Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fusion of Digital and Visual Print Quality - Final Report of DigiQ Project

*Department of Media Technology, Aalto University School of Science and Technology, http://media.tkk. fi/en/ **Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, http://www.helsinki. fi/psykologia/english/ ***Department of Automation Science and Engineering, Tampere University of Technology, http://ae.tut. fi/ ****Machine Vision and Pattern Recognition Research Group, Lappeenranta University of Technology, http://www.lut. fi/en/technologymanagement/it/research/mvpr/Pages/Default.aspx
Factors affecting mortality in Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever

Amac: Kirim kongo kanamali atesi enfekte kenelerle bulasan ve yuksek mortaliteye sahip viral bir hastaliktir. Kirim Kongo Kanamali Atesi (KKKA) hastalarinda mortalite uzerinde etkili faktorleri belirlemeyi amacladik. Yontemler: Hastalarin yas, cinsiyet, kene temasi, kene sayisi, kenenin kim tarafindan cikarildigi, kenenin vucuttaki lokalizasyonu, hastaneye basvuru suresi, semptomlari, fizik muayene ve vital bulgulari, laboratuvar parametreleri ve mortaliteye etki eden faktorler degerlendirildi. Calisma retrospektif kohort olarak dizayn edildi. Bulgular: 172 hastanin yas ortancasi 46 (18-78) yil olup, olgularin %73,8’i erkekti. Hastaneye basvurusu gec olan, bas ve boyun bolgesinden isirilmis olan, isiran kene sayisi fazla olan, keneler kendisi veya yakini tarafindan cikartilan hasalarin ve bilinc bozuklugu olan hastalarin mortalite sikligi yuksek saptandi (sirasi ile P=0,001, P<0,001, P<0,001, P<0,001, P=0,002). Olgularin %87,2’sinde kanama saptandi. Mortal seyreden olgularda ekimoz, akcigerde sivi, hematuri, hematemez ve melena sikligi yuksekti (sirasi ile P<0,001, P<0,001, P<0,001, P=0,006, P=0,006). Mortal seyreden hastalarda ates ve kalp hizi anlamli olarak yuksek; sistolik ve diyastolik kan basinclari ise anlamli olarak dusuk saptandi (sirasi ile P<0,001, P<0.001, P=0,006, P<0,001). Mortal seyreden hastalarda beyaz kure (BK) sayisi, uluslararasi normallestirilmis oran (INR), aspartat aminotransferaz (AST) ve alanin aminotransferaz (ALT) duzeyleri anlamli olarak yuksek, platelet sayisi, anlamli olarak dusuk saptandi (hepsi icin P<0,001). Sonuc: Kanamanin mortalite gelismesinde temel faktorlerden biri oldugu saptandi. Kene sayisi, cikartan kisi sayisi ve isirilma yeri gibi faktorlerin mortalite uzerine etkili oldugu saptandi. Kan tetkikleri ve vital parametrelerin KKKA tanisi olan hastalarda mortal seyredecek hastalarin belirlenmesinde kullanilabilecegi kanisindayiz.
Esthesioneuroblastoma: Summary of Single-center Experiences with Focus on Adjuvant Therapy and Overall Survival

Esthesioneuroblastoma (ENB) is a rare malignant tumor of the nasal cavity. The genetic basis of its development is still under study and has not been fully delineated. It has varying symptoms depending on the lesion’s location within the nasal cavity. The most commonly used systems for such lesions are the Kadish staging and Haymes grading systems. The objectives are to review the most recent published literature evaluating the different treatments/ combination of treatment and assess the most appropriate treatment modality that can provide the longest progression-free survival and overall survival for ENB patients. Moreover, a look at what the latest literature suggests when it comes to adjuvant treatments and their effect on survival is also key to further the body of knowledge for neurosurgeons, Ears, Nose, and Throat (ENT) physicians and all the different subspecialties that deal and serve these population of patients. The published literature was reviewed starting from 1990. The focus was made on single-center experiences given their availability and easy access. The most recently published systematic review was used as the benchmark; research published after that was included in this study. The database search in OVID was conducted using the following keywords: “Esthesioneuroblastoma”, “ENB”, “Olfactory Neuroblastoma”, Nose neoplasm”, skull base neoplasm”, “radiation”, and “resection”. The database search found 17 papers which included 14 single-center reports, one systematic review, and two nationwide multi-center reviews. Surgery plus adjuvant radiation therapy appears to provide the best overall survival and progression-free survival especially in patients with high Kadesh grade. On the other hand, surgery alone or biopsy followed with radiation therapy provided the lower progression-free survival and overall survival from time of diagnosis. The role of chemotherapy, however, requires further investigation to assess its potentially harmful effects. The use of surgery as a stand-alone modality of treatment should be cautiously and rarely used in patients with lower staging scores and multiple negative resection margins.
Elucidating Mechanisms and Improving Models of Traumatic Brain Injury for Treatment

Author(s): Chou, Austin C. | Advisor(s): Rosi, Susanna; Villeda, Saul A | Abstract: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of neurological disability and the primary risk factor for development of neurodegenerative diseases and dementia in the United States. Over 2 million TBI-related incidents occur each year, and 3-5 million people currently suffer from chronic TBI-related disabilities. With the incidence of TBI on the rise, it is increasingly important to understand the underlying injury mechanisms and develop treatments for current and future patients. This dissertation investigates two such mechanisms contributing to TBI-induced cognitive decline, broadens the scope of TBI research to understand the effect of aging, and describes a new mouse model for frontal lobe TBI.In chapter 1, I investigated the effect of aging on TBI-induced cognitive deficits and inflammatory response with emphasis on the contribution of peripheral, infiltrating monocytes. Our mouse model of TBI showed significantly greater chronic impairment of spatial memory in aging mice. Aging also exacerbated the infiltration of the peripheral monocytes while impairing expression of anti-inflammatory markers in peripheral monocytes and resident microglia. Furthermore, I observed that a subpopulation of the peripheral monocytes regained proliferative capabilities after infiltrating the injured brain, and the effect was significantly more pronounced in the old mice. In chapter 2, I targeted the integrated stress response (ISR) pathway using a novel small molecule at a chronic timepoint after injury. Inhibition of the ISR during behavioral testing fully restored spatial learning and memory in two different mouse models of TBI. The treatment additionally rescued deficits in long-term potentiation in the hippocampus at the chronic timepoint. In chapter 3, I applied the controlled cortical impact method to develop a frontal lobe injury mouse model to better mimic TBIs commonly observed among human patients. Markedly, mice that had received the frontal lobe TBI displayed deficits in prefrontal cortex-driven behavior similar to symptoms seen in human TBI patients. These chapters collectively add to our understanding of the biology of TBIs with the hope that we are a step closer to providing effective treatment for a major health crisis in the future.
Generalized Bezoutians and families of efficient zero-location procedures

It is shown that the procedures of Routh-Hurwitz and Schur-Cohn for determining the zero-distribution of polynomials with respect to the imaginary axis and the unit circle, respectively, serve, at the same time, to efficiently evaluate the inertia of certain so-called Bezoutian matrices. These procedures require O(n/sup 2/) operations to determine the inertia of an n*n Bezoutian, in contrast to the O(n/sup 3/) operations that would be required to determine the inertia of an arbitrary (Hermitian) matrix of the same size. Generalized Bezoutians whose inertia specifies the zero-distribution with respect to arbitrary circles and straight lines in the complex plane are introduced. These Bezoutian matrices are shown to be members in the family of matrices with (generalized) displacement structure, for which efficient O(n/sup 2/) procedures for triangular factorization exist and, hence, inertial determination. The formulation displays a large variety of O(n/sup 2/) procedures that can be associated with a single (generalized) Bezoutian matrix. For Bezoutians on the imaginary axis and the unit circle, the formulation leads to (among other possibilities) the Routh-Hurwitz and Schur-Cohn tests. >
Re-examination of recent loss of indigenous cover in New Zealand and the relative contributions of different land uses.

Loss of indigenous habitat is a key factor in the decline of New Zealand’s biodiversity. A recent contribution by Walker et al. (2006, New Zealand Journal of Ecology 30: 169–177) described losses of indigenous vegetation between 1996/97 and 2001/02 (some 17 000 ha) based on an analysis of changes in the Land Cover Database, LCDB1 and LCDB2, respectively. We agree that the general approach of using these and other spatial datasets appears to be appropriate to investigate changes in land cover and the types of land uses that are responsible, but we would like to offer some comments to aid with the interpretation of this and other studies that use LCDB comparisons and similar techniques. Using aerial photography, satellite imagery, site visits, and other methods, we evaluated a stratified sample of 67 of the 449 polygons that were indicated to have changed from the most affected indigenous classes (‘Tall Tussock Grassland’, ‘Manuka and/or Kanuka’, and ‘Broadleaved Indigenous Hardwoods’) to the exotic forest classes ‘Afforestation (not imaged)’ and ‘Afforestation (imaged, post LCDB1)’. Our assessment of the entire area of each of these polygons covered 56.6% of the total area that was identified to have changed, and this revealed an error rate of c. 70% for this particular comparison of LCDB1 and LCDB2 data. This indicates the accuracy of such analyses may be too low to be meaningful and requires verification of the data that are primarily based on remote sensing, even when the overall aggregate accuracy is very high. In addition, we comment on the relative merits of different land uses in relation to the conservation of indigenous biodiversity, particularly the contributions of low-producing exotic grassland and exotic plantation forests. This is important because much indigenous biodiversity remains in exotic forests and embedded indigenous remnants, and the current clearing of potentially over 100 000 ha of such land for exotic pasture will cause significant losses of indigenous biodiversity. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Risk factors for gestational diabetes mellitus among pregnant women attending Monshaat Sultan Family Health Center, Menoufia Governorate

Objectives The aim of the present study was to examine the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) among pregnant women attending a family health center between 24 and 28 weeks of gestation, and to assess the risk factors. Background GDM is defined as any degree of glucose intolerance with onset of, or first recognized during, pregnancy. Screening for GDM during pregnancy is recommended. Patients and methods This cross-sectional study was conducted on 250 pregnant women between 24 and 28 weeks of gestation who attended the Monshaat Sultan Family Health Center. Risk factors for GDM were estimated using a self-designed questionnaire and initial screening was carried out by a glucose challenge test with 50 g glucose. If 1-h blood glucose level exceeded 130 mg/dl, then a 3-h oral glucose tolerance test with 100 g glucose was carried out and diagnosis was established. Results The prevalence of GDM among the studied group was 8%. Risk factors found to be significantly associated with GDM were advanced age, BMI greater than or equal to 30, high blood pressure, multiparity, preeclampsia, family history of diabetes, induced labor, abortion, preterm deliveries, large-sized baby, and smoking. However, socioeconomic status, small-sized baby, still birth, previous history of hypertension, and family history of hypertension failed to demonstrate significant associations with GDM. Conclusion The prevalence of GDM among pregnant women attending Munshaat Sultan Family Health Center was found to be relatively high compared with other studies. Controlling risk factors and screening for early detection are mandatory for better maternal and fetal health.
Project Deliverable D3.3 Resource Usage Modeling

The Q-ImPrESS project deals with modeling of quality attributes in service ori- ented architectures, which generally consist of interacti ng components that share resources. This report analyzes the degree to which resource sharing of various omnipresent implicitly shared resources (e.g. memory content caches, memory buses, etc.) affect various quality at- tributes. The main goal is to identify the resources whose sharing affects the quality attributes significantly, and next propose methods for modeling of thes e effects.
Research Article Introductions: Sub-disciplinary Variations in Applied Linguistics

The present study aimed to investigate the generic organization of research article introductions in local Iranian and international journals in English for Specific Purposes, English for General Purposes, and Discourse Analysis. Overall, 120 published articles were selected from the established journals representing the above subdisciplines. Each subdiscipline was represented by 20 local and 20 international articles. Following Swales’ (2004) new Create A Research Space (CARS) model, the researcher analyzed the articles for their specific generic patterns. Findings demonstrated that despite some consistency in the international corpus, there emerged marked differences in utilizing second and third moves in international articles. Also, intra-subdisciplinary analysis revealed divergent generic organization in EGP and DA in local and international data. Results suggested insufficient awareness of some Iranian RA writers regarding the generic structure of introduction. The findings of the study have implications for RA writers to improve their RA introductions.
Chemokines are Underestimated in Preventing the Metastasizing and The Immune Elimination of Ovarian Cancer

Nowadays the positive immune involvement in the eradication of tumor cells is assigned to the adaptive immune response. By awakening of in vivo responding T cells that are suppressed by the tumor and prevents immunological cure of the cancer. Normally activated T cells are well-ordered by several late occurring inhibitors to contain the response to the unknown invaders and spare the normal cells. The tumor strengthens this inhibitory response to escape from immune elimination. Immunotherapy is to unleash the full capacity of the adaptive immune system by blocking this inhibitor response by monoclonal antibodies but with the potential drawback of autoimmune phenomena. Cytokines and chemokines became in oblivion after their suspected necrosis of the tumor (TNF) did not fulfil their initial hope. Ovarian cancer is in most cases already metastasized to the peritoneum and omentum. Here, we show that on the one hand chemokines produced by Th2, CD8 and NK cells inhibit cancer spreading and thus leads to a better operability and better survival. Chemokine receptors are expressed by the tumor that are a decoy by binding chemokines that normally should attract antigen cross-presenting dendritic cells that start an enforced T cell response to replace the exhausted T cells
A comparative study of proximal trochanteric contoured plate vs proximal femoral nail for unstable inter-trochanteric fracture of femur

Background: Unstable inter-trochanteric fractures of the femur remains one of the most challenging fractures faced by orthopaedic surgeons. This study was done to compare the proximal femoral nail and proximal femoral locking plate for the management of unstable inter-trochanteric fractures and their postoperative complications. Material and methods: This was a prospective study of 40 patients with unstable inter-trochanteric fractures of femur who were treated with PFN (20 cases) and PFLP (20 cases). The fractures were classified according to Boyds and Griffin classification. All patients were assessed functionally by Harris Hip Score. Results: Average duration of union was 14.75±3.52 weeks (range 14 to 16 weeks) in PFN cases and 17.70±2.00weeks (range 14 to 21 weeks) in PFLP cases, union was achieved in 100% cases except one case of PFN which goes to non union due to Z effect. Various complications were seen in both cases. As per Harris Hip score, excellent results were noted in 75%PFN and 40%PFLP cases, good in 15%PFN and 25%PFLP cases and fair in 5% PFN and 35% PFLP cases and poor in 5%PFN and 0%PFLP cases. Conclusion: Harris hip score comparison of study suggests that functional results were better in PFN than PFLP. Less Blood loss, less operative time, early weight bearing were other favouring factors in PFN. Though blood loss and operative time was more, rigidity of fixation was better in unstable fractures in PFLP group. We conclude that PFN is the better implant for unstable intertrochanteric fractures with lesser operative time and lesser blood loss. While PFLP can be a good alternative for unstable intertrochanteric fractures with better results with slightly longer operative time and more blood loss when compared with PFN.
Correlation of anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody levels with status of thyroid function among the tribal population residing in hilly area

Background: Autoimmune thyroid diseases are most frequent thyroid disorders among young females. Among autoimmune thyroid disorders, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is the most common one. The most reliable confirmatory diagnostic test is estimation of anti-thyroid peroxidase (TPO) levels in blood. The present study deals with estimation of anti-TPO levels in relation to age, gender and thyroid stimulating hormones (TSH) in the tribal region of Wayanad, Kerala, India. Objective and Methods: In the present study, total 100 cases have been selected where anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels have been estimated. Result: Our present study includes total 100 cases. 57 cases show raised TPO antibodies. Hence 57% cases are considered to be having Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Most common age group affected by Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is 3-4 decade females. Out of 57 cases showing raised TPO antibodies, 27 cases (47%) shows raised TSH values, so considered to be hypothyroid. 21 cases (37%) show normal TSH value, hence are euthyroid. Lastly, 9 cases (16%) show low TSH value, are hyperthyroid. Conclusion: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis patient can manifest as hypothyroid, euthyroid as well as hyperthyroid, hence only clinical findings with estimation of T3, T4 and TSH doesn’t suffice for diagnosis. Around 20% of cases do present with hyperthyroidism, hence in addition to anti thyroglobulin (for Grave’s disease), one has to test for Anti TPO antibodies level to rule Hashimoto’s thyroiditis with toxic features.
Pain Perception of the First Eye versus the Second Eye during Phacoemulsification under Local Anesthesia for Patients Going through Cataract Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background Phacoemulsification under local anesthesia is regarded as the major surgery for cataract treatment. Recent research has compared the pain perception between the first eye and the second eye during phacoemulsification. However, these studies have also yielded controversial findings. Consequently, we performed a systematic review and a meta-analysis to investigate the difference in the pain perception between the first and second eyes during phacoemulsification. Method We searched the PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane CENTRAL databases for the studies published up to October 5, 2018. Prospective observational studies were included. The meta-analysis was conducted by means of random-effects model and fixed-effects model according to the heterogeneity. Evaluation of the methodological quality of studies was based on Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Results Overall, eight studies were included in the meta-analysis. The analysis of pooled data showed that the pain scores of the first eye shortly after surgery under local anesthesia were significantly lower as compared to the second eye (WMD: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.40, 0.98; P < 0.00001). The average pain scores of the first eye shortly after surgery under the topical anesthesia were also lower than those of the second eye (WMD: 1.08; 95% CI: 0.79, 1.36; P < 0.00001). Conversely, anxiety scores in the first eye surgery were significantly higher than those in the second eye surgery (SMD: −0.40; 95% CI: −0.64, −0.16; P=0.001). However, the difference of the pain scores accessed on the first postoperative day between the first and second eye surgeries (WMD: −0.05; 95% CI −0.40, 0.31; P=0.79) as well as cooperation grades of patients between the first and second eye surgeries (WMD: 0.35; 95% CI −0.07, 0.76; P=0.10) was not statistically significant. Conclusion Patients experienced more pain in the surgery of the second eye than that of the first eye, which probably related to lower anxiety before the second surgery. It suggests that we should consider preoperative intervention to reduce the perceived pain during second eye cataract surgery.
Serum albumin promotes stem cell proliferation and neurogenesis in a rodent model of post-traumatic epilepsy

Author(s): Vazquez, Oscar | Advisor(s): Kaufer, Daniela | Abstract: Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) cause the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the extravasation of serum albumin, and induce epileptiform activity via astrocytic transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling. Intracerebroventricular (ICV) infusion of serum albumin alone is sufficient to induce seizures in rodents and has been associated with increased TGF-β signaling and synaptogenesis, which contribute to epileptogenesis. This study demonstrates that ICV infusion of serum albumin also promotes the proliferation of neural stem cells (NSCs) and aberrant neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the adult mouse. Treatment with an angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist (Losartan) prevents these changes. Furthermore, we demonstrate that serum albumin alone does not affect the proliferation of these NSCs in vitro, and is not sufficient to induce the secretion of astrocytic proliferative signals. This suggests that the increase in proliferation observed in animals exposed to serum albumin may require activity-induced proliferative signals from epileptiform activity, contributions from other cells in the niche in addition to astrocytes, cell-to-cell contact signals, or all three. These observations suggest a mechanism for the increase in neurogenesis observed in the post-injury epileptic brain and offer an opportunity to develop a therapeutic intervention to prevent epileptogenesis after TBIs.