Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Serum Amylase and Lipase in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Association With Gastrointestinal Symptoms

Introduction: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common complication during pregnancy, with potential adverse effects on maternal and fetal health. Several studies have reported that in diabetic patients, both morphological and functional pathological mechanisms lead to exocrine pancreatic dysfunction. Pancreatic enzyme deficiency or dysfunction result in the inability to digest food properly, giving rise to a range of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. We hypothesized that pregnant women with GDM may also have deficiency of pancreatic enzymes, amylase and lipase, leading to persistent GI symptoms beyond the first trimester and impaired quality of life. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate serum amylase and lipase levels in pregnant women with GDM and association with GI symptoms. Understanding the relationship between GDM and exocrine pancreatic function may help identify novel therapeutic targets and improve the clinical management of GDM women with GI symptoms. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional comparative study included a total of 125 pregnant women in their third trimester, who were either diagnosed with diabetes (n = 25) or were healthy volunteers without diabetes (n = 100). A detailed history, including the presence or absence of GI symptoms and the type of symptoms, was recorded. Serum amylase and lipase levels were measured using enzyme kinetic assay. Data were coded and analysed. Results: GI symptoms were significantly more in GDM women than in normal pregnant women, and GDM women with GI symptoms had significantly lower levels of serum lipase and amylase than normal pregnant women with GI symptoms. Conclusion: The study suggests the importance of evaluating serum amylase and lipase in GDM women with GI symptoms, as they may be indicative of underlying pancreatic enzyme deficiency.
Prevalence of malocclusion in adolescents according to sex, caries experience, gingival bleeding and smile dissatisfaction

Objective: The propose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of malocclusion among adolescents and to assess the differences of this prevalence according to sex, experience of caries, gingival bleeding, and smile dissatisfaction. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 600 adolescents from 10 to 16 years old, who were identified and selected from public schools’ records. Intraoral and extraoral examinations were performed following World Health Organization recommendations and included: number of decayed, missing and filled teeth, presence of gingival bleeding, and occlusal condition. The latter was assessed based on information of Dental Aesthetic Index, and Foster and Hamilton Index, in addition to the evaluation of dental midline, facial and smile pleasantness according to Capelozza Filho classification. Smile dissatisfaction was also evaluated. Bivariate Poisson regression with robust variance was used to compare prevalence rates. Results: The prevalence of malocclusion, caries experience, gingival bleeding and smile dissatisfaction were 96.0%, 52.3%, 55.8%, and 49.4%, respectively. The prevalence of malocclusion was higher among adolescents with gingival bleeding. Statistically significant associations were noticed between crowding of the upper and lower anterior teeth and gingival bleeding, as well as among Class III molar relationship, deviation of the dental midline, anterior open bite, anterior crossbite, and caries experience. Smiles classified as acceptable or unpleasant were associated with dissatisfaction. Conclusion: These findings have evidenced a higher prevalence of malocclusion among adolescents and its association with caries experience, gingival bleeding, and smile dissatisfaction.
A Wearable Monitoring System and Multiindex Fusion Approach for Adaptability Assessment of Prosthetic Hands

Prosthetic hands hold significant potential in aiding amputees to regain their manipulative abilities, instill confidence, and improve their quality of life. Nonetheless, the lack of compatibility between prosthetic devices and residual limbs could lead to secondary injuries, such as skin pressure ulcers caused by prolonged high-pressure states and restricted upper limb movements while using. These issues contribute to a high device abandonment rate among individuals with disabilities. In this study, a wearable monitoring system was initially designed and presented. Subsequently, multiindicators comprising motion deviation (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\eta _{q}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>), pressure distribution (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\eta _{p}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>), and proximity to pain pressure (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\eta _{\bar P}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) were proposed, which were correspondingly derived from clinical criteria, pressure, and motion information. Then, a comprehensive assessment approach was proposed to evaluate the adaptability of prosthetic hands. Moreover, the proposed adaptability assessment approach based on the wearable monitoring system underwent testing on seven forearm amputees conducted under three loading conditions. The results were compared with a standard clinical scale, demonstrating a favorable evaluation performance (RMSE = 3.30, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$R^{2} = 0.6019$ </tex-math></inline-formula>). This research work enables quantitative adaptability evaluation of prosthetic hands and has the potential to aid in the optimization of prosthetic design.
The effect of self-directed online metacognitive listening practice on Chinese EFL learners' listening ability, metacognition, and self-efficacy

Research into metacognitive listening instruction under the Metacognitive Pedagogical Cycle (MPC) has been growing in recent decades, but its effects on L2 listening comprehension, metacognitive awareness, and self-efficacy remain inconclusive. In this mixed-method study, we developed a self-directed online listening practice based on the MPC and investigated its effects on 89 Chinese intermediate EFL learners over 14 weeks. Learners were assigned to either an experimental group, which used the online metacognitive listening practice, or a control group, which used the traditional listening practice without stressing metacognitive awareness. Multiple data sources (listening tests, questionnaires, reflective notes, and interviews) were used to assess learners' listening comprehension, metacognitive awareness, and listening self-efficacy. Results showed that online metacognitive listening practice significantly improved the learners' listening comprehension, but there was little evidence that it increased metacognitive awareness or listening self-efficacy. This study suggests that deploying online listening practice under MPC is a more effective way to improve L2 learners' listening comprehension than traditional listening practice. However, the task-setting of MPC and the task-dependence of self-efficacy may constrain the development of some factors of metacognitive awareness and self-efficacy.
Effects of acclimation temperature and exposure time on the scope for growth of the blackfoot Pāua (Haliotis iris)

Context . Climate change and increased seawater temperatures can greatly affect physiological processes and growth of marine ectotherms, including the blackfoot haliotid, P¯aua ( Haliotis iris ). Scope for growth (SFG) is a laboratory-derived measure of the energy available for growth but this has not been examined in P¯ aua and their aua. Aims . To measure SFG of seasonally collected P¯ haemolymph parameters at constant acclimation temperatures of 12, 15, 18 and 21 ° C for 28 days. Methods . Energy available for growth was measured from kelp food and losses due to respiration and ammonia excretion calculated on Days 1, 14, 21 and 28 of acclimation. Haemolymph parameters were also measured. Key results . After 3 days of acclimation, SFG was highly variable. Following 2 weeks of acclimation, SFG was positive for all temperatures. Respiration and excretion energies depended on both acclimation temperature and time. Haemolymph parameters were affected by acclimation temperature. Conclusion . P¯aua have limited ability to acclimate to a temperature 21 ° C suggesting that they would not grow effectively at this temperature. Implications . This research suggests that adult P¯aua can be adversely affected by increased seawater temperature, resulting from climate change and this could affect their future growth and distribution.
EDL-Det: A Robust TTS Synthesis Detector Using VGG19-Based YAMNet and Ensemble Learning Block

Various audio deep fake synthesis algorithms exist, such as deep voice, tacotron, fastspeech, and imitation techniques. Despite the existence of various spoofing speech detectors, they are not ready to distinguish unseen audio samples with high precision. In this study, we suggest a robust model, namely an Ensemble Deep Learning Detector (EDL-Det), to detect text-to-speech (TTS) and categorize it into spoofed and bonafide classes. Our proposed model is an improved method based on Yet Another Multi-scale Convolutional Neural Network (YAMNet) employing VGG19 as a base network combined with two other deep learning(DL) techniques. Our proposed system effectively analyzes the audio to extract better artifacts. We have added an ensemble learning block that consists of ResNet50 and InceptionNetv2. First, we convert speech into mel-spectrograms that consist of time-frequency representations. Second, we train our model using the ASVspoof-2019 dataset. Ultimately, we classified the audios, transforming them into mel-spectrograms using our trained binary classifier and a majority voting scheme by three networks. Due to ensemble architecture, our proposed model effectively extracts the most representative features from the mel-spectrograms. Furthermore, we have performed extensive experiments to assess the performance of the suggested model using the ASVspoof 2019 corpus. Additionally, our proposed model is robust enough to identify the unseen spoofed audios and accurately classify the attacks based on cloning algorithms.
Sand flux estimation during a sand-dust storm at Tazhong area of Taklimakan Desert, China

In this paper, the sand transport during a sand-dust storm in the Tazhong area of the central Taklimakan Desert from 11:29 to 23:56 on July 19, 2008 was observed and measured in real time. The sand flux at Tazhong was estimated using sand transport empirical formulas. The critical friction velocity at Tazhong was 0.24 m/s and the functional relation between the wind speed and sediment discharge at the height of 2 m was established. It was also found that the calculated values by Lettau's sediment discharge formula were close to those of the instrument measurements. The horizontal sand flux and the vertical sand flux during this sand-dust storm at Tazhong were respectively 258.67×10 kg/(m·s) and 40.07×10 kg/(m·s).
Amivantamab Compared with Real-World Physician’s Choice after Platinum-Based Therapy from a Pan-European Chart Review of Patients with Lung Cancer and Activating EGFR Exon 20 Insertion Mutations

Simple Summary Patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor gene (EGFR) Exon 20 insertion mutations (Exon20ins) used to have poor outcomes after the failure of platinum-based therapies. Amivantamab, a drug that targets two proteins involved in NSCLC (EGFR/MET), was developed and studied in the CHRYSALIS clinical trial. This paper summarizes an analysis comparing outcomes for amivantamab from CHRYSALIS to the outcomes for a mix of treatments that were used in real-world clinical practice (real-world physician’s choice [RWPC]). RWPC data were collected from hospitals across Europe in the CATERPILLAR real-world evidence (RWE) study. The outcomes of 114 patients from CHRYSALIS were compared to 55 lines of treatment (LOTs) from CATERPILLAR-RWE, accounting for differences in patient characteristics between the two populations. Overall, the results show that amivantamab was at least twice as good as RWPC for platinum pre-treated patients in terms of tumor response and survival rates. Abstract Patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor gene (EGFR) Exon 20 insertions (Exon20ins) at the second line and beyond (2L+) have an unmet need for new treatment. Amivantamab, a bispecific EGFR- and MET-targeted antibody, demonstrated efficacy in this setting in the phase 1b, open-label CHRYSALIS trial (NCT02609776). The primary objective was to compare the efficacy of amivantamab to the choices made by real-world physicians (RWPC) using an external control cohort from the real-world evidence (RWE) chart review study, CATERPILLAR-RWE. Adjustment was conducted to address differences in prognostic variables between cohorts using inverse probability weighting (IPW) and covariate adjustments based on multivariable regression. In total, 114 patients from CHRYSALIS were compared for 55 lines of therapy from CATERPILLAR-RWE. Baseline characteristics were comparable between the amivantamab and IPW-weighted RWPC cohorts. For amivantamab versus RWPC using IPW adjustment, the response rate ratio for the overall response was 2.14 (p = 0.0181), and the progression-free survival (PFS), time-to-next-treatment (TTNT) and overall survival (OS) hazard ratios (HRs) were 0.42 (p < 0.0001), 0.47 (p = 0.0063) and 0.48 (p = 0.0207), respectively. These analyses provide evidence of clinical and statistical benefits across multiple outcomes and adjustment methods, of amivantamab in platinum pre-treated patients with advanced NSCLC harboring EGFR Exon20ins. These results confirm earlier comparisons versus pooled national registry data.
A Re-Evaluation of African Swine Fever Genotypes Based on p72 Sequences Reveals the Existence of Only Six Distinct p72 Groups

The African swine fever virus (ASFV) is currently causing a world-wide pandemic of a highly lethal disease in domestic swine and wild boar. Currently, recombinant ASF live-attenuated vaccines based on a genotype II virus strain are commercially available in Vietnam. With 25 reported ASFV genotypes in the literature, it is important to understand the molecular basis and usefulness of ASFV genotyping, as well as the true significance of genotypes in the epidemiology, transmission, evolution, control, and prevention of ASFV. Historically, genotyping of ASFV was used for the epidemiological tracking of the disease and was based on the analysis of small fragments that represent less than 1% of the viral genome. The predominant method for genotyping ASFV relies on the sequencing of a fragment within the gene encoding the structural p72 protein. Genotype assignment has been accomplished through automated phylogenetic trees or by comparing the target sequence to the most closely related genotyped p72 gene. To evaluate its appropriateness for the classification of genotypes by p72, we reanalyzed all available genomic data for ASFV. We conclude that the majority of p72-based genotypes, when initially created, were neither identified under any specific methodological criteria nor correctly compared with the already existing ASFV genotypes. Based on our analysis of the p72 protein sequences, we propose that the current twenty-five genotypes, created exclusively based on the p72 sequence, should be reduced to only six genotypes. To help differentiate between the new and old genotype classification systems, we propose that Arabic numerals (1, 2, 8, 9, 15, and 23) be used instead of the previously used Roman numerals. Furthermore, we discuss the usefulness of genotyping ASFV isolates based only on the p72 gene sequence.
Understanding the behavioral intentions to consume ethnic food in the country of origin after experiencing local ethnic cuisines

Purpose – The purpose of the study is to investigate the role of cosmopolitan and ethnocentric behaviour of ethnic food consumer on the intention to consume ethnic food in country of origin (ICEC). Study aims to explain the consumption patterns of ethnic food consumers with the mediating role of utilitarian/hedonic values and perceived country image (PCI). In addition, the study explained consumption behavior with the moderating effect of food neophilia (FNP). Methodology/Design/Approach: Data were gathered from 969 respondents visited Chinese, Japanese, Italian, and Thai cuisines. Responses regarding experiences at ethnic cuisine were gathered through self-administrative survey. Findings: The results of the study showed a positive effect of consumer cosmopolitanism on ICEC and a negative effect of ethnocentric behavior on ICEC. Further study analyzed the mediating effect of hedonic and utilitarian values. The results showed that hedonic and utilitarian values significantly mediated the effect of cosmopolitanism/ethnocentrism on the ICEC. Moreover, PCI also showed significant serial mediation. The results indicate that high levels of FNP lead to high levels of ICEC. The originality of the research – The study presented a comprehensive model for analyzing the behavioral intentions of ethnic food consumers by combining social identity theory, hedonic value, and utilitarian value in culinary tourism.
Effect of high-dose intravenous vitamin C therapy on the prognosis in patients with moderately severe and severe acute pancreatitis: protocol of a prospective, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study

Introduction Acute pancreatitis is a common gastrointestinal disease. The mortality of patients affected by severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) remains high. It is unclear whether high-dose intravenous vitamin C (HDIVC) therapy could improve the prognosis of these patients. The current prospective, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study will explore the effect of high-dose intravenous vitamin C therapy on the prognosis in patients with moderately severe and severe acute pancreatitis. Methods and design A total of 418 participants with moderately severe and severe acute pancreatitis who meet the eligible criteria will be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive treatment with HDIVC (200 mg/kg/24 h) or placebo (saline) for a period of 7 days. The primary outcome is 28-day mortality in these patients. The secondary outcomes include organ functions and interventions, laboratory tests, healthcare, and 90-day mortality. Ethics and dissemination This protocol was approved by the institutional ethics board of the Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China (Registration Number: 2019-90). The report of the study will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at conferences, both nationally and internationally. Clinical trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR1900022022). Version 1.5.
Development of a generalised least squares based quantile regression technique for design flood estimation in Victoria

Design flood estimation in small to medium sized ungauged catchments is frequently required in hydrologic analysis and design and is of notable economic significance. Australian Rainfall and Runoff (ARR) 1987 recommends the Probabilistic Rational Method for general use in south-east Australia. However, there have been recent developments that show significant potential to provide more meaningful and accurate design flood estimation in small to medium sized ungauged catchments. These include the L moments based index flood method and a range of quantile regression techniques. This paper focuses on quantile regression techniques and compares two methods: ordinary least squares (OLS) and generalised least squares (GLS) based regression techniques. The GLS based regression procedure accounts for the varying sampling error and model error in the regional model, thus one would expect more accurate flood quantile estimation by this method. This study uses data from 133 catchments in the state of Victoria to develop prediction equations involving readily obtainable catchment characteristics data. The GLS regression procedure is explored further by carrying out a 4-stage generalised least squares analysis where the development of the prediction equations is based on relating hydrological statistics such as mean flows, standard deviations, skewness and flow quantiles to catchment characteristics. The paper also presents the validation of the two techniques by carrying out a split sample validation on a set of independent test catchments. The results show that both the GLS and OLS methods can provide very reasonable quantile estimates for ungauged catchments in Victoria. However, based on the average variance of prediction and standard error of estimate, GLS method is preferable to OLS method.
Knowledge-Aided Momentum Contrastive Learning for Remote-Sensing Image Text Retrieval

Remote-sensing image–text retrieval (RSITR) has attracted widespread attention due to its great potential for rapid information mining ability on remote-sensing images. Although significant progress has been achieved, existing methods typically overlook the challenge posed by the extremely analogous descriptions, where the subtle differences remain largely unexploited or, in some cases, are entirely disregarded. To address the limitation, we propose a knowledge-aided momentum contrastive learning (KAMCL) method for RSITR. Specifically, we propose a novel knowledge-aided learning (KAL) framework, including knowledge initialization, construction, filtration, and alignment operations, which aims at providing valuable concepts and learning discriminative representations. On this basis, we integrate momentum contrastive learning (MCL) to promote the capture of key concepts within the representation via expanding the scale of negative sample pairs. Moreover, we designed a hierarchical aggregator (HA) module to better capture the multilevel information from remote-sensing images. Finally, we introduce an innovative two-step training strategy designed to effectively harness the synergy among concepts and leverage their respective functionalities. Extensive experiments conducted on the three public datasets showcase the remarkable performance of our approach in terms of retrieval accuracy and computational efficiency. For instance, compared with the existing state-of-the-art method, our method exhibits notable performance improvements of 2.65% on the RSICD dataset, simultaneously achieving improvements in inference efficiency by 48%. Our source code will be released at https://github.com/mcx-mcx/KAMCL.
Application of the Variational Iteration Method for the time-fractional Kaup-Kupershmidt Equation and the Boussinesq-Burger equation

The variational iteration method is used to deal with linear and nonlinear differential equations. The main characteristics of the method lie in its flexibility and ability to accurately and easily solve nonlinear equations. In this work, a general framework is presented for a variational iteration method for the analytical treatment of partial differential equations in fluid mechanics. The Caputo sense is used to describe fractional derivatives. The time-fractional Kaup-Kupershmidt (KK) equation is investigated, as it is the solution of the system of partial differential equations via the Boussinesq-Burger equation. By comparing the results that are obtained by the variational iteration method with those obtained by the two-dimensional Legendre multiwavelet, the optimal homotopy asymptotic method (OHAM), the q-homotopy analysis transform method, the Laplace Adomian Decomposition Method, and the homotopy perturbation method, the first method proved to be very effective and convenient. The main methodology in this work is anticipated to be applied to various fractional calculus, linear, and nonlinear problems.