Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of prognostic factors affecting immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy in tumor patients exposed to antibiotics

Objective Meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the prognostic factors in tumor patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) under antibiotic exposure. Method Literature on the effect of antibiotics on the prognosis of tumor patients receiving ICIs was retrieved from Pubmed, Cochrane Library, EMbase, EBSCO Evidence-Based Medicine Database, China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), and China National Knowledge Network (CNKI), and relevant influencing factors were extracted. Meta-analysis of efficacy was performed using RevMan 5.4 software. Results A total of nine studies for 1,677 patients were included. The meta-analysis results showed that, in terms of progression-free survival, gender (male vs. female), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) (1–2 vs. 0), history of another cancer (yes vs. no), liver metastasis (yes vs. no), antibiotics (within the previous 2 months), PD-L1 (1%–49%), and PD-L1 (≥50%) factors are associated with progression-free survival in patients treated with ICIs under antibiotic exposure. In terms of overall survival, gender (male vs. female), ECOG score (1–2 vs. 0), history of another cancer (yes vs. no), brain metastasis (yes vs. no), liver metastasis (yes vs. no), radiation (within the previous 3 months), antibiotics (within the previous 2 months), PD-L1 (1%–49%), and PD-L1 (≥50%) factors are associated with overall survival in patients with antibiotic exposure receiving ICIs for tumor treatment. Conclusion Gender, ECOG score, history of another cancer, brain metastasis, liver metastasis, radiation (within the previous 3 months), antibiotics (within the previous 2 months), PD-L1 (1%–49%), and PD-L1 (≥50%) were associated with clinical benefit in patients with antibiotic exposure receiving ICIs for tumor treatment. Based on the above-mentioned factors, clinicians can screen cancer patients who receive ICIs under antibiotic exposure and rationally use antibiotics and ICIs in combination.
Composition operators on the weighted Bloch space and the weighted Dirichlet spaces, and BMOA with closed range

Abstract We study the composition operators with closed range on the weighted Bloch spaces, the weighted Dirichlet spaces, the Bergman spaces and the Hardy space, the space BMOA. In particular, we study the relationship between with closed range on the weighted Bloch spaces and with closed range on the weighted Dirichlet spaces.
A comparative macromorphological and ethnomedicinal analysis of five Kalanchoe Adans. Taxa from Bangladesh

The best-known species of the succulents family Crassulaceae in Bangladesh are Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, Kalanchoe daigremonitnum, Kalanchoe heterophylla, Kalanchoe laciniata and Kalanchoe pinnata during the period January, 2019 to March, 2020. But this is the first time that two new species named K. delagoensis and K. gastonis-bonnieri were reported from Bangladesh in this study.Viviparous plantlets formation along the leaf margin is the remarkable feature of these new two species along with formerly reported species K. pinnata. The abundance of K. pinnata among the five species of this genus was the highest (53%), while K. gastonis-bonnieri was the lowest (3%). The experimented five species were used to treat 9 human ailments named cough and cold, cuts and wounds, stomach disorder, kidney and gall bladder stones, jaundice, high blood pressure, skin burning, headache, and eye pain. The citation frequency of all the species except K. laciniata ranged from 2% to 100% in contrast to any ailment, while K. blossfeldiana and K. pinnata were frequently cited. Alike citation frequency the species K. blossfeldiana and K. pinnata along K. gastonis-bonnieri had the highest fidelity level, but K. delagoensis had the lowest fidelity level among the five species analyzed. Leaf juice and baked leaf are the common modes of administration. The most cited and high-fidelity species K. blossfeldiana and K. pinnata were top-ranked in DMR analysis. These two top-ranked species are under threat for several factors and need conservation strategies. Bangladesh J. Agri. 2023, 48(1): 51-66
Association of dietary total antioxidant capacity and its distribution across three meals with all-cause, cancer, and non-cancer mortality among cancer survivors: the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999–2018

The effect of the antioxidant capacity of diet and its distribution across three meals on mortality risk among cancer patients remains unexplored. We aimed to prospectively investigate the association of dietary total antioxidant capacity (DAC) and its distribution across three meals with all-cause, cancer, and noncancer mortality among cancer survivors. We included 5,009 patients with cancer from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted between 1999 and 2018. The adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) was estimated using the survey-weighted Cox proportional hazards model. During a median follow-up of 7.9 years, 1811 deaths, including 575 cancer-related deaths, were recorded. Among cancer survivors, compared with participants in the lowest quartile of total DAC from three meals, those in the highest quartile had a 24% decreased risk of noncancer mortality (aHR = 0.76, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.60–0.92), but not of all-cause and cancer mortality (each p trend >0.1). However, this association became insignificant for total DAC after excluding dinner DAC. In addition, higher dinner DAC rather than breakfast or lunch DAC was associated with a 21% lower risk of all-cause mortality (aHR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.65–0.98) and 28% lower risk of noncancer mortality (aHR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.57–0.90). Similar associations were found for ΔDAC (dinner DAC − breakfast DAC) with noncancer mortality (aHR = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.38–0.83), but DAC was not associated with cancer mortality (p trend >0.3). Among cancer survivors, total DAC from three meals was associated with reduced noncancer mortality, with the primary effect attributable to increased DAC intake from dinner. Our findings emphasize that DAC consumption from dinner should be advocated to reduce mortality risk in cancer survivors.
Collaborative Leadership and Its Relationship with Students’ Educational Attainment

The study was aimed at identifying the relationship between collaborative leadership and students’ educational attainment in Madinah’s secondary schools and identifying to what extent collaborative leadership is practised. The researchers used the quantitative methodology to achieve the study's objectives through a questionnaire. The study sample consisted of (377) teachers. The researchers used the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program to analyse the data. The most notable findings are that the practice of collaborative leadership by secondary school principals in Madinah was high in relationships with schools’ staff, parents and students. According to the teachers, principals in secondary schools practice collaborative leadership style (SPCLS) to a high degree, as the Mean was (4.20) with a standard deviation of (0.62). All participating schools practice collaborative leadership similarly, and low-achieving and high-achieving schools do not differ significantly. Schools were divided into two groups to determine if collaborative leadership correlates with student achievement. In high-achieving schools, collaborative leadership is directly correlated with student achievement (medium value). Received: 09 April 2023 / Accepted: 03 June 2023 / Published: 5 July 2023
Comparisons of asymptotic efficiency of least squares and some variants for some common statistical models

In completely specified models, where explicit formulae are derivable for the probabilities of observed events, the method of maximum likelihood has come to be the most widely employed method of estimation due to its optimal asymptotic properties. We discuss this method along with a review of the theory in Chapter 1. There is also some introductory material on asymptotic theory included in the first part of this chapter. There is currently growing interest in the use of estimating equations, other than those based on a full likelihood specification, for estimating parameters. In many cases this approach is particularly useful because the true likelihood is unknown or intractable. For example, maximum quasi-likelihood estimation is widely applied via the GLIM computer package. It is therefore of interest to examine the efficiency of such alternative methods relative to maximum likelihood. This is the subject of the present study in which a certain class of estimating functions is applied to some common data analysis situations. In Chapter 2, we discuss the previous development of these methods and their asymptotic properties, in particular the asymptotic variances of the resulting estimators. We consider models from widely used families, of both exponential and non-exponential types, to compare the asymptotic efficiencies of the methods discussed in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3, we compare the efficiencies, relative to MLE, in the case of independently identically distributed (iid) observations. In the first part we consider the exponential family models, and in the second part the non-exponential family models. Chapters 4 and 5 are concerned with similar comparisons for the non-iid case. Chapter 4 presents results when the models are taken from the exponential family, and in Chapter 5 the results are compared for non-exponential family models. Two types of situations, (i) when some parameters are assumed known, and (ii) when all parameters are unknown, will be considered. In the first case all the methods perform well, but in the second case a singularity problem removes two of the methods from comparison. In Chapter 6 we suggest further investigations for the estimating equations and connections between the methods are developed in some cases. The concluding results of previous chapters are also examined in detail.
PHENOTYPIC STABILITY IN RICE

A field study was conducted for four metric traits with 15 genotypes of rice in four significantly different environments viz kar 1989, kar 1991, Pishanam 1991 and advance kar 1992. The genotype ACK 85 which is a natural mutant from IR 50, could be recommended for favourable environments in view of its above average stability for plant height, productive tillers and grain yield.
A Physics-Based approach for Rating Curves to Reduce Uncertainties: A New Concept for Hydrological Model Calibration

The direct measurement of discharges in rivers can be time-consuming and costly. The discharge is commonly estimated indirectly by means of a curve, relating water level to discharge. This so-called rating curve is traditionally determined by fitting a curve to a number of observations, which induces several uncertainties and difficulties: 1) the curve is approximated by a function type, 2) in general there are no observations for high flow conditions and 3) it needs to updated regularly due to cross sectional changes. In this research a physics-based rating curve is developed and evaluated that is more reliable and easy to update. By the use of a photogrammetry techtnique 3D surface maps of river banks are generated by pictures obtained from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The topography of the main channel is determined by using an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) or it is approximated by the making use of expert judgement and the method developed by Lane (relates the water depth of the channel to the width and natural angle of repose). By knowing the geometric profile of a river reach, only the roughness coefficient and water surface slope are the unknown parameters to derive the rating curve, where the Manning’s formula acts as the basis of the rating curve. In this way, the rating curves can be made physically substantiated and the calibration parameter is the combination of roughness and water surface slope. Instead of using the power law function as a approximate function of the rating curve, it is used as approximation of the conveyance-water level relationship. Therefore, the exponents in the power law function are physical substantiated and reduce uncertainties in the extrapolation zone of the traditional method, because the profile during high flow conditions is also known. Further more, the local invariabilities that are specific to single cross-section analyses are minimized by analysing river reaches. It is demonstrated that local invariabilities arises easily in natural rivers that are causing non-uniform flows, which make in general the the open-channel flow analysis much more complex. However, the average conveyance of a reach may led to the a valid assumption of a uniform flow (which is part of the assumption in the Manning’s formula), depending on how the local variabilities behave. The calibration of rating curves are much easier compared with the traditional way. Instead of collecting new discharge measurements during dispersed flows, you just have to visit the area ones with a drone and surveying equipment. During this visit, the new new geometric profile can be captured and the rating curve can be updated, assuming that the roughness and water surface slope remains constant.
Elastomeric Porous Poly(glycerol sebacate) Methacrylate (PGSm) Microspheres as 3D Scaffolds for Chondrocyte Culture and Cartilage Tissue Engineering

Cartilage defects can be difficult to treat; therefore, tissue engineering of cartilage is emerging as a promising potential therapy. One interesting area of research explores the delivery of cells to the cartilage defect via scaffold-based cell delivery vehicles and microsurgery. This study explores the use of novel poly(glycerol sebacate) methacrylate (PGSm)-polymerised high internal phase emulsion (polyHIPE) microspheres as scaffolds with embedded cells for cartilage tissue engineering. Porous microsphere scaffolds (100 µm–1 mm diameter) were produced from emulsions consisting of water and a methacrylate-based photocurable resin of poly(glycerol sebacate). These resins were used in conjunction with a T-junction fluidic device and an ultraviolet (UV) curing lamp to produce porous microspheres with a tuneable size. This technique produced biodegradable PGSm microspheres with similar mechanical properties to cartilage. We further explore these microspheres as scaffolds for three-dimensional culture of chondrocytes. The microspheres proved to be very efficient scaffolds for primary chondrocyte culture and were covered by a dense extracellular matrix (ECM) network during the culture period, creating a tissue disk. The presence of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and collagen-II was confirmed, highlighting the utility of the PGSm microspheres as a delivery vehicle for chondrocytes. A number of imaging techniques were utilised to analyse the tissue disk and develop methodologies to characterise the resultant tissue. This study highlights the utility of porous PGSm microspheres for cartilage tissue engineering.
Accounting for Changes in Radiation Improves the Ability of SIF to Track Water Stress‐Induced Losses in Summer GPP in a Temperate Deciduous Forest

Global observations of solar‐induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) are available from multiple satellite platforms, and SIF is increasingly used as a proxy for photosynthetic activity and ecosystem productivity. Because the relationship between SIF and gross primary productivity (GPP) depends on a variety of factors including ecosystem type and environmental conditions, it is necessary to study SIF observations across various spatiotemporal scales and ecosystems. To explore how SIF signals relate to productivity over a temperate deciduous forest, we deployed a PhotoSpec spectrometer system at the University of Michigan Biological Station AmeriFlux site (US‐UMB) in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan during the 2018 and 2019 growing seasons. We found that SIF correlated with GPP across diurnal and seasonal cycles (R2 = 0.61 and 0.64 for 90‐min‐ and daily‐averaged data), but that SIF signals were more strongly related to downwelling radiation than GPP (R2 = 0.91 for daily‐averaged data). The dependence of SIF on radiation obscured the impact of intraseasonal drought in the SIF timeseries, but drought stress was apparent as a decrease in relative SIF, which exhibited a stronger correlation with GPP (R2 = 0.56) than other remotely sensed data over the drought period. These results highlight the potential of SIF for detecting stress‐induced losses in forest productivity. Additionally, we found that the red:far‐red SIF ratio did not exhibit a response to water stress‐induced losses in productivity, but was largely driven by seasonal and interannual changes in canopy structure, as well as by synoptic changes in downwelling radiation.
EXPLORING CLASSROOM INTERACTION PATTERNS IN EFL VIRTUAL LEARNING

Abstract: This study analyzed classroom interaction patterns in four EFL virtual learning classes at IAIN Parepare: speaking, listening, writing, and reading. The purpose of this study was to give an overview of classroom interaction involving lecturers and students during the learning process. The researchers used a video recorder and field notes to capture the spoken and written interaction during the learning process. Data were transcribed and codified based on the intuitive taxonomy of the discourse act framework of Tsui. Data showed that both in spoken and written interaction, patterns of Initiation-Response (IR), Initiation-Response-Follow up (IRF), and Initiation-Response-Follow Up-Follow Up 2 (IRFF) occurred. In detail, the complete interaction patterns were in listening class, both in spoken and written form. In reading and writing classes, the Initiation-Response (IR) and the Initiation-Response-Feedback (IRF) occurred. However, in speaking, only Initiation-Response (IR) was produced. In written interaction, except in the listening class, only Initiation-Response (IR) occurred. Data also showed that utterance categories occurred less in written interaction than in spoken. Most of the interactions were done when the lecturer provided information on learning material and instructions on how to do assignments. Thus, there was no feedback given by the lecturer in this interaction. The study also found that the interaction was lecturer-centered, and both the lecturers and the students employed the L1 in the classroom interaction.
Dynamic approaches for some time-inconsistent optimization problems

In this paper we investigate possible approaches to study general time-inconsistent optimization problems without assuming the existence of optimal strategy. This leads immediately to the need to refine the concept of time-consistency as well as any method that is based on Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle. The fundamental obstacle is the dilemma of having to invoke the Dynamic Programming Principle (DPP) in a timeinconsistent setting, which is contradictory in nature. The main contribution of this work is the introduction of the idea of the “dynamic utility” under which the original time inconsistent problem (under the fixed utility) becomes a time consistent one. As a benchmark model, we shall consider a stochastic controlled problem with multidimensional backward SDE dynamics, which covers many existing time-inconsistent problems in the literature as special cases; and we argue that the time inconsistency is essentially equivalent to the lack of comparison principle. We shall propose three approaches aiming at reviving the DPP in this setting: the duality approach, the dynamic utility approach, and the master equation approach. Unlike the game approach in many existing works in continuous time models, all our approaches produce the same value as the original static problem.
Attitudes of Turkish EFL Teachers and Native English Tutors towards Posters: The UK and Turkey Contexts

Since espousing posters as essential teaching materials to leverage learning is one of the mainstreams in the research paradigm, the great majority of studies on their effectiveness in language education are directly conducted on learners. However, approaching them through the lens of teachers in terms of their consideration as language teaching tools is underrepresented in research. Thus, this qualitative research was conducted in Turkey and the UK using semi-structured interviews, a survey and non-participant classroom observations to explore the attitudes of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers towards using posters as a strategy for reading comprehension of learners. Besides demographic features, syllogistic inference through inductive high-level data coding was employed to ascertain teachers’ attitudes. In addition, some classroom practices were observed to test whether they overlap with teacher attitudes. Particular reading strategies the teachers employed throughout their instructions were also investigated to identify the role of visuals in their teaching. The findings indicate that although teachers in both countries exhibit positive attitudes towards using posters as a strategy, they do not in fact employ them properly in classes. Accordingly, some suggestions for further research considerations are also provided.
PHYTOCHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS AND ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF ACALYPHA WILKESIANA LEAVES ON CANDIDA ALBICANS

Acalypha wilkesiana, commonly called Jacob’s coat, is native to South Pacific Islands and belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae. This study was conducted to evaluate the phytochemical constituent and the antifungal effect of methanolic and aqueous extracts of Acalypha wilkesiana leaves on Candida albicans. The aqueous and methanolic extracts of Acalypha wilkesiana were investigated for their antifungal activity against Candida albicans using agar well diffusion method. A total of twenty (20) isolates were collected from Ahmadu Bello University Medical Centre, Samara, Zaria, of which all were confirmed using microscopy (wet mount), culture and Germ tube test to be Candida albicans. The plant extract was prepared using maceration method. The preliminary phytochemical screening of the extract showed the presence of alkaloids, cardiac glycosides, saponins, phenolic compounds, tannins, steroids, carbohydrates, flavonoids and terpenoids. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration for both the aqueous and methanolic extracts were at 100 mg/mL and 75 mg/mL. The Minimum Fungicidal Concentration for both extracts were at 100 mg/mL. Acalypha wilkesiana studied here can be seen as a potential source of useful drugs. The result of this study therefore justifies the use of plant as the herbal medicine for the treatment of fungal infection caused by Candida albicans.