Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Implementation of Game-based Learning in Higher Education: an example in HR Management

The benefits of game-based learning (GBL) are well justified in literature, but there are no abundant studies to its applications in different disciplines in Higher Education (HE). This method proposes a problem scenario within a play framework adding the elements of competition and chance. The main aim of this research is to describe and analyse the successful implementation of an application of a game-based learning in the subject of Human Resource Management (HRM) during the academic year 2018/2019. Students have had to face the resolution of a challenge in the field of HR proposed by a social enterprise. The activity, proposed as a competition, details also the student’s perception by focus groups and surveys. The feedback collected shows that students positively assessed the new methodology and practical approach. The possibility of dealing with real organization’s problems increments the student’s motivation to learn. They consider that they have been able to acquire the core content of the selected topic by applying it in real situations. The empirical findings support the efficacy of game playing in HE and also shows that students enjoyed with this type of learning.
Implementing some mathematical operators for a continuous-in-time financial model

This paper considers the development of some mathematical operators as convolution and primitive for continuous-in-time financial model. This development is given in form of API (Application Programming Interface) with showing concept of its computation. The model is based on using measures and fields. The work we report here addresses the fundamental issue of how measures and fields are implemented for the software. The originality of this API lie in the fact that it will be used by the company MGDIS.
Preoperative Platelet Activation Markers as a Risk Predictor of Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation after Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most well-known arrhythmia following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) that in turn may lead to a longer hospital stay and a worse postoperative prognoses. AF is known to be a cause of platelet activation; we investigated the relationship between the platelet activation markers and the risk of AF after coronary bypass graft surgery. Methods: Blood was drawn one day before the operation from fifty patients scheduled for isolated on pump CABG. The monocyte–platelet aggregates (MPAs) content were assessed by Flow cytometric quantification analysis. Moreover, soluble CD40 Ligand (sCD40L) level, soluble P-selectin (sP-selectin) and D-dimer levels were quantified by immunological ELISA technique. Post-operative AF (POAF) events were followed up during hospitalization. Results: Post-operative AF (POAF) noticed in 22% of patients, in the first postoperative week. Preoperative levels of both sCD40L, sP-selectin and D-Dimer were significantly higher in those who developed POAF. CD41 expression on monocytescellular marker of platelet activation- and the content of MPAs were increased in those patients encountered POAF. Conclusion: Preoperative platelet activation as affirmed by both soluble and cellular markers in addition to the content of MPAs markers seems to be an unprecedented predictor of the postoperative atrial fibrillation.
Source apportionment of atmospheric water over East Asia – a source tracer study in CAM5.1

The atmospheric water tracer (AWT) method is implemented in the Community Atmosphere Model version 5.1 (CAM5.1) to quantitatively identify the contributions of various source regions to precipitation and water vapour over East Asia. Compared to other source apportionment methods, the AWT method was developed based on detailed physical parameterisations, and can therefore trace the behaviour of atmospheric water substances directly and exactly. According to the simulation, the northern Indian Ocean (NIO) is the dominant oceanic moisture source region for precipitation over the Yangtze River valley (YRV) and southern China (SCN) in summer, while the north-western Pacific (NWP) dominates during other seasons. Evaporation over the South China Sea (SCS) is responsible for only 2.7–3.7 % of summer precipitation over the YRV and SCN. In addition, the Indo-China Peninsula is an important terrestrial moisture source region (annual contribution of ∼ 10 %). The overall relative contribution of each source region to the water vapour amount is similar to the corresponding contribution to precipitation over the YRV and SCN. A case study for the SCS shows that only a small part ( ≤ 5.5 %) of water vapour originates from local evaporation, whereas much more water vapour is supplied by the NWP and NIO. In addition, because evaporation from the SCS represents only a small contribution to the water vapour over the YRV and SCN in summer, the SCS mainly acts as a water vapour transport pathway where moisture from the NIO and NWP meet.
Zebrafish bmp10 mutants as a model for hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia - associated high output heart failure

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is an inherited disease caused by impaired signaling through the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) receptor, ALK1, and is characterized by fragile, direct connections between arteries and veins, called arteriovenous malformation (AVMs). AVMs can form in skin, mucous membranes, brain, lung, and liver and can be life-threatening if severe shunting or rupture occurs. For example, severe liver AVMs result in low systemic vascular resistance, which can lead to a transient, compensatory high-output cardiac state followed by decompensation and heart failure. The only treatment for HHT-associated high-output heart failure (HOHF) is liver transplant. As such, the need for targeted therapeutics is clear, yet little is known about the pathological progression of HOHF. Here, I describe zebrafish bmp10 mutants as a useful animal model of HHT-associated, age-dependent HOHF. bmp10 encodes one of three Alk1 ligands in zebrafish, and homozygous bmp10 mutants develop dilated and hemorrhagic skin vessels, edema, and enlarged hearts as early as six weeks of age. bmp10 mutants with severe early-onset vascular phenotype exhibit high cardiac output, cardiomyocyte (CM) disorganization, and early death, whereas those with later-onset vascular lesions show milder heart phenotype. At the cellular level, bmp10 mutant hearts may have CM hypertrophy and increased proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PNCA) signal. Our long-term goal is to use this zebrafish model to understand the mechanisms involved in cardiac compensation and in the pathological progression to heart failure, which may aid in design of medical therapies to prevent HOHF in HHT patients. Also, in addition to HHT, HOHF is identified in some common diseases, such as morbid obesity, anemia and sepsis, and HOHF is associated with high mortality. Hence, studying this type of heart failure is of public health significance.
Choosing a Second-Generation Antidepressant using Demographic Characteristics and Clinical Symptoms of Depression

Depression is the sixth most costly health condition in the United States, and depression that does not respond to its first trial of antidepressant treatment adds an annual cost of $9,529 per person per year. Thus, choosing an effective starting antidepressant can decrease the overall cost of depression to society. A secondary analysis of data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Survey (CPES) was performed to create models that can predict the efficacy of second-generation antidepressants in treating sadness. Two sets of Principal Component Analyses (PCAs) and logistic regressions were performed on variables associated with patient demographics, clinical symptoms, past medical history, and current mental health treatments: the first set explored associations between symptom clusters and drug efficacy, and the second set created models to predict the efficacy of each of the seven antidepressants. This study found that when treating sadness, paroxetine and venlafaxine should be avoided in depression with low moods, fluoxetine should be avoided in depression with high anxiety, and sertraline should be avoided in depression with high levels of fatigue. In addition, the models created to predict drug efficacy had a mean accuracy of 84% and internal validity of 62%. Since fewer than 50% of patients currently respond to their first antidepressant, the use of this model could provide a modest improvement to choosing efficacious starting antidepressants, subsequently decreasing the total disease burden depression poses onto society.
Efficacy of gene xpert over other diagnostic modalities of tuberculosis among children

Background: Diagnosis of tuberculosis is a challenge especially among children. GeneXpert has been recommended as a diagnostic test in children. Objectives of this study was to efficacy of GeneXpert over other diagnostic modalities of Tuberculosis like Sputum smear microscopy, Mantoux testing, X-ray chest among children.Methods: A cross sectional hospital-based study was conducted over a period of 24 months among 150 children. All the patients who were having suspicion of Tuberculosis on the basis of History & Examination (fulfilling inclusion criteria) had been enrolled in the study. After doing all preliminary investigations clinical diagnosis has been made and Gene X’pert was carried out for all the samples collected. Pearson chi square test and Fishers exact test was applied wherever appropriate.Results: There was statistically no significant (p >0.05) difference of GeneXpert positivity within different age groups of Suspected TB patients. GeneXpert was positive in 80% with symptom of Cough lasting more than 2 weeks, in 78.8% with fever more than 2 weeks, in 88.9% with FTT, in 76.5% with H/O Koch’s contact, in 77.8% with H/O convulsion, in 69% with significant lymphadenopathy. GeneXpert was positive in all suspected TB patients having ZN staining positive for AFB. In clinically TB diagnosed patients, 86.5% were positive for GeneXpert.Conclusions: GeneXpert is a novel diagnostic modality of choice in all suspected Pulmonary & Extra-pulmonary TB cases among children. It can be used as a primary tool in Pulmonary TB with smear negative samples in pediatric age group.
Comparison of Physical Performance between Older Adult Fallers with and without Knee Osteoarthritis

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a common musculoskeletal condition that leads to decreased physical performance and falls among older adults. However, there is limited information comparing physical performances among older adult fallers with and without knee OA. The aim of this study was to compare physical performance between older adult fallers with and without knee OA. Participants were divided into two groups using the clinical diagnosis of knee OA based on National Institute of Health and Care Excellence guidelines; with and without knee OA. Participants performed a battery of physical performance tests that included chair sit and reach, back scratch, dominant handgrip strength, timed up and go (TUG), 30 seconds chair stand and 2 min walk. Independent t-test was used to compare physical performance between groups. Thirteen older adult fallers with knee OA (mean age = 70.92 ± 8.83 years) and 20 older adult fallers without knee OA (76.4 ±7.92 years) participated in this study. There were no significant differences in sociodemographic profiles and physical performance among older adult fallers with and without knee OA (p>0.05). However, hamstring flexibility was not within norm in 64% of older adult fallers with knee OA compared to 42% without OA. Physical performance between fallers with and without clinically diagnosed knee OA was similar. Hence, physiotherapy interventions for both groups may be similar and focused on strength and endurance training. In addition, to minimize falls risk and further improve physical performances, hamstring stretching must be emphasized among older adults with knee OA.
Surgical outcome in patients with complicated appendicitis treated at a medical college hospital

Background: Acute appendicitis is the most common surgical emergency requiring operative intervention. Most of the cases are simple; however complicated appendicitis with perforation, abscess and gangrene of appendix is seen in up to 1/4th of adults and 1/3rd of cases in children. It is associated with post operative complications with considerable morbidity. The aim is to study the clinical presentation of complicated appendicitis, the intra-operative findings, post-operative complications and the overall surgical outcome.Methods: It is a cross sectional study of 35 patients who had complicated appendicitis and who were treated with surgery.Results: 83% of patients with complicated appendicitis were younger than 40 years of age, with children constituting about 43% of total cases. All the patients had typical right iliac fossa pain, with tenderness and localized guarding in 37%. Ultrasound diagnosed appendicitis in 80% of cases. Leukocytosis was seen in 71% with neutrophil shift in 85% of patients. 60% of patients had perforation and abscess formation, gangrene in 45% and mass in 37%. Post operative complications were noted in 51% of the patients, commonly paralytic ileus (46%) and wound infection (20%). There was no mortality in our study and the general overall outcome of treatment was good.Conclusions: Complicated appendicitis with gangrene, perforation and abscess form a considerable proportion of cases. Early surgical intervention is the definitive treatment after initial resuscitation. Overall morbidity is considerable, but mortality is less than 1% and the general overall outcome is good with early surgical intervention.
Active Echo : High Precision Ranging in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Network is an increasingly popular technology, and has received considerable attention during the recent years. Positioning is a common feature in this technology, and a vital part of almost all positioning algorithms is range estimation. Because of the small device sizes, low power consumption and low cost of wireless sensor nodes, many of the currently available ranging technologies are unsuitable in a Wireless Sensor Network. This calls for new and perhaps unorthodox approaches. In this thesis a novel ranging scheme utilizing the high bandwidths of Ultra-Wide Band Impulse Radio signals to achieve high precision and accuracy is proposed. Through the use of Continuous Time Quantized Amplitude signal processing, the proposed scheme achieve dedicated hardware solutions based on simple digital circuits. The scheme is compatible with the constrains imposed by a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) node, through the use of a low power receiver topology, technology scalable devices and compact size. As part of the thesis two circuits, a ring oscillator and a Time Difference Measuring Circuit, have been realized in 90nm CMOS. The measurement results provided are of great interest, both generally and to a future implementation of the proposed scheme.
A convolutional neural network based approach towards real-time hard hat detection

Health and safety management has been an important issue in construction industry. National regulations impose the using of hard hats in construction sites. However, there are often cases in which the construction workers neglect the regulations. It is desired to monitor the correct wearing of hard hat in real time and explore monitoring techniques facilitated by deep-learning algorithms. In this paper, a convolutional neural network based hard-hat detection algorithm is proposed. In this algorithm, the detection of construction workers and the hard hats are assisted by computer vision technique where deep learning model are trained to identify the proper wearing of hard hats. The optimization of the proposed neural networks can reduce the computational complexity while maintaining a relatively high recognition precision. Experiments have been performed using five different algorithms for comparison and results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm excels in the mAP and FPS performance metrics. The experimental results collected on an embedded platform reveal that the proposed algorithm presents a good candidate for similar applications where real-time deep-learning application is desired.
Risk Factors of Gangrenous Cholecystitis in Patients with Acute Cholecystitis: A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine factors affecting the development of acute cholecystitis toward gangrenous cholecystitis in an Iranian society.Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, all patients who underwent cholecystectomy in the educational hospitals of Khorramabad from August 2013 to August 2016 were included in the study regardless of their age range. The data collected in each patient included demographic data, underlying illnesses, positive history and physical examination prior to surgery, early laboratory findings and preoperative imaging findings. Finally, patients were divided into two groups of acute Cholecystitis and Gangrenous Cholecystitis based on pathological findings after cholecystectomy. The data was finally analyzed using SPSS software.Results: 51 patients were examined during the study. Histological studies indicated the presence of microscopic evidence of acute cholecystitis in all patients, of which 19 had histological evidence of Gangrenous Cholecystitis. In this study, nine variables that could be effective on the prognosis of acute cholecystitis and its progression toward the Gangrenous Cholecystitis were identified. These variables included age, WBC count, diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease, fluid accumulation around gallbladder, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and lipase. Finally, multivariate analysis was performed using logistic regression. It was found that the age of ≥51 was effective in the development of diabetes mellitus.Conclusion: In this study, it was observed that high age, diabetes mellitus and leukocytosis could lead to the development of acute cholecystitis toward Gangrenous Cholecystitis, a finding that requires more extensive studies with more sample size.
Analysis of the Risk Factors for Lower Extremity Amputation due to Diabetic Foot Complications

Purpose: To evaluate the possible risk factors of lower extremity amputations in diabetic foot patients. Materials and Methods: The study is based on 37 patients who received lower extremity amputations from April, 1997 to February 2005 due to diabetic foot complications with at least 1 year follow up. As for the control group, 49 diabetes patients who had been treated at the endocrinology department for at least 1 year without any diabetic foot complication were evaluated. As for the possible risk factors, age, gender, duration of diabetes mellitus, body mass index, Hb A1c, blood glucose level, total cholesterol, s-creatinine, C-peptide, smoking, alcohol, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, CVA, retinopathy and neuropathy were investigated. Results: Among the possible risk factors evaluated, age, Hb A1c, smoking, neuropathy and blood glucose level factors showed statistically significant difference between the diabetic amputation and the control group. Conclusion: In reducing the risk of the lower extremity amputations in the diabetic patients due to diabetic foot complications, strict control of blood glucose level and cessation of smoking were found to be utmost important.
The Neurocognitive Function and Neuroimaging Characteristics between Age-Associated Memory Impairment and Mild Cognitive Impairment

Copyright C 2019 The Korean Academy of C lin ical Geriatrics This is an open access artic le distributed under the terms of the Creative Com mons Attribution Non-Commercia l License (http://creativecom mons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which perm its unrestricted non-comm ercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium , provided the orig inal work is properly cited. The Neurocognitive Function and Neuroimaging Characteristics between Age-Associated Memory Impairment and Mild Cognitive Impairment
Comparison of Male and Female Pediatric Phantom Doses in the Same Age Group on Whole Body Tomography: A Monte Carlo Simulation Study

Amac: Bu calismada, Monte Carlo yontemi kullanilarak tum vucut tomografi uygulanan ayni yas grubundaki erkek ve kiz pediatrik fantomlari uzerinden organ dozlarinin hesaplanmasi ve karsilastirilmasi amaclanmistir. Materyal ve Metot: Simulasyon VirtualDose programinda, tup voltaji 100 kVp, akim isinlama suresi 100 mAs, doz indeksi (CTDI) 5,31 olan GE Discovery CT750 HD model tomografi cihazina gore yapilmistir. Ayni yas grubundaki erkek ve kiz pediatrik fantomlari icin ICRP-89 raporunda belirtilen yeni dogan, 1, 5, 10 ve 15 yas olmak uzere 5 grup anatomik fantom kullanilmistir. Bulgular: Total efektif doz degeri yeni dogan, 1, 5, 10 ve 15 yas grubu icin sirasiyla 13.92, 12.28, 11.70, 10.31 ve 8.82 bulundu. Yeni dogan grubunda erkek fantom testis dozu 14.08 mGy, kiz fantom ovaryum dozu 13.05 mGy bulundu. 1 yas grubunda erkek fantom testis ve prostat dozlari 14.92 ve 12.24 mGy, kiz fantom ovaryum ve rahim dozlari 12.44 ve 10.98 mGy bulundu. 5 yas grubunda erkek fantom testis ve prostat dozlari 14.33 ve 12.53 mGy, kiz fantom ovaryum ve rahim dozlari 11.65 ve 10.25 mGy bulundu. 10 yas grubunda erkek fantom testis ve prostat dozlari 13.69 ve 10.80 mGy, kiz fantom ovaryum ve rahim dozlari 9.51 ve 8.50 mGy bulundu. 15 yas grubunda erkek fantom beyin, kolon, karaciger, mide, testis, tiroid, bobrekustu bezi, safra kesesi, bobrek, pankreas, prostat, ince barsak, spinal kord, dalak, timus dozlari 8.81, 8.51, 8.60, 8.22, 12.43, 12.76, 7.36, 7.44, 8.49, 6.88, 7.88, 9.84, 7.42, 8.48, 8.45, 8.56 mGy, kiz fantom beyin, kolon, karaciger, mide, ovaryum, tiroid, bobrekustu bezi, safra kesesi, bobrek, pankreas, rahim, ince barsak, spinal kord, dalak, timus dozlari 9.30, 10.45, 9.34, 9.41, 7.95, 14.66, 7.85, 8.33, 10.10, 8.39, 8.86, 6.88, 9.11, 9.03, 9.48, 9.32 mGy bulundu. Sonuc: 5 grupta total efektif doz degerinde cinsiyete bagli bir farklilik gorulmemistir. 5 grupta erkek fantom testis dozu, kiz fantom ovaryum dozuna gore yuksek bulunmustur. Yeni dogan, 1, 5, 10 yas kiz ve erkek fantom organ dozlarinda anlamli bir farklilik bulunmazken 15 yas grubunda doz dagilimlari degismistir.