Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Histological and Histomorphometric Studies of the Effects of Aqueous Leaf Extracts of Ficus Exasperata Vahl (Linn) In Indomethacin-Induced Gastroduodenal Ulcer in Adult Wistar Rats

Forty-eight adult male Wistar rats weighing between 150-180 g were randomly assigned into six groups of eight rats each. Group A served as control. A single dose of 20 mg/kg of indomethacin was given to rats in the other groups. Following this, Group B received placebo treatment while Groups C, D, and E were administered the plant extract 12 hourly at doses of 25 mg/kg, 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg respectively, and Group F were administered triple regimenomeprazole (10 mg/ kg), Amoxycillin (25 mg/kg), and Clarithromycin (10 mg/kg) 12 hourly. All drug administration’s were given via the oral route. The rats were sacrificed under ketamine anesthesia after 14 days of treatment, and the stomach with the proximal 5 mm of duodenum were excised, examined for ulceration, and used for histological and histomorphometric analyses.
Adsorptive remediation of crude oil contaminated marine water using chemically and thermally modified coconut (Cocos nucifera) husks.

This study evaluated the potential of a chemically and thermally modified coconut husk as oil-spill sorbents in the remediation of crude oil contaminated marine water under varying physical factors of sorption time, initial oil concentration, temperature, sorbent dosage and oil weathering number of days. Coconut husk (CH) was chemically activated with zinc chloride and then pyrolyzed at a different combination of temperatures-retention times of 400 -800 C and 30 – 60 minutes to produce un-activated and activated coconut husk-derived biochar (CHB and ACHB), while acetylated-coconut husk (ACCH) was produced using acetic anhydride. The results revealed that the sorption potential of coconut husk can be enhanced by chemical, thermal (pyrolysis) and chemo-thermal treatments (chemical/pyrolysis). The oil sorption capacities and oil removal efficiencies of raw CH, ACCH, CHB800-60, and ACHB800-60 were a function of the physical factors. The rate of oil sorption by raw CH, ACCH, and CHB800-60 follows pseudo-second-order kinetics while that of ACHB800-60 follows pseudo-firstorder kinetics. The oil sorption by raw CH, ACCH, CHB800-60 and ACHB800-60 occurs via both surface and intraparticle diffusion mechanism. Freundlich isotherm best describe the oil sorption behaviour of ACCH, CHB800-60, and ACHB800-60, respectively, while Langmuir isotherm best describes the sorption of raw CH. The maximum monolayer sorption capacities were 12.11 g/g, 15.06 g/g, 16.10 g/g, and 16.84 g/g for the raw CH, ACCH, CHB800-60 and ACHB800-60, respectively, and hence the performance of the sorbents was in the following order: ACHB80060 > CHB800-60 > ACCH > raw CH.
To Determine the Clinical Efficacy of Diode Laser (980 Nm) Therapy as an Adjunct to Nonsurgical Periodontal Therapy in the Treatment of Generalized Chronic Periodontitis: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

BACKGROUND: The basic approach to the treatment of periodontal disease has always been the removal of supra gingival and sub gingival deposits, which is primarily achieved by scaling and root planing. However, conventional periodontal therapy does not completely eliminate bacterial products from periodontal pockets which might lead to the failure of therapy in many situations. The present study was to evaluate the clinical and biochemical effect of Diode laser (980 nm) therapy as an adjunct to Scaling and root planing in patients with generalized chronic periodontitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty patients with generalized chronic periodontitis were included in this study. Two quadrants in the maxillary arch were selected randomly for each patient. Test sites were treated with scaling and root planing along with multiple applications of diode laser (980 nm) and the control sites were treated with scaling and root planing alone. Clinical parameters and GCF IL-1β levels were assessed at baseline and at 3 months after treatment. RESULT: Both Scaling and root planing and adjunctive use of diode laser (980 nm) along with scaling and root planing was found to be effective in the treatment of chronic periodontitis. However the combination therapy provided a statistically significant improvement in the clinical outcome and the levels of gingival crevicular fluid IL-1β than the use of scaling and root planing alone. CONCLUSION: Compared to Scaling and root planing alone multiple application of diode laser (980 nm) along with scaling and root planing was effective in the treatment of chronic periodontitis and can be used as an adjunct to nonsurgical therapy.
High-School Dropout Prediction Using Machine Learning: A Danish Large-scale Study

Pupils not ﬁnishing their secondary education are a big societal problem. Previous studies indicate that machine learning can be used to predict high-school dropout, which allows early interventions. To the best of our knowledge, this paper presents the ﬁrst large-scale study of that kind. It considers pupils that were at least six months into their Danish high-school education, with the goal to predict dropout in the subsequent three months. We combined information from the MaCom Lectio study administration system, which is used by most Danish high schools, with data from public online sources (name database, travel planner, governmental statistics). In contrast to existing studies that were based on only a few hundred students, we considered a considerably larger sample of 36299 pupils for training and 36299 for testing. We evaluated diﬀerent machine learning methods. A random forest classiﬁer achieved an accuracy of 93.47 % and an area under the curve of 0.965. Given the large sample, we conclude that machine learning can be used to reliably detect high-school dropout given the information already available to many schools.
An exploratory study on the effects of perceived value and stakeholder satisfaction on software projects

Context: In this paper we present an exploratory study on the insights of organizations into the perceived value of their software projects. Our study is based on the notion that quantifying and qualifying project size, cost, duration and defects needs to be done in relation with stakeholder satisfaction and perceived value. Objectives: We expect that bringing perceived value into the equation will help in increasing the impact such organizations deliver. Method: In order to find out whether our approach is practically feasible in an industrial setting, we performed an exploratory study in a Belgian telecom company. Results: In this study we evaluate 22 software projects that were delivered during one release. Fifty-three (53) key stakeholders provide stakeholder satisfaction and perceived value measurements in 103 completed surveys. Conclusions: We conclude that a focus on shortening overall project duration, and improving communication on intermediate progress improved stakeholder satisfaction and perceived value. Our study does not provide any evidence that steering on costs helped to improve these.
Jim Hall, Committee Member Walter Wytroll, Committee Member Kim Kelly, Program Coordinatorfor the Behavioral Medicine Program Linda Marshall, Chair of the Department of Psychology Sandra L. Terrell, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies HIERARCHICAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING

Jerry McGill, Major Professor Sander Martin, Co-Major Professor Beth Colaluca, Committee Member Jim Hall, Committee Member Walter Wytroll, Committee Member Kim Kelly, Program Coordinatorfor the Behavioral Medicine Program Linda Marshall, Chair of the Department of Psychology Sandra L. Terrell, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies HIERARCHICAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING AMONG PEDIATRIC
Problems and Possibilities with Non-Empirical Assessment of Scientific Theories

This essay examines the argument given by Richard Dawid (2013, 2019) for the viability of non-empirical assessment of scientific theories. Dawid’s argument is supposed to show that trust in a scientific theory can be justified without any direct empirical testing of the theory. This view is fundamentally different from what will be called the classical paradigm of theory assessment. The classical paradigm holds that only empirical testing can justify belief in a theory. It is argued in this essay that Dawid’s argument does not provide sufficient reasons for claiming that non-empirical assessment can be seen as a valid form of justification of scientific theories. However, it is further argued that non-empirical assessment still can play an important role when evaluating the status of a theory that cannot yet be tested empirically.
Evaluation of the prevalence and Pattern of Antibiotic Prescription for Preventing Infection after General Surgery compared with the standard guidelines

Background & Aims: The use of antibiotics to prevent the infection in the surgical site is fully effective in terms of the principles and standards. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and pattern of prescribing antibiotics for preventing infection after general surgery in comparison with the standard guidelines. Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study, information was obtained from 299 of patient records, hospitalized in the general surgical ward of Tabriz Sina Hospital through a checklist. Then, the data were compared with the managed care guideline of the Ministry of Health and Treatment No. 8 (Standard). Results: In this descriptive-analytic cross-sectional study, the most frequently prescribed prophylactic antibiotics during the hospital stay were the combination of (ceftriaxone + metronidazole) 49.1% and cephazolin 48.4%, and after discharge (cefixime + metronidazole) were 44%, and cephalexin was 41%. Adherence to antibiotic prophylaxis prescription guidelines before surgery was 62.2%, after surgery and before discharge from the hospital was 36.1%, after discharge from the hospital was 66.6% and after surgery, in general, was 27.8%. Conclusion: Considering that the prevalence and pattern of antibiotic prophylaxis use before and after surgery in this study were significantly higher than the global standard, appropriate strategies and measures should be taken to prevent the development of resistant harmful microorganisms and to maintain the efficacy of antibiotics.
Sparse learning approach to the problem of robust estimation of camera locations

In this paper, we propose a new approach—inspired by the recent advances in the theory of sparse learning—to the problem of estimating camera locations when the internal parameters and the orientations of the cameras are known. Our estimator is defined as a Bayesian maximum a posteriori with multivariate Laplace prior on the vector describing the outliers. This leads to an estimator in which the fidelity to the data is measured by the L∞-norm while the regularization is done by the L1-norm. Building on the papers [11, 15, 16, 14, 21, 22, 24, 18, 23] for L∞-norm minimization in multiview geometry and, on the other hand, on the papers [8, 4, 7, 2, 1, 3] for sparse recovery in statistical framework, we propose a two-step procedure which, at the first step, identifies and removes the outliers and, at the second step, estimates the unknown parameters by minimizing the L∞ cost function. Both steps are fairly fast: the outlier removal is done by solving one linear program (LP), while the final estimation is performed by a sequence of LPs. An important difference compared to many existing algorithms is that for our estimator it is not necessary to specify neither the number nor the proportion of the outliers.
What Did We Learn about VADs in 2019?

This is our 6th annual literature review on mechanical circulatory support (MCS) devices. Our previous reports for 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 were published as open access articles and were well received by the readers. In this paper, we summarize the most interesting and important, from our standpoint, publications from 2019. As we have done for the past two years, a section on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is included and primarily addresses new developments in veno-arterial ECMO use.
Pharmacotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of anorexia nervosa – too much for one drug?

ABSTRACT Introduction Anorexia nervosa is a severe psychiatric illness and no medication has been approved for its treatment. This lack of biological treatments requires the development of new directions for pharmacological research. Areas covered There is modest but emerging evidence that dopamine D2 and serotonin 1A and 2A receptor agonistic and antagonist medication might be beneficial for weight gain, although the underlying mechanisms are uncertain. Improving quality of life including treating comorbid conditions is an additional important outcome measure, but this has not been well researched. Biological and psychological risk factors together with neurobiological alterations during the illness maintain the disorder ‘s pathophysiology. Neuroscience research can be used to understand those interactions and advance the research agenda. The authors discuss the above as well as give perspectives on future research. Expert opinion If a multidisciplinary approach that includes evidence-based psychotherapy shows unsatisfactory success in weight normalization and cognitive-emotional recovery, then more experimental treatments that are safe and have indicated treatment effectiveness should be tried to augment treatment. Identification and treatment of comorbid conditions to improve quality of life of the patient should also be part of the treatment regimen, even if the effect on weight gain is uncertain.
CD4+CD28null T cells are expanded in moderately active systemic lupus erythematosus and secrete pro-inflammatory interferon gamma, depending on the Disease Activity Index

Background Pathogenic CD4+CD28null cells are characterized by inflammatory cytokine synthesis and tropism to the inflamed tissues. Recent studies showed the involvement of CD28null T cells in a severe clinical outcome of lupus. However, their role in moderately active disease is still unresolved. Methods We examined the levels of circulating CD4+CD28null cells and CD8+CD28null suppressor T cells. We also compared the CD4+CD28null and CD4+CD28+ T-cell functional properties, including the expression of interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and Ki67 among systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients (n = 20) and healthy controls (n = 20). All the patients were under immunosuppressive treatment and exhibited moderate SLE activity (median SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) = 6). Results In patients, we found elevated CD4+CD28null and unchanged levels of suppressor CD8+CD28null T cells. There was no difference between patients and controls in IFN-γ and Ki67-expressing CD4+, CD4+CD28+, and CD4+CD28null T cells, except for higher IFN-γ levels in CD4+CD28+ T cells in SLE. In each studied group, we observed a higher preponderance of IFN-γ- and Ki67-expressing cells among CD4+CD28null T cells and lower levels of IFN-γ in CD4+CD28null T cells compared to the CD28+ subset. Similarly, Ki67 intensity was decreased in healthy CD4+CD28null cells, whereas in patients, comparably high expression was observed in both subsets. IFN-γ intensity in CD4+CD28null T cells correlated with SLEDAI. Conclusion SLE with a moderately active clinical course is characterized by peripheral blood expansion of CD4+CD28null T cells and a normal abundance of suppressor CD8+CD28null T cells. The demonstration that these pathogenic CD4+ T cells, despite the lack of CD28, maintain the ability to produce pro-inflammatory IFN-γ positively correlated with disease activity as well as relatively high proliferative capacity may suggest their potentially predictive role in SLE flares.
Diurnal variation in forced vital capacity in patients with fibrotic interstitial lung disease using home spirometry

Forced vital capacity (FVC) is used as the routine physiological measure to assess disease progression in fibrotic interstitial lung diseases (f-ILDs) [1]. New drugs are currently being investigated on top of “standard care” with antifibrotic drugs in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and other f-ILD, resulting in small margins of change in FVC [2, 3]. Recently, the first trial of antifibrotic medication in patients with systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease has shown a numerically small but significant lower annualised rate of FVC decline (41 mL) in patients treated with nintedanib compared with placebo [3]. This study demonstrates a diurnal variation in FVC measured with home spirometry in patients with f-ILD, with a higher FVC in the morning than in the afternoon http://bit.ly/37SQtBK
Nitrogen acquisition from mineral-associated proteins by an ectomycorrhizal fungus.

In nitrogen (N)-limited boreal forests, trees depend on the decomposing activity of their ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal symbionts to access soil N. A large fraction of this N exists as proteinaceous compounds associated with mineral particles. However, it is not known if ECM fungi can access these mineral-associated proteins; accordingly possible acquisition mechanisms have not been investigated. With tightly controlled isotopic, spectroscopic and chromatographic experiments, we quantified and analyzed the mechanisms of N acquisition from iron oxide mineral-associated proteins by Paxillus involutus, a widespread ECM fungus in boreal forests. The fungus acquired N from the mineral-associated proteins. The collective results indicated a proteolytic mechanism involving formation of the crucial enzyme-substrate complexes at the mineral surfaces. Hence, the enzymes hydrolyzed the mineral-associated proteins without initial desorption of the proteins. The proteolytic activity was suppressed by adsorption of proteases to the mineral particles. This process was counteracted by fungal secretion of mineral-surface-reactive compounds that decreased the protease-mineral interactions and thereby promoted the formation of enzyme-substrate complexes. The ability of ECM fungi to simultaneously generate extracellular proteases and surface-reactive metabolites suggests that they can play an important role in un-locking the large N pool of mineral-associated proteins to trees in boreal forests.
Loneliness and Burden Perceived by Family Caregivers of Patients With Alzheimer Disease

Background: The present study aimed at investigating loneliness and burden experienced by family members caring for relatives diagnosed with Alzheimer disease. Methods: Participants were 40 caregivers of inpatients with Alzheimer disease. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate whether caregivers’ loneliness (uni- and multidimensional) and burden are associated with and predicted by (1) specific caregiver characteristics and/or (2) patients’ dementia severity and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Results: Loneliness was significantly correlated with caregivers’ sex, age, and living circumstances, while burden was significantly correlated with caregivers’ education solely. Regression analyses revealed that caregivers’ sex and living circumstances contributed significantly to variance explanation of loneliness (but not burden), while the additional consideration of patient variables did not improve model fit. Conclusions: Loneliness reported by caregivers of relatives diagnosed with dementia is significantly modulated by caregiver (but not patient) characteristics. Notably, both uni- and multidimensional loneliness scales seem to be sensitive diagnostic tools.
Coronavirus disease 2019: New things to know!

We have read with interest the review of Feng et al. "Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): What we know? " 1 which report the clinical features, diagnosis and treatment of the novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Genomics of Lynch syndrome and Constitutional mismatch repair deficiency syndrome

2 PLAGIARISM DECLARATION . 3 DEDICATION . 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS . 6 LIST OF FIGURES: . 8 LIST OF TABLES: . 9 ABBREVIATIONS . 10 1. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO CANCER . 12 1.1 CANCER IN GENERAL . 12 1.2 HALLMARKS OF CANCER . 12 1.3 GENOMIC INSTABILITY AND CANCER DEVELOPMENT . 13 1.4 MMR DEFICIENCY – INTRODUCTION TO LYNCH SYNDROME . 14 1.4. 1 Pathways involved in the development of CRC . 15 1.4. 2 Molecular basis of Lynch syndrome . 17 1.4. 3 MMR genes . 19 1.5 CANCER RISK IN LYNCH SYNDROME . 20 1.5. 1 Lynch syndrome spectrum of cancers . 21 1.6 DIAGNOSIS OF LYNCH SYNDROME . 21 1.7 TREATMENT OF CANCERS ASSOCIATED WITH LYNCH SYNDROME . 23 1.7. 1 Surveillance and management of Lynch syndrome . 24 1.8 LYNCH SYNDROME IN SOUTH AFRICA (S.A.) . 25 1.9 MOTIVATION FOR STUDY . 26 CHAPTER 2: LYNCH SYNDROME THE COHORT STUDY . 28 2.1 BRIEF BACKGROUND . 28 2.1.1 Cancer risk . 28 2.1.2 The MLH1 c.1528C>T mutation . 31 2.1.3 Objectives of this section: . 35 2.2 METHOD . 36 2.2.1 Study cohort . 36 2.2.2 Statistical analysis (R) . 36 2.2.3 Microsatellite genotyping and haplotype testing . 37 2.2.4 Estimating the time of origin or age of c.1528C>T mutation . 39 2.3 RESULTS . 40 2.3. 1 Cohort demographics . 40 2.3. 2 Survival Analysis . 45 2.3. 3 Founder mutation phase analysis . 46 2.3. 4 Estimating the time of origin or age of c.1528C>T mutation . 48 2.4 DISCUSSION . 50 CHAPTER 3: CONSTITUTIONAL MISMATCH REPAIRDEFICIENCY (CMMR-D) SYNDROME . 56 3.
A life‐course theory exploration of opioid‐related maternal mortality in the United States

Abstract Background and Aims Between 2007 and 2016, pregnancy‐associated mortality resulting from overdose more than doubled in the United States. This study explored the circumstances surrounding maternal opioid‐related morbidity and mortality, using the life‐course theory as a sensitizing framework to examine how each participant's life‐course contributed to her substance use, relapse, recovery or overdose. Design A mixed‐methods study using semi‐structured, in‐depth face‐to‐face interviews and focus groups were conducted. Setting Texas, United States. Participants Women who had relapsed into opioid use or experienced a ‘near‐miss’ overdose and family members of women who had died during the maternal period due to opioid overdose were interviewed (n = 99). Measurements A socio‐demographic questionnaire captured participants’ ethnicity, age, marital status, medical and mental health history and employment status. The Stressful Life Events Screening Questionnaire—revised (SLESQ‐R) assessed life‐time exposure to trauma. Findings Women reported histories of abuse and loss of a loved one through homicide or suicide. Participants indicated that limited social support, interpersonal conflict with their partner and unaddressed mental illness made recovery more challenging. Additionally, losing their children through the child welfare system was described as punitive and placed them at greater risk for relapse and overdose. Conclusions A life‐course theory approach to examining maternal opioid‐related morbidity and mortality in Texas, United States reveals the complex needs of women at risk for opioid use relapse and overdose and the significant role of previous traumatic experiences.
Hippocampal Interictal Spikes during Sleep Impact Long‐Term Memory Consolidation

Non‐rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep is supposed to play a key role in long‐term memory consolidation transferring information from hippocampus to neocortex. However, sleep also activates epileptic activities in medial temporal regions. This study investigated whether interictal hippocampal spikes during sleep would impair long‐term memory consolidation.