Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Outcome of radioactive iodine therapy in Toxic Nodular Goiter in Pakistan

Objective: To determine the outcome of patients receiving radioactive iodine therapy for toxic nodular goiter coming to Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi. Methods: A total of 89 patients who visited the outpatient department of Aga Khan University Hospital from January 2010 to August 2017 were recruited for the study. Toxic nodular goiter was diagnosed on the basis of having hot nodule on thyroid scan with low TSH and high FT4/T4. Other demographic and laboratory data were also recorded. Results: Eighty nine patients with toxic nodular goiter received a dose range from 10 to 30mCi RAI. Six months after RAI, 36.2% became hypothyroid, 38.5% became euthyroid while 25.3% remained hyperthyroid. Thyroid outcome at 3 months were correlating with 6 months results. Conclusion: Radioactive iodine therapy is a safe and effective way of treating toxic nodular goiter which usually results in cure of hyperthyroidism in majority of patients.
Disruption of neurite morphology parallels MS progression

Objectives To apply advanced diffusion MRI methods to the study of normal-appearing brain tissue in MS and examine their correlation with measures of clinical disability. Methods A multi-compartment model of diffusion MRI called neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) was used to study 20 patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), 15 with secondary progressive MS (SPMS), and 20 healthy controls. Maps of NODDI were analyzed voxel-wise to assess the presence of abnormalities within the normal-appearing brain tissue and the association with disease severity. Standard diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) parameters were also computed for comparing the 2 techniques. Results Patients with MS showed reduced neurite density index (NDI) and increased orientation dispersion index (ODI) compared with controls in several brain areas (p < 0.05), with patients with SPMS having more widespread abnormalities. DTI indices were also sensitive to some changes. In addition, patients with SPMS showed reduced ODI in the thalamus and caudate nucleus. These abnormalities were associated with scores of disease severity (p < 0.05). The association with the MS functional composite score was higher in patients with SPMS compared with patients with RRMS. Conclusions NODDI and DTI findings are largely overlapping. Nevertheless, NODDI helps interpret previous findings of increased anisotropy in the thalamus of patients with MS and are consistent with the degeneration of selective axon populations.
A Comprehensive Return-to-Play Analysis of National Basketball Association Players With Operative Patellar Tendon Tears

Background: Patellar tendon tears impart potentially debilitating sequelae among professional basketball athletes. Hypothesis: Professional basketball athletes with patellar tendon tears have decreased return-to-play performance in seasons after injury compared with preinjury statistics. Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: Patellar tendon tears among National Basketball Association (NBA) athletes from the 1999-2000 to 2014-2015 seasons were identified. Player performance statistics for players who underwent operative patellar tendon repair were compared from 1 season before injury to 1 season after injury and 2 seasons before injury to 2 seasons after injury using the primary outcome of player efficiency rating (PER). Secondary performance outcomes were also analyzed. Results: A total of 13 patellar tendon tears (10 complete, 3 partial) were identified among 12 NBA athletes. Three players (25%) did not return to play in the NBA. No significant differences were found in PER in comparisons of 1 season before and after injury (16.6 ± 1.5 vs 14.3 ± 1.7; P = .20) or in comparisons of 2 seasons before and after injury (15.8 ± 0.8 vs 6.3 ± 2.3; P = .49). Diminished performance outcomes were noted for total minutes played (2598 ± 100 vs 1695 ± 78; P = .01), games played (74.8 ± 1.9 vs 60.5 ± 1.4; P = .04), and minutes per game (34.8 ± 1.5 vs 28.2 ± 1.8; P = .02) in comparisons of 1 season before and after injury. Total minutes played per season (2491 ± 190 vs 799 ± 280; P = .045) decreased in comparisons of 2 seasons before and after injury. Conclusion: Patellar tendon tears were not associated with diminished efficiency-adjusted performance, as measured by PER, games played, minutes per game played, points per 36 minutes, and rebounds per 36 minutes. However, decreases in total minutes played were observed following patellar tendon tear. Orthopaedic surgeons may be better prepared to counsel basketball athlete patients with patellar tendon tear given these findings.
Dissociating predictability, plausibility and possibility of sentence continuations in reading: evidence from late-positivity ERPs

Late positive event-related potential (ERP) components occurring after the N400, traditionally linked to reanalysis due to syntactic incongruence, are increasingly considered to also reflect reanalysis and repair due to semantic difficulty. Semantic problems can have different origins, such as a mismatch of specific predictions based on the context, low plausibility, or even semantic impossibility of a word in the given context. DeLong, Quante & Kutas (2014) provided the first direct evidence for topographically different late positivities for prediction mismatch (left frontal late positivity for plausible but unexpected words) and plausibility violation (posterior-parietal late positivity for implausible, incongruent words). The aim of the current study is twofold: (1) to replicate this dissociation of ERP effects for plausibility violations and prediction mismatch in a different language, and (2) to test an additional contrast within implausible words, comparing impossible and possible sentence continuations. Our results replicate DeLong, Quante & Kutas (2014) with different materials in a different language, showing graded effects for predictability and plausibility at the level of the N400, a dissociation of plausible and implausible, anomalous continuations in posterior late positivities and an effect of prediction mismatch on late positivities at left-frontal sites. In addition, we found some evidence for a dissociation, at these left-frontal sites, between implausible words that were fully incompatible with the preceding discourse and those for which an interpretation is possible.
1 Detection and Enumeration of Potentially Zoonotic Bacteria on a Cetacean Specimen During Maceration

—The occasion of relocating a collection is an opportunity to improve the collection. The South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, which houses the National Fish Collection, acquired a new, dedicated collection facility in 2007. The curation committee resolved to take advantage of the opportunity of moving the collection to the new facility to improve the state of curation of physical specimens and to edit specimen database records. For this reason, as well as to make the move process as efficient as possible, a custom-designed interface to the specimen database was created. The new interface will remain a useful collection management tool for the foreseeable future.
Relationship between Lung Functions and Extend of Emphysema in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Background: To investigate whether the extent of emphysema, visually confirmed by high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in patients with COPD were associated with different indices of lung functions. Methods: Eighty-two patients with COPD underwent HRCT scanning; visual assessment of HRCT scan was used in the calculation of extent of emphysematous Destruction: The patients were clinically stable at the time of the evaluation. All subjects were smokers or past smokers who had smoked>10 pack-years. Results: The mean visual emphysema score in all patients was 2.21 ± 1.11. While the mean emphysema score in patients with COPD GOLD (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease) stage 3 was 2.88 ± 1.03, it was 1.54 ± 1.16 in COPD GOLD stage 2 (p<0.001). There was a significant correlation between the emphysema score and the numbers of pack/years smoked (R=0.58, p<0.001). The visual emphysema score was inversely correlated with the FEV1(r =-0.56, p<0.0001), FVC (r=-0.38, p=0.001), FEV1/FVC (r=-0.43, p<0.001), PEF(r=-0.44, p<0,001) and with the Carbon monoxide diffusing capacity divided by the alveolar volume (DLCO/VA) (r=-0.50, p<0.001). In our study population, patients had a limited expression of the disease as represented by low scores in Saint George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), and there was no correlation between emphysema score and SGRQ. Conclusions: HRCT visual scores correlated with functional indices of airflow obstruction and impaired lung diffusing capacity in patients with stable COPD of varying severity, the presence of pulmonary emphysemais best represented by the FEV1 and DLCO/VA.
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as a Barrier to Learning and Development within the South African Context: The Perspective of Teachers

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a universal condition transcending cultural, socio-economic and racial barriers. It is considered to be the most common psychiatric disorder amongst children in the United States and Europe, with an estimated 3-10% of children being affected [1]. The situation in Africa does not appear to be much different and although there is a lack of knowledge with regards to ADHD on the African continent, it is believed that the disorder is as prevalent as it is in Western countries [1]. In South Africa specifically it is considered to be the most prevalent psychiatric disorder amongst children with a prevalence rate of approximately 10% [2]. As this has not been confirmed officially, it raises issues relating to possible over-identification of the disorder in South Africa. However, it is feasible that children present with comorbid attention difficulties, when taking into consideration the huge backlog in the education system and the high incidence of learning disorders and language difficulties as additional barriers to learning.
Study of Heart Rate Variability and Stress Markers in Basketball Players Submitted to Selective Loads Periodization System

The decrease in the performance of athlete is often associated with an imbalance between workload and recovery period. Thus, it is very important to implement tools which can assist in the quantifying the effects of workloads, so that the maximum performance of the athlete is reached. In this context, we know little about the influence of selective load periodization system (SLPS) on cardiac autonomic control and the effects on stress markers already known. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate if the application of SLPS promoted alterations in autonomic modulation of heart rate variability (HRV), as well as same stress markers. Therefore, sixteen male basketball players (mean ± SE: age 23.3 ± 1.0 years; mass 87.5 ± 3.5 kg; height 194  2 cm) were submitted to SLPS and evaluated before and after a competition period. The HRV was evaluated by a spectral analysis of the time series composed of R-R intervals obtained in the supine position and during a tilt test. The evaluation of stress markers consisted of measuring plasma catecholamines, cortisol and free testosterone. The results demonstrated that the training load used during the competition period did not cause significant changes in the autonomic modulation of HRV. This affirmation is supported by the absence of change in oscillations of low frequency (LF: 0,04-0,15Hz), that corresponding to sympathetic and parasympathetic modulations, and high frequency (HF:0,15-05Hz), that corresponding only to parasympathetic modulations of HRV. Additionally, no changes were observed in plasma concentrations of catecholamines, free testosterone, cortisol and, consequently, in testosterone/cortisol ratio, when pre-competition and post-competition values were compared. In summary, our findings suggest that the use of SLPS in basketball athletes presented balance between workloads and recovery periods. However, further investigations are needed, including in other sports, so that we can evaluate the effects of SLPS on cardiac autonomic modulation and stress markers evaluated in this study.
Browsing versus Studying: A Pro-market Case for Regulation

We identify a competition-policy-based argument for regulating the secondary features of complex or complexly priced products when consumers have limited attention. Limited attention implies that consumers can only “study” a small number of complex products in full, while—by failing to check secondary features—they can superficially “browse” more. Interventions limiting ex post consumer harm through safety regulations, caps on certain fees, or other methods induce consumers to do more or more meaningful browsing, enhancing competition. We show that for a pro-competitive effect to obtain, the regulation must apply to the secondary features, and not to the total price or value of the product. As an auxiliary positive prediction, we establish that because low-value consumers are often more likely to study—and therefore less likely to browse—than high-value consumers, the average price consumers pay can be increasing in the share of low-value consumers. We discuss applications of our insights to health-insurance choice, the European Union’s principle on unfair contract terms, food safety in developing countries, and the shopping behaviour of (and prices paid by) low-income and high-income consumers.
Exploring Pedagogical Challenges of ESP Teachers at a Saudi Arabian University

English language is increasingly becoming an important communication tool worldwide, being studied for different reasons and needs, which explains the emergency of English for special purpose programs (ESP). This study investigated the perceptions of teachers towards issues related to the pedagogy in teaching ESP courses at the Saudi Arabian University. As such, a mixed quantitative and qualitative research approach was used to collect data from 50 ESP teachers. The results revealed that all the respondents were qualified enough to teach ESP. However, in terms of teaching challenges, the ESP teachers appeared to be inadequately prepared for the job, since they lacked ESP teaching skills and knowledge, which lead to limited ESP teaching capabilities. Therefore, professional training should complement academic training for quality ESP teaching and learning outcomes. Moreover, most teachers lacked skill development courses since they joined the current institution, which suggested the need for teacher development programs to prepare ESP teachers in areas of knowledge development and right instructional language command. In this light, future studies should focus on ascertaining factors that determine the teachers? choices of pedagogic strategies in teaching ESP courses and those that influence learners to pursue ESP in universities and educational institutions.
Improved dust representation in the Community Atmosphere Model

Aerosol‐climate interactions constitute one of the major sources of uncertainty in assessing changes in aerosol forcing in the anthropocene as well as understanding glacial‐interglacial cycles. Here we focus on improving the representation of mineral dust in the Community Atmosphere Model and assessing the impacts of the improvements in terms of direct effects on the radiative balance of the atmosphere. We simulated the dust cycle using different parameterization sets for dust emission, size distribution, and optical properties. Comparing the results of these simulations with observations of concentration, deposition, and aerosol optical depth allows us to refine the representation of the dust cycle and its climate impacts. We propose a tuning method for dust parameterizations to allow the dust module to work across the wide variety of parameter settings which can be used within the Community Atmosphere Model. Our results include a better representation of the dust cycle, most notably for the improved size distribution. The estimated net top of atmosphere direct dust radiative forcing is −0.23 ± 0.14 W/m2 for present day and −0.32 ± 0.20 W/m2 at the Last Glacial Maximum. From our study and sensitivity tests, we also derive some general relevant findings, supporting the concept that the magnitude of the modeled dust cycle is sensitive to the observational data sets and size distribution chosen to constrain the model as well as the meteorological forcing data, even within the same modeling framework, and that the direct radiative forcing of dust is strongly sensitive to the optical properties and size distribution used.
Juvenile growth in a population of southern California steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in Topanga Creek, southern California, belong to the federally endangered Southern California Steelhead Evolutionarily Significant Unit (now Distinct Population Segment), as modified in July 2002. Steelhead refers to the anadromous life-history form of rainbow trout (O. mykiss); because both anadromous and resident O. mykiss are found within the watershed, the term O. mykiss is used in situations where distinguishing juvenile steelhead from resident rainbow trout would be problematic. Although the anadromous life-history was the basis for listing (NMFS 2006), preservation of both life-history forms is considered a high priority (NMFS 2009). Despite their perilous condition, little is known about basic life-history of steelhead in southern California. For example, the growth rate of juvenile steelhead during freshwater rearing can have important consequences on their survival during outmigration and entry into the ocean (Kabel and German 1967, Hume and Parkinson 1988, Ward and Slaney 1988, Ward et al.1989, Bond et al. 2008). Therefore, as recommended by Boughton (2010), measuring juvenile growth rates and factors that may affect these rates in freshwater is likely crucial for maintaining or restoring steelhead populations in southern California streams. Juvenile growth in a population of southern California steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
QUANTITATIVE ANALSIS OF THE IMPACT OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES ON THE GROWTH OF NIGERIAN ECONOMY : ( 1993-2011 )

This study is on the quantitative impact of Small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) on Nigeria’s economic growth performance for the sample period 1993 to 2011. The econometric technique adopted for the study was multiple regression method based on ordinary least squares technique. However, in order to avoid the incidence of spurious estimates, evidence from the ADF test conducted revealed that the variables are integrated of order two,1(2). The Johansen test conducted showed evidence of long run equilibrium relationship between small and medium scale enterprises and economic growth. However, in the mean time, output of SMEs (SMEO) does not make any significant contribution to Nigeria’s economic growth performance. The study concludes that poor government policies, on tariffs and incentives, bribery and corruption, non-existent entrepreneurial development centers and poor state of infrastructure act as impediments to the growth and development of SMEs in Nigeria. The recommendations are that governments at all levels should endeavor to establish Microfinance institutions for easy access to credit by SMEs, introduce financial literacy in schools, establish entrepreneurial development centers for capacity building, provide enough infrastructure, especially electricity and road net work, and finally establish agencies for control of bribery and corruption.
Asymmetric Information, Heterogeneity in Risk Perceptions and Insurance: An Explanation to a Puzzle

Competitive models of asymmetric information predict a positive relationship between coverage and risk. In contrast, most recent empirical studies find either negative or zero correlation. This paper, by introducing heterogeneity in risk perceptions into an asymmetric information competitive model, provides an explanation to this puzzle. If optimism discourages precautionary effort, there exist separating equilibria exhibiting the observed empirical patterns. It is also shown that zero correlation is consistent with information barriers to trade in insurance markets. The predictions of our model allow us to empirically distinguish it from standard asymmetric information models.
Correlation of Colposcopy with Cervical Biopsy Findings in Various Lesions of Cervix

Worldwide cervical cancer is the second most common cancer, cancer of the breast occupying the first position. The aim was to study the lesions of the cervix by colposcopy and compare it with biopsy findings. A retrospective and prospective study was carried out from 2013 to 2017 including 42 cases. Patients with cervical disease symptoms and with availability of both colposcopy and biopsy findings were included. For retrospective evaluation relevant material was collected. For prospective evaluation colposcopy and cervical biopsies were performed. Out of 42 cases, 33 cases correlated while 9 cases did not correlate. Colposcopy is a reliable method of detecting lesions of cervix but histopathology is considered as gold standard.
Evaluation of Adsorption Capacity of Methylene Blue in Aqueous Medium by Two Adsorbents: The Raw Hull of Lophira Lanceolata and Its Activated Carbon

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the adsorption capacity of two adsorbents from the lignocellulosic residues of Lophira Lanceolata . The raw hull of Lophira Lanceolata and its activated carbon produced by chemical activation with orthophosphoric acid (H 3 PO 4 ) at 50% (Vacid/V water ) of the said hull. The ratio of impregnation to orthophosphoric acid used is 4.5. Activation and carbonization were carried out at 400°C. The physicochemical properties of the prepared activated carbon were determined and methylene blue adsorption tests were performed. On the basis of the results obtained, the iodine test revealed that the activated carbon produced had a microporosity of 646.81 mg/g, a density of 0.3156, a moisture content of less than 15% and ash content equal to 2%. Regarding the adsorption, results showed that methylene blue (100 ppm) adsorbed more easily on the activated carbon produced than on the crude residues with respective contact time of 10 minutes and 40 minutes. The removal rate was of the order of 100% for the activated carbon and of 83.56% for the raw hulls. Furthermore, an influence of the mass of the support, of the initial concentration and of the pH on the kinetics and on the adsorption capacity was observed. Kinetics obeyed to the pseudo-second order model; the diffusion was intra-particular and the Freundlich and Langmuir models satisfactorily described the adsorption of methylene blue respectively on the crude residues and on the produced activated carbon.
A Critical Divide in Higher Education: Bridging the Gap Between Student Success and Organizational Leadership

The emergence of the use of technology in the classroom and the demand for on-line classes has created a challenge for organizational leaders in higher education to retain students and foster an atmosphere conducive to student success. The purpose of this article is to assist those leaders in determining if a leadership growth plan could be a valuable component of a comprehensive professional development plan to increase student success. The discussion in this article is based on the triangulated findings of a qualitative case study designed to generate unbiased, rich, and in-depth information from those involved in degree programs at an institution of higher learning in a southeastern state (Wyatt, 2016). Students, administrators, and teachers were surveyed and interviewed and provided information pertinent to the impact of leaders and leadership skills on student success. Success for the study was defined as the percentage of students in the four-year college study site who remain in school, increase their mean grade point average and, thus, eventually graduate or choose to transfer to another institution of higher learning.