Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development and validation of the short Use of Creative Cognition Scale in studying Journal Item

This paper reports the development and validation of a short Use of Creative Cognition Scale in studying (UCCS) that was inspired by the Cognitive Processes Associated with Creativity (CPAC) scale. In Study 1, items from two of the six subscales of the CPAC were excluded due to conceptual and psychometric issues to create a 21-item CPAC scale, which was administered to 517 university students. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that the 21-item CPAC scale is unidimensional. Five items were selected to create the new unidimensional UCCS. In Study 2, 696 students completed the UCCS and a set of scales measuring related constructs. Confirmatory factor analysis corroborated the unidimensional structure of the scale. The scale correlated positively with measures of flow, trait intrinsic motivation, adaptive metacognitive traits and positive affect, it correlated negatively with negative affect, and it did not correlate with core maladaptive metacognitive traits. The findings indicate that the scale is a valid and reliable tool for research and monitoring.
Different anti‐Műllerian hormone (AMH) levels respond to distinct ovarian stimulation methods in assisted reproductive technology (ART): Clues to better ART outcomes

We asked whether the relationship between anti‐Műllerian hormone (AMH) value and the response to ovarian stimulation (OS) might be AMH value‐related and differ for each regimen, aiming at getting clues as to how to choose OS protocols according to AMH levels. We further addressed how AMH value connects with ART outcome.
An Integrated Approach for Biofortification of Carotenoids in Cowpea for Human Nutrition and Health

Stress-resilient and highly nutritious legume crops can alleviate the burden of malnutrition and food security globally. Here, we focused on cowpea, a legume grain widely grown and consumed in regions at a high risk of micronutrient deficiencies, and we discussed the past and present research on carotenoid biosynthesis, highlighting different knowledge gaps and prospects for increasing this micronutrient in various edible parts of the crop. The literature survey revealed that, although carotenoids are important micronutrients for human health and nutrition, like in many other pulses, the potential of carotenoid biofortification in cowpea is still underexploited. We found that there is, to some extent, progress in the quantification of this micronutrient in cowpea; however, the diversity in content in the edible parts of the crop, namely, grains, pods, sprouts, and leaves, among the existing cowpea genetic resources was uncovered. Based on the description of the different factors that can influence carotenoid biosynthesis and accumulation in cowpea, we anticipated that an integrated use of omics in breeding coupled with mutagenesis and genetic engineering in a plant factory system would help to achieve a timely and efficient increase in carotenoid content in cowpea for use in the food systems in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
GENETIC PARAMETERS FOR HEIGHT AND STEM STRAIGHTNESS IN PINUS TAEDA LINNAEUS IN ZIMBABWE

Genetic and phenotypic parameters for height and stem straightness were estimated for Pinus taeda L. in Zimbabwe using the individual tree model DFREML. The data were from 4 progeny tests comprising 140 fullsib families assessed at 1.5, 9.5, 13.5 and 22.5 years. Dominance variance tended to be lower than additive variance for both traits, except for straightness at 1.5 years. Heritability estimates for height were moderate to high (0.14 to 0.73) and peaked at 9.5 years; those for straightness were low at 1.5 years and increased to moderate levels with age (0.01 to 0.33). Individual site heritability estimates were higher than those using data pooled across sites, indicating presence of genotype x environment interactions andlor heterogeneity of variances. It is suggested that combining data as in the pooled analyses was not appropriate for this study. Genetic correlations were higher than their phenotypic counterparts in both traits. Age-age genetic correlations for height were high indicating opportunity for early selection (0.76 to 0.97). Age-age genetic correlations for straightness ranged from -0.05 to 0.94. Genetic correlations between height and straightness were low.
Oscillatory characteristics of resting-state magnetoencephalography reflect pathological and symptomatic conditions of cognitive impairment

Background Dementia and mild cognitive impairment are characterised by symptoms of cognitive decline, which are typically assessed using neuropsychological assessments (NPAs), such as the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB). Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a novel clinical assessment technique that measures brain activities (summarised as oscillatory parameters), which are associated with symptoms of cognitive impairment. However, the relevance of MEG and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) data obtained using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) has not been examined using clinical datasets. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationships among MEG oscillatory parameters, clinically validated biomarkers computed from rCBF, and NPAs using outpatient data retrieved from hospital records. Methods Clinical data from 64 individuals with mixed pathological backgrounds were retrieved and analysed. MEG oscillatory parameters, including relative power (RP) from delta to high gamma bands, mean frequency, individual alpha frequency, and Shannon’s spectral entropy, were computed for each cortical region. For SPECT data, three pathological parameters—‘severity’, ‘extent’, and ‘ratio’—were computed using an easy z-score imaging system (eZIS). As for NPAs, the MMSE and FAB scores were retrieved. Results MEG oscillatory parameters were correlated with eZIS parameters. The eZIS parameters associated with Alzheimer’s disease pathology were reflected in theta power augmentation and slower shift of the alpha peak. Moreover, MEG oscillatory parameters were found to reflect NPAs. Global slowing and loss of diversity in neural oscillatory components correlated with MMSE and FAB scores, whereas the associations between eZIS parameters and NPAs were sparse. Conclusion MEG oscillatory parameters correlated with both SPECT (i.e. eZIS) parameters and NPAs, supporting the clinical validity of MEG oscillatory parameters as pathological and symptomatic indicators. The findings indicate that various components of MEG oscillatory characteristics can provide valuable pathological and symptomatic information, making MEG data a rich resource for clinical examinations of patients with cognitive impairments. SPECT (i.e. eZIS) parameters showed no correlations with NPAs. The results contributed to a better understanding of the characteristics of electrophysiological and pathological examinations for patients with cognitive impairments, which will help to facilitate their co-use in clinical application, thereby improving patient care.
Upper crustal structure of the eastern Basin and Range, northern Colorado Plateau, and Middle Rocky Mountains from Rayleigh-wave dispersion

Short-period (4 to 22 sec) Rayleigh waves generated by nuclear blasts at NTS and Rio Blanco were analyzed digitally to obtain group-velocity dispersion curves. These data were used to determine upper crustal structure for the eastern Basin and Range, northern Colorado Plateau, and Middle Rocky Mountains provinces. The crustal models obtained were in good agreement with refraction results. In the eastern Basin and Range, generally low S -wave velocities and an upper crustal low-velocity layer (LVL) were indicated, but there was no evidence for a LVL in the other provinces.
Vestibular assessment in children with sensorineural hearing loss: diagnostic accuracy and proposal for a diagnostic algorithm

Introduction Vestibular assessment in children with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is critical for early vestibular rehabilitation therapy to promote (motor) development or guide decision making towards cochlear implantation (timing of surgery and laterality). It can be challenging from a clinical viewpoint to decide which vestibular tests should be performed for a pediatric patient. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of several clinically available vestibular tests in children with SNHL, and to provide recommendations for the implementation of vestibular testing of children in clinical practice, to screen for vestibular hypofunction (VH). Methods A two-center retrospective chart review was conducted. Eighty-six patients between the age of 0 and 18 years were included in this study with SNHL. Vestibular tests included video headimpulse test (VHIT), caloric test (performed at the age of four or higher), rotatory chair and cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potential (cVEMP). A combination of the clinical assessment and (combinations of) vestibular test outcomes determined the diagnosis. The diagnostic quality of tests and combination of tests was assessed by diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity and specificity. Results VH was diagnosed in 44% of the patients. The VHIT and caloric test showed the highest diagnostic accuracy compared to the rotatory chair and cVEMP. All combinations of VHIT, caloric test and cVEMP showed improvement of the diagnostic accuracy compared to the respective tests when performed singularly. All combinations of tests showed a relatively similar diagnostic accuracy, with the VHIT combined with the caloric test scoring the highest. Adding a third test did not substantially improve the diagnostic accuracy. Discussion Vestibular testing is feasible and VH is highly prevalent in children with SNHL. A proposed diagnostic algorithm recommends starting with VHIT, followed by cVEMP for children under the age of four, and caloric testing for older children if VH is not confirmed with the first test. Performing a third test is redundant as the diagnostic accuracy does not improve substantially. However, challenges remain, including the lack of a gold standard and the subjective nature of the diagnosis, highlighting the need for standardized testing and increased understanding of VH in this population.
A GAN-Based Data Augmentation Method for Imbalanced Multi-Class Skin Lesion Classification

Skin cancer is one of the most common types of cancer globally. Despite the remarkable advancements of deep learning methods in computer vision, automatic diagnosis of skin diseases still faces challenges such as limited data and class imbalance. Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), which can synthesize realistic data, appear as an alternative to mitigate these issues. However, for imbalanced data, unconditional GANs either generate uneven data distribution or neglect universal knowledge of the whole dataset, while state-of-the-art (SOTA) conditional GANs suffer from performance degradation due to the mode collapse of minority classes. This paper proposes a two-stage GAN-based method to synthesize fine-grained and diverse $256 \times 256$ pixels skin lesion images for the imbalanced dataset, named Self-Transfer GAN (STGAN). STGAN first learns universal knowledge from all classes then transfers this shared knowledge to each class and fuses it with class-specific knowledge to synthesize high-quality images. Furthermore, based on STGAN, a framework to enhance the classification performance is established. Both data generation and classification tasks are evaluated on HAM10000 dataset. In terms of Fréchet Inception Distance (FID), Inception Score, Precision, and Recall, STGAN improved by 16%, 16%, 4%, 33% compared with SOTA conditional StyleGAN2. For classification, the STGAN-based framework achieves remarkable results, with an Accuracy of 98.23%, Sensitivity of 88.85%, Precision of 90.23%, F1-score of 89.48%, and Specificity of 98.34%.
The utility of surveillance peritoneal dialysis effluent cultures following completion of PD peritonitis treatment: a quality improvement report

Peritoneal dialysis ( PD) associated peritonitis is a leading cause of premature transition to hemodialysis. Successful treat-ment with antibiotics alone occurs in 85% of episodes [1 ]. Re-lapsing ( peritonitis with the identical organism within 4 weeks of the initial episode) and repeat ( peritonitis with an identical organism after 4 weeks of the initial episode) peritonitis episodes remain an ongoing concern despite completion of antibiotic treatment. One postulated mechanism for relapsing/repeating episodes is the development of a PD catheter bacterial biofilm impenetrable to antimicrobials, often necessitating PD catheter removal. Current peritonitis surveillance practices recommends a follow-up PD effluent leukocyte count and culture 2–3 days after the initiation of appropriate antibiotic therapy to ensure a declining leukocyte count and sterilization of the PD effluent [2 ]. Repeating the PD effluent leukocyte count and culture is only suggested if no clinical response occurs after 3–5 days of treatment to identify refractory episodes potentially requiring PD catheter removal [3 ]. Whether surveillance of the PD effluent culture following peritonitis treatment can identify persistent growth of organisms prior to the development of a relapsing peritonitis episode is not known. Historically,
A Numerical Model of Seawater Volume and Velocity Dynamic for Marine Currents Power Plant in the Bangka Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

One of equipment as prime movers in the marine current power plant is turbine. Marine current turbines require a data of marine currents velocity in its design. The objective of this study was to get the velocities distribution of marine currents in the Bangka strait. The method used survey, observation, and measurement in the Bangka strait. The data of seawater density conducted measurement in the Bangka strait. The data of width and depth of the strait collected from the map of Bangka strait and its depth of the sea. Problem solving of the study used a numerical model. The velocities distribution of marine current obtained from a numerical model in the form of numerical program. The results showed that the velocities distribution at seawater column when low and high tide currents which the maximum happened at 0.1 Sv were 0-0.9 and 0-1.0 m/s respectively, while at 0.3 Sv were 0-2.7 and 0-3.0 m/s respectively. The results will be a product in analyzing the potential kinetic energy that used to design profile of the turbines as prime mover for marine currents power plant in the Bangka strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Community structure of epigaeic ants in a pine plantation and in newly burnt fynbos

The epigaeic ant community was sampled in a firebreak in the summer months following a spring burn, and compared with that in two sites of adjacent, unburnt fynbos. Ants were simultaneously trapped in a nearby pine plantation. The ant species diversity in the newly burnt firebreak was higher than in the unburnt vegetation, whereas diversity in the pine plantation was low.
Lactation performances in primiparous Holstein cows following short and normal gestation lengths

Despite decades of research, little is known regarding physiologic temporal limits for initiation of lactation in pregnant non-lactating cattle the aim of this study was to compare the lactation performances in primiparous Holstein cows after a short gestation length (GL) or abortion to those after a normal GL. The data were collected using an automated data collection system. The 94 herds evaluated were located in Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany. Data from a wide range of physiological cow-life events including birth and calving events, reproduction events (insemination, pregnancy checks, and abortions), and milking events were collected. The GL was defined as the interval between the last insemination and the subsequent calving (or abortion) within a range of 150–297 days. Animals were categorized into one of five categories based on GL quantiles (C-I to C-V). Lactation curve parameters including the scale, ramp, and decay were estimated using the Milkbot model. Then, the derived 305-day milk yield (M305-d), peak yield, and time to peak were compared between different GL categories. Of 13,732 lactations, 15 (0.11%) were found with a GL shorter than 210 days (ranging from 158 to 208 days). The 305-day milk yield was significantly lower in the C-I (7,566 ± 186) and C-II groups (7,802 ± 136 kg), compared to the C-III (8,254 ± 116 kg), C-IV (8,148 ± 119 kg), and C-V (8,255 ± 117 kg) groups. The same trends were found for the scale and peak yield of the lactation; the lowest scale were found for the C-I (31.5 ± 0.73) and C-II (32.8 ± 0.53) groups, and the highest were found for the C-III (34.5 ± 0.46), C-IV (34.9 ± 0.45), and C-V (35.0 ± 0.45) groups. Peak yield increased significantly from C-I (27.8 ± 0.66 kg) and C-II group (28.8 ± 0.48 kg) to the C-III (30.2 ± 0.42 kg) and further to the C-IV (30.6 ± 0.40 kg) and C-V (30.6 ± 0.41 kg) groups. Moreover, primiparous cows in the C-II GL category showed a higher milk yield persistency (decay of 1.30E−4 ± 3.55E−5) compared to those belonging to the C-IV (decay of 1.38E−4 ± 2.51E-5) and C-V (decay of 1.38E−4 ± 2.58E-5) group. In conclusion, results showed that primiparous cows with a shorter GL produced significantly less 305-day milk and peak yields, had a higher lactation persistency, and showed a lower upward slope of the lactation curve compared to those with a normal GL.
Zirconia-ceramic versus metal-ceramic implant-supported multiunit fixed dental prostheses: A systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT Implant-supported prostheses could serve as a reliable restorative option for partial edentulism. Various restorative materials have been utilized in fabricating these prostheses, impacting both esthetics and peri-implant health. The present systematic review aimed to assess the survival rate and mechanical complications of zirconia ceramic compared to metal-ceramic implant-supported multiunit fixed dental prostheses (FDPs). We conducted searches in online databases such as MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus, and Cochrane up until December 2022. A risk-of-bias assessment was done for all the included studies. Data extraction was performed based on the following parameters: author, year, study design, number of implants, abutment material, age range, observation period, incidence of mechanical complications, and survival rate. This systematic review included six studies (four randomized controlled trials and two retrospective studies). The meta-analysis significantly favored metal-ceramic restorations regarding mechanical complications with a risk ratio (RR) value of 1.64 and P = 0.001. Meta-analysis showed no difference in metal-ceramic FDPs in prostheses survival rate (P = 0.63; RR: 1.27, 95% confidence interval: 0.52–3.37; heterogeneity: P = 0.65; I2: 0%). While metal-ceramic multiunit implant-supported prostheses exhibited fewer mechanical complications compared to zirconia-ceramic prostheses, there was no significant difference in terms of prosthesis survival rate between the two. Hence, both treatments appear to be viable options for long-term implant-supported prostheses.
Experience the city : analysis of space-time behavior and spatial learning

Learning plays an important role by coding information into individual cognitive maps that can be used to make decisions concerning individual behavior in space. Through traveling people learn about the urban environment and update their knowledge. In this regard, the growing concern in the field of urban planning and transportation modeling is to include information on traveler’s states of knowledge – their cognitive awareness or cognitive maps of the travel environment – for predicting more realistic travel behavior. However, it is not an easy process to describe and model behavioral changes and learning processes over time. The first reason is that the spatial learning process is a complex phenomenon that comprises different dimensions. The second reason concerns the availability of longitudinal empirical data. More specifically, two sources of data are required: (1) data on cognitive mapping process and (2) data on actual travel behavior. In the line with these considerations, this PhD thesis aims to study learning dynamics of newcomers in an urban environment based on the longitudinal activity-travel data collected over several weeks time horizon and complemented with data on cognitive process. For understanding the relationship between spatial knowledge acquisition and space-time behaviors of individuals a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques for analyzing space-time behavior of a sample of newcomers to Eindhoven, the Netherlands has been used. Because the new generation of dynamic activity-based models requires multi-day or multi-week travel data, GPS tracking technology was utilized to collect data during several weeks on activity-travel patterns of newcomers. Much effort was put into developing and improving this technology for collecting data. These data were complemented by a series of consecutive interviews, internet surveys and maps drawing techniques. The major methodological contribution of this thesis is the development of an approach to imputing activity-travel patterns from GPS traces. Personal judgment and ad hoc rules are replaced by a Bayesian belief network, which represents the multiple relationships between spatial, temporal and other factors and the travel behavior aspects of interest, including errors in the technology itself. The results of analysis of activity-travelled patterns derived from GPS traces suggest that individuals possess different learning styles and activity space profiles. The findings allow to draw conclusions that information embedded in cognitive maps is strongly related to individual interactions within the city.
Insights into a million-year-scale Rhenohercynian carbonate platform evolution through a multi-disciplinary approach: example of a Givetian carbonate record from Belgium

Abstract In this paper we formulate answers to three important questions related to Givetian carbonate records and their use for reconstructing million-year-scale past palaeoenvironmental changes. First, we provide detailed illustrations of the fascinating diversity that shaped a significant shallow reefal platform during early to late Givetian time in the Rhenohercynian Ocean; secondly we improve the sedimentological model of the extensive Givetian carbonate platform in the Dinant Basin; and thirdly we evaluate the application of magnetic susceptibility as a tool for long-term trend correlations and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. These goals are reached by making a sedimentological, geophysical and geochemical study of the La Thure section. Through the early–late Givetian interval we discerned 18 microfacies ranging from a homoclinal ramp to a discontinuously rimmed shelf and then a drowning shelf. The comparison of these sedimentological results with those published for the south of the Dinant Syncline allowed us to provide an up to date model of the vertical and lateral environmental development of one of the largest Givetian carbonate platforms in Europe. This comparison also increased the knowledge on the distribution of facies belts in the Dinant Basin and allowed us to highlight the Taghanic Event. Palaeoredox proxies reveal a substantial change in the oxygenation level, from oxygen-depleted to more oxic conditions, between middle and late Givetian time. We demonstrated the relationship between variation in magnetic susceptibility values and proxies for siliciclastic input (such as Si, Al). The La Thure section is considered a key section for the understanding of internal shelf settings bordering Laurussia's southeastern margin.