Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors Affecting the Quality of Life of Patients after Total Hip Replacement

Background: Although total hip replacement (THR) is mostly successful and results in positive clinical outcomes, individuals may find the treatment to be physically and psychologically taxing. Modern hospital procedures such as same-day admissions and shorter hospital stays do not provide patients much opportunity to become accustomed to their circumstances. Many people may not fully recover, and they continue to have pain and functioning issues. Objective: To assess factors affecting quality of life for patients after total hip replacement. Subjects and methods: Design : A descriptive exploratory design was used. Setting: Out-patients' orthopedic clinics at Kasr Al-Ainy Hospital, which affiliated to Cairo University. Subject: A purposive sample composed of (138) adult patients from both sexes after hip replacement have been recruited in this study. Tools: Data were collected through using three tools, I) Patient’s interviewing questionnaire, II) Short –Form- 36 (SF-36) and III) Factors affecting quality of life questionnaire. Results: More than half of the studied patients had unsatisfactory level of knowledge about total hip replacement, more than two third of them had poor quality of life and more than one quadrant of them had average quality of life. Conclusion: There was a significant statically relationship between total level of quality of life of the studied patients and their gender, residence, and employment. While there was no significant statically relationship between total level of quality of life of the studied patients and their age, marital status, and educational level. Continuous educational programs are recommended to enhance the patient's knowledge and practices regarding factors affecting quality of life for patients after total hip replacement.
Two Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in the Purinergic Receptor P2X7 Gene Are Associated with Disease Severity in Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that leads to progressive physical disability. Recent evidence has suggested that P2X7 receptor (P2X7R)-mediated purinergic signalling pathways play a role in MS-associated neuroinflammation, possibly contributing to disease pathogenesis. To evaluate possible associations between P2X7R polymorphisms and MS disease severity, we performed an association study of five non-synonymous SNPs coding variants of the P2X7R gene: rs1718119 Ala348Thr, rs2230911 Thr357Ser, rs2230912 Gln460Arg, rs3751143 Glu496Ala, and rs28360457 Arg307Gln, modulating P2X7R expression in 128 MS patients (relapsing remitting MS, RRMS: n = 94; secondary progressive, SPMS: n = 34). All patients were genotyped, and multiple sclerosis severity score (MSSS) was evaluated in every case; 189 healthy subjects were enrolled as well as controls. Results showed that P2X7R rs1718119(A) 348Thr and rs22390912(G) 464Arg, two SNPs of minor allele frequency (MAF) known to confer gain of function to the P2X7R protein, were associated with significantly higher MSSS in RRMS patients alone (SMRR (p < 0.001, p = 0.01, respectively)). Interestingly, two whole haplotypes resulted in having significant association with MSSS in these same patients. Thus: (1) the P2X7R-4 “ACGAG” haplotype, characterized by the co-presence of the rs1718119-rs2230912 AG MAF alleles, was associated with higher MSSS (Beta: 1.11 p = 0.04), and (2) the P2X7R-1 “GCAAG” complementary haplotype, which contains the rs1718119 and rs2230912 GA wild-type alleles, was more frequently carried by patients with lower MSSS and less severe disease (Beta: −1.54 p < 0.001). Although being preliminary and needing confirmation in an ampler cohort, these results suggest that 348Thr and 464Arg variants have a role as modulators of disease severity in RRMS patients.
An effective hybrid displacement function element method for solving the edge effect of Mindlin–Reissner plate

In bending problems of Mindlin–Reissner plate, the resultant forces often vary dramatically within a narrow range near free and soft simply‐supported (SS1) boundaries. This is so‐called the edge effect or the boundary layer effect, a challenging problem for conventional finite element method. In this paper, an effective finite element method for analysis of such edge effect is developed. The construction procedure is based on the hybrid displacement function (HDF) element method [1], a simple hybrid‐Trefftz stress element method proposed recently. What is different is that an additional displacement function f related to the edge effect is considered, and its analytical solutions are employed as the additional trial functions for the first time. Furthermore, the free and the SS1 boundary conditions are also applied to modify the element assumed resultant fields. Then, two new special elements, HDF‐P4‐Free and HDF‐P4‐SS1, are successfully constructed. These new elements are allocated along the corresponding boundaries of the plate, while the other region is modeled by the usual HDF plate element HDF‐P4‐11 β [1]. Numerical tests demonstrate that the present method can effectively capture the edge effects and exactly satisfy the corresponding boundary conditions by only using relatively coarse meshes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Topical Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids for the Treatment of Dry Eye – Results from a Pilot Randomized Controlled Masked-Observer Study

Purpose To investigate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of topical omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) as an innovative treatment of dry eye disease (DED). Patients and Methods In a pilot, multicenter, masked-observer, randomized, active-controlled, non-inferiority study in Germany, patients self-treated their eyes with daily instillations of eye drops containing either omega-3 PUFA or povidone as major components for three months. At four and twelve weeks, efficacy was among others evaluated based on Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), ocular surface symptoms intensity, general clinical impression, tear break-up time (TBUT), corneal fluorescein staining using the Oxford grading scale, tear volume, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) concentration in the tear film. Safety evaluation included visual acuity, intraocular pressure, and the incidence of adverse events. Co-primary endpoints were the mean percent changes from baseline of TBUT and OSDI after four weeks. Results In total 80 patients were included, of whom 37 in the PUFA group and 39 in the povidone group were evaluable for the co-primary endpoints. Patients had a mean age of 52 years and >80% were women. Both co-primary endpoints (TBUT and OSDI) significantly improved from baseline in both treatment groups, at Week 4 and Week 12 and the statistical analysis demonstrated topical omega-3 PUFA to be non-inferior to 2% povidone for these two parameters. Both treatments resulted in a significant improvement of most secondary efficacy endpoints as well, often with a slight difference in favor of PUFA, not reaching statistical significance though. One non-severe, treatment-related local AE was reported in each group. Conclusion Omega-3 PUFA-based eye drops proved to be non-inferior to povidone-containing eye drops in the treatment of signs and symptoms of dry eye. This treatment may thus be an additional tool for the management of DED.
Assessment of Antioxidant Status and Ceruloplasmin in Early and Advanced Stages of Sporadic Colorectal Cancer Patients whom Receiving Adjuvant Chemotherapy

2015 , ly Ju 15 Accepted Abstract One of most frequent malignant disease in the developed countries is colorectal cancer and it is the seventh most common cancers among population of Babylon province/Iraq. It was reported that oxidative stress status is being play a very important roles in development of carcinogenesis. The purpose from this study was assessment of antioxidant status in early and advanced stages of patients with sporadic colorectal cancer whom received adjuvant chemotherapy. This investigate was done by measuring of total antioxidant capacity(TAO-C), Ceruloplasmin and its related trace elements ,copper and Zink. All patients included in this study were receiving adjuvant chemotherapy regimen and subdivided into two groups according to Duke ́s classification of malignant into early stages (A+B) and(C+D) advanced stages, cancer site (colon and rectum), and according to the number of dosage of chemotherapy regimen(half dosage and total dosage). ELISA methods were used to assess serum Cp concentration and colorimetric method for measurement of serum TAO-C ,while concentration of Cu and Zn were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer ( AAS). Cu/Zn and Cu/Cp ratio were calculated mathematically. The results were showed highly significant decreasing(p<0.05) in T-AOC and Zinc concentration in stages (C+D) subgroup compared to (A+B) and control group. Both Ceruloplasmin and copper were found markedly increased in stages (C+D) compared to (A+B) stages and control group. Cu/Zn ratio was increased significantly in advanced stages and controls while Cu/Cp ratio was markedly decreased in advanced stages compared to early stages and controls. In conclusion the results of present study suggests that TAO-C and/or Cp and its related elements are monitoring factors and prognostic indicators could be valuable during the treatment with adjuvant regimen for sporadic colorectal cancer patients.
Ten Plastomes of Crassula (Crassulaceae) and Phylogenetic Implications

Simple Summary Plastids are semi-autonomous plant organelles which play critical roles in photosynthesis, stress response, and storage. The plastid genomes (plastomes) in angiosperms are relatively conserved in quadripartite structure, but variable in size, gene content, and evolutionary rates of genes. The genus Crassula L. is the second-largest genus in the family Crassulaceae J.St.-Hil, that significantly contributes to the diversity of Crassulaceae. However, few studies have focused on the evolution of plastomes within Crassula. In the present study, we sequenced ten plastomes of Crassula: C. alstonii Marloth, C. columella Marloth & Schönland, C. dejecta Jacq. , C. deltoidei Thunb. , C. expansa subsp. fragilis (Baker) Toelken, C. mesembrianthemopsis Dinter, C. mesembryanthoides (Haw.) D.Dietr. , C. socialis Schönland, C. tecta Thunb. , and C. volkensii Engl. Through comparative studies, we found Crassula plastomes have unique codon usage and aversion patterns within Crassulaceae. In addition, genomic features, evolutionary rates, and phylogenetic implications were analyzed using plastome data. Our findings will not only reveal new insights into the plastome evolution of Crassulaceae, but also provide potential molecular markers for DNA barcoding. Abstract The genus Crassula is the second-largest genus in the family Crassulaceae, with about 200 species. As an acknowledged super-barcode, plastomes have been extensively utilized for plant evolutionary studies. Here, we first report 10 new plastomes of Crassula. We further focused on the structural characterizations, codon usage, aversion patterns, and evolutionary rates of plastomes. The IR junction patterns—IRb had 110 bp expansion to rps19—were conservative among Crassula species. Interestingly, we found the codon usage patterns of matK gene in Crassula species are unique among Crassulaceae species with elevated ENC values. Furthermore, subgenus Crassula species have specific GC-biases in the matK gene. In addition, the codon aversion motifs from matK, pafI, and rpl22 contained phylogenetic implications within Crassula. The evolutionary rates analyses indicated all plastid genes of Crassulaceae were under the purifying selection. Among plastid genes, ycf1 and ycf2 were the most rapidly evolving genes, whereas psaC was the most conserved gene. Additionally, our phylogenetic analyses strongly supported that Crassula is sister to all other Crassulaceae species. Our findings will be useful for further evolutionary studies within the Crassula and Crassulaceae.
A phase II, open-label, non-randomized, prospective study assessing paclitaxel, carboplatin and metformin in the treatment of advanced stage ovarian carcinoma

Objective The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy and tolerability of a paclitaxel, carboplatin and metformin regimen in the first-line treatment of advanced-stage ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal carcinoma. Methods Eligible subjects underwent surgery and 6 cycles of neoadjuvant or adjuvant dose-dense intravenous paclitaxel (80 mg/m2), carboplatin (area under the curve 5 or 6 on Day 1), and oral metformin (850 mg daily). Study participants who completed their primary therapy and attained a clinically defined complete or partial response (PR) were treated with a planned 12 cycles of paclitaxel (135 mg/m2 every 21 days) and metformin (850 mg twice daily) maintenance therapy. Results Thirty subjects received a median of 6 cycles (range, 5–6) of primary induction chemotherapy and were eligible for response evaluation; twenty-three patients exhibited a complete response, while 3 study patients obtained a PR (an overall response rate of 86.7%). Grade 3–4 hematological toxicity included neutropenia (43.3%), thrombocytopenia (10%) and anemia (36.7%). There was no incidence of grade 3–4 neuropathy although 15 patients (50%) developed grade ≤2 neurotoxicity. Additionally, we observed grade ≤2 diarrhea in 20 (66.7%) subjects. The median progression-free survival was 21 months (range, 3–52) and overall median survival was 35 months (range, 15–61). The subjects also received an aggregate 103 cycles (median, 12; range, 6–12) of maintenance chemotherapy. Conclusion The study results suggest that the combination of paclitaxel, carboplatin and metformin is associated with moderate efficacy and a reasonable toxicity profile.
The Contribution of the Principal's Transformational Leadership, Work Climate and Achievement Motivation to the Performance of State Elementary School Teachers in Teweh Baru District, North Barito Regency

The purpose of this study was to analyze the direct and indirect contributions of school principals' transformational leadership, work climate, and achievement motivation on the performance of elementary school teachers in Teweh Baru District, North Barito Regency. The method used in this study is a correlational method with a quantitative approach that is formalized into a path analysis model. 263 teachers from 25 elementary schools in Teweh Baru District, North Barito Regency constituted the study population. 159 respondents were chosen for the study sample using the proportional allocation formula and simple proportionate random sampling. Data were collected using questionnaires about the principal's transformational leadership (35 items), the work climate (35 items), achievement motivation (40 items), and teacher performance (40 items), and data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, the classical assumption test, test hypothesis, and path analysis (path analysis). This study instrument was tested for the level of validity and reliability using the product moment person correlation test. Study data were analyzed using path analysis to see the direct and indirect effects between variables. By first using the normality test, linearity test, and multicollinearity test. The results of the study show that there is a contribution of the principal's leadership, work climate, and achievement motivation to teacher performance both directly and indirectly.
Numerical investigation of influence of inlet guide vanes on unsteady flow in a centrifugal pump

The influence of inlet guide vanes on unsteady flow in a centrifugal pump is numerically investigated. The independences of mesh elements, time steps and turbulence models are studied, and the satisfactory agreement between experimental and numerical results of the centrifugal pump performance validates the reliability and accuracy of the numerical model. The frequency characteristics of pressure fluctuations in impeller and volute are nearly the same for the pump without and with inlet guide vanes in the angle range from −36° to +36°. In the pump impeller, the dominant frequencies are mainly the rotational frequency fi (24.17 Hz) or 2fi, and in volute they are the blade passing frequency fBPF (145 Hz). For the large inlet guide vanes angles of −60°and +60°, the maximum amplitudes of pressure fluctuations in pump impeller and volute are stronger than that in pump without inlet guide vanes. Therefore, the influence of inlet guide vanes on unsteady flow in the centrifugal pump is slight when the inlet guide vanes angles are regulated in a suitable region.
Frequency of JAK2V617F, MPL and CALR driver mutations and associated clinical characteristics in a Norwegian patient cohort with myeloproliferative neoplasms

Abstract Myeloproliferative neoplasms are hematological disorders characterized by increased production in one or more myeloid cell lines, associated with driver mutations in JAK2-, MPL- and CALR-genes. The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of these driver mutations in a Norwegian patient cohort with myeloproliferative neoplasms, and to assess whether the different mutations were associated with different clinical presentation and natural history. Results from 820 patients in whom analysis for JAK2V617F-, CALR- and MPL had been performed at Haukeland University Hospital in the period 2014-2019 were retrieved and analyzed together with clinical variables related to diagnosis, hematological blood parameters and complications, obtained from patient records. We identified 182 cases of myeloproliferative neoplasms: 78 with JAK2V617F, 28 with CALR-mutations, two with MPL-mutations and 23 cases without a driver mutation. There was a lower prevalence of JAK2V617F mutation than expected in the polycythemia vera group, likely related to overdiagnosis. In patients with essential thrombocytosis, we found significantly higher levels of hemoglobin and erythrocyte volume fraction for JAK2V617F-mutated disease, and significantly higher levels of platelets and lactate dehydrogenase for CALR-mutated disease. Patients with JAK2V617F-mutated primary myelofibrosis had significantly higher levels of hemoglobin, and there was an increased number of smokers or former smokers in this group compared to patients with CALR-mutations. Except for a lower prevalence of JAK2V617F-mutation in polycythemia vera, the mutational distribution in our patient cohort was similar to previous findings in other populations. The novel finding of a higher prevalence of smokers in JAK2V617F-mutated primary myelofibrosis warrants further investigation.
Detailed dosimetric evaluation of inter-fraction and respiratory motion in lung stereotactic body radiation therapy based on daily 4D cone beam CT images

Objective. Periodic respiratory motion and inter-fraction variations are sources of geometric uncertainty in stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) of pulmonary lesions. This study extensively evaluates and validates the separate and combined dosimetric effect of both factors using 4D-CT and daily 4D-cone beam CT (CBCT) dose accumulation scenarios. Approach. A first cohort of twenty early stage or metastatic disease lung cancer patients were retrospectively selected to evaluate each scenario. The planned-dose (3DRef) was optimized on a 3D mid-position CT. To estimate the dosimetric impact of respiratory motion (4DRef), inter-fractional variations (3DAcc) and the combined effect of both factors (4DAcc), three dose accumulation scenarios based on 4D-CT, daily mid-cone beam CT (CBCT) position and 4D-CBCT were implemented via CT-CT/CT-CBCT deformable image registration (DIR) techniques. Each scenario was compared to 3DRef. A separate cohort of ten lung SBRT patients was selected to validate DIR techniques. The distance discordance metric (DDM) was implemented per voxel and per patient for tumor and organs at risk (OARs), and the dosimetric impact for CT-CBCT DIR geometric errors was calculated. Main results. Median and interquartile range (IQR) of the dose difference per voxel were 0.05/2.69 Gy and −0.12/2.68 Gy for 3DAcc−3DRef and 4DAcc−3DRef. For 4DRef−3DRef the IQR was considerably smaller −0.15/0.78 Gy. These findings were confirmed by dose volume histogram parameters calculated in tumor and OARs. For CT-CT/CT-CBCT DIR validation, DDM (95th percentile) was highest for heart (6.26 mm)/spinal cord (8.00 mm), and below 3 mm for tumor and the rest of OARs. The dosimetric impact of CT-CBCT DIR errors was below 2 Gy for tumor and OARs. Significance. The dosimetric impact of inter-fraction variations were shown to dominate those of periodic respiration in SBRT for pulmonary lesions. Therefore, treatment evaluation and dose-effect studies would benefit more from dose accumulation focusing on day-to-day changes then those that focus on respiratory motion.
Threshold Values of Different Classical Edge Detection Algorithms

The subject of Detecting edges in images is considered one of the main topics in digital image processing and the most common one, due to its wide applications in many fields. Classical methods for detecting edges in digital images still give excellent results if the threshold is chosen correctly. In this paper, a group of classical edge algorithms was taken and tested on different types of images, Canny edge detection algorithm gave the best results in all circumstances if the threshold value of it was set between 0.30-0.45. The range of the threshold values was from 0.1 to 0.45 in Roberts, Sobel, and Prewitt's edge detection algorithms. In this paper, four famous classical algorithms were tested on some standard RG BA images which had some noises by purpose and by holding different frequencies, containing different types of noise. Since the number of images has reached 50 thousand in total, a lot of data has been obtained and these algorithms have been tested on a large number of images. Indicating the algorithms implemented to perform on different image types, the threshold value was changed from 0 to 1 thousand times with each image by 0.001 value.
Students’ Perception on Using Tiktok Application as An English Learning Tool

Social media have revolutionized human interaction and communication. The use of social media in educational settings is having a notable influence, and online and blended learning are gaining popularity. In order to motivate students to learn, it is necessary to experiment with new ways of applying learning media that are both interactive and effective. The widespread availability of mobile devices has presented a number of social media programmes with incredible opportunities to play major roles in current society. Consequently, the objective of this research is to investigate how students perceive the TikTok application as a tool for English language learning. This study included the participation of ten secondary school students from Malaysia who attended an urban school in one of the country's states. The perceptions of the students were gathered through a semi-structured interview. According to the findings of this research, the vast majority of respondents were able to access TikTok and regarded the platform as an effective tool for learning English as a Second Language. It has been discovered that introducing TikTok into a classroom setting removes any obstacles that stand in the way of learning and makes the whole learning experience more enjoyable.