Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Value of Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy in Toxic Thyroid Adenoma

Background: The co-existence of thyroid cancer (TC) and hyperthyroidism (HT) cause serious diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic difficulties Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is considered as essential step in the checkup of the thyroid nodule. Aim of the work. Assessment of the clinical value of FNAB and to determine frequency of thyroid cancer in patients with autonomous toxic thyroid adenoma, before radioactive iodine therapy. Methodology: All patients underwent clinical examination, thyroid hormonal profile analysis, neck ultrasound, Tc-99 thyroid scan and Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy (FNAB). Twelve Patients with positive, suspicious or nondiagnostic FNAB results underwent thyroidectomy and histopathological analysis. Results: This study included forty one patients, 23 females (56.1%) and 18 males (43.9%) with mean age 39.8 (±9.3) years. All patients have elevated T3, T4 and suppressed TSH. All patients underwent FNAB; 29 patients (70.7%) were negative, two patients (4.9%) had TC, one patient (2.4%) was suspicious and 9 patients (22%) were non-diagnostic. Twelve patients with positive, suspicious or non-diagnostic FNAB results underwent thyroidecetomy followed by histopathological examination of the surgical specimens that confirmed features of TC in two patients with positive FNAB and one patient with suspicious FNAB, in addition to another one patient with nondiagnostic FNAB. Thyroid cancer was found on 4 patients (9.76%), three patients had papillary thyroid cancer and the fourth had follicular form proved by surgery. Egyptian J. Nucl. Med., Vol. 17, No. 2, December 2018. 49 Conclusion: Addition of FNAB to work up list of patients with autonomous toxic thyroid adenoma prior to radioactive iodine therapy has added value in detection of malignancy. However surgery is recommended to confirm or exclude malignancy in patients with suspicious or non-diagnostic FNAB results. Keywords; Autonomous toxic adenoma; thyroid cancer; fine needle aspiration biopsy. Corresponding Author: Nasr, I. E-mail: iminasr@yahoo.com.
Smartphone Applications for Assessing Ankle Range of Motion in Clinical Practice

Background: Measuring ankle range of motion (ROM) following injury or intervention is necessary for monitoring recovery as well as for calculating permanent impairment ratings in workers’ compensation cases. In recent years, smartphone application developers have created applications (apps) that emulate ROM measurement tools like the universal goniometer. This study assessed the correlation between smartphone ROM measurements and universal goniometer measurements, as well as the reliability and usability of these apps in clinical practice. Methods: Three raters used the Goniometer app (Gonio), Clinometer app (Clino), DrGoniometer app (DrG), and a universal goniometer (UG) to assess the ankle ROM in plantarflexion and dorsiflexion of 24 patients with ankle pathology. Each patient completed a survey on the usability of the apps. Results: Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient test showed moderate correlation between the smartphone and UG measurements (Lin‘s correlation coefficient [rLC] = 0.931, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.911-0.946 for UG-Gonio; rLC = 0.908, 95% CI = 0.881-0.929 for UG-Clino; rLC = 0.935, 95% CI = 0.915-0.950 for UG-DrG). A 2-way mixed model showed good to excellent interrater reliability for each app for plantarflexion and dorsiflexion (ICCp = 0.836, ICCd = 0.912, P < .001 for Gonio; ICCp = 0.788, ICCd = 0.893, P < .001 for Clino; ICCp = 0.777, ICCd = 0.897, P < .001 for DrG). Most participants surveyed were very comfortable with having their ankle ROM measured by a smartphone. Conclusion: Smartphone apps may be a more convenient way to measure ankle ROM than UG. Physicians can use these apps to measure a patient’s ROM in clinic, a patient could send a picture of his or her dorsiflexed or plantarflexed ankle to the physician to remotely track ROM, or a patient could measure his or her own ROM at home using a personal smartphone. Level of Evidence: Level IV, case series.
Patterns of hair loss at Sohag University Hospital hair clinic

Background: Hair loss is a very common complaint. Patients may describe increased shedding and diffuse or localized alopecia. The differential diagnosis of hair loss includes a number of disorders causing cicatricial or noncicatricial alopecias. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the most common causes of hair loss among patients who attended hair clinic at Sohag university hospital. patients and methods: This study included 100 patients who attended the hair clinic, dermatology department at Sohag University Hospital between June 2018 to October 2018. The data entry was done by using Microsoft Excel, while the analysis was done by using SPSS version 23. Results: In this study we found that androgenetic alopecia was the most common cause of hair loss in our studied population(45%) followed by in descending manner alopecia areata (26%), telogen effluvium (14), tractional alopecia (7%), lichen planopilaris (5%) and trichotillomania (3%). Conclusion: Androgenetic alopecia is the most common cause of hair loss among patients who attended the hair clinic at Sohag university hospital.
Dynamic Performance of Estimator-based Speed Sensorless Control of Induction Machines Using Extended and Unscented Kalman Filters

Abstract This paper presents an estimator-based speed sensorless field-oriented control (FOC) method for induction machines, where the state estimator is based on a self-contained, non-linear model. This model characterises both the electrical and the mechanical behaviours of the machine and describes them with seven state variables. The state variables are estimated from the measured stator currents and from the known stator voltages by using an estimator algorithm. An important aspect is that one of the state variables is the load torque and, hence, it is also estimated by the estimator. Using this feature, the applied estimator-based speed sensorless control algorithm may be operated adequately besides varying load torque. In this work, two different variants of the control algorithm are developed based on the extended and the unscented Kalman filters (EKF, UKF) as state estimators. The dynamic performance of these variants is tested and compared using experiments and simulations. Results show that the variants have comparable performance in general, but the UKF-based control provides better performance if a stochastically varying load disturbance is present.
The Effect of Group Logotherapy on Spirituality and Death Anxiety of Patients with Cancer: An Open-Label Randomized Clinical Trial

Background: Cancer is one of the most important health problems, which cause anxiety. Owing to physical and psychological problemsitmayleadtothinkingaboutimpendingdeath. Logotherapyisthemostpowerfulmethodtotreatproblemsthatexistin nature. Objectives: Thisstudyaimedtodeterminetheeﬀectof grouplogotherapyonspiritualityanddeathanxietyinpatientswithcancer. Methods: ThisrandomizedclinicaltrialstudywasdoneonpatientswithcancerreferredtoImamKhomeiniHospitalinSariin2017. Sixty-four eligible patients were selected from the oncology clinic using convenience sampling method. Patients were randomly allocated to the control and intervention groups (n = 32). Group logotherapy was done for the intervention group for ﬁve weeks. Data was gathered through a questionnaire, including demographic, Templer Death Anxiety Scale (DAS), and Spirituality Questionnaire (SQ) one week before and one week after the intervention. Data were analyzed in SPSS V. 16 software using independent t -test, Wilcoxon, and Mann-Whitney U test. The signiﬁcant level was considered 0.05. Results: Therewerenosigniﬁcantdiﬀerencesindeathanxietyandspiritualityscoresbetweenthetwogroupsatbaseline,indicating thatthetwogroupswerematchedintermsof deathanxietyandspirituality. Beforethelogotherapy,themeanscoreof deathanxiety inbothgroupswashigh(morethan8). Afterthelogotherapy,themeanandSDof deathanxietyscoreintheinterventionandcontrol groups were 7.14 ± 4.12 and 9.76 ± 2.64, respectively, there were statistically signiﬁcant diﬀerences in death anxiety scores between the groups (P < 0.05). There were statistically signiﬁcant diﬀerences between the mean of spirituality score in the intervention groupbeforeandafterthelogotherapy(P< 0.05),butitwasnotsigniﬁcantinthecontrolgroup,indicatingthatgrouplogotherapy was eﬀective in increasing the spirituality score. Conclusions: Based on the ﬁndings, group logotherapy can increase the spirituality score of the patients. Moreover, the logotherapy may result in decreasing death anxiety, and spirituality-oriented meetings may be beneﬁcial for patients.
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECT OF NIGELLA SATIVA OIL ON CHEMORADIATION-INDUCED ORAL MUCOSITIS IN PATIENTS WITH HEAD AND NECK CANCERS

Objective: Oral mucositis (OM) is a common treatment-induced toxicity in patients undergoing radiation or chemoradiation for head and neck cancers (HNC). The study aims to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of Nigella sativa (NS) oil in radiation-or chemoradiation-induced OM in HNC patients. Methods: From Forty HNC patients were randomized to two groups, each of 20 patients. The first group was treated with NS oil mouthwash five times daily, while the second group was treated with the Magic mouthwash and served as a control. All patients received radiotherapy (RT) (60-70 Gy) in 30-35 fractions over 6-7 w with or without chemotherapy. Patients were evaluated once per week to estimate the severity and duration of OM and the salivary levels of IL-6 and TNF-α. Results: 70% of patients were men and the commonest tumor locations were larynx (47.5%) and pharynx (22.5%) classified as stages III or IV. NS oil significantly reduces RTOG grade and OM severity after 3-4 w of RT, attenuates the elevation in salivary IL-6 and TNF-α production after 3-5 w. Conclusion: Nigella sativa oil mouthwash have a potential anti-inflammatory activity that may be beneficial in minimizing or preventing radiation-or chemoradiation-induced oral mucositis in patients with head and neck cancer.
Prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance in different grades of obesity

Background: Surgical Background: Impaired glucose tolerance is known precursor of type-2 diabetes mellitus and more prevalent in obese people, different studies have varied results and true prevalence is still debatable. Aims of this study to investigate the prevalence of IGT in different grades of obesity.Methods: Authors have studied100 patients with obesity Grade1 (BMI >25 kg/m2 but <30) and Grade2 (BMI >30 kg/m2) at Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal during April to June 2019. Complete physical examination and blood tests including fasting blood glucose and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) were done.Results: Results shows that 16% male and 14% female subjects had IGT. Male of age more than 60yrs and female aged between 51 to 60 were more pre-diabetic. Males having weight 71 to 80 kg and female of 51-60 kg were more pre-diabetic. Subjects with grade 1 obesity, 6.12% male and 5.88% female had IGT. Similarly, in grade 2-obese subjects 10.20% males and 7.84% females had IGT.Conclusion: IGT is more prevalent in grade-1 and grade-2 obese population and a strong indicator of diabetes.
Effects of Computerized Cognitive Training on Physical Mobility in Community-Dwelling Older Adults With Cardiovascular Disease: A Pilot Study

Purpose: Mobility deficits and cognitive decline have been associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) in older adults. Computerized cognitive training (CCT) interventions have reported the transfer of improvements in cognitive function to gait and mobility. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a 6-week CCT program on mobility in older adults with CVD. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was used. Noninstitutionalized older adults with CVD who could speak and understand English and were computer users were recruited. Participants were divided into a control group (n 5 11) and an intervention group (n 5 16) that received a progressively challenging CCT program. Testing was performed at baseline and after intervention. Baseline differences were examined using Mann – Whitney U and chi-square tests. Changes in outcomes after intervention were assessed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: Statistically significant improvements in gait speed (0.23 min/s) were found in the intervention group after intervention. No significant differences were noted in other mobility/cognitive measures. Conclusions: A transference of the effects of CCT on mobility was found in older adults with CVD with clinically meaningful improvement in gait speed after 18 CCT sessions. These results indicate the positive impact of CCT in facilitating improvements in mobility. (Cardiopulm Phys Ther J. 2020;31:105 – 112)
Correlation between Preoperative Anxiety and Postoperative Pain in Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Cholecytectomy

Admission to the hospital is an anxious event for any individual and is extremely anxiety-provoking especially in case of surgical patients. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of pre-operative anxiety on postoperative pain in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The correlation research design was used. A purposive sample of 100 laparoscopic cholecystectomy(LC) patients were recruited. Three tools were utilized; the first tool was a semi-structured interview questionnaire, Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Wong-Baker-Faces Pain Rating Scale. The study findings showed a significant correlation (r =0.156; P= 0.021) between preoperative anxiety and postoperative pain. Age insignificantly associated with anxiety and pain. Significant differences were found between male and female in relation to postoperative pain (t=0.581; P= 0.03). Level of education is significantly associated with anxiety. Future work is needed to incorporate appropriate preoperative information and assessment into a routine preoperative nursing practice for patients with LC. The researchers of the current study recommended development of personalized discipline specific clinical pathway such as enhanced recovery programmes in postoperative period in order to reduce length of hospital stay and preoperative anxiety .
Genetic Spectrum and Variability in Chinese Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by selective impairment of upper and lower motor neurons. We aimed to investigate the genetic spectrum and variability in Chinese patients with ALS. A total of 24 familial ALS (FALS) and 21 early-onset sporadic ALS (SALS) of Chinese ancestry were enrolled. Targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) was performed in the probands, followed by verification by Sanger sequencing and co-segregation analysis. Clinical features of patients with pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants were present. The mutation frequency of ALS-related genes was then analyzed in Chinese population. In this cohort, 17 known mutations (9 SOD1, 5 FUS, 2 TARDBP and one SETX) were identified in 14 FALS and 6 early-onset SALS. Moreover, 7 novel variants (SOD1 c.112G>C, OPTN c.811C>T, ERBB4 c.965T>A, DCTN1 c.1915C>T, NEFH c.2602G>A, NEK1 c.3622G>A, and TAF15 c.1535G>A) were identified. In southeastern Chinese FALS, the mutation frequency of SOD1, FUS, and TARDBP was 52.9%, 8.8%, 8.8% respectively. In early-onset SALS, FUS mutations were the most common (22.6%). In Chinese ALS cases, p.H47R is most frequent SOD1 mutations, while p.R521 is most common FUS mutation and p.M337V is most common TARDBP mutation. Our results revealed that mutations in SOD1, FUS and TARDBP are the most common cause of Chinese FALS, while FUS mutations are the most common cause of early-onset SALS. The genetic spectrum is different between Chinese ALS and Caucasian ALS.
Use of psychoactive substances and their harms and benefits as perceived by undergraduate medical students in Brazil

ABSTRACT Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of use of psychoactive agents among medical students attending Federal Higher Education Institutes in Brazil and to identify the licit and illicit drugs most often employed. Methods: The cross-sectional study involved ten medical schools located in a Brazilian state. Students were asked to complete a online questionnaire. Differences between the proportions of users and non-users of licit and illicit agents were compared using χ2 test and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: 647 students completed the survey satisfactorily. 70% (n = 452) of respondents consumed at least one psychoactive substance. Alcohol was the substance most frequently consumed followed by tobacco and cannabis. Most respondents who had used antidepressants and benzodiazepines reported that the drugs were informally indicated by health professionals. The use of licit substances was associated with no practising religion, high income and living with friends. The use of illicit substances was related to age (23–27 years), gender (male) and no practising religion. Conclusion: Our study draws attention to the importance of promoting responsibility and self-criticism during medical education in order to avoid students developing a feeling of dominance regarding alcohol or drug consumption that may deteriorate into addiction or even recklessness regarding their future prescribing practice.
User's Guide to NIST Fingerprint Image Software (NFIS) | NIST

This report documents a public domain fingerprint image software distribution developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The software technology contained in this distribution is a culmination of a decades worth of work for the FBI at NIST. Provided are a collection of application programs, utilities, and source code libraries. These are organized into four major packages: 1. PCASYS is a neural network based fingerprint pattern classification system; 2. MINDTCT is a fingerprint minutiae detector; 3. AN2K is a reference implementation of the ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2000 "Data Format for the Interchange of Fingerprint, Facial, Scar Mark & Tattoo (SMT) Information" standard; and 4. IMGTOOLS is a collection of image utilities, including encoders and decoders for Baseline and Lossless JPEG and the FBIs WSQ specification. This public domain source code distribution is written in C, and has been developed to compile and execute under the Linux operating system using the GNU gcc compiler and gmake utility. The source code may also be installed to run on Win32 platforms that have the Cygwin library and associated tools installed. A Reference Manual describing each program in the distribution is included at the end of this document.
Primary Care Physician Practice Styles and Patient Care: Evidence from Physician Exits in Medicare

Primary care physicians (PCPs) provide frontline health care to patients in the U.S.; however, it is unclear how their practice styles affect patient care. In this paper, we estimate the long-lasting effects of PCP practice styles on patient health care utilization by focusing on Medicare patients affected by PCP relocations or retirements, which we refer to as "exits. " Observing where patients receive care after these exits, we estimate event studies to compare patients who switch to PCPs with different practice style intensities. We find that PCPs have large effects on a range of aggregate utilization measures, including physician and outpatient spending and the number of diagnosed conditions. Moreover, we find that PCPs have large effects on the quality of care that patients receive, and that all of these effects persist for several years. Our results suggest that switching to higher-quality PCPs could significantly affect patients' longer-run health outcomes.
Protective effects of Gemfibrozil, Silymarin, and their combination on liver ischemic/reperfusion insult in rats

Background: Hepatic ischemic reperfusion (I/R) injury is an inevitable critical problem occurs during resection of liver tumors, and liver transplantation. Silymarin is a herbal product widely used for its hepatoprotective effect. Gemfibrozil is a FDA-approved fibrate drug, commonly prescribed for management of dyslipidaemia. Objective: The aim of this work is to study the possible hepatoprotective effect of Silymarin, Gemfibrozil, and their combination against hepatic ischemic reperfusion injury in rats. Materials & Methods: Rats were divided into six groups: Group1: normal control; Group2: sham-operated; Group3: I/R (Rats subjected to partial hepatic ischemia for 30 minute followed by 6 h reperfusion), Group4: Silymarin pretreated group (100 mg/kg orally once daily for 14 days); Group5: Gemfibrozil pretreated group (100 mg/kg orally once daily for 14 days), and Group 6: Silymarin and Gemfibrozil- pretreated group. Serum AST and ALT, hepatic tissue MDA, SOD, GSH-Px, TNF-α, MPO, caspase-3 levels, and real-time qPCR for gene expression of IκB-α, and PI3K, and its subunits (P85: p110 α /p110 β) were measured besides liver histopathology and 8-OHdG, NF-κB (p65), and caspase immunohistochemistry. Results: I/R insult deteriorated the liver function and evoked oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis. Pretreatment with Silymarin and /or Gemfibrozil improved the deteriorated liver function and the histopathological changes as well as attenuating oxidation, apoptosis and inflammatory processes. Conclusion: The combination of Gemfibrozil and Silymarin has protective effects against liver I/R in rats better than each of these drugs alone due to antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic properties of the used drugs.
Left Ventricular Assist Device Support Complicates the Exercise Physiology of Oxygen Transport and Uptake in Heart Failure

Low-output forward flow and impaired maximal exercise oxygen uptake (VO2 max) are hallmarks of patients in advanced heart failure. The continuous-flow left ventricular assist device is a cutting-edge therapy proven to increase forward flow, yet this therapy does not yield consistent improvements in VO2 max. The science of how adjustable artificial forward flow impacts the exercise physiology of heart failure and physical O2 transport between the central and peripheral systems is unclear. This review focuses on the exercise physiology of axial continuous-flow left ventricular assist device support and the impact that pump speed has on the interactive convective and diffusive components of whole-body physical O2 transport and VO2.