Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cortical GABAergic Interneuron/Progenitor Transplantation as a Novel Therapy for Intractable Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a severe neurological disease affecting more than 70 million people worldwide that is characterized by unpredictable and abnormal electrical discharges resulting in recurrent seizures. Although antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are the mainstay of epilepsy treatment for seizure control, about one third of patients with epilepsy suffer from intractable seizures that are unresponsive to AEDs. Furthermore, the patients that respond to AEDs typically experience adverse systemic side effects, underscoring the urgent need to develop new therapies that target epileptic foci rather than more systemic interventions. Neurosurgical removal of affected brain tissues or implanting neurostimulator devices are effective options only for a fraction of patients with drug-refractory seizures, so it is imperative to develop treatments that are more generally applicable and restorative in nature. Considering the abnormalities of GABAergic inhibitory interneurons in epileptic brain tissues, one strategy with considerable promise is to restore normal circuit function by transplanting GABAergic interneurons/progenitors into the seizure focus. In this review, we focus on recent studies of cortical GABAergic interneuron transplantation to treat epilepsy and discuss critical issues in moving this promising experimental therapeutic treatment into clinic.
Does rescue cerclage work?

Abstract Rescue cervical cerclage (RCC), also known as emergency cerclage, has long been the subject of controversy. Its use in women who have a dilated cervix has been ambivalent. RCC is often considered as a salvage measure for pregnancies which are at a high risk of severe preterm delivery (PTD) or mid-trimester miscarriage. This study aims to examine and assess the efficacy of RCC and its ability to prolong pregnancy until neonatal viability is achieved. The current data suggest that RCC is associated with a longer latency period frequently resulting in better pregnancy outcomes (Namouz S, Porat S, Okun N, Windrim R, Farine D. Emergency cerclage: literature review. Obstet Gynecol Surv. 2013;68:379–88). This is supported by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) which states that the insertion of a rescue cerclage may delay delivery by a further 5 weeks on average as compared with expectant management or bed rest alone (Shennan AH. To MS: RCOG Green Top Guidelines: Cervical Cerclage RCOG.2011. Available from: www.rcog.org.uk). It further states that it may be associated with a two-fold reduction in the possibility of delivery before 34 weeks of gestation (Shennan AH. To MS: RCOG Green Top Guidelines: Cervical Cerclage RCOG.2011. Available from: www.rcog.org.uk). Our study reveals that the average insertion to delivery interval at our centre was 71.2 days with a live birth rate of 92.5%. A total of 89.1% of women delivered beyond 24 weeks of gestation.
Design of plant disease detection system: A transfer learning approach work in progress

The use of ICT has become essential to help farmers collect important and updated information and knowledge which are valuable resources that farming depends on. The study embarked investigates the problem sources of unavailability or lack of timely, relevant and accurate farming information and knowledge for small-scale farmers. The main target is to deal with plant diseases and how to manage them by carefully diagnosing the plants leaves. This work proposes to use image analysis and convolutional neural networks and the ever increasing capability of machine learning such as supervised learning to offer a mobile solution. A Design Science Research Methodology was followed in shaping skeleton of the proposed prototype. The developed prototype will be subjected to three usability measures to test if indeed it is timely, relevant and accurate as the farmers need it to be.
Testing Reliability of the Computational Age‐At‐Death Estimation Methods between Five Observers Using Three‐Dimensional Image Data of the Pubic Symphysis ,

In an effort to standardize data collection and analysis in age estimation, a series of computational methods utilizing high‐dimensional image data of the age indicator have recently been proposed as an alternative to subjective visual, trait‐to‐phase matching techniques. To systematically quantify the reproducibility of such methods, we investigate the intrascan variability and within‐ and between‐observer reliability in initial scan data capturing and editing using 3D laser scans of the Suchey–Brooks pubic symphysis casts and five shape‐based computational methods. Our results show that (i) five observers with various training background and experience levels edited the scans consistently for all three trials and the derived shape measures and age estimates were in excellent agreement among observers, and (ii) the computational methods are robust to a measured degree of scan trimming error. This study supports the application of computational methods to 3D laser scanned images for reliable age‐at‐death estimation, with reduced subjectivity.
Conceptualizing gambling disorder with the process model of emotion regulation

Introduction Nowadays, gambling disorder (GD) is a worldwide health issue and there is a growing need to both improve our understanding of this disorder and to tailor specific interventions for its treatment. Moreover, theoretical models and preliminary empirical results suggest that difficulty in regulating emotional states might be involved in GD. However, literature describing clinical and theoretical aspects of emotional dysregulation among pathological gamblers (PGs) shows a lack of systematic description. Objectives We aimed to provide, within an exhaustive theoretical framework of emotion regulation (ER) processing, empirical evidence supporting a conceptual model of GD as an ER affliction. Methods We commented on empirical evidence on the relationship between ER and GD in the light of two main conceptual models of emotion (dys)regulation. Results The results suggest there are actual deficits of ER processing among PGs, manifesting themselves through different ways and in different steps of the ER timeline. In addition, dysregulation of positive emotions may play a central role in GD. From a clinical point of view, we pointed out that deficits in ER might be multiple in nature and an assessment for GD should be accurate to identify the specific components accounting for the development and maintenance of the disorder. It should also orientate the clinician in selecting therapeutic objectives. Conclusions The nature of emotional states that are difficult to regulate might account for the GD severity and indicate the subtype of PGs the patient belongs to. Treatment programs should be tailored on the specificity of PGs.
Inhaled corticosteroids in COPD and the risk of lung cancer

Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) might reduce the risk of lung cancer by controlling airway inflammation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) because both are associated with chronic inflammation. The objective was to assess the impact of ICS on lung cancer risk reduction in COPD patients. We performed a nested case–control study based on the database of the National Health Insurance Service–National Sample Cohort, a nationally representative cohort of 1,125,691 participants in Korea followed over 11 years. The eligible population was patients aged 30–89 years who were newly diagnosed with COPD and initiated inhaled medications after diagnosis. Cases were defined as individuals diagnosed with lung cancer after the initiation of inhaled medications and were matched with controls by propensity score at a 1:4 ratio. We identified 265 individuals with lung cancer, matched with 1,060 controls. Use of ICS was associated with reduced risk of lung cancer (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 0.74, 95% CI 0.57–0.96). The high cumulative ICS dose group, defined as those above the third quartile of ICS dose distribution, had a lower risk of lung cancer than the low cumulative dose group (aHR 0.51, 95% CI 0.34–0.75). The effect of ICS on lung cancer risk reduction was more remarkable in former smokers than current smokers. Additionally, the result was consistent in men regardless of the classification according to ICS use, while it was not significant in women. ICS, particularly at high cumulative dose, might be associated with decreased risk of lung cancer in patients with COPD. Severe COPD frequently warrants treatment with inhaled corticosteroids, which exert immunomodulatory and antiproliferative effects. Despite an association between COPD and increased lung cancer risk, patients on ICS appear to have a reduced likelihood of developing lung cancer. Here, analyzing data from the National Health Insurance Service–National Sample Cohort in Korea, the authors show that ICS use is associated with decreased lung cancer risk in COPD patients. An inverse dose–response relationship was detected, whereby increasing cumulative ICS dose was associated with decreasing lung cancer risk. The effect was most pronounced in men and former smokers.
Frame-level Instrument Recognition by Timbre and Pitch

Instrument recognition is a fundamental task in music information retrieval, yet little has been done to predict the presence of instruments in multi-instrument music for each time frame. This task is important for not only automatic transcription but also many retrieval problems. In this paper, we use the newly released MusicNet dataset to study this front, by building and evaluating a convolutional neural network for making frame-level instrument prediction. We consider it as a multi-label classification problem for each frame and use frame-level annotations as the supervisory signal in training the network. Moreover, we experiment with different ways to incorporate pitch information to our model, with the premise that doing so informs the model the notes that are active per frame, and also encourages the model to learn relative rates of energy buildup in the harmonic partials of different instruments. Experiments show salient performance improvement over baseline methods. We also report an analysis probing how pitch information helps the instrument prediction task. Code and experiment details can be found at \url{this https URL}.
Efficacy of adding interoceptive exposure to intensive interdisciplinary treatment for adolescents with chronic pain: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract Fear of pain plays an important role in the maintenance of chronic pain. It may be reduced through exposure therapy. This 2-arm parallel samples randomized controlled trial aimed to investigate whether interoceptive exposure (IE) therapy enhances reductions in fear of pain (primary outcome), pain (pain intensity, pain-related disability, and school absence), and emotional characteristics (anxiety and catastrophizing) when implemented as an adjunctive treatment in the context of intensive interdisciplinary pain treatment for pediatric chronic pain patients. N = 126 adolescents, aged 11 to 17 years, who were receiving standard intensive interdisciplinary pain treatment were randomly assigned to either receive additional IE (n = 64) or additional relaxation therapy (RT) (n = 62). All patients were assessed at admission, discharge, and 3 months after discharge. The data of N = 104 patients were analyzed. Significant large reductions were found in the total score and subscale scores of the Fear of Pain Questionnaire for Children in both study groups (eg, total score [range 0-60; IE/RT]: admission M = 23.5/24.9; discharge M = 16.0/19.7; P < 0.001, = 0.27) and mainly large reductions in pain characteristics. There were no greater decreases in the IE group (P > 0.1). The exploratory analyses revealed that the patients with high fear of pain before treatment (P < 0.05, > 0.03) and the patients with abdominal pain (P < 0.04, > 0.25) showed greater decreases in their fear of pain (total and subscale score) in the IE group than in the RT group. In conclusion, the results suggest that IE is not particularly effective for all the pediatric chronic pain patients, but the patients with high fear of pain before treatment and with abdominal pain strongly benefit from this intervention.
Exploring Visual Perspective Taking and body awareness in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ABSTRACT Introduction: Recent evidence suggests that impairments in social cognition are associated to the cognitive abilities needed to take several viewpoints in perceptual situations and body awareness. The aim of the current study was to investigate Visual Perspective Taking (VPT) and Body awareness performance in a group of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) compared with a group of children with Intellectual Disability (ID) and typically developing (TD) children. Methods: Our groups were administered an IQ test and a VPT task, and body awareness tests. Results: Children with ASD or ID were more impaired in body awareness development compared to TD (p < .001) children. The ASD group differentiates largely from the other two groups in the mean VPT (p < .001) scores. Conclusions: The current study provides a framework for considering social impairments in autism on a broader scale, including visuoperceptual and body awareness difficulties as a core contributor to social interaction difficulties.
Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy for Loco-regionally Advanced Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: Treatment Outcomes and Prognostic Factors

Background: We conducted this study to contribute to resolving some controversial issues on management of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Methods: Thirty-two patients with stage III-IVB nasopharyngeal carcinoma were included in this retrospective study. All patients received concurrent chemoradiotherapy with either 3D conformal radiotherapy or intensity-modulated radiotherapy. We retrospectively analyzed the survival outcome, prognostic factors for survival, and toxicity outcome. Results: The 2- and 5-year overall survival rates were 89.9% and 82.6%. The 2- and 5-year distant metastasis-free survival rates were 83.2% and 79.4%. The 2- and 5-year loco-regional recurrence-free survival rates were 83.3% and 79.5%. Addition of induction chemotherapy to concurrent chemoradiotherapy did not improve survival outcomes. The survival benefit of intensity-modulated radiotherapy over 3D conformal radiotherapy was not clear. Intensity-modulated radiotherapy significantly decreased the development of late toxicities compared with 3D conformal radiotherapy. Total RT dose was prognostic factor for overall, loco-regional recurrence-free, and distant metastasis-free survival. Temporary RT interruption was prognostic factor for overall survival. Daily RT dose was prognostic factor for distant metastasis-free survival. Conclusions: Concurrent chemoradiotherapy resulted in high survival rates with an acceptable level of toxicities in patients with loco-regionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. To confirm the results of this study, well-designed randomized prospective trials are warranted.
Development of a Computational Model of Abscess Formation

In some bacterial infections, the immune system cannot eliminate the invading pathogen. In these cases, the invading pathogen is successful in establishing a favorable environment to survive and persist in the host organism. For example, S. aureus bacteria survive in organ tissues employing a set of mechanisms that work in a coordinated and highly regulated way allowing: (1) efficient impairment of the immune response; and (2) protection from the immune cells and molecules. S. aureus secretes several proteins including coagulases and toxins that drive abscess formation and persistence. Unless staphylococcal abscesses are surgically drained and treated with antibiotics, disseminated infection and septicemia produce a lethal outcome. Within this context, this paper develops a simple mathematical model of abscess formation incorporating characteristics that we judge important for an abscess to be formed. Our aim is to build a mathematical model that reproduces some characteristics and behaviors that are observed in the process of abscess formation.
Changing Experiences of Work Dirtiness, Occupational Disidentification, and Employee Withdrawal

Research and theory concerning “dirty work” has largely focused on how employees cope with stable features of their jobs. From a study of employees’ experiences across 6 weekly repeated measurements, we found that within-person increases in experienced dirtiness were positively related to their withdrawal behaviors and job change propensity indirectly through occupational disidentification. Assessed at the between-subjects level, team-oriented leadership moderated the indirect within-person effects of work dirtiness experiences on these outcomes. The relationships between elevations in experienced work dirtiness and occupational disidentification were more strongly positive at lower levels of team-oriented leadership. Analyses also showed that individuals’ perceptions of occupational stigma independently moderated the within-person relationship between experienced dirtiness and occupational disidentification. We discuss theoretical implications for the literature on dirty work and practical implications for mitigating the adverse outcomes associated with experienced work dirtiness.
Investigating the effective factors on customer loyalty on tourism Agencies using an e- marketing technique: A case study of Iranian tourism agencies

Article history: Received June 28, 2013 Received in revised format 18 October 2013 Accepted 28 October 2013 Available online December 15 2013 The aim of this research is to determine and to assess the effective factors on customer loyalty, concerning the internet-purchase of products and services of Tehran tourism agencies. For this purpose, the standardized questionnaire was distributed among on-line internet customers of Tehran tourism agencies and finally 384 questionnaires were applied in analyzing the research hypotheses. The data obtained from customers were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis technique and the structural equations modeling (SEM). The findings of the research with regard to the proposed model and its nine hypotheses from the highest to lowest route coefficients and hypothesis confirmation are respectively: the effect of customer loyalty with the route coefficient of 0.559; the effect of search capability with the route coefficient of 0.481; the effect of satisfaction on customer trust with the route coefficient of 0.388; the effect of transaction cost on customer satisfaction with the route coefficient of 0.321; the effect of search capability on customer trust with the route coefficient of 0.292; the effect of trust on customer loyalty with the route coefficient of 0.184; the effect of the perceived security on customer satisfaction with the route coefficient of 0.159. The above seven hypotheses have been confirmed and the effect perceived security effect on customer trust and the effect of transaction cost on customer trust with the route coefficient of 0.018 were finally rejected.
A Novel SURF Based on a Unified Model of Appearance and Motion-Variation

The speeded-up robust features (SURFs) algorithm is the best and most efficient local invariant feature algorithm for application to 2-D images and is widely applied in the fields of 2-D image processing and computer vision. Compared to 2-D images, a video has motion information in addition to its appearance information. Here, to make full use of the video appearance and motion information, we use geometric algebra as the mathematical calculation and analysis framework to obtain the embedded appearance and motion information on a local area of a video. In our proposed model of appearance and motion variation (UMAMV), we developed SURF feature detection and description algorithms operating on the spatio-temporal domain with video appearance and motion information. First of all, a model of appearance and motion variation, which contains video appearance and motion information in the framework of geometric algebra, is proposed. Then, based on this model, we propose a novel detection algorithm, theUMAMV-SURF detector, which mainly contains Hessian matrix construction, Hessian matrix determinant approximation calculation, and non-maximal suppression determination feature points as its key steps. Then, we introduce the UMAMV-SURF description algorithm, which mainly includes determining the dominant orientation of UMAMV-SURF feature points and generating the UMAMV-SURF feature descriptors. Finally, by experimenting with the Weizman and UCF101 datasets, the experimental results show that the proposed UMAMV-SURF algorithm can detect those SURF feature points which can have unique appearance information in the spatial domain and reflect motion change in the temporal domain. Moreover, it offers a higher accuracy than other spatio-temporal interest point algorithms in human behavior recognition of video footage.
Variation in preoperative antithrombotic strategy, severe bleeding, and use of blood products in coronary artery bypass grafting: results from the multicentre E-CABG registry

Aims No data exists on inter-institutional differences in terms of adherence to international guidelines regarding the discontinuation of antithrombotics and rates of severe bleeding in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Methods and results This is an analysis of 7118 patients from the prospective multicentre European CABG (E-CABG) registry who underwent isolated CABG in 15 European centres. Preoperative pause of P2Y12 receptor antagonists shorter than that suggested by the 2017 ESC guidelines (overall 11.6%) ranged from 0.7% to 24.8% between centres (adjusted P < 0.0001) and increased the rate of severe-massive bleeding [E-CABG bleeding grades 2-3, OR 1.66, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.27-2.17; Universal Definition of Perioperative Bleeding (UDPB) bleeding grades 3-4, OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.16-1.93]. The incidence of resternotomy for bleeding (overall 2.6%) ranged from 0% to 6.9% (adjusted P < 0.0001), and surgical site bleeding (overall 59.6%) ranged from 0% to 84.6% (adjusted P = 0.003). The rate of the UDPB bleeding grades 3-4 (overall 8.4%) ranged from 3.7% to 22.3% (P < 0.0001), and of the E-CABG bleeding grades 2-3 (overall 6.5%) ranged from 0.4% to 16.4% between centres (P < 0.0001). Resternotomy for bleeding (adjusted OR 5.04, 95% CI 2.85-8.92), UDPB bleeding grades 3-4 (adjusted OR 6.61, 95% CI 4.42-9.88), and E-CABG bleeding grades 2-3 (adjusted OR 8.71, 95% CI 5.76-13.15) were associated with an increased risk of hospital/30-day mortality. Conclusions Adherence to the current guidelines on the early discontinuation of P2Y12 receptor antagonists is of utmost importance to reduce excessive bleeding and early mortality after CABG. Inter-institutional variation should be considered for a correct interpretation of the results in multicentre studies evaluating perioperative bleeding and use of blood products.
Feedback mechanisms and consumer satisfaction, trust and repurchase intention in online retail

ABSTRACT We introduce a key construct, perceived effectiveness of feedback mechanisms (PEFMs), to analyze moderating effects of PEFMs on the relationship between consumers’ satisfaction, trust, and repurchase intention. We find that (1) PEFMs negatively moderate the satisfaction–trust relationship; (2) PEFMs positively moderate the trust–repurchase intention relationship; (3) provider recommendations and customer reviews are complementary with customers’ trust but can substitute for prior experience with products.