Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
NEOGAMES: A Serious Computer Game That Improves Long-Term Knowledge Retention of Neonatal Resuscitation in Undergraduate Medical Students

Background: Serious games are potential alternatives for supplementing traditional simulation-based education for neonatal resuscitation training. However, evidence regarding the benefits of using serious games to improve long-term knowledge retention of neonatal resuscitation in undergraduate medical students is lacking. Objective: We designed a serious computer game “NEOGAMES” to train undergraduate medical students in neonatal resuscitation in a cost-friendly and accessible way and to examine whether serious game-based training improves long-term knowledge retention in medical students. Methods: “NEOGAMES” consists of a screen with images of an incubator, a baby, visual objects, anatomy, action cards, monitors, real-time feedback, and emotional components. Undergraduate medical students from Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University were invited to participate and were allocated to a game group or a control group. Participants in the game group played the game before the training. All the participants completed three written tests, pre- and post-training knowledge tests and a follow-up test after 6 months. Results: Eighty-one medical students participated in the study. The student demographic characteristics of the groups were comparable, including sex, age, and grade point average (GPA). Significant short-term knowledge improvement was noticed only for male students in the game group based on their 5.2-point higher test scores than those of the controls (p = 0.006). However, long-term knowledge improvement at 6 months was identified for both male and female students in the game group, with test scores 21.8 and 20 points higher, respectively, than those of the controls (P < 0.001). The long-term knowledge retention in the game group was almost 3 times higher than that in the control group. Conclusions: Long-term knowledge retention was nearly 3 times higher for the game group than for the control group. The improvement in knowledge supports the use of serious games for undergraduate medical education.
Advantages and Limitations of Surface Analysis Techniques on Plasma-Treated Arabidopsis thaliana Seeds

Surface characterization of plasma-treated seeds has made significant progress over the last decade. Most papers in the literature use scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and contact angle goniometry to investigate surface modifications. However, very few papers address the chemical modifications to the seed coat after plasma treatment. Here, a summary of the methods used to analyze plasma-treated seeds is presented, such as SEM, contact angle goniometry, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). The results obtained on Arabidopsis thaliana Col-0 seeds and the limitations of these techniques are discussed. An experiment was designed in order to compare the relative advantages and limitations of these surface analysis techniques by investigating the separate effects of plasma, heat, and ozone on A. thaliana seeds.
Processing of Ordinal Information in Math-Anxious Individuals

This study aimed to investigate whether the ordinal judgments of high math-anxious (HMA) and low math-anxious (LMA) individuals differ. Two groups of 20 participants with extreme scores on the Shortened Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (sMARS) had to decide whether a triplet of numbers was presented in ascending order. Triplets could contain one-digit or two-digit numbers and be formed by consecutive numbers (counting condition), numbers with a constant distance of two or three (balanced) or numbers with variable distances between them (neutral). All these triplets were also presented unordered: sequence order in these trials could be broken at the second (D2) or third (D3) number. A reverse distance effect (worse performance for ordered balanced than for counting trials) of equal size was found in both anxiety groups. However, HMA participants made more judgment errors than their LMA peers when they judged one-digit counting ordered triplets. This effect was related to worse performance of HMA individuals on a symmetry span test and might be related to group differences on working memory. Importantly, HMAs were less accurate than LMA participants at rejecting unordered D2 sequences. This result is interpreted in terms of worse cognitive flexibility in HMA individuals.
Galectin-4 N-Terminal Domain: Binding Preferences Toward A and B Antigens With Different Peripheral Core Presentations

The tandem-repeat Galectin-4 (Gal-4) contains two different domains covalently linked through a short flexible peptide. Both domains have been shown to bind preferentially to A and B histo blood group antigens with different affinities, although the binding details are not yet available. The biological relevance of these associations is unknown, although it could be related to its attributed role in pathogen recognition. The presentation of A and B histo blood group antigens in terms of peripheral core structures differs among tissues and from that of the antigen-mimicking structures produced by pathogens. Herein, the binding of the N-terminal domain of Gal-4 toward a group of differently presented A and B oligosaccharide antigens in solution has been studied through a combination of NMR, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), and molecular modeling. The data presented in this paper allow the identification of the specific effects that subtle chemical modifications within this antigenic family have in the binding to the N-terminal domain of Gal-4 in terms of affinity and intermolecular interactions, providing a structural-based rationale for the observed trend in the binding preferences.
Variation in Population Structure and Standing Stocks of Kelp Along Multiple Environmental Gradients and Implications for Ecosystem Services

There is an increasing focus on ecosystem services provided by macroalgae worldwide, many which depend on its structural and morphological characteristics. Here we investigated how characteristics of canopy kelp plants of Laminaria hyperborea varies along the Norwegian part of the NE Atlantic. Ten characteristics related to size, allometry, density, biomass and epiphytes were analyzed along wide gradients of depth, wave exposure and latitude. The analyses were performed on a compiled dataset of 630 scuba samples from different research and monitoring projects along the Norwegian coast (58-71°N). The largest kelps, highest biomass, and highest biomass of epiphytic algae was found in Mid-Norway (63-65°N). While most size-related kelp characteristics were reduced with water depth, they were enlarged with wave exposure. The developed statistical models can be used to calculate site-specific values (and their variation) of the different characteristics at any location based on latitude, depth and wave exposure. These can further be used to map kelp derived ecosystem services. We predicted region-specific estimates of total plant weight, kelp density and kelp biomass. Moreover, the models were applied to estimate living biomass (56 million tonnes fresh weight), carbon standing stock (2.6 million tonnes carbon or 9.5 million tonnes CO2), and carbon sequestration potential (0.46 million tonnes per year) for the Norwegian kelp forests, that were estimated to cover about 5 355 km2. The site- and region-specific estimates are relevant to kelp forest management and for blue carbon accountings.
Global Optimization of Heat Exchanger Networks. Part 1: Stages/Substages Superstructure

We solve globally an extension of the isothermal mixing stages model (Synheat) proposed by Yee and Grossmann, later extended to nonisothermal mixing by Bjork and Weterlund and solved globally by Faria et al. This new extension of that model was recently presented in a conference proceedings. The model allows specific structures that are more commonly accepted in industry than generalized complex structures that suffer from somewhat disorganized branched and sub-branches which present several practical challenges. This stages/substages superstructure has limited branching and several matches in series in each branch. Our industrial experience shows us that these are acceptable in practice. The novel contribution of this article is then solving such a model globally, adding the control of temperature differences upon mixing
Generative adversarial image super-resolution network for multiple degradations

: The existing single image super-resolution methods based on deep learning cannot handle multiple degradations well, and the generated image tends to be blurred and over-smoothed due to poor generalisation ability. In this study, the authors propose a method based on a generative adversarial network (GAN) to deal with multiple degradations. In the generator network, blur kernel and noise level are used as input through dimensionality stretching strategy preprocessing to make full use of prior knowledge. In addition, three discriminators with different scales are used in the discriminator network to pay attention to the reconstruction of image details while focusing on the global consistency of the image. For the problems of vanishing gradient and mode collapse existing in GAN-based methods, a gradient penalty term is added in the loss function. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed method not only can handle multiple degradations to obtain state-of-the-art performance, but also deliver visually credible results in real scenes.
Retinal vessel segmentation based on task-driven generative adversarial network

: Retinal vessel segmentation has important application value in clinical diagnosis. If experts manually segment the retinal vessels, the workload is heavy, and the result is strong subjectively. However, some existing automatic segmentation methods have the problems of incomplete vessel segmentation and low-segmentation accuracy. In order to solve the above problems, this study proposes a retinal vessel segmentation method based on task-driven generative adversarial network (GAN). In the generative model, a U-Net network is used to segment the retinal vessels. In the discriminative model, multi-scale discriminators with different receptive fields are used to guide the generative model to generate more details. On the other hand, in view of the uncontrollable characteristics of the data generated by the traditional GAN, a task-driven model based on perceptual loss is added to traditional GAN for feature matching, which makes the generated image more task-specific. Experimental results show that the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the proposed method on data set digital retinal images for vessel extraction are 96.83, 80.66, 98.97 and 0.9830%, respectively.
Vehicle detection based on improved multitask cascaded convolutional neural network and mixed image enhancement

: In order to increase the detection effect of fuzzy vehicles and small size vehicles, an improved multitask cascaded convolutional neural network (IMC-CNN) based on mixed image enhancement is proposed. Firstly, contrast limited adaptive histogram equalisation and multi-scale Retinex are used to enhance images. Mixed image enhancement can effectively solve the problems of image blurring, low contrast and uneven illumination when the imaging environment is not ideal. IMC-CNN includes two stages: object location and object classification. The object location network based on multi-layer feature fusion can locate and extract the object from complex background, and output regions contain only a single vehicle object. The object classification network is a lightweight convolutional neural network with only two convolutional layers, which can effectively reduce information loss and improve the classification accuracy of small objects and fuzzy objects. In addition, online hard example mining algorithm and focal loss function are adopted in network training. These strategies can solve the problem of unbalance between positive and negative samples. To verify the validity of the proposed algorithm, the experiments are performed on SYIT-Fuzzy dataset and COCO-Vehicle dataset. Compared with Faster R-CNN, YOLO v4 and other recent models, the average classification accuracy of the proposed method is significantly increased.
Secure high capacity tetris-based scheme for data hiding

: Information hiding is a technique that conceals private information in a trustable carrier, making it imperceptible to unauthorised people. This technique has been used extensively for secure transmissions of multimedia, such as videos, animations, and images. This study proposes a novel Tetris-based data hiding scheme to flexibly hide more secret messages while ensuring message security. First, an L Q × L Q square lattice Q is selected to determine the maximum embedding capacity, and then it is filled without gaps through rotating and sliding tetrominoes while making the shape of each tetromino different. Secondly, according to the decided Q , the reference matrix and corresponding look-up table are constructed and then used for secret messages embedding and extraction. In the authors approach, each pixel pair of the original image can be processed to conceal 4- or 6-bit secret messages. The experimental results show that their proposed Tetris-based scheme has excellent performance, exceeding the performance of some state-of-the-art schemes in both embedding capacity and visual quality. The proposed scheme also provides secure covert communication.
Very High Coronary Artery Calcium (≥1000) and Association With Cardiovascular Disease Events, Non–Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes, and Mortality

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background: There are limited data on the unique cardiovascular disease (CVD), non-CVD, and mortality risks of primary prevention individuals with very high coronary artery calcium (CAC; ≥1000), especially compared with rates observed in secondary prevention populations. Methods: Our study population consisted of 6814 ethnically diverse individuals 45 to 84 years of age who were free of known CVD from MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis), a prospective, observational, community-based cohort. Mean follow-up time was 13.6±4.4 years. Hazard ratios of CAC ≥1000 were compared with both CAC 0 and CAC 400 to 999 for CVD, non-CVD, and mortality outcomes with the use of Cox proportional hazards regression adjusted for age, sex, and traditional risk factors. Using a sex-adjusted logarithmic model, we calculated event rates in MESA as a function of CAC and compared them with those observed in the placebo group of stable secondary prevention patients in the FOURIER clinical trial (Further Cardiovascular Outcomes Research With PCSK9 Inhibition in Subjects With Elevated Risk). Results: Compared with CAC 400 to 999, those with CAC ≥1000 (n=257) had a greater mean number of coronary vessels with CAC (3.4±0.5), greater total area of CAC (586.5±275.2 mm2), similar CAC density, and more extensive extracoronary calcification. After full adjustment, CAC ≥1000 demonstrated a 4.71- (3.63–6.11), 7.57- (5.50–10.42), 4.86-(3.32–7.11), and 1.94-fold (1.57–2.41) increased risk for all CVD events, all coronary heart disease events, hard coronary heart disease events, and all-cause mortality, respectively, compared with CAC 0 and a 1.65- (1.25–2.16), 1.66- (1.22–2.25), 1.51- (1.03–2.23), and 1.34-fold (1.05–1.71) increased risk compared with CAC 400 to 999. With increasing CAC, hazard ratios increased for all event types, with no apparent upper CAC threshold. CAC ≥1000 was associated with a 1.95- (1.57–2.41) and 1.43-fold (1.12–1.83) increased risk for a first non-CVD event compared with CAC 0 and CAC 400 to 999, respectively. CAC 1000 corresponded to an annualized 3-point major adverse cardiovascular event rate of 3.4 per 100 person-years, similar to that of the total FOURIER population (3.3) and higher than those of the lower-risk FOURIER subgroups. Conclusions: Individuals with very high CAC (≥1000) are a unique population at substantially higher risk for CVD events, non-CVD outcomes, and mortality than those with lower CAC, with 3-point major adverse cardiovascular event rates similar to those of a stable treated secondary prevention population. Future guidelines should consider a less distinct stratification algorithm between primary and secondary prevention patients in guiding aggressive preventive pharmacotherapy.
Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction 1 Year After Acute Myocardial Infarction Identifies the Benefits of the Long-Term Use of β-Blockers

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background: β-Blockers can improve prognosis after acute myocardial infarction. However, it remains unclear how long β-blockers should be prescribed. Methods: We included patients from the prospective, nationwide Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry-National Institutes of Health registry and collected data on β-blockers and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) at 1-year follow-up. Patients were stratified into 2 groups: 1001 patients with a 1-year LVEF<50% and 3007 patients with a 1-year LVEF≥50%. The primary outcome was 2-year all-cause mortality from the 1-year follow-up. Results: A total of 3177 patients received β-blockers at 1 year, and 151 patients died during the 2-year follow-up from 1 year after index hospitalization. β-Blockers showed survival benefits in patients with a 1-year LVEF<50% (log-rank P=0.001) but not in those with a 1-year LVEF≥50% (log-rank P=0.311). After adjusting covariates, β-blockers were associated with a 51% reduction in mortality in patients with a 1-year LVEF<50% (P=0.020) but not in their counterparts (P=0.322). Indeed, there was a prognostic interaction between the use of β-blockers at 1 year and 1-year LVEF (P for interaction=0.004). Conclusions: Use of β-blockers at 1-year follow-up after acute MI was associated with improved outcomes in patients with an LVEF<50% at 1 year but not in those with an LVEF>50% at 1 year. This study provides valuable information about differential responsiveness to β-blockers according to 1-year LVEF and might suggest the proper duration of β-blockers after acute MI. Registration: URL: http://cris.nih. go.kr/cris/en/; Unique identifier: KCT0000863.
Structure–Property Relationships Of: 1) Novel Polyurethane and Polyurea Segmented Copolymers and 2) The Influence of Selected Solution Casting Variables on the Solid State Structure of Synthetic Polypeptide Films Based on Glutamate Chemistry

The foundational studies of this dissertation concern the characterization of segmented polyurethanes and polyureas synthesized without the use of chain extenders—molecules that are typically used to promote a microphase separated morphology that gives these materials their useful characteristics. Polyurethanes in which a single asymmetric diisocyanate comprising the whole of the hard segment were found to display poor microphase separation. Conversely, polyurethanes in which a single symmetric diisocyanate composed the hard segment were found to display good microphase separation. The more efficient packing of the symmetric hard segments also led to an increase in hard segment connectivity and hence higher values of storage moduli in these systems. When hydroxyl-terminated diisocyanates were replaced with amineterminated diisocyanates, polyureas were formed. Here too, diisocyanate symmetry was found to play a key role with symmetric diisocyanates leading to better microphase separation. In addition, the polyurea materials displayed broader service temperature windows than their polyurethane counterparts as the relatively stronger bidentate hydrogen bonding replaced monodentate hydrogen bonding in these materials. A thread-like, microphase separated morphology was visually confirmed using atomic force microscopy. Other techniques such as ambient temperature tensile testing, and wide and small angle x-ray scattering were employed to confirm the presence of the microphase separated structure. The investigation into the effects of diisocyanate chemistry and its symmetry was broadened to incorporate non-chain extended polyurethane materials with different soft segment molecular weights, as well as polyurethanes that did contain chain extenders. Once again the effect of using symmetric versus asymmetric diisocyanates was evident in the structure–property behavior of these systems, with symmetric diisocyanates forming materials that displayed better microphase separation and more connectivity of their hard domains.
Development and characterization of activated biochar as electrode material for capacitive deionization

ii Preface . iv Table of contents . vi List of tables. xii List of figures . xiv List of symbols and abbreviations . xix Acknowledgements . xxiv Dedication . xxvi Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 1.1 Background . 1 1.1.1 What is biochar? 1 1.1.2 Water scarcity and the necessity for a promising treatment method . 3 1.1.2.1 Challenges of common water treatment methods . 4 1.1.3 Water treatment through electrochemical adsorption: Capacitive deionization (CDI). 6 1.1. 4 CDI technology developments . 10 1.1. 4.1 Electrode material . 10 1.1. 4.2 Challenges of carbon-based materials in CDI . 12 1.2 Research questions and objectives . 14 1.3 Thesis layout . 15 Chapter 2: Literature review . 18 2.1 Commonly used water treatment methods . 18
Microsatellite marker-based genetic diversity of tropical-adapted shrunken-2 maize inbred lines and its relationship with normal endosperm inbred lines of known heterotic classification

Abstract Knowledge of the genetic diversity and relationships among maize inbred lines can facilitate germplasm management and plant breeding programmes. The study investigated the level of genetic diversity among S6 lines developed from a tropical-adapted shrunken-2 (sh-2) maize population and their relationship with normal endosperm tropical inbred lines of known heterotic groups. Ninety-one sh-2 maize inbred lines (UI1-UI91) developed in the University of Ibadan super-sweet Maize Breeding Programme were genotyped at 30 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci, alongside five normal endosperm maize inbred lines viz. TZi3, TZi4, TZi10, TZi12 and TZi15, four of which belong to two heterotic groups. Twenty-three SSR markers were polymorphic and detected a total of 61 alleles, with a range of 2–7 and an average of 2.65 alleles per locus. The polymorphic information content ranged from 0.12 in bnlg1937 to 0.77 in phi126, with an average of 0.36. The gene diversity (He) averaged 0.43. Cluster analysis resulted in five groups consisting of 16, 36, 17, 23 and 3 inbred lines, with one sh-2 line ungrouped. TZi 12 and TZi 15, both of which are of the same heterotic group, clustered with TZi 3 of another heterotic group. Considerable genetic diversity exists among the 96 inbred lines. Only two of the five normal endosperm lines shared clusters with the sh-2 lines. The clustering of the normal endosperm inbred lines is not related to their established heterotic patterns. Inbred lines in two clusters offer the possibility of guiding the exploitation of heterosis among the sh-2 lines.