Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of Web-Based Adaptive Choice-Based Conjoint Analysis Technology in Eliciting Patients’ Preferences for Osteoarthritis Treatment

Objective: To assess the feasibility of using adaptive choice-based conjoint (ACBC) analysis to elicit patients’ preferences for pharmacological treatment of osteoarthritis (OA), patients’ satisfaction with completing the ACBC questionnaire, and factors associated with questionnaire completion time. Methods: Adult patients aged 18 years and older with a medical diagnosis of OA, experiencing joint pain in the past 12 months, and living in the Northeast of England participated in the study. The participants completed a web-based ACBC questionnaire about their preferences regarding pharmaceutical treatment for OA using a touchscreen laptop independently, and accordingly, the questionnaire completion time was measured. Moreover, the participants completed a pen-and-paper feedback form about their experience in completing the ACBC questionnaire. Results: Twenty participants aged 40 years and older, 65% females, 75% had knee OA, and suffering from OA for more than 5 years participated in the study. About 60% of participants reported completing a computerized questionnaire in the past. About 85% of participants believed that the ACBC task helped them in making decisions regarding their OA medications, and 95% agreed or strongly agreed that they would be happy to complete a similar ACBC questionnaire in the future. The average questionnaire completion time was 16 min (range 10–24 min). The main factors associated with longer questionnaire completion time were older age, never using a computer in the past, and no previous experience in completing a questionnaire. Conclusions: The ACBC analysis is a feasible and efficient method to elicit patients’ preferences for pharmacological treatment of OA, which could be used in clinical settings to facilitate shared decision-making and patient-centered care. The ACBC questionnaire completion consumes a significantly longer time for elderly participants, who never used a computer, and never completed any questionnaire previously. Therefore, the contribution of patients and public involvement (PPI) group in the development of the ACBC questionnaire could facilitate participants’ understanding and satisfaction with the task. Future research including patients with different chronic conditions may provide more useful information about the efficiency of ACBC analysis in eliciting patients’ preferences for osteoarthritis treatment.
Distributions, equivalent widths and metallicities of the H II regions in the spiral galaxies NGC 5457 and NGC 4395

Using CCD observations in the narrow band filters in Hα ,H β ,( O), (O ), (S  )a nd (S) lines we have compiled a catalogue of 338 H  regions for the inner parts of NGC 5457 and 158 for NGC 4395. The extinction, equivalent widths, distributions, excitations, ionization hardness, ionization parameters and metallicities for these regions, a distinction being made between arm and inter-arm zones, are presented here with the first results of a study of stellar formation.
LATTICE BOLTZMANN APPROACH TO VISCOUS FLOWS BETWEEN PARALLEL PLATES

Four different kinds of laminar flows between two parallel plates are investigated using the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM). The LBM accuracy is estimated in two cases using numerical fits of the parabolic velocity profiles and the kinetic energy decay curves, respectively. The error relative to the analytical kinematic viscosity values was found to be less than one percent in both cases. The LBM results for the unsteady development of the flow when one plate is brought suddenly at a constant velocity, are found in excellent agreement with the analytical solution. Because the classical Schlichting’s approximate solution for the entrance-region flow is not valid for small Reynolds numbers, a Finite Element Method solution was used in order to check the accuracy of the LBM results in this case.
CD8+ Cell Density Gradient across the Tumor Epithelium–Stromal Interface of Non-Muscle Invasive Papillary Urothelial Carcinoma Predicts Recurrence-Free Survival after BCG Immunotherapy

Simple Summary Bacille Calmette–Guerin (BCG) immunotherapy of non-muscle invasive papillary urothelial carcinoma fails in over 30% of cases. In our study, we explore the significance of tumor-infiltrating cytotoxic lymphocytes, assessed by digital analysis and computational methods measuring the cell gradient density profiles across the tumor epithelium–stroma interface, to predict recurrence-free survival in these patients. We analyzed CD8+ cell distribution profiles in the tumor tissue using previously published methods of gradient assessment (center of mass and immunodrop) along with patients’ clinical and pathology data. We found that both CD8+ cell gradient indicators were statistically significant prognosticators of recurrence-free survival, and together with clinical and pathological data might be used for improved patient risk stratification. In this context, we propose a prototypic risk assessment system incorporating pathology, patients’ history, and CD8+ cell gradient features. Abstract Background: Bacille Calmette–Guerin (BCG) immunotherapy is the first-line treatment in patients with high-risk non-muscle invasive papillary urothelial carcinoma (NMIPUC), the most common type of bladder cancer. The therapy outcomes are variable and may depend on the immune response within the tumor microenvironment. In our study, we explored the prognostic value of CD8+ cell density gradient indicators across the tumor epithelium–stroma interface of NMIPUC. Methods: Clinical and pathologic data were retrospectively collected from 157 NMIPUC patients treated with BCG immunotherapy after transurethral resection. Whole-slide digital image analysis of CD8 immunohistochemistry slides was used for tissue segmentation, CD8+ cell quantification, and the assessment of CD8+ cell densities within the epithelium–stroma interface. Subsequently, the gradient indicators (center of mass and immunodrop) were computed to represent the density gradient across the interface. Results: By univariable analysis of the clinicopathologic factors, including the history of previous NMIPUC, poor tumor differentiation, and pT1 stage, were associated with shorter RFS (p < 0.05). In CD8+ analyses, only the gradient indicators but not the absolute CD8+ densities were predictive for RFS (p < 0.05). The best-performing cross-validated model included previous episodes of NMIPUC (HR = 4.4492, p = 0.0063), poor differentiation (HR = 2.3672, p = 0.0457), and immunodrop (HR = 5.5072, p = 0.0455). Conclusions: We found that gradient indicators of CD8+ cell densities across the tumor epithelium–stroma interface, along with routine clinical and pathology data, improve the prediction of RFS in NMIPUC.
The hydrogen exosphere of exoplanet HD 209458b detected with HST/ACS

Abstract Exospheric atomic hydrogen escaping from the planet HD 209458b provides the largest observational signature ever detected for an extrasolar planet atmosphere. We present observations of this transiting planet's extended exosphere with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on board the Hubble Space Telescope. From the two transit light curves obtained at Lyman α, we find an in-transit absorption of (8.0±5.7)%, in good agreement with previous studies. These new constraints on the size of the exosphere strengthens the evaporation scenario. Full details are provided in Ehrenreich et al. (2008).
Hazard function given a functional variable: Non-parametric estimation under strong mixing conditions

We study here the kernel type, non-parametric estimation of the conditional hazard function, based on a sample of functional dependent data. The almost complete convergence of the conditional hazard estimate is easily derived using the properties referred by Ferraty et al for the conditional distribution and conditional density estimates. The asymptotic bias and variances of the three estimates (conditional density, distribution and hazard) are calculated and compared with the results obtained in p-dimensional non-parametric kernel estimation. The asymptotic normality is established for the three mentioned estimates. Finally, an application to an earthquake data set is made.
Reliable Delaunay-based mesh generation and mesh improvement

The paper describes a method for generating triangulations of two-dimensional domains. Firstly, a description is given of a reliable algorithm that creates a constrained Delaunay triangulation for a multiply-connected planer domain, without performing any explicit visibility computations. Then, several techniques to improve an existing triangulation are discussed. It turned out that a new variant of mesh relaxation was most effective in improving an existing triangulation. Several examples are included to illustrate the method's overall behaviour.
Maillet type theorem for nonlinear partial differential equations and Newton polygons

It is known that the formal solution to an equation of non-Kowalevski type is divergent in general. To this divergent solution it is important to evaluate the rate of divergence or the Gevrey order, and such a result is often called a Maillet type theorem. In this paper the Maillet type theorem is proved for divergent solutions to singular partial di¤erential equations of non-Kowalevski type, and it is shown that the Gevrey order is characterized by a Newton polygon associated with an equation. In order to prove our results the majorant method is e¤ectively employed.
Hydrodynamics of Fishlike Swimming

Interest in novel forms of marine propulsion and maneuvering has sparked a number of studies on unsteadily operating propulsors. We review recent experimental and theoretical work identifying the principal mechanism for producing propulsive and transient forces in oscillating flexible bodies and fins in water, the formation and control of large-scale vortices. Connection with studies on live fish is made, explaining the observed outstanding fish agility.
Light amplification in DNA-surfactant complex films stained by hemicyanine dye with immersion method

Organic dye-doped deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-surfactant complex films for dye lasers were fabricated by immersing non-doped complex films into a solution of hemicyanine dye. The threshold pumping intensity for amplified spontaneous emission was found to be 0.3 mJ/cm2, the value was one order smaller than those obtained for the samples made by conventional methods. Durability under pumping was also significantly improved and laser oscillation under optical excitation was observed. Dye concentration of the final products was estimated to be 10 wt% and there were no deformation of the samples, suggesting that dye molecules in the complex did not necessarily intercalate in DNA strand but replace with surfactant molecules.
Thermo-electromechanical response of a ferroelectric perovskite from molecular dynamics simulations

Based on a shell model potential obtained from first principles calculations, we performed molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the electromechanical response of a ferroelectric perovskite under finite temperature and electric field. We characterize the switching paths by which a homogeneous polarization reorientation process would take place in the prototypical ferroelectric PbTiO(3). We observe the hysteresis loop and butterfly electric-strain curve and obtain finite temperature piezoelectric coefficients in good agreement with experiments. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3646377]
Insulin Autoimmune Syndrome: A Systematic Review

Insulin autoimmune syndrome (IAS) is a rare endocrine disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of severe hypoglycemia, markedly elevated serum insulin, and positive insulin autoantibodies. In recent years, various countries have reported it one after another. It can be seen that we must pay attention to this disease. The diagnosis of IAS is challenging, requiring a careful workup aimed at excluding other causes of hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia. High levels of insulin autoantibodies are found in patients, and C-peptide is not parallel to insulin, which could be diagnostic. IAS is a self-limiting disease with a good prognosis. Its treatment mainly includes symptomatic supportive treatment, such as adjusting the diet and using acarbose and other drugs to delay the absorption of glucose to prevent hypoglycemia. For patients with severe symptoms, available treatments may include drugs that reduce pancreatic insulin secretion (such as somatostatin and diazoxide), immunosuppressants (glucocorticoids, zaprin, and rituximab), and even plasma exchange to remove autoantibodies from the body. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of the epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnosis and identification, and monitoring and treatment management of IAS.
Functorial relationships between lattice-valued topology and topological systems

This paper investigates functorial relationships between lattice-valued topology (arising from fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic) and topological systems (arising from topological and localic aspects of domains and finite observational logic in computer science). Two such relationships are embeddings from TopSys into Loc-Top, both having two fold significance: for computer science the significance is that TopSys is not topological over Set × Loc, yet Loc-Top is topological over Set × Loc; hence these embeddings can be used to construct in Loc-Top the unique initial [final] lifts of all forgetful functor structured sources [sinks] in TopSys; and for topology, the significance is that both embeddings generate anti-stratified topological spaces from ordinary topological spaces and spatial locales rewritten as topological systems, thus justifying the current structural axioms of Loc-Top and lattice-valued topology (which include all anti-stratified, non-stratified, and stratified spaces).
Solar Sail Trajectory Optimization for the Solar Polar Imager (SPI) Mission

The Solar Polar Imager (SPI) mission is one of several Sun-Earth Connection solar sail roadmap missions currently envisioned by NASA. A current SPI reference mission design is based on a 160 m x 160 m, 150 kg square solar sail assembly with a 250 kg spacecraft bus and a scientific payload of 50 kg (450 kg total mass), having a characteristic acceleration of 0.35 mm/s 2 . Using a conservative solar sail film temperature limit of 100°C to constrain the solar distance ("cold" mission scenario), our transfer trajectory to the SPI target orbit (circular orbit at 0.48 AU solar distance with 75 deg inclination) approaches the sun closer (to about 0.4 AU solar distance) than a current reference trajectory and therefore, exploiting the larger solar radiation pressure, takes - even with a lower hyperbolic excess energy for interplanetary insertion - only 6.4 instead of 6.7 years. For a higher sail temperature limit of 240°C ("hot" mission scenario), the optimal transfer trajectory approaches the sun much closer (to about 0.22 AU solar distance), resulting in an even shorter transfer duration of only 4.7 years. Based on this "hot" mission scenario, we perform several mission tradeoffs to gain a deeper insight into the trade space of the SPI mission: different sail temperature limits, different characteristic accelerations, different interplanetary insertion energies, and different sail degradation behaviors are investigated.
Anatomic Region of Cutaneous Melanoma Impacts Survival and Clinical Outcomes: A Population-Based Analysis

Simple Summary Despite the increasing incidence of melanoma in the United States, few studies have compared tumor and clinical characteristics of cutaneous melanoma by anatomic region with an analysis of survival outcomes. The goal of the current study was to determine how the anatomic region of a cutaneous melanoma affects an individual’s overall survival rate. In this cross-sectional study that included 178,892 cases, cutaneous melanoma of the head and neck region was associated with the greatest risk of death (HR 1.90 [95% CI, 1.85–1.96]) compared to other sites, a finding that suggests that anatomic site should be considered for inclusion in future editions of staging criteria to improve the overall management of patients diagnosed with cutaneous melanoma. Abstract Purpose: The objective was to determine the effects of the anatomic site of a cutaneous melanoma on the survival outcomes of diagnosed individuals. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) Database from 2004–2014 and included 178,892 cases of individuals diagnosed with cutaneous melanoma. Overall survival (OS) for each anatomic site as well as associated demographics, primary site, stage, and pathologic prognostic factors (Breslow’s depth of invasion (DOI), level of mitoses, and ulceration), were analyzed. Results: Lower extremity melanoma (LEM) was the most likely to have locoregional nodal spread, yet head and neck melanoma (HNM) was the most likely to present at the most advanced stage of disease (IV). Independent of other factors, HNM was associated with the greatest risk of death (HR 1.90 [95% CI, 1.85–1.96]) compared to other sites, and males experienced worse overall survival (OS) (HR 1.74 [95% CI, 1.70–1.78]) compared to females. The last and greatest risk of death is associated with LEM and HNM, respectively. Conclusion: Given these survival differences, consideration should be given to incorporating the primary site of melanoma into staging to ensure treatment is efficacious as possible.
Clinical Characteristic of Bloody Diarrhea in Under- Five Pediatric Inpatients

Background: Diarrhea is the most common cause of death in under-five children. Bloody diarrhea comprises around 10% of all cases of diarrhea and may lead to severe complications until death. This study examined the characteristics of bloody diarrhea in children under five years old in Dr. Soetomo General Hospital Surabaya from 2013 to 2017. Material and Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted using secondary data from Dr. Soetomo General Hospital's inpatients with bloody diarrhea from 2013 to 2017. Gender, age, nutritional status, clinical symptoms, degree of dehydration, and laboratory results were assessed, and the data were presented in percentage (%) Results: Fifty-six samples were included in this study. The main demographics were male (58,9%), aged 7-24 months (44,6%), and normal nutritional status (66,1%). Meanwhile, the most notable manifestations were stool mucous (55,3%), mild to moderate degree of dehydration (60,7%), and leukocytosis (62%). Eleven patients (39,2%) had temperatures ≥380C. Leukocytes were positive in 93.7% of the stools. Furthermore, amoeba was found in 46,8% of samples. The serum electrolyte result showed hyponatremia (18%) and hypokalaemia (15%). Conclusion: The primary demographics of bloody diarrhea in under-five children admitted to Dr. Soetomo General Hospital were males, 7-24 months of age, and with normal nutritional status. The most frequent manifestations were mucous in stool, mild to moderate dehydration, leucocytosis, as well as positive leucocytes and amoeba in the stool.
Exact Solution of Linear and Non-linear Goursat Problems

In this research paper, we applied the Adomian's decomposition method to determine the analytical exact solutions of linear and nonlinear Goursat problems which play very important part in applied and engineering sciences. The proposed technique is fully compatible with the complexity of these problems and obtained results are highly encouraging. Some examples with closed form solutions are studied in detail to further illustrate the proposed technique, and the results obtained indicate this approach is indeed practical and efficient. presence of small parameters in the differential equation, and provides the solution (or an approximation to it) as a sequence of iterates. The method does not require that the nonlinearities be differentiable with respect to the dependent variable and its derivatives. The Adomian's Decomposition Method has been shown to solve effectively, easily, and accurately a large class of linear and nonlinear problems, generally two or three iterations lead to high accurate solutions. The basic motivation of the present study is to extend the application of Adomian's decomposition method to linear and nonlinear Goursat problems.
The Instability of High Speed Jets

This paper provides a review of the stability characteristics of high speed jets. These characteristics not only play a role in the transition of jet flows to turbulence, in the traditional sense of hydrodynamic stability theory, but also are key to understanding the behavior of large scale turbulent structures in the jet. They are also an important component in understanding the noise radiation by high speed jets. The paper begins with the development of the linear stability equations and then reviews the classes of instability waves in a jet, modeled as a cylindrical vortex sheet. Finite shear layer thickness effects are then discussed. This includes a review of numerical methods for the solution of the stability equations. The effects of jet Mach number and temperature are then presented. Additional topics considered include, the effects of mean flow divergence, the effect of Reynolds number, and the effect of the jet's geometry. Finally, the nature of absolute instabilities in jet flows is described, both from an analytical viewpoint as well as applications.
Perturbed crystals in the kq representation. II. Orthonormal localized states

An orthonormal set of localized states for a crystal with a perturbation is developed. It includes the impurity problem, surface states, superlattices, and other perturbations. These localized states are used for deriving one-band effective Hamiltonians up to second order of the perturbation expansion. Relatively simple results for localized states and one-band Hamiltonians are obtained in the cases of wide and narrow energy-gap crystals. The orthonormal set of states that diagonalize the Hamiltonian is also used for deriving an expression for local charge densities in a perturbed crystal which can directly be compared with experiment.
Study Based on Gamification of Tests through Kahoot!™ and Reward Game Cards as an Innovative Tool in Physiotherapy Students: A Preliminary Study

Background: Kahoot! is an educational tool allowing teachers to create a series of gamified tests with the aim of reinforcing educational content, thus improving the teaching-learning process. The objective of this project is to evaluate the acquisition of content through gamified tests with Kahoot! and reward cards compared to the traditional teaching methodology (contents not reinforced). Methods: This Physiotherapy Teaching Innovation Project (PTIP) was carried out in four subjects of the Degree in Physiotherapy at the University of Jaén (Spain). The teachers responsible for each subject were instructed in the use of Kahoot! and reward cards. These teachers randomly selected the contents that were going to be reinforced with Kahoot! while the other 50% of the contents would not be reinforced. In the final exam of each subject, the results related to the reinforced contents were compared with those non-reinforced and the degree of satisfaction of the students with the experience was evaluated. Results: A total of 313 students participated in this PTIP. In all subjects, we determined a significant increase in the number of correct answers in an improvement range from 7% (95% CI 3.85 to 9.38) to more than 20% (95% CI 17.61 to 26.86) in favor of the questions that alluded to reinforced content using Kahoot! compared to the non-reinforced contents. More than 90% of the participants considered the use of Kahoot! useful and motivating. Our findings showed that Kahoot! motivated more than 65% of students to study daily. Conclusions: The students obtained better academic results in the questions related to contents reinforced with tests through Kahoot! and reward cards compared to those non-reinforced, showing that this methodology can be an effective tool to promote retention and content assimilation.