Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Infiltrative Type I Collagen in the Treatment of Morton’s Neuroma: A Mini-Series

Morton’s neuroma (MN) is a compressive neuropathy of the common plantar digital nerve, most commonly affecting the third inter-digital space. The conservative approach is the first recommended treatment option. However, other different approaches have been proposed, offering several options of treatments, where, several degrees of efficacy and safety have been reported. We treated five consecutive patients affected by MN through three indirect ultrasound-guided injections of type I porcine collagen at weekly intervals. All patients were assessed before the treatment, after the treatment and up to 6 months after the last injection via AOFAS and VNS scores for pain, in which the function and pain were evaluated, respectively. In all patients, both analyzed variables progressively ameliorated, with benefits lasting until the last follow-up. The trend of the scores during the follow-up showed significant statistical differences. No side effects occurred. To our knowledge, this is the first study on injections of type I porcine collagen for the treatment of Morton’s neuroma. Future research is needed to confirm the positive trend achieved in this MN mini-series.
Effects of Acute Caffeine Ingestion on Cognitive Performance before and after Repeated Small-Sided Games in Professional Soccer Players: A Placebo-Controlled, Randomized Crossover Trial

Soccer is a team sport that requires players to process a significant amount of information quickly and respond with both speed and accuracy to the ever-changing demands of the game. As such, success in soccer depends not only on physical attributes but also on cognitive abilities such as perception and decision-making. The aim of the current study was to investigate the acute effects of caffeine ingestion on Stroop test performance before and after repeated small-sided games (SSG) in professional soccer players. Twelve professional male soccer players (29 ± 4.1 years; 78.1 ± 7.7 kg body mass) participated in this study. A randomized crossover double-blind placebo-controlled trial was used. Caffeine (5 mg.kg−1) or a placebo was ingested 45 min before a protocol consisting of five 5 min SSG with 1 min rest intervals. A computerized version of the colour Stroop test was completed immediately before and after the exercise protocol. During the Stroop test, words appeared on the computer screen in three different ways: (i) neutral words (neutral condition); (ii) correspondent colour (i.e., “red” painted in red; congruent condition), or; (iii) different colour (i.e., “red” painted in green; incongruent condition). The incongruent condition aimed to cause the interference effect, as the colour and the word did not match. Ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were assessed after each SSG. RPE increased during the five sets of the SSG protocol (p < 0.001), without differences between the caffeine and placebo trials. The soccer-specific exercise protocol promoted a faster response during the Stroop test (two-way ANOVA main effect for SSG protocol: p < 0.05), with no differences in accuracy (p > 0.05). Caffeine ingestion resulted in slower reaction time during the Stroop test during the congruent and neutral trials but not during the incongruent trial (two-way ANOVA main effect for supplementation: p = 0.009, p = 0.045, and p = 0.071, respectively). Accuracy was lower in the caffeine trial in congruent and incongruent trials (p < 0.05 caffeine vs. placebo both on the pre- and post-SSG protocol). In conclusion, a soccer-specific exercise protocol improved the Stroop test performance in professional soccer players, but acute caffeine ingestion (5 mg.kg−1) was detrimental.
CLUE: Systems Support for Knowledge Transfer in Collaborative Learning With Neural Nets

For highly distributed environments such as edge computing, collaborative learning approaches eschew the dependence on a global, shared model, in favor of models tailored for each location. Creating tailored models for individual learning contexts reduces the amount of data transfer, while collaboration among peers provides acceptable model performance. Collaboration assumes, however, the availability of knowledge transfer mechanisms, which are not trivial for deep learning models where knowledge isn't easily attributed to precise model slices. We present CLUE – a framework that facilitates knowledge transfer for neural networks. CLUE provides new system support for dynamically extracting significant parameters from a helper node's neural network, and uses this with a multi-model boosting-based approach to improve the predictive performance of the target node. The evaluation of CLUE with different PyTorch and TensorFlow neural network models demonstrates that its knowledge transfer mechanism improves by up to <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$3.5\times$</tex-math><alternatives><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mn>3</mml:mn><mml:mo>. </mml:mo><mml:mn>5</mml:mn><mml:mo>×</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:math><inline-graphic xlink:href="daga-ieq1-3294490.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula> how quickly a model adapts to changes, compared to learning in isolation, while affording up to several magnitudes reduction in data movement costs compared to federated learning.
Clinical Evaluation of Different Techniques of Gingival Depigmentation

Purpose: The current study aimed to assess the difference in the clinical outcome of the removal of gingival hyperpigmentation and patient satisfaction of different techniques used for gingival depigmentation, namely; scalpel surgical technique, laser therapy, and vitamin C injection. Subject and methods: A total of thirty patients with gingival hyperpigmentation were included in this study. They were randomly divided into three equivalent groups to be managed with different gingival depigmentation techniques. Group I (control group; n = 10) involved patients treated with the scalpel surgical technique using scalpel 15. Group II (test group 1; n = 10) involved patients treated with diode laser. Group III (test group 2; n = 10) involved patients treated through Ascorbic acid injections. All patients were followed up with for 3 months. Clinically, pain was evaluated for each patient by using visual analog scale (VAS), Calculation of surface area of gingival pigmentation and re-pigmentation was assessed. Calculation of darkness value of gingiva using Image J intensity was assessed. Results: Laser and Ascorbic acid groups showed less pain at the surgical site and with the follow up, all three groups showed no sign of re-pigmentation after 3 months. Conclusion: The aesthetic effects of these three alternative treatments were outstanding and comparable, according to the current study with significant difference statically in pain perception, intensity darkness value and insignificant difference statically in re-pigmentation after 3 months follow up.
Effect of support based on family centered empowerment model on care burden in family caregivers of patients with multiple sclerosis

Introduction Family caregivers of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are at risk of care burden that may lead to a detrimental effect on their quality of life (QoL), physical and mental well-being. This study aimed to determine the effect of the family-centered empowerment model (FCEM) on the care burden of caregivers of patients with MS. Methods This quasi-experimental study was conducted using convenience sampling on 60 caregivers of patients referring to the Multiple Sclerosis Clinic in Ghaem Hospital, Mashhad, Iran. The participants were assigned to FCEM and control groups based on the days they were referred to the MS clinic. Data collection tools included the Zarit Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI), completed in the intervention and control groups before and 1 month after the intervention. The support based on FCEM was provided during eight 45-60-min sessions, and the control group received the medical center’s routine training. Data were analyzed by Chi-square, independent t-test, analysis of covariance, and repeated measure tests. Results The results of the present study showed that all demographic characteristics were homogeneous at the baseline. Before the intervention, no significant difference was observed between the two groups regarding mean scores of care burden. Based on the repeated measure test, there was no significant treatment and time interaction in changes in care burden. Conclusion The FCEM has no significant effect in alleviating the care burden. It is recommended to observe the necessary considerations regarding the context of this type of intervention and to carry out further investigations in different intervals.
Characterisation of the transverse emittance of laser-wakefield-accelerated electrons

The experiments conducted for this thesis study aspects of the transport and characterisation of laser-wake eld-accelerated (LWFA) electrons. By propagating a highintensity laser pulse through a plasma, plasma waves with electric elds of the order of 100 GV/m are excited. These elds are three to four orders of magnitude stronger than those generated by radio-frequency cavities commonly used at conventional accelerator facilities such as the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. This technology therefore allows a corresponding miniaturisation of the acceleration length; typical acceleration lengths are ∼1 cm and the achieved energies are several hundred MeV to several GeV. Further strengths of this scheme originate from the small accelerating structure, the plasma wake eld, leading to short bunch durations (<10 fs), and small beam emittances. It was the main objective this thesis to quantify the transverse emittance of LWFA electron beams. Using quadrupole scan measurements on LWFA electrons, a normalised transverse emittance of 0.21 −0.02 π·mm·mrad at 245 MeV was measured. A modi ed version of the traditional multiple-shot quadrupole scan is shown which enables a singleshot determination of the emittance; the obtained emittance values for both methods agree well. In the energy range of 245 to 300 MeV the normalised emittance remains relatively constant con rming the expectation that plasma wake elds are emittance conserving. The low measured divergences of . 0.5 mrad are discussed in the context of a simple model of the beam dynamics in the plasma density downramp at the accelerator exit; the source size and divergence values inferred from the model match the experimental measurement. By altering the acceleration length or the plasma density, the point at which the electron beam interacts with the laser in the plasma could be inferred. The ultra-relativistic electrons can catch up to the driver laser and are scattered by it, causing an observable increase in the beam emittance. For the presented experiments the LWFA electron beams were transported using miniature magnetic quadrupole lenses with eld gradients of ∼500 T/m. By imaging the electron beams the spectral resolution of a dipole magnet spectrometers can be signi cantly increased, resulting in measured energy spreads down to 1% rms at 190 MeV. The tunability of the lens system is demonstrated by focusing a range of electron energies. By collimating the beam the integrated beam pro le was reduced by a factor of ve measured at a distance of one meter from the source. Additionally, by transversely o setting a quadrupole lens, the electron beam could be steered in any direction by several mrad. These methods can be implemented while still viii Zusammenfassung maintaining the ultra-short bunch duration and low emittance of the beam without any relevant loss of charge. This reliable and compact control of laser-wake eld accelerated electron beams is independent of the accelerator itself, making it a useful tool for transporting LWFA electron beams.
Performance Evaluation of Sparseness Significance Ranking Measure (SSRM) on Holographic Content

The Sparseness Significance Ranking Measure (SSRM) was recently proposed as full reference quality measure for regular images. In this paper, we evaluate its performance on holographic content in comparison to MSE, PSNR and the Versatile Similarity Measure (VSM). The experimental results based on subjective quality assessment show a significant gain over the classical methods.
Flying Syringes for Emerging Enzootic Virus Screening: Proof of Concept for the Development of Noninvasive Xenosurveillance Tools Based on Tsetse Flies

Pathogen transfers between wild and domestic animals and between animals and humans are increasing. Their dramatic consequences for public and veterinary health as well as for conservation call for innovative and user-friendly methods for pathogen surveillance in wildlife. Xenosurveillance, a method based on the use of invertebrates (e.g., mosquitoes, hematophagous flies, leeches, cadaveric arthropods) to sample animal tissues (e.g., blood) and the associated pathogens, is one of these tools. Previously, we demonstrated that hematophagous flies, such as tsetse flies, could be useful to detect and identify the etiological agents of malaria in a diverse range of mammals in Gabon. However, we did not assess whether this method can be also used to detect viruses. In the present study, we experimentally fed tsetse flies (Glossina fuscipes fuscipes) rabbit blood containing different viruses of medical or veterinary importance (Zika, Dengue, Chikungunya, African swine fever, Bluetongue, and peste des petits ruminants viruses). Then, we used quantitative PCR (i) to determine for how long viral nucleic acid fragments remained detectable in the tsetse midgut during blood digestion and (ii) to compare two blood meal preservation methods (i.e., FTA cards and RNAlater solution) tested using tsetse flies engorged with blood and dengue-2 virus. All viruses remained detectable for 6 days after feeding, although the detection probability significantly decreased over time. FTA cards and RNAlater solution gave similar results in terms of virus detection. Our results demonstrate that xenosurveillance using blood-engorged tsetse flies is a valuable tool to track and survey viruses in wildlife in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Pre-Treatment and Post-Treatment Dental Anxiety in Patients Visiting Intern Dental Clinic

Background and Objectives: This study aimed to assess the dental anxiety of patients using the modified dental anxiety scale (MDAS) questionnaire along with examining the possible relationship between dental anxiety and sociodemographic factors. Materials and Methods: The MDAS questionnaire was used to assess the anxiety level of the patients which included a total of five questions and five options to respond to each question. MDAS questionnaire was filled out by all the patients before the dental treatment. After finishing the treatment, all the patients were given a post-treatment questionnaire to assess their anxiety levels after treatment. Descriptive statistics were performed for measuring the frequency of responses. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the anxiety between the gender. The chi-square test was used to identify the distribution of pre-treatment with gender and post-treatment questionnaire with gender and treatment modalities. Linear regression was used to identify the association between clinical variables and different levels of anxiety. Results: A total of 115 patients including 59 males and 56 females with a mean age of 35 ± 11.34 years were included in the current study. Female patients were significantly more anxious about dental treatment compared to male patients. Linear regression showed that age and gender have a significant association with the pre-treatment anxiety level; however, types of treatment is not associated with the MDAS. Anxiety levels decreased for the majority of the patients after the treatment and types of treatment did not show any differences with the post-treatment anxiety level. Conclusions: Age and gender play an important role in dental anxiety; however, types of treatment are not associated with pre-treatment and post-treatment dental anxiety.
Knowledge Attributions in Iterated Fake Barn Cases

In a single-iteration fake barn case, the agent correctly identifies an object of interest on the first try, despite the presence of nearby lookalikes that could have mislead her. In a multiple-iteration fake barn case, the agent first encounters several fakes, misidentifies each of them, and then encounters and correctly identifies a genuine item of interest. Prior work has established that people tend to attribute knowledge in single-iteration fake barn cases, but multiple-iteration cases have not been tested. However, some theorists contend that multiple-iteration cases are more important and will elicit a strong tendency to deny knowledge. Here I report a behavioural experiment investigating knowledge judgments in multiple-iteration fake barn cases. The main finding is that people tend to attribute knowledge in these cases too. Ironically, the results indicate that the presence of fakes could prevent iterated errors from lowering knowledge attributions. The results also provide evidence that ordinary knowledge attributions are based on attributions of cognitive ability.
A Theoretical Assessment Ecosystem for a Digital-First Assessment - The Duolingo English Test

The Duolingo English Test is a groundbreaking, digital­first, computer­adaptive measure of English language proficiency for communication and use in English­medium settings. The test measures four key English language proficiency constructs: Speaking, Writing, Reading, and Listening (SWRL), and is aligned with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) proficiency levels and descriptors. As a digital­first assessment, the test uses “human­in­the­loop AI” from end to end for test security, automated item generation, and scoring of test­taker responses. This paper presents a novel theoretical assessment ecosystem for the Duolingo English Test. It is a theoretical representation of language assessment design, measurement, and test security processes, as well as the test­taker experience factors that contribute to the test validity argument and test impact. The test validity argument is constructed with a digitally­informed chain of inferences that addresses digital affordances applied to the test. The ecosystem is composed of an integrated set of complex frameworks: (1) the Language Assessment Design Framework, (2) the Expanded Evidence­Centered Design Framework, (3) the Computational Psychometrics Framework, and (4) the Test Security Framework. Test­taker experience (TTX) is a test priority throughout the test­taking pipeline, such as low cost, anytime/anywhere, and shorter testing time. The test’s expected impact is aligned with Duolingo’s social mission to lower barriers to education access and offer a secure and delightful test experience, while providing a valid, fair, and reliable test score. The ecosystem leverages principles from assessment theory, computational psychometrics, design, data science, language assessment theory, NLP/AI, and test security.
Perceived Use of Online Reading Strategies Online Reading Problems: A Study of Relationships between Reading Strategies

Reading comprehension is a critical component of literacy because it ensures that knowledge is easily obtained. However, the online reading comprehension approach necessitates practise, skills, and additional strategies to ensure that the reading is effective. Learners are said to use reading strategies to help them understand the contents. The aim of this research is to identify the relationship in between the online reading problems and the reading strategies. This quantitative research is done using a purposive sampling with 335 participants had involved in the survey. The instrument used is a 5 Likert-scale survey on reading comprehension problems and on perceived use of online reading strategies to reveal the variables. The survey has 4 sections. Section A has items on demographic profile. Section B has 14 items on reading difficulties. Section C has 17 items on global strategies. Section D has 8 items on problem-solving strategies and Section E has 9 items on support strategies. This research found that there is a strong positive relationship between global strategies, problem-solving reading strategies and also support strategies in overcoming the reading problems among the learners. It is learned that from the findings the three strategies global, support and problems-solving strategies are essential to employ in order to minimize the difficulty in comprehend the online reading among the learners.
Sleep Apnea Combined with Pulmonary Hypertension in a Veteran Patient Population

We have investigated the concurrence of sleep apnea and pulmonary hypertension in a Veteran population. We retrospectively reviewed 142 patients who underwent chest CT scans and had a dilated main pulmonary artery, defined as a width exceeding 29 mm on axial images. Approximately 40% of patients with pulmonary hypertension had associated sleep apnea. No significant difference in pulmonary artery diameters could be found between the group without sleep apnea and the group with sleep apnea (34.5 ± 4.2 mm vs. 34.7 ± 4.4 mm, p = 0.373).
Comparative Study of the Rytov and Born Approximations in Quantitative Microwave Holography

Quantitative microwave holography is a recent imaging methodology that shows promise in medical diagnostics. It is a real-time direct inversion algorithm that reconstructs the complex permittivity from S-parameter measurements on an acquisition surface outside of the imaged object. It is recognized that this imaging method suffers from limitations in tissue imaging due to a forward model which linearizes a highly nonlinear scattering problem. It is therefore important to study its limitations when reconstruction is aided by certain preand post-processing filters which are known to improve the image quality. The impact of filtering on the quantitative result is particularly important. In this work, the reconstruction equations of quantitative microwave holography are derived from first principles. The implementation of two linearizations strategies, Born’s approximation and Rytov’s approximation, is explained in detail in the case of a scattering model formulated in terms of S-parameters. Furthermore, real-space and Fourier-space filters are developed to achieve the best performance for the given linearized model of scattering. Simulated and experimental results demonstrate the limitations of the method and the necessity of filtering. The two approximations are also compared in experimental tissue reconstructions.