Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Challenges in the Current Management of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is complicated. Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system is widely used in risk stratifying HCC. It is different from anatomic staging (TNM) used in other cancers and is based on the liver function (Child-Pugh Score) and performance status at diagnosis along with tumor characteristics like size/number of primary, vascular invasion, and distant metastasis. Guidelines proposed by various liver societies help the treating physician select first-line therapy, but there are many limitations to them. Lack of reliable biomarkers that give objective information to monitor the response other than alpha-fetoprotein or radiological response is hurting the management strategies. There are no ideal predictors for recurrence and residual microscopic disease, especially after locoregional therapy (LRT) like surgical resection, ablation, transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), transarterial radioembolization (TARE), and stereotactic radiation therapy (SBRT). Also, there is no convincing evidence to use adjunct therapy along with LRT in localized HCC. There is a need to identify the subset of HCC that would benefit from peri-procedural therapy. Recommendations for treating advanced HCC with macrovascular invasion is not uniform across the guidelines. Some propose LRT (TACE and/or TARE) or recommend systemic therapy only like tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (TKI) or Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). A considerable portion of patients have poor liver function (Child-Pugh Score C) at diagnosis. In this era of medicine, we should give them options other than supportive care, but unfortunately, it is the preferred option. This population needs special attention in trials. In current practice, there only 2-3 classes of drugs available like TKI, ICI, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors. There is a need to explore more classes of liver-friendly drugs in treating HCC, and the enrolment of patients in clinical trials must be advised in the guidelines.
Vacuum Assisted Closure Versus Conventional Surgical Techniques in Treatment of Post-Sternotomy Mediastinitis

Background: In cardiac surgery patients, post-sternotomy mediastinitis, also known as deep sternal wound infection (DSWI), is a major cause of postoperative morbidity and mortality. Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), also known as vacuum assisted closure (VAC) dressing, is one therapeutic alternative that offers the following advantages: regulation of fluid drainage, reduction of local edema, and bacterial load reduction, and early development of granulation tissue by angiogenic stimulation. By acting topically with a low complication rate, offering greater comfort to the medical team and patient, and reducing hospitalization time, antibiotic usage, and dressing changes, this therapy has become an important and efficient method for fighting infection in complex wounds. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness and clinical outcome of vacuum‐assisted closure (VAC) therapy in the treatment of post-sternotomy mediastinitis in comparison with conventional treatment. Patients and methods: This study was conducted in National Heart Institute (NHI), Egypt. Patients were hospitalized from March 2019 to March 2020. It included patients with post-sternotomy mediastinitis treated with conventional therapy and VAC divided in two groups each group contained 30 patients. Results: The duration of VAC therapy was 7.42±2.23 days. Mean hospital stay after VAC therapy was 12.18±1.92 days. Twenty-two (92%) patients were treated successfully. At the end of VAC therapy, the mean reduction in wound size was 31.7%. The mean granulation tissue formation was 59%. Conclusion: VAC is a safe, reliable, and relatively new option for the treatment of DSWI after cardiac surgery. VAC is an alternative to conventional treatment in wound healing strategy in post-sternotomy mediastinitis.
Design and Analysis of Dual Mover Multi-Tooth Permanent Magnet Flux Switching Machine for Ropeless Elevator Applications

A dual mover yokeless multi-tooth (DMYMT) permanent magnet flux switching motor (PM-FSM) design is presented in this article for ropeless elevator applications. The excitation sources, including a field winding and permanent magnet, are on the short mover in the proposed design structure, whereas the stator is a simple slotted iron core, thus reducing the vertical transportation system cost. The operational principle of the proposed DMYMT in PM-FSM is introduced. The proposed dual mover yokeless multi-tooth Permanent Magnet Flux Switching Motor is analyzed and compared for various performance parameters in a Finite Element Analysis package. The proposed machine has high thrust force and cost-effectiveness compared to conventional dual permanent magnet motor. Finally, this paper also develops an analytical model for the proposed structure, validated by comparing it with Finite Element Analysis simulation results. Results show good agreement between analytical prediction and Finite Element Analysis results.
Endocrine Responses to Sport-Related Brain Injury in Female Athletes: A Narrative Review and a Call for Action

Sport-related brain injury (SRBI) occurs when a blow to the head causes the brain to move back and forth in the skull, and can lead to neuroendocrine dysfunction. Research has shown that males and females experience and recover from SRBI differently, yet most of what is known regarding diagnosis, treatment, and recovery of SRBI is based on male normative data even though females meet or exceed incidence numbers of SRBIs compared to those of males. Females also have been known to have worse outcomes and a greater number of symptoms following SRBI than males. Research is limited as to why females have worse outcomes, but sex hormones have been suggested as a potential reason. SRBI may cause a dysregulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal (HPG) axis, which is responsible for regulating the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone. Initial research has shown that SRBI may suppress estrogen and progesterone, and the concentration of these sex hormones could be indicative of injury severity and recovery trajectory. This review discusses the sex-specific differences in SRBI and also the future direction of research that is needed in order to identify the repercussions of SRBIs for female athletes, which will eventually lead to better clinical treatment, sideline care, and recovery profiles.
Involvement of the Protein Ras Homolog Enriched in the Striatum, Rhes, in Dopaminergic Neurons Degeneration: Link to Parkison’s Disease

Rhes is one of the most interesting proteins regulated by thyroid hormones that, through the inhibition of the striatal cAMP/PKA pathway, acts as a modulator of dopamine neurotransmission. It is expressed at high levels in the dorsal striatum, with a medial-to-lateral expression gradient reflecting that of both dopamine D2 and adenosine A2A receptors. Rhes is also present in the hippocampus, cerebral cortex, olfactory tubercle and bulb, substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) and ventral tegmental area of the rodent brain. In line with Rhes-dependent regulation of dopaminergic transmission, several data showed that lack of Rhes enhanced cocaine and amphetamine-induced motor stimulation in mice. Previous studies showed that pharmacological depletion of dopamine significantly reduces Rhes mRNA levels in rodents, non-human primates and Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, suggesting a link between dopaminergic innervation and physiological Rhes mRNA expression. Rhes protein binds to and activates striatal mTORC1, and modulates L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in PD rodent models. Finally, Rhes is involved in the survival of mouse midbrain dopaminergic neurons of SNc, thus pointing towards a Rhesdependent modulation of autophagy and mitophagy processes, and encouraging further investigations about mechanisms underlying dysfunctions of the nigrostriatal system.
Mangrove and Saltmarsh Distribution Mapping and Land Cover Change Assessment for South-Eastern Australia from 1991 to 2015

Coastal wetland ecosystems, such as saltmarsh and mangroves, provide a wide range of important ecological and socio-economic services. A good understanding of the spatial and temporal distribution of these ecosystems is critical to maximising the benefits from restoration and conservation projects. We mapped mangrove and saltmarsh ecosystem transitions from 1991 to 2015 in south-eastern Australia, using remotely sensed Landsat data and a Random Forest classification. Our classification results were improved by the addition of two physical variables (Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM), and Distance to Water). We also provide evidence that the addition of post-classification, spatial and temporal, filters improve overall accuracy of coastal wetlands detection by up to 16%. Mangrove and saltmarsh maps produced in this study had an overall User Accuracy of 0.82–0.95 and 0.81–0.87 and an overall Producer Accuracy of 0.71–0.88 and 0.24–0.87 for mangrove and saltmarsh, respectively. We found that mangrove ecosystems in south-eastern Australia have lost an area of 1148 ha (7.6%), whilst saltmarsh experienced an overall increase in coverage of 4157 ha (20.3%) over this 24-year period. The maps developed in this study allow local managers to quantify persistence, gains, and losses of coastal wetlands in south-eastern Australia.
An efficient way to use MS-CLEAN associated with Shannon's entropy

This article covers deconvolution methods in the context of radio astronomical images. A new formulation is proposed to deal with negative brightness, deconvoluting separately the positive and negative brightness of the sky. The positive brightness is physically possible, but negative brightness is a degradation product. At the same time, the paper presents Shannon’s entropy’s behaviour in the context of the Multi-Scale CLEAN (MS-CLEAN) algorithm, deﬁning the measured brightness as information in the scope of Shannon’s entropy. The knowledge acquired is used in an example of information monitoring at scales, which automatically reduces the search space of MS-CLEAN, and reduces the computational cost. The proposed algorithm, called Relevant Component Multi-Scale CLEAN (RC-CLEAN), can be up to 4 times faster than the classic MS-CLEAN without prejudice to the identiﬁcation of structures and noise reduction. Here, Structural Similarity Index ( SSIM ) and Peak Signal to Noise Ratio ( PSNR ) used to quantify the results, respectively, showed the same quality for the SSIM and gains of up to 11 dB for the PSNR . RC-CLEAN also shows a result similar to that obtained by the standard software of large astronomical laboratories using real data.
OIL PRICE VOLATILITY AND MACROECONOMIC PERFORMANCE IN NONOIL EXPORTING COUNTRIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

This paper examines the impact of oil price volatility on macroeconomic performance in fourteen non-oil exporting Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) economies using panel ARDL model for the period 1980-2015. It also looks at the channels through which oil price volatility transmit to the three major sectors of their economies. The panel ARDL estimate indicates how persistent oil price volatility prevailed on the economy by measuring the short run and long run effects. The result shows that economic activity and sectors, respond very differently to oil price volatility depending on the time period whether short term or long term. In particular, oil price volatility has a negative effect on the macroeconomy in the short run but the effect becomes positive in the long run. The result also indicates that oil price volatility dampens the agricultural sector but improves the activities in the manufacturing and services sectors. The results further show that oil price volatility affects the exchange rate and interest rate channels negatively but positively through the inflation channel. The paper therefore shed some light on how the policy makers of these economies can use controlling mechanisms to stabilise the macroeconomy, key sectors and the transmission channels.
Voltage Control-Based Ancillary Service Using Deep Reinforcement Learning

Ancillary services rely on operating reserves to support an uninterrupted electricity supply that meets demand. One of the hidden reserves of the grid is in thermostatically controlled loads. To efficiently exploit these reserves, a new realization of control of voltage in the allowable range to follow the set power reference is proposed. The proposed approach is based on the deep reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm. Double DQN is utilized because of the proven state-of-the-art level of performance in complex control tasks, native handling of continuous environment state variables, and model-free application of the trained DDQN to the real grid. To evaluate the deep RL control performance, the proposed method was compared with a classic proportional control of the voltage change according to the power reference setup. The solution was validated in setups with a different number of thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) in a feeder to show its generalization capabilities. In this article, the particularities of deep reinforcement learning application in the power system domain are discussed along with the results achieved by such an RL-powered demand response solution. The tuning of hyperparameters for the RL algorithm was performed to achieve the best performance of the double deep Q-network (DDQN) algorithm. In particular, the influence of a learning rate, a target network update step, network hidden layer size, batch size, and replay buffer size were assessed. The achieved performance is roughly two times better than the competing approach of optimal control selection within the considered time interval of the simulation. The decrease in deviation of the actual power consumption from the reference power profile is demonstrated. The benefit in costs is estimated for the presented voltage control-based ancillary service to show the potential impact.
Impacts of secondary ice production on Arctic mixed-phase clouds based on ARM observations and CAM6 single-column model simulations

Abstract. For decades, measured ice crystal number concentrations have been found to be orders of magnitude higher than measured ice-nucleating particle number concentrations in moderately cold clouds. This observed discrepancy reveals the existence of secondary ice production (SIP) in addition to the primary ice nucleation. However, the importance of SIP relative to primary ice nucleation remains highly unclear. Furthermore, most weather and climate models do not represent SIP processes well, leading to large biases in simulated cloud properties. This study demonstrates a first attempt to represent different SIP mechanisms (frozen raindrop shattering, ice–ice collisional breakup, and rime splintering) in a global climate model (GCM). The model is run in the single column mode to facilitate comparisons with the Department of Energy (DOE)'s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Mixed-Phase Arctic Cloud Experiment (M-PACE) observations. We show the important role of SIP in four types of clouds during M-PACE (i.e., multilayer, single-layer stratus, transition, and frontal clouds), with the maximum enhancement in ice crystal number concentrations up to 4 orders of magnitude in moderately supercooled clouds. We reveal that SIP is the dominant source of ice crystals near the cloud base for the long-lived Arctic single-layer mixed-phase clouds. The model with SIP improves the occurrence and phase partitioning of the mixed-phase clouds, reverses the vertical distribution pattern of ice number concentrations, and provides a better agreement with observations. The findings of this study highlight the importance of considering SIP in GCMs.
Comparison of Direct and Adjoint k and α-Eigenfunctions

Modal expansions based on k-eigenvalues and α-eigenvalues are commonly used in order to investigate the reactor behaviour, each with a distinct point of view: the former is related to fission generations, whereas the latter is related to time. Well-known Monte Carlo methods exist to compute the direct k or α fundamental eigenmodes, based on variants of the power iteration. The possibility of computing adjoint eigenfunctions in continuous-energy transport has been recently implemented and tested in the development version of TRIPOLI-4®, using a modified version of the Iterated Fission Probability (IFP) method for the adjoint α calculation. In this work we present a preliminary comparison of direct and adjoint k and α eigenmodes by Monte Carlo methods, for small deviations from criticality. When the reactor is exactly critical, i.e., for k0 = 1 or equivalently α0 = 0, the fundamental modes of both eigenfunction bases coincide, as expected on physical grounds. However, for non-critical systems the fundamental k and α eigenmodes show significant discrepancies.
Bacterial Colonization and Proliferation in Furcal Perforations Repaired by Different Materials: A Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy Study

Following furcal perforation, bacteria may colonize the defect and cause inflammation and periodontal destruction. This study used confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) to evaluate Enterococcus faecalis colonization and proliferation in furcal perforations repaired with different materials. Furcal perforations created in 55 extracted human mandibular molars were repaired using either MTA-Angelus, Endocem, or Biodentine and coronally subjected to E. faecalis suspension for 21 days. The specimens were then stained using a LIVE/DEAD Viability Kit and visualized by CLSM. The minimum and maximum depths of bacterial penetration into the dentinal tubules were 159 and 1790 μM, respectively, with a mean of 713 μM. There were significantly more live than dead bacteria inside the dentinal tubules (p = 0.0023) in all groups, and all three repair materials exhibited a similarly sized stained area (p = 0.083). However, there were significant differences in the numbers of dead bacteria at the circumference of the perforation defect (p = 0.0041), with a significantly higher ratio of live to dead bacteria in the MTA-Angelus group (p = 0.001). Following perforation repair, bacteria may colonize the interface between the repair material and dentin and may penetrate through the dentinal tubules. The type of repair material has a significant effect on the viability of the colonizing bacteria.
Planarians, a Neglected Component of Biodiversity in Groundwaters

Underground waters are still one of the most important sources of drinking water for the planet. Moreover, the fauna that inhabits these waters is still little known, even if it could be used as an effective bioindicator. Among cave invertebrates, planarians are strongly suited to be used as a study model to understand adaptations and trophic web features. Here, we show a systematic literature review that aims to investigate the studies done so far on groundwater-dwelling planarians. The research was done using Google Scholar and Web of Science databases. Using the key words “Planarian cave” and “Flatworm Cave” we found 2273 papers that our selection reduced to only 48, providing 113 usable observations on 107 different species of planarians from both groundwaters and springs. Among the most interesting results, it emerged that planarians are at the top of the food chain in two thirds of the reported caves, and in both groundwaters and springs they show a high variability of morphological adaptations to subterranean environments. This is a first attempt to review the phylogeny of the groundwater-dwelling planarias, focusing on the online literature. The paucity of information underlines that scarce attention has been dedicated to these animals. Further revisions, including old papers and books, not available online will be necessary.
Is teaching bad for your health? New evidence from biomarker data

ABSTRACT Teaching is a demanding job and research suggests that prolonged exposure to stress can affect physical health. While some studies have found that teachers do indeed report relatively poor physical health, the existing literature has important methodological limitations. In particular, no research exists comparing teachers to other occupations using objective biomarker data to measure health. We provide such evidence using two datasets: a representative, cross-sectional survey and a longitudinal convenience sample. We find no statistically significant overall association between teaching and physical health in any of our models or datasets. Teaching may therefore not be as bad for physical health as previously thought.
INTELLIGENCE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN MATHEMATICS AT UNIVERSITY LEVEL: A STUDY OF STUDENTS’ BELIEFS

Purpose of the study: The current study explored a possible association between students’ beliefs about their intelligence and academic achievement and compared gender differences in terms of these two variables. Methodology: The sample of the study comprised of four hundred and fifty (male and female) MSc mathematics students, randomly selected from seven public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. A scale developed by Dweck (1999) was adapted to collect data for this study. Academic achievement was measured through students’ previous examination scores. Findings: Findings of the study showed that male students believed more in ‘incremental’ intelligence and had significantly higher academic achievement as compared to their female counterparts. A significant relationship was found between students’ beliefs in ‘incremental’ intelligence and their academic achievement. Applications of the study: The study has important implications for teachers and academics in the subjects of science and mathematics. This study also has implications for policies planners and administration in terms of developing an understanding regarding the role of students’ beliefs about intelligence and academic achievement. The study could lead to new thinking about ways to work on the beliefs of students that could result in better academic achievement. The novelty of this study: The study could also lead to further studies regarding the role of gender in affecting incremental beliefs and academic achievement.
“It Seems like They Purposefully Try to Make as Many Kids Drop”: An Analysis of Logics and Mechanisms of Racial-Gendered Inequality in Introductory Mathematics Instruction

ABSTRACT Introductory mathematics courses, including precalculus and calculus, largely influence Black and Latin* students’ persistence and sense of belonging in STEM. However, prior research on instruction in these courses for advancing more equitable outcomes is limited. This paper presents findings from a study of 18 Black and Latina/o students’ perceptions of introductory mathematics instruction as a racialized and gendered experience at a large, public, and historically white research university. Sociological perspectives of logics and mechanisms of inequality guided an analysis of Black and Latina/o students’ group interview responses on how instruction perpetuates racial and gendered oppression. Two logics were identified: (i) Instructors hold more mathematical authority than students in classrooms; and (ii) Calculus coursework is used to weed out students ‘not cut out’ for STEM. These logics, coupled with the influence of broader sociohistorical forces (e.g., cultural scripts of behavior, stereotypes), gave rise to mechanisms of inequality through seemingly neutral instructional practices that reinforce racial-gendered distribution of classroom participation and STEM persistence. Our findings inform implications for STEM higher education researchers and mathematics faculty to foster socially affirming STEM instruction, especially in introductory courses.