Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adapting Kirkpatrick's evaluation model to technology enhanced learning

Experiments, case studies and surveys are part of the standard toolbox researchers use for validating their proposed educational tools and methods. Yet the breadth of such evaluations is often limited to one dimension such as assessing the effect on learning outcomes by means of experiments, or evaluating user acceptance and perceived utility by means of surveys. Besides a positive effect in the classroom, it is equally important that students transfer their knowledge to their working environment, which constitutes yet another evaluation dimension. The lack of a widely accepted validation method encompassing a broad set of dimensions hampers the comparability and synthesis of research on modelling education. This study adapts Kirkpatrick's model of training evaluation to the assessment of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL), i.e. learning settings where the teaching is supported by means of didactic tools. The adaptation proposes concrete metrics and instruments for each of Kirkpatrick's model level. The adaption is demonstrated by means of a case study on a TEL environment for User Interface (UI) modelling that supports the learning UI design principles.
Monitoring the age-specificity of measles transmissions during 2009-2016 in Southern China

Background Despite several immunization efforts, China saw a resurgence of measles in 2012. Monitoring of transmissions of individuals from different age groups could offer information that would be valuable for planning adequate disease control strategies. We compared the age-specific effective reproductive numbers (R) of measles during 2009–2016 in Guangdong, China. Methods We estimated the age-specific R values for 7 age groups: 0–8 months, 9–18 months, 19 months to 6 years, 7–15 years, 16–25 years, 26–45 years, and ≥46 years adapting the contact matrix of China. The daily numbers of laboratory and clinically confirmed cases reported to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong were used. Results The peak R values of the entire population were above unity from 2012 to 2016, indicating the persistence of measles in the population. In general, children aged 0–6 years and adults aged 26–45 years had larger values of R when comparing with other age groups after 2012. While the peaks of R values for children aged 0–6 years dropped steadily after 2013, the peaks of R values for adults aged 26–45 years kept at a high range every year. Conclusions Although the provincial supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) conducted in 2009 and 2010 were able to reduce the transmissions from 2009 to 2011, larger values of R for children aged 0–6 years were observed after 2012, indicating that the benefits of the SIAs were short-lived. In addition, the transmissions from adults aged between 26 and 45 years increased over time. Disease control strategies should target children and adult groups that carry high potential for measles transmission.
Analysis of the Polyphenols of Tobacco Using Pressurized Liquid Extraction (PLE) and Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography With Electrospray Ionization – Tandem Mass Spectometric Detection (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS)

Summary Polyphenols are chemicals found in tobacco that are affected by the method used to cure the leaf and, as a result, can be useful in the characterization of tobacco products. The purpose of this work was to develop an analytical method to investigate the levels of six polyphenols found in tobacco leaves and tobacco products: 3-O-caffeoylquinic acid (chlorogenic acid), 4-O-caffeoylquinic acid (cryptochlorogenic acid), 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid (neochlorogenic acid), kaempferol 3-O-rutinoside (nicotiflorin), quercetin 3-O-rutinoside (rutin), and 6-methoxy-7-hydroxycoumarin (scopoletin). Extraction conditions for sample preparation using PLE and instrument conditions for analysis by UPLC-MS/MS were optimized and validated. Results from the analysis of 30 cured tobacco leaves are presented and discussed in the context of each curing method represented. Results from the analysis of various tobacco products are also presented and trends observed across product types are discussed in the context of the applicability of the validated method. Total polyphenol levels for flue-cured, Oriental, and air-cured leaves were determined to be in the ranges of 18–41 mg/g, 5–27 mg/g, and 0.5–3 mg/g respectively. Similarly, cigarette polyphenol levels were found in the range of 4–16 mg/g and cigar polyphenol levels were less than 1.5 mg/g. The trends observed in the results for the tobacco leaf samples are consistent with expectations regarding the fate of polyphenols under the conditions commonly used in curing procedures. The results for the tobacco products demonstrate that the validated method can be used to study polyphenol content in cigarettes and a variety of cigar types including pipe tobacco cigars.
Comparison of resection site of standardized laparoscopic hepatic tumor resection

Introduction The degree of difficulty in laparoscopic hepatic resection (LHR) was higher in tumors involving the suprahepatic segments than other sites. However, thanks to surgical instruments and procedures being improved and standardized, LHR can be performed safely in all regions. Aim We report our standardized surgical techniques and outcomes in a series of patients undergoing LHR in our hospital and analyze the surgical outcomes, particularly with regard to the site of resection. Material and methods We retrospectively analyzed data from 238 patients who underwent standardized laparoscopic partial hepatic resection between 2010 and 2017. In standardized LHR, the operator formed a triangle with the laparoscope in the center, maintaining a co-axial position by changing the port where the laparoscope was inserted. Results Operative time for the resection of tumors of the right hepatic lobe was 202 ±92 min and 140 ±104 min for tumors of the left hepatic lobe (p = 0.0024); intraoperative blood loss was 80 ±170 ml and 19 ±127 ml, respectively (p = 0.0016). No differences were found in the surgical outcomes between the various segments of the right hepatic lobe. In the left hepatic lobe, operative time was significantly shorter with laparoscopic tumor resection in segment III (p = 0.0023). Conclusions During standardized LHR, a better field of vision with the greater ease can be established during resection of the left hepatic lobe compared to that of the right hepatic lobe. Nonetheless, LHR of the right lobe can be performed safely using various surgical instruments and techniques.
Convergence Guarantees for RMSProp and ADAM in Non-Convex Optimization and an Empirical Comparison to Nesterov Acceleration

RMSProp and ADAM continue to be extremely popular algorithms for training neural nets but their theoretical convergence properties have remained unclear. Further, recent work has seemed to suggest that these algorithms have worse generalization properties when compared to carefully tuned stochastic gradient descent or its momentum variants. In this work, we make progress towards a deeper understanding of ADAM and RMSProp in two ways. First, we provide proofs that these adaptive gradient algorithms are guaranteed to reach criticality for smooth non-convex objectives, and we give bounds on the running time. Next we design experiments to empirically study the convergence and generalization properties of RMSProp and ADAM against Nesterov's Accelerated Gradient method on a variety of common autoencoder setups and on VGG-9 with CIFAR-10. Through these experiments we demonstrate the interesting sensitivity that ADAM has to its momentum parameter $\beta_1$. We show that at very high values of the momentum parameter ($\beta_1 = 0.99$) ADAM outperforms a carefully tuned NAG on most of our experiments, in terms of getting lower training and test losses. On the other hand, NAG can sometimes do better when ADAM's $\beta_1$ is set to the most commonly used value: $\beta_1 = 0.9$, indicating the importance of tuning the hyperparameters of ADAM to get better generalization performance. We also report experiments on different autoencoders to demonstrate that NAG has better abilities in terms of reducing the gradient norms, and it also produces iterates which exhibit an increasing trend for the minimum eigenvalue of the Hessian of the loss function at the iterates.
Exposure to Trace Elements and Risk of Skin Cancer: A Systematic Review of Epidemiologic Studies

Exposure to environmental trace elements has been studied in relation to many cancers. However, an association between exposure to trace elements and skin cancer remains less understood. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review of published epidemiologic literature examining the association between exposure to trace elements, and risk of melanoma and keratinocyte carcinoma in humans. We identified epidemiologic studies investigating exposure to arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, selenium, and zinc and risk of skin cancer in humans. Among the minerals, arsenic, selenium, and zinc had more than five studies available. Exposure to arsenic was associated with increased risk of keratinocyte carcinoma, while too few studies existed on melanoma to draw conclusions. Exposure to selenium was associated with possible increased risk of keratinocyte carcinoma. Studies of zinc and skin cancer were case–control in design and were found to have inconsistent associations. The data on the association between cadmium, chromium, copper, and iron and risk of skin cancer remain too sparse to draw any conclusions. In summary, epidemiologic studies on exposure to trace elements and cutaneous malignancies are limited. Studies with larger sample sizes and prospective designs are warranted to improve our knowledge of trace elements and skin cancer.
Cross-Protective Immune Responses Induced by Sequential Influenza Virus Infection and by Sequential Vaccination With Inactivated Influenza Vaccines

Sequential infection with antigenically distinct influenza viruses induces cross-protective immune responses against heterologous virus strains in animal models. Here we investigated whether sequential immunization with antigenically distinct influenza vaccines can also provide cross-protection. To this end, we compared immune responses and protective potential against challenge with A(H1N1)pdm09 in mice infected sequentially with seasonal A(H1N1) virus followed by A(H3N2) virus or immunized sequentially with whole inactivated virus (WIV) or subunit (SU) vaccine derived from these viruses. Sequential infection provided solid cross-protection against A(H1N1)pdm09 infection while sequential vaccination with WIV, though not capable of preventing weight loss upon infection completely, protected the mice from reaching the humane endpoint. In contrast, sequential SU vaccination did not prevent rapid and extensive weight loss. Protection correlated with levels of cross-reactive but non-neutralizing antibodies of the IgG2a subclass, general increase of memory T cells and induction of influenza-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Adoptive serum transfer experiments revealed that despite lacking neutralizing activity, serum antibodies induced by sequential infection protected mice from weight loss and vigorous virus growth in the lungs upon A(H1N1)pdm09 virus challenge. Antibodies induced by WIV vaccination alleviated symptoms but could not control virus growth in the lung. Depletion of T cells prior to challenge revealed that CD8+ T cells, but not CD4+ T cells, contributed to cross-protection. These results imply that sequential immunization with WIV but not SU derived from antigenically distinct viruses could alleviate the severity of infection caused by a pandemic and may improve protection to unpredictable seasonal infection. Importance New influenza virus strains entering the human population may have large impact and therefore their emergence requires immediate action. Yet, since these strains are unpredictable, vaccines cannot be prepared in advance, at least not as long as there is no universal or broadly protective influenza vaccine available. It is therefore important to elucidate in how far immunization strategies based on currently available seasonal vaccines can provide at least some protection against newly emerging virus strains. Moreover, insight in the possible mechanisms of protection can guide the further development of pre-pandemic immunization strategies. Our study presents a vaccination strategy based on sequential administration of readily available seasonal whole inactivated virus vaccines which could be easily applied in case of a new pandemic. In addition, our study identifies immune mechanisms, in particular cross-reactive non-neutralizing antibodies and CD8+ T cells, which should be targeted by broadly protective influenza vaccines.
A Comprehensive Study on the Biological Activity of Elderberry Extract and Cyanidin 3-O-Glucoside and Their Interactions with Membranes and Human Serum Albumin

In our research we used the extract from dietary supplement of elderberry (EE) and its dominant anthocyanin—cyanidin 3-O-glucoside (Cy 3-gluc). By interacting with a model membrane that reflects the main lipid composition of tumor membranes, the extract components, including Cy 3-gluc, caused an increase in packing order, mainly in the hydrophilic region of the membrane. It can thus be stated that EE caused a rigidifying effect, which is fundamental for understanding its anticancer and antioxidant activity. This study represents the first attempt to unravel the mechanism of interaction of elderberry extract with membranes. The results of the interaction with human serum albumin (HSA) proved that the studied substance quenches the fluorescence of HSA through a static mechanism in which the main interaction forces are Van der Waals and hydrogen bonding. The antioxidant activity of EE and Cy 3-gluc on liposomal membranes, antiradical properties and ability to inhibited the activity of the enzymes cyclooxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2 were also demonstrated. Moreover, the anticancer activity of EE and Cy 3-gluc on human breast adenocarcinoma cell line were investigated. In addition, EE also exhibited the ability to form lipid aggregates in the form of liposomal capsules that can be applied as carriers of active biological substances, and the highest efficacy of EE encapsulation was obtained for multilayered liposome formulations.
Over My Hand: Using a Personalized Hand in VR to Improve Object Size Estimation, Body Ownership, and Presence

When estimating the distance or size of an object in the real world, we often use our own body as a metric; this strategy is called body-based scaling. However, object size estimation in a virtual environment presented via a head-mounted display differs from the physical world due to technical limitations such as narrow field of view and low fidelity of the virtual body when compared to one's real body. In this paper, we focus on increasing the fidelity of a participant's body representation in virtual environments with a personalized hand using personalized characteristics and a visually faithful augmented virtuality approach. To investigate the impact of the personalized hand, we compared it against a generic virtual hand and measured effects on virtual body ownership, spatial presence, and object size estimation. Specifically, we asked participants to perform a perceptual matching task that was based on scaling a virtual box on a table in front of them. Our results show that the personalized hand not only increased virtual body ownership and spatial presence, but also supported participants in correctly estimating the size of a virtual object in the proximity of their hand.
ASVRG: Accelerated Proximal SVRG

This paper proposes an accelerated proximal stochastic variance reduced gradient (ASVRG) method, in which we design a simple and effective momentum acceleration trick. Unlike most existing accelerated stochastic variance reduction methods such as Katyusha, ASVRG has only one additional variable and one momentum parameter. Thus, ASVRG is much simpler than those methods, and has much lower per-iteration complexity. We prove that ASVRG achieves the best known oracle complexities for both strongly convex and non-strongly convex objectives. In addition, we extend ASVRG to mini-batch and non-smooth settings. We also empirically verify our theoretical results and show that the performance of ASVRG is comparable with, and sometimes even better than that of the state-of-the-art stochastic methods.
Elongation factor P is required to maintain proteome homeostasis at high growth rate

Significance Adaptation to rapidly changing environments is essential for cellular fitness and is a critical component in pathogenesis. Translational control has important roles for fitness in a range of environments and requires multiple factors for efficient responses. One such factor is the translation elongation factor (EF)-P, which alleviates ribosome pausing at polyproline motifs. Our findings show that EF-P-mediated relief of ribosome queuing is integral in environmentally driven changes to translation rates. We observe that ribosome pausing leads to changes in protein yield only under rapid growth conditions, demonstrating that effects resulting from ribosome queuing correlate directly with translational demand. These results provide physiological context to previous studies establishing EF-P as a critical factor in cell growth and virulence. Elongation factor P (EF-P) is a universally conserved translation factor that alleviates ribosome pausing at polyproline (PPX) motifs by facilitating peptide bond formation. In the absence of EF-P, PPX peptide bond formation can limit translation rate, leading to pleotropic phenotypes including slowed growth, increased antibiotic sensitivity, and loss of virulence. In this study, we observe that many of these phenotypes are dependent on growth rate. Limiting growth rate suppresses a variety of detrimental phenotypes associated with ribosome pausing at PPX motifs in the absence of EF-P. Polysome levels are also similar to wild-type under slow growth conditions, consistent with global changes in ribosome queuing in cells without EF-P when growth rate is decreased. Inversely, under high protein synthesis demands, we observe that Escherichia coli lacking EF-P have reduced fitness. Our data demonstrate that EF-P-mediated relief of ribosome queuing is required to maintain proteome homeostasis under conditions of high translational demands.
Genotype and Lifetime Burden of Disease in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Background: A better understanding of the factors that contribute to heterogeneous outcomes and lifetime disease burden in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is critically needed to improve patient management and outcomes. The SHaRe registry (Sarcomeric Human Cardiomyopathy Registry) was established to provide the scale of data required to address these issues, aggregating longitudinal data sets curated by 8 international HCM specialty centers. Methods: Data on 4591 patients with HCM (2763 genotyped) followed up for a mean of 5.4±6.9 years (24 791 patient-years; median, 2.9 years; interquartile range, 0.3–7.9 years) were analyzed for cardiac arrest, cardiac transplantation, appropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator therapy, all-cause death, atrial fibrillation, stroke, New York Heart Association functional class III/IV symptoms (all making up the overall composite end point), and left ventricular ejection fraction <35%. Outcomes were analyzed individually and as composite end points. Results: Median age at diagnosis was 45.8 (interquartile range, 30.9–58.1) years, and 37% of patients were female. Age at diagnosis and sarcomere mutation status were predictive of outcomes. Patients <40 years old at diagnosis had a 77% (95% CI, 72–80) cumulative incidence of the overall composite outcome by 60 years of age compared with 32% (95% CI, 29–36) by 70 years of age for patients diagnosed at >60 years old. Young patients with HCM (age, 20–29 years) had 4-fold higher mortality than the general US population at a similar age. Patients with pathogenic/likely pathogenic sarcomere mutations had a 2-fold greater risk for adverse outcomes compared with patients without mutations; sarcomere variants of uncertain significance were associated with intermediate risk. Heart failure and atrial fibrillation were the most prevalent adverse events, although typically not emerging for several years after diagnosis. Ventricular arrhythmias occurred in 32% (95% CI, 23–40) of patients <40 years of age at diagnosis but in 1% (95% CI, 1–2) of those >60 years old at diagnosis. Conclusions: The cumulative burden of HCM is substantial and dominated by heart failure and atrial fibrillation occurring many years after diagnosis. Young age at diagnosis and the presence of a sarcomere mutation are powerful predictors of adverse outcomes. These findings highlight the need for close surveillance throughout life and the need to develop disease-modifying therapies.
Romosozumab/CDP7851 for the treatment of osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is an important worldwide health problem, conferring significant costs on healthcare. Current osteoporosis therapies are anti-resorptive and have proven anti-fracture efficacy, while there is a paucity of osteoanabolic therapies. Romosozumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody against sclerostin, an inhibitor of osteoblastic activity. Two-year follow-up data from initial clinical studies show rapid and robust increases in bone mineral density at all sites, except the wrist. Significant increases in bone formation markers have also been observed after administration of romosozumab. Notably, and unprecedented among any currently available therapy, this increase in bone formation is accompanied with control of bone resorption, allowing an enhanced anabolic potential compared with the only other currently available anabolic therapy, teriparatide. Romosozumab has been well tolerated in initial studies and its effects on BMD are augmented by follow-on anti-resorptive therapy. Ongoing Phase III studies will provide data regarding anti-fracture efficacy and comparisons with alendronate, as well as longer-term safety.
Spectacle Compliance and Its Determinants in a School Vision Screening Pilot in Botswana

ABSTRACT Purpose: The effectiveness of school eye health programmes relies on many factors, including compliance with spectacle wear. The objectives of this study were to determine spectacle compliance in a school vision screening pilot programme in Botswana, and investigate factors predictive of compliance. Methods: The study was an observational, cross-sectional follow-up of a pilot school screening programme. Unannounced compliance checks were completed after 3–4 months in a convenience sample of 19 schools. Sex, age, school level, visual acuity, and refractive error were analysed using logistic regression to investigate factors predictive of compliance. Findings: Compliance data were recorded for 193/286 (67.5%) children; 62.2% were female and the median age was 15 years (interquartile range 12–17 years). 60.1% of the sample were compliant with spectacle wear. Girls were more likely to be compliant than boys (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 2.32, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03–5.27). Children at primary and junior secondary school were more likely to be complaint than senior secondary school children (aOR = 16.96, 95% CI 5.60–51.39; and aOR = 3.39, 95% CI 1.39–8.22, respectively). Children with binocular uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) of 6/7.5 to 6/12 were 2.76 (95% CI1.05–7.23) times more likely to be compliant than children with binocular UCVA of 6/6. Conclusion: Compliance was higher in Botswana than previous African studies; however, improvement in this area would increase the effectiveness of the programme. Further investigation into barriers to spectacle wear affecting boys and older children is warranted. A prescribing protocol to avoid low prescriptions – especially where binocular UCVA is 6/6 – is desirable.