is a hitherto underappreciated variable that predicts cognitive differences along a number of dimensions (mental imagery, sensory sensitivity, attention to detail). Together with enhanced memory, this may constitute a common core of abilities that may go some way to explaining why synaesthesia might have evolved. I argue that the direct benefits of synaesthesia are generally limited (i.e. the synaesthetic associations do not convey novel information about the world) but, nevertheless, synaesthesia may develop due to other adaptive functions (e.g. perceptual ability, memory) that necessitate changes to design features of the brain. The article concludes by suggesting that synaesthesia forces us to reconsider what we mean by a ‘normal’ mind/brain. There may be multiple ‘normal’ neurodevelopmental trajectories that can sculpt very different ways of experiencing the world, of which synaesthesia is but one. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Bridging senses: novel insights from synaesthesia’.
Serum Albumin Predicts Survival in Indian Adult Diffuse Large B cell Lymphoma Patients in the Rituximab Era

Abstract Objective: The present study was done to evaluate the prognostic impact of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network-International Prognostic Index (NCCN-IPI) and serum albumin levels in the treatment outcome of Indian diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients in the rituximab era. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data (2013–2016) of 135 newly diagnosed DLBCL cases ≥18 years of age. All patients received Rituximab-Cyclophosphamide, Adriamycin, Vincristine, Prednisone (R-CHOP) chemotherapy. The analysis was carried out to assess the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) and the prognostic factors predicting the outcome. Results: Of the 135 patients in the study, 89 (65.9%) had B-symptoms, 20 (14.8%) had bulky disease, 79 (58.5%) had advanced disease (Stage III and IV), and 29 (21.5%) had primary extranodal involvement. Serum albumin ≤3.5 g% was present in 71 (52.6%) patients. About 74 (54.8%) cases were risk stratified to NCCN-IPI high-intermediate-risk group, while 18 (13.3%) patients were categorized into high-risk group. The median PFS and OS of our study cohort were 19 months (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.59–35.4) and 38 months (95% CI = 9.02–55.68), respectively. Serum albumin ≤3.5 g/dl was significantly associated with poor OS (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.99, 95% CI = 2.25–7.07, P < 0.001) and PFS (HR = 3.71, 95% CI = 2.20–6.26, P < 0.002). Similarly, low NCCN-IPI (<4) was significantly associated with improved OS (HR = 0.21, 95% CI = 0.09–0.47, P < 0.005) and PFS (HR = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.09–0.41, P < 0.001), respectively. These two factors (serum albumin and NCCN-IPI) retained their prognostic significance with respect to OS and PFS in the multivariate analysis. Conclusion: The NCCN-IPI prognostic model and serum albumin levels have independent prognostic significance in Indian DLBCL patients. Serum albumin is a readily available, easy to standardize, and cheap investigation requiring no specialized expertise and holds promise for being incorporated in future DLBCL prognostic risk models.
Retrospective review of presentation of newly diagnosed children with diabetes mellitus in a Nigerian rural setting

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the common endpoint of a variety of disorders of insulin production and/or insulin action resulting in hyperglycemia with associated abnormalities of carbohydrate, fat, and protein metabolism. Presentation with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) may be associated with significant morbidity and mortality in the pediatric population. Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the pattern of presentation of newly diagnosed children with DM in a rural setting. Design: It was a retrospective study of case files of newly diagnosed children with DM. Patients and Methods: It was a retrospective review of case files of children younger than 18 years with diagnosis of DM, over a 2-year period (from November 1, 2015, to October 31, 2017) at Federal Medical Centre Nguru, Yobe State, North-Eastern Nigeria. Results: A total of 3289 patients were seen during the study period, of which 6 were diagnosed with DM, giving a case prevalence rate of 1.8/1000. The mean age at presentation was 11.1 (±0.8) years, and there were four males and two females among the patients. All of the patients presented in DKA, and other prevalent presenting features were polyuria (6, 100%), polydipsia (6, 100%), dehydration (6, 100%), weight loss (100%), fever (83.3%), and weakness (4, 66.7%). Two of the six patients with DKA died from cerebral edema, and one had acute kidney injury during admission. Conclusion: Presentation with DKA is common in this setting despite the glaring symptoms of DM, such as polyuria, polydipsia, and weight loss. This highlights the need for intensified efforts in education of health workers and the populace at large for quick recognition, presentation, and prompt diagnosis for optimal management of childhood DM.
A practical approach for total well-being based on ancient yogic knowledge

Yoga is becoming very popular across the globe. We need to understand the holistic approach of Yoga in the light of ancient scriptures to explore one's own nature. Yoga is not mere physical exercises and postures; rather it is a lifestyle. If we examine the current trend, starting from childhood to old age, all are undergoing a drastic change in lifestyle due to rapid technological advancement which is leading to pain, misery, and diseases. We have to examine and understand the perfect way of life in real sense as discussed in various ancient scriptures, where emphasis is given on following a systematic routine in accordance with nature. The concept of total health and well-being is the real Vedantic insight which has been originally stated in many of ancient scriptures of India. There are hundreds of efforts being made all over the globe with different ideologies in interpreting Yoga based on their own understanding. This study is aimed at the conceptual understanding of Yoga as lifestyle in day-to-day living as propounded in our ancient scriptures.
Role of Novel Marker Discovered on Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor 1 in Evaluation of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors

Abstract Background: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal tumors arising from myenteric ganglion cells, termed interstitial cells of Cajal. GISTs occur predominantly between 40 and 60 years of age. CD34 was the initially used for diagnosing GIST. Due to its low specificity for GISTs, CD34 was replaced by C-KIT, which is a reliable marker. However, 5% GISTs lack C-KIT expression. Recent studies have shown GIST1 (DOG1) to be a more sensitive and specific marker compared to C-KIT and CD34. Aims and Objectives: The aim was to study histomorphology characteristics and risk stratification of all cases previously diagnosed as GISTs, to evaluate these cases for CD117 and DOG1 expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and to see whether there was any advantage in using novel markers (i.e. DOG1) as compared to conventional (C-KIT) in GIST at our center. Materials and Methods: Fifty patients with histomorphologic or imaging impression of GIST were subjected to IHC using C-KIT and DOG1. Results and Conclusion: Of 50 cases 47 (94%) were positive for C-KIT, and all 50 (100%) cases were positive for DOG1. Hence, DOG1 was positive even in C-KIT-negative cases. Therefore, our study suggests that DOG1 should be added to workup of suspected cases of GIST along with C-KIT.
Acquired Brain Injury Club at a Community College: Opportunities for Support, Involvement, and Leadership.

College students with acquired brain injuries face unique challenges. The likelihood of individuals with acquired brain injury experiencing isolation, lack of social support, and diminished self-esteem, along with cognitive impairments, is well documented in the literature. This article presents an overview of a community college's club for students with acquired brain injuries that attempts to address these concerns. Language: en
Hair and Scalp Disorders in Children below 2 Years: An Unremarked Sphere

Context: Hairs contribute significantly to our appearance and are mirror to many systemic diseases. Hair and scalp disorders in children are associated with profound psychological effects arising from concerns of chronicity, severity, and contagiousness, in addition to cosmetic outline. Studies have documented children below 2 years as the most common age group affected by hair and scalp disorders in the pediatric population; however, to the best of our knowledge, none has been carried out exclusively on this age group, so far. Aims: To determine the pattern of hair and scalp disorders and their underlying etiologies in children below 2 years. Settings and Design: Observational and analytical. Subjects and Methods: Fifty consecutive patients, aged 0–24 months presenting with complaints of hair and scalp disorder, to the outpatient department of dermatology of a tertiary care hospital in North India, constituted the study population. Results: The most common disorder was seborrheic dermatitis (SD) 56%, followed by transient neonatal hair loss 22%. We also came across interesting cases of plica neuropathica (PN) 4%, trichotillomania 2%, and traction alopecia 6%, apart from a list of other disorders noted. The most common age group was 0–6 months. Conclusions: Hair and scalp disorders vary greatly with different demographic areas. In this region of the world, we came across cases of PN due to religious practices. SD was the most prevalent disorder as seen elsewhere. Trichotillomania noted in such a young child was not as a mere habit (as popularly believed), rather an act of anger. Hence, with this study, we want to emphasize the role of detailed history and examination, besides outlining the spectrum of disorders in this age group.
Investigation of HLA-DRB1*15:03 and HLA-DRB1*09:01 alleles to determine predisposition to development of ABO antibodies (Anti-A and Anti-B) amongst blood donors of type “O” in Southern Iran

Introduction: Agglutination in red blood cells can be associated with a number of complications. These complications are related to the amount of antibody titer produced. Some genetic factors, such as HLA-DRB1*15:03 and HLA-DRB1*09:01 alleles, are involved in the production of antibody titers. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the causative allele of the high and dangerous titer antibodies (anti-A and anti-B) among blood donors in Bandar Abbas. Methods: Antibody A and B levels were measured by titration on 121 serum samples of blood type O donors in 2 incubations at room temperature and anti-human globulin tube method. Titers higher than 512 and the same number of participants with a titer of <64 were selected and whether or not genotypes 901 and 1503 were found. After titration, sample DNAs were extracted, and then, amplification-refractory mutation system–polymerase chain reaction was used to determine allelic polymorphism. Results: The antibody titer was found to be elevated in this study, but there was no significant relationship between the presence or absence of genotype 901 (HLA-DRB1*9:01) and genotype 1503 (HLA-DRB1*15:03) and the high titer of anti-A and anti-B antibodies. Discussion and Conclusion: Finally, studies have shown that a critical titer should be determined for antibodies to the ABO blood system in order to provide blood transfusion safety. However, the higher the titers of anti-A and anti-B, the safety of transfusion medicine is also provided.
NATSpert ID TripleH: A novel individual donor multiplex nucleic acid amplification test to reduce risk of transfusion-transmitted infections: Two-year experience of a blood bank in central India

Background: In India serological screening is mandatory for all donated blood for hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) while Nucleic Acid Amplification Testing (NAT) is not a mandatory screening test. There is a risk of transfusion-transmitted infections (TTI) during window period using serology. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyse NAT screening using an indigenously developed, Indian manufactured Individual Donor NAT (ID-NAT) and compare it with serology. Materials and Methods: All blood donations between June 2017-March 2019 were screened serologically for HBV, HCV and HIV at an Indian blood bank. Blood donations also underwent ID-NAT screening using the NATSpert ID TripleH detection assay based on real time PCR. The results were analysed to identify yield cases. Results: In the study, 30,772 blood donor samples were screened serologically out of which 214 were reactive. 30,558 serologically non-reactive blood donations and 77 randomly selected, serologically reactive blood donations were screened using NATSpert. Out of 30,635, 85 donor samples were reactive on the NATSpert which included 77 serology positive and 8 NAT yield cases. The NAT yield found was 2 each for HBV/HIV and 4 of HCV. Conclusion: The NATSpert ID TripleH offers a statistically significant advantage over EIA in ability to detect TTI in blood donors (P < 0.05, Fishers Exact Test). The NAT yield of 1:3829 was in line with other Indian studies. NATSpert assay will provide a significant improvement in blood safety and offer a cost benefit compared to the imported products.
Correlation of Gleason Grading and Prognostic Immunohistochemistry Markers (Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2/neu and Androgen Receptor) in Prostatic Core Needle Biopsy: A Study in a Tertiary Care Center

Abstract Background: Worldwide prostate cancer is the most common cause of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among men. Transrectal ultrasound-guided core needle biopsies are the diagnostic modalities which help in proper categorization and grading of prostatic carcinoma, thus facilitating individualized treatment. These biopsies are the primary source for performance of additional diagnostic immunohistochemical testing for basal cell-associated markers to rule out the morphological mimicker and prognostic markers such as androgen receptor (AR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)/neu. Materials and Methods: A prospective, observational study was conducted in the department of pathology in collaboration with department of urosurgery of a tertiary care hospital. One hundred and nineteen patients diagnosed with prostatic nodules were included in this study. Values of serum prostate-specific antigen were recorded. Tissue for histopathological study was obtained in the form of core needle biopsy, and Gleason grade was calculated in all malignant cases. Immunohistochemistry for p63 and alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase was performed as an additional test in premalignant cases. Prognostication of the prostate cancer cases was done using AR and HER2/neu. Results: A total of 119 cases aged between 20 and 90 years were included in this study. Malignant lesions reveal an increase in the percentage of AR staining in comparison to the benign glandular structure. The Gleason score with higher value (8–9) showed increased expression of HER2/neu receptor. Conclusion: Critical histopathological analysis of core needle biopsy along with immunohistochemical evaluation maximizes the diagnostic accuracy in prostate cancer cases and also helps in prognosis assessment.