Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Necrotising soft tissue infection-risk factors for mortality.

Necrotising Soft Tissue Infection is a rapidly progressing fatal disorder, the prognosis of which depends on early diagnosis and management. Objective: In this study, our objective was to assess the factors contributing to mortality due to NSTI. Methods: A retrospective review of the records of all patients with NSTI involving fascia, skin or muscle between January 2007 and December 2011, was performed. The atiology, predisposing factors, risk factors, causative microbiological organisms and the clinical outcomes associated with mortality were studied. Statistical Data: Descriptive statistics comprising of proportion(%) presented. Chi–square test was employed to assess the statistical significance in the distribution of various known risk factors between the survivors and non–survivors. A ‘p’ value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Sixty patients records were reviewed. Fifty-one patients (85%) were males and nine (15%) were females. Mean age was 46.57 years (+/- 20.60) ranging from 15–83 years. All the patients were treated by debridement & wide spectrum antibiotics. Mono-microbial atiology being found in 27 patients (63.3%) and polymicrobial culture was isolated in 13 patients (36.7%), with E-coli and staphylococci being the most common organisms to be isolated. In most patients, multiple debridements were done. The overall mortality rate was estimated to be 25%. Age, aatiology, diabetes mellitus, hypoalbuminemia, alcohol, site of infection, bacteriology etc. were the risk factors associated with mortality, that were evaluated. Diabetes mellitus was the most common associated risk factor found in 32 patients (53.3%), though not statistically significant. Increasing age (>50 years, p value = 0.016), raised Serum Creatinine (>1.2mg/dl, p-value = 0.023) and delayed surgical intervention(>24 hours p value= 0.006) were the risk factors associated with Mortality in NSTI that were statistically significant. Conclusion: Despite the use of appropriate antibiotic treatment, aggressive debridement & resuscitation, NSTI still leads to a high mortality & morbidity. In this series, there is high mortality associated with increasing age, raised serum creatinine and delayed surgical intervention. The mortality rate (25%) is comparable with other studies.
Planlı Yazma ve Değerlendirme Modelinin İlköğretim 5. Sınıf Öğrencilerinin Kompozisyon Yazma Becerilerine Etkisi Doi: 10.14686/BUEFAD.2015USOSOzelsayi13212

Planli Yazma ve Degerlendirme Modeli “Hazirlik, Taslak Olusturma, Gozden Gecirme, Duzeltme, Sunum” bolumlerinden olusan Surec Temelli Yazma Modellerinden birisidir. Ogrenciler kompozisyon yazma surecinde belirli sikintilar yasamaktadirlar. Bu calismada amac, yazmayi surece yayan model olan Planli Yazma ve Degerlendirme Modelinin kompozisyon yazma becerilerinin gelistirilmesinde etkili olup olmadigini belirlemektir. Arastirmanin calisma evrenini, 2013- 2014 egitim- ogretim yili guz doneminde, Hatay ili Antakya ilcesinde bulunan Ayse Fitnat Orta Okulu 5. sinif ogrencileri olusturmaktadir. Calismanin orneklemi rastgele secilen iki siniftir. Deney grubu 45 kisi, kontrol grubu 40 kisiden olusmaktadir. Calisma 6 hafta surmustur. Arastirmada on test, son test kontrol gruplu yari deneysel model kullanilmistir. Veri elde etmek amaciyla “Yazili Anlatim Degerlendirme Olcegi”, elde edilen verilerin analizi icin ise ShapiroWilk, Mann Whitney U, Wilcoxon Isaretli Siralar Testi kullanilmistir. Arastirmada anlamlilik duzeyi 0.5 olarak kabul edilmistir. Arastirmanin sonucunda deney grubu ogrencilerinin on test toplam puanlari ile son test toplam puanlari kiyaslandiginda anlamli bir faklilik gorulmustur. Kontrol grubu ogrencilerinde ise anlamli bir farklilik gorulmemistir. Deney grubu ogrencilerinin son test puan ortalamalari ile kontrol grubu ogrencilerinin son test puanlari incelendiginde deney grubunda bulunan ogrencilerin kompozisyon yazma becerilerinin anlamli duzeyde gelistigi gorulmustur. Deney grubu ogrencilerinin Yazili Anlatim Degerlendirme Olcegi alt boyutlarindan olan Baslik, Kâgit Duzeni, Plan ve Anlatim ozelliklerinde egitim aldikatn sonraki surecte puanlari ile egitim almadan onceki puanlari arasinda anlamli bir fark gorulmustur.
A Study of Articulating Facets of the Lumbar L2-L3 Motion Segment

Realistic geometric representation of modeling complex vertebra has been accentuated by many investigators as one of the crucial factors for predicting biomechanical responses when using finite element (FE) method for biomechanical/clinical studies. The predicted biomechanical responses depend on accurate anatomic, physical and material representation of its structural components. However, the reported modeling of articulating facets in the FE model of lumbar spine has hitherto not able to faithfully represent its complex geometry especially the surface geometry of the vertebrae greatly define the motion and its related biomechanical response. Furthermore, earlier researchers modelled contact between the articulating surfaces with increasing loads are by testing for possibility of contact between nodes attached to the surface with the help of two-link elements at the points of contact. Such idealization could not offer realistic behaviour for the joints. Here, an acquisition technique and FE-based algorithm for modelling facet articulation as non-linear surface contact problem are presented in this paper to better simulate the facet response under compressive loading.
Using Genre Theory to Teach Students Engineering Lab Report Writing

Beginning Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) students often have difficulty learning the genre of lab report writing. This difficulty can be alleviated through genre theory strategies and research, which writing center consultants, for example, can use to focus on the specific form and content of engineering writing, which then can be taught to students in a writing center environment. Genre theory provides a means (1) for humanities writing center consultants to learn specific characteristics about engineering writing, (2) for interdisciplinary collaboration between writing professionals and engineers to take place, and (3) for students to have increased opportunities to learn the discourse of their field. All of these benefits are enhanced by discipline-specific writing programs that support and facilitate them. In addition, the collaboration provides a stimulating, fluid, creative environment in which to discuss engineering writing, an environment which reflects the changing needs of engineering education as a result of technological advancements. As technology continues to influence engineering education, prompting evolutions in both technical and communication skills and knowledge, genre theory and interdisciplinary collaboration will continue to gain importance as strategies for initiating students into the communication demands of their field. The discussion focuses on the integration of genre theory with writing instruction in the ECE Department at the University of South Carolina. This integration stimulated interaction among ECE faculty, composition and rhetoric faculty and students, and ECE students.
STATLAB: LEARNING DOE BY DOING !

Statlab is an interactive web-based tool for teaching Design of Experiments. It is freely available through www.win. tue.nl/statlab and can be used to introduce large groups of students to practical strategies for experimenting through virtual case studies. Starting point is an adaptive approach, in which the program flow is influenced by the student’s decisions throughout the DOE-process. Furthermore, Statlab forces students to think pro-actively about practical details since it hides options that students do not ask for. Once a design is generated, realistic experimental data can be simulated for further model estimation, evaluation and eventually optimisation using response surface methods. Furthermore, Statlab provides direct feedback with training exercises and contains an automatic grading system regarding the student's actions and decisions. Students generally are enthusiastic about Statlab and consider it to be a stimulating teaching environment.
PENGEMBANGAN PERANGKAT PEMBELAJARAN IPA BERBASIS SETS UNTUK MENINGKATKAN SCIENTIFIC LITERACY DAN FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menghasilkan produk berupa perangkat pembelajaran IPA berbasis Science, Environment, Technology, and Society ( SETS ) dan mengetahui (1) kelayakan produk , (2) keefektifan produk untuk meningkatkan scientific literacy, serta (3) keefektifan produk untuk meningkatkan foundational knowledge peserta didik kelas VII SMP Muhammadiyah 8 Wedi Klaten. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian dan pengembangan dengan 3 tahap prosedur pengembangan yaitu need assesment, development dan reasearch dengan desain nonequivalent control group. Perangkat pembelajaran IPA berbasis SETS terdiri atas silabus, RPP, Lembar Kegiatan Peserta Didik (LKPD), dan instrumen penilaian otentik. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan kelayakan produk dinyatakan sangat baik dengan rerata skor 4,59 dari rentang 0-5. Semua peserta didik di kelas eksperimen mengalami peningkatan nilai scientific literacy dan foundational knowledge dengan kategori peningkatan tinggi, sedang, dan rendah . Implementasi produk berpengaruh positif terhadap kemampuan scientific literacy dan foundational knowledge yang menunjukkan perbedaan signifikan antara kelas eksperimen dan kontrol dengan kemampuan awal yang sama. Dengan demikian, perangkat pembelajaran IPA berbasis SETS terbukti efektif untuk meningkatkan scientific literacy dan foundational knowledge peserta didik kelas VII SMP Muhammadiyah 8 Wedi Klaten. Kata kunci : perangkat pembelajaran IPA, SETS , scientific literacy , foundational knowledge DEVELOPING A SETS-BASED SCIENCE TEACHING KIT TO IMPROVE SCIENTIFIC LITERACY AND FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE Abstract This study aims to produce products such as a Science, Environment, Tecnology, and Society-based science teaching kit and to determine (1) the feasibility of the product, (2) the effectiveness of the product to improve scientific literacy, and (3) the effectiveness of the product to improve foundational knowledge for 7th grade students in SMP Muhammadiyah 8 Wedi Klaten. This study is a Research and Development (R & D) with three phases procedure. They are need assesment, development dan reasearch with noneequivalent control using the control group. A SETS-based science teaching kit covering the syllabus, lesson plans, students worksheet, and authentic assessment instruments. The results showed the feasibility of the products avowed excellent with a mean score of 4,59 out of range 0-5. All students in the experimental class have increased the value of scientific literacy and foundational knowledge with increase category of high, medium, and low. Products implementation have a positive effect on the ability of scientific literacy and foundational knowledge which showed a significant difference between the experimental and control classes with the same initial ability. Thus, SETS-based science teaching kit is proven effective to increase scientific literacy and foundational knowledge for 7th grade students in SMP Muhammadiyah 8 Wedi Klaten. Keywords : science teaching kit , SETS , scientific literacy , foundational knowledge
Updates to the ORIGEN-S Data Libraries Using ENDF/B-VI, FENDL-2.0, and EAF-99 Data

The standard cross-section library for light-water reactor (LWR) analyses used by the ORIGEN-S depletion and decay code has been extensively updated. This work entailed the development of broad multigroup neutron cross sections for ORIGEN-S from several sources of pointwise continuous-energy cross-section evaluations, including the U.S. Evaluated Nuclear Data Files ENDF/B-VI Release 7, the Fusion Evaluated Nuclear Data Library FENDL-2.0, and the European Activation File EAF-99. The pointwise cross sections were collapsed to a three-group structure using a continuous-energy neutron flux spectrum representative of the typical neutronic conditions of typical LWR fuel and formatted for use by ORIGEN-S. In addition, the fission-product library has been expanded to include ENDF/B-VI fission yield data for 30 fissionable actinides. The processing codes and procedures are explained. Preliminary verification studies using the updated libraries were performed using the modules of the SCALE (Standardized Computer Analyses for Licensing Evaluation) system. Comparisons between the previous basic ORIGEN-S libraries and the updated libraries developed in this work are presented.
Effectiveness of early physiotherapy to prevent lymphoedema after surgery for breast cancer: randomised, single blinded, clinical trial

Objective To determine the effectiveness of early physiotherapy in reducing the risk of secondary lymphoedema after surgery for breast cancer. Design Randomised, single blinded, clinical trial. Setting University hospital in Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain. Participants 120 women who had breast surgery involving dissection of axillary lymph nodes between May 2005 and June 2007. Intervention The early physiotherapy group was treated by a physiotherapist with a physiotherapy programme including manual lymph drainage, massage of scar tissue, and progressive active and action assisted shoulder exercises. This group also received an educational strategy. The control group received the educational strategy only. Main outcome measure Incidence of clinically significant secondary lymphoedema (>2 cm increase in arm circumference measured at two adjacent points compared with the non-affected arm). Results 116 women completed the one year follow-up. Of these, 18 developed secondary lymphoedema (16%): 14 in the control group (25%) and four in the intervention group (7%). The difference was significant (P=0.01); risk ratio 0.28 (95% confidence interval 0.10 to 0.79). A survival analysis showed a significant difference, with secondary lymphoedema being diagnosed four times earlier in the control group than in the intervention group (intervention/control, hazard ratio 0.26, 95% confidence interval 0.09 to 0.79). Conclusion Early physiotherapy could be an effective intervention in the prevention of secondary lymphoedema in women for at least one year after surgery for breast cancer involving dissection of axillary lymph nodes. Trial registration Current controlled trials ISRCTN95870846.
A Fast Redundancy Analysis Algorithm in ATE for Repairing Faulty Memories

Testing memory and repairing faults have become increasingly important for improving yield. Redundancy analysis (RA) algorithms have been developed to repair memory faults. However, many RA algorithms have low analysis speeds and occupy memory space within automatic test equipment. A fast RA algorithm using simple calculations is proposed in this letter to minimize both the test and repair time. This analysis uses the grouped addresses in the faulty bitmap. Since the fault groups are independent of each other, the time needed to find solutions can be greatly reduced using these fault groups. Also, the proposed algorithm does not need to store searching trees, thereby minimizing the required memory space. Our experiments show that the proposed RA algorithm is very efficient in terms of speed and memory requirements.
Study Abroad and Early Career: Experiences of Former ERASMUS Students

Since its establishment in 1987, the ERASMUS scheme has enabled more than 200,000 students from across Europe to experience life and study in another European country. This study reports the major findings of a survey of former ERASMUS students undertaken about five years after the ERASMUS-supported study period abroad. It describes the profile of the former ERASMUS students, graduation and further study activities, major activities after graduation, employment status and sector of employment, criteria of graduates when seeking employment, criteria of employers to hire former ERASMUS students, applications and job offers in foreign countries, the European and international dimension of work tasks and related competencies, ways of keeping up contact and language proficiency of the host country, retrospective assessment of the study abroad and the assessment of current professional situation. The study shows that: the vast majority of those former ERASMUS students who had been awarded a degree actually are employed; ERASMUS studies obviously help mobility; criteria related to the international dimension were not among the top former ERASMUS students when seeking employment but played an important role for the majority of respondents; about half of the former ERASMUS students continuously make use on the job of the host country language and about one third of first-hand professional knowledge of the host country; the majority of former ERASMUS students consider themselves well qualified in the host country language and also beieve that they have acquired a substantial knowledge of the host country; after almost five years, former ERASMUS students consider the study period almost as worthwhile as they rated it shortly after their return; and overall, experiences within five years after the ERASMUS-supported period suggests that ERASMUS study is not the gateway to advanced careers. Though some hopes were not fulfilled and some assessments became more cautious over time, former ERASMUS students retrospectively rate the value of the study abroad very highly.
Serum calcitonin may falsely estimate tumor burden in chronic hypercalcemia: a case of prostatic and multiple bone metastases from medullary thyroid cancer.

BACKGROUND Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is a calcitonin (Ct)-secreting tumor of the parafollicular or C cells of the thyroid gland. Higher serum Ct levels are associated with larger tumor size, distant metastases, and prognosis. We report herein a case of prostate and multiple bone metastases of nonfamilial MTC with mildly elevated Ct levels. PATIENT FINDINGS A 73-year-old man who was found to have a 2.5 cm MTC in the left thyroid lobe with cervical lymph node metastases presented with confused mental status because of severe hypercalcemia (albumin-modified serum calcium concentration 15.2 mg/dL) associated with multiple bone metastases. Prostate biopsy was performed because the patient had frequent urination with mildly elevated serum prostate-specific antigen (5.297 ng/mL). Histologically, the prostate was diagnosed as MTC metastasis, forming a tissue architecture closely resembling the previously diagnosed MTC, and the cells were positive for Ct, carcinoembryonic antigen, and thyroid transcription factor 1. Although the patient had multiple MTC metastases, basal and calcium-stimulated serum Ct levels were not significantly elevated, measuring 22.7 pg/mL (normal <10 pg/mL) and 22.1 pg/mL, respectively. CONCLUSIONS A chronic hypercalcemic state may exhaust Ct reserves and diminish the Ct response to an acute intravenous calcium injection. Therefore, the Ct level of a patient in a hypercalcemic state should be carefully interpreted. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case in the literature in which serum Ct levels were not significantly increased when associated with hypercalcemia, and an MTC metastasis to the prostate.
Detection of Legionella pneumophila in a biological treatment plant by co-cultivatiobn with Acanthamoeba castellanii

Fykse, Else-Marie; Aarskaug, Tone; Blatny, Janet Martha. Detection of Legionella pneumophila in a biological treatment plant by co-cultivatiobn with Acanthamoeba castellanii. Current Environmental Engineering 2014 ;Volum 1. (2) s. 91-99
Robust Rank-Reduction Filtering for Erratic Noise

Summary Rank-reduction filters operating on constant-frequency slices are highly effective at removing Gaussian random noise. Prestack seismic data, however, often contains spatially erratic noise which is far from Gaussian, sometimes causing these filters to give poor results. Here we describe new robust rank-reduction filters which can handle both Gaussian and erratic noise, and we present examples using synthetic and real data.
Information Aggregation in Quantized Consensus, Recommender Systems, and Ranking

Information aggregation is the science of collecting and aggregating knowledge from data. With the development of large scale datasets, the amount of information is growing rapidly. In recent years, the problem of information aggregation has received considerable attention, and finds applications in multiple disciplines. This dissertation addresses a variety of problems in information aggregation, including quantized consensus, recommender systems, and ranking. This dissertation starts with investigating a class of distributed quantized consensus algorithms for arbitrary networks. An upper bound on the convergence time of the algorithms is derived for an arbitrary graph of size N . Inspired by this class of gossip consensus algorithms and Google’s PageRank, and motivated by the development of group-based social networks, a privacy preserving recommender system based on groups is proposed. The main idea is to use groups as a natural middleware to preserve users’ privacy. A novel hybrid collaborative filtering model based on random walks is constructed to provide recommendation and prediction to group members. Lastly, the error probability of ranking algorithms equipped with differential privacy is analyzed, and upper bounds on the error rates for arbitrary positional ranking rules are derived.
Trimodality Bladder Preservation Therapy for Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer: Mansoura Experience

Background & objective: Bladder preservation therapy (BPT) using a trimodality approach represents an alternative option to cystectomy inmuscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) patients, also a treatment option in non-cystectomy candidates. The objective of this study was to evaluate BPT using a trimodality approach composed of maximum TURBT, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, followed by chemoradiotherapy, regarding the overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS), locoregional progression free survival (LPFS) and treatment toxicity. Patients & methods: This prospective study involved 47 patients with pathologically proven MIBC (T2-T4a N0M0). The study involved muscle invasive bladder cancer patients who refused or were not cystectomycandidates. Patients enrolled received neoadjuvant 3cycles of Gemcitabine/Cisplatin, each cycle was every 21 days. Gemcitabine at 1000mg/m 2 on days 1&8 and cisplatin at 70mg/m 2 on day1, followed by Concurrent chemordiotherapy with cisplatin weekly (40mg/m2). Radiation therapy included the whole bladder by 3D conformal planning to a dose of 64Gy/32Fxs. Results: Of the 47 patients, 25 (53.2%) patients expressed complete response (CR), while 22(46.8%) patients had incomplete response. The 4-year OS, PFS, and LPFS rates were 48%, 38%, and 42%, respectively. Acute genitourinary (GU) toxicity of Grade 1 and 2 occurs in 54% and 24%of patients, respectively, while acute gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity (colic &diarrhea) of Grade 1 and 2 occurs in 27.7% and 10.6 %of patients, respectively. Conclusion: For MIBC patients who are non-cystectomy candidates, or who are motivated to maintain their bladders, trimodality bladder preservation therapy (BPT) can be considered as an effective alternative to radical cystectomy.