Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Is Associated with Platelet Activity and Bleeding Tendency in Patients with Gaucher Disease

Bleeding tendency, a prominent feature of patients with Gaucher disease (GD), is associated with abnormal platelet function. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a protein with neuroprotective potential stored in alpha granules of circulating platelets. Here we studied BDNF levels in 50 patients with type I GD (GD1) and their correlation with platelet activity and bleeding tendency. Flow cytometry was used to test unstimulated and stimulated measurement of platelet surface-activated expression of αIIbβ3 integrin, P-selectin and lysosomal-associated membrane protein (LAMP3/CD63). Serum and plasma BDNF levels were quantified using ELISA. The bleeding history was recorded by a bleeding questionnaire. Serum BDNF levels were positively correlated with platelet count and moderately correlated with unstimulated and stimulated platelet P-selectin expression. Patients with more than one bleeding manifestation were shown to have lower serum BDNF levels, albeit similar platelet count. Plasma BDNF levels were significantly elevated in splenectomized patients and showed a moderate positive correlation with stimulated platelet CD63 expression. These observations demonstrate the first association between BDNF levels in the peripheral blood with platelet dysfunction and increased bleeding manifestation. The role of measuring serum BDNF for assessing platelet alpha degranulation defects and bleeding risk in patients with GD and the general population needs further study.
Maintaining Safety While Discussing Suicide: Trauma Informed Research in an Online Focus Groups

Although trauma informed (TI) care has been well researched and is used in many disciplines, TI practices for research are less developed. In this article, we explore the use of TI practices when discussing the sensitive topic of suicide within an online focus group. Qualitative studies on rural suicide are sparse, even though the incidence of suicide is higher rurally than in urban areas. Rural communities are often close knit and stigma can be greater toward non-normative experiences such as mental illness and suicide. Due to the nature of rural communities, the trauma of suicide can affect many people. We conducted focus groups with rural community participants who had an interest in suicide prevention to explore the gaps in rural suicide research and the best methods for knowledge dissemination of existing research. Steps were taken to mitigate re-traumatization and/or severe distress in the participants through a TI research approach. An online video conferencing platform became necessary due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The online features promoted safety and transparency by: enabling participants to turn off camera and microphone if they became distressed, allowing them time to self-regulate until feeling sufficiently safe to return to the focus group discussion; leaving the discussion at any time with little disruption; and being able to choose a comfortable place to join the discussion. Other TI activities included ensuring ongoing consent throughout the process, recruiting through a third party to enhance safety, having support resource lists tailored to the region, and encouraging participants to share and debrief final thoughts. A number of participants commented on feeling safe within the environment of the focus group. Limitations included challenges identifying distress online and technological difficulties associated with rural internet services. To our knowledge, this is the first article using a TI approach for discussing suicide through an online method.
Comparative Effectiveness Research: A Roadmap to Sail the Seas of IBD Therapies

The drug pipeline for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has dramatically expanded over the last two decades, and it is expected to further grow in the upcoming years with the introduction of new agents with different mechanisms of action. However, such an increase of therapeutic options needs to be paralleled with an appropriate development of research to help physicians in the decision-making process when choosing which drug to prescribe. On the population level, comparative effectiveness research (CER) is intended to explore and identify relevant differences—in terms of both efficacy and safety outcomes—amongst different therapeutic regimens and/or strategies, in order to find the correct placement for each treatment in the therapeutic algorithm. CER revolves around three cornerstones: network meta-analyses, head-to-head trials and real-world studies, each of which has specific pros and cons, and can therefore offer answers to different questions. In this review, we aim to provide an overview on the methodological features specific to each of these research approaches, as well as to illustrate the main findings coming from CER on IBD target therapies (i.e., biologics and small molecules) and to discuss their appropriate interpretation.
Uniqueness and traveling waves in a cell motility model

We study a non-linear and non-local evolution equation for curves obtained as the sharp interface limit of a phase-field model for crawling motion of eukaryotic cells on a substrate. We establish uniqueness of solutions to the sharp interface limit equation in the subcritical parameter regime. The proof relies on a Gronwall estimate for a specially chosen weighted \begin{document}$L^2$\end{document} norm. As persistent motion of crawling cells is of central interest to biologists, we next study the existence of traveling wave solutions. We prove that traveling wave solutions exist in the supercritical parameter regime provided the non-linearity of the sharp interface limit equation possesses certain asymmetry (related, e.g., to myosin contractility). Finally, we numerically investigate traveling wave solutions and simulate their dynamics. Due to non-uniqueness of solutions of the sharp interface limit equation we numerically solve a related, singularly perturbed PDE system which is uniquely solvable. Our simulations predict instability of traveling wave solutions and capture both bipedal wandering cell motion as well as rotating cell motion; these behaviors qualitatively agree with recent experimental and theoretical findings.
A Review of Models and Factors for Digital Educational Games Acceptance and User Experience

Digital educational games (DEG) are currently receiving increasing recognition thanks to how popular digital games are with the young generation as well as the potential benefits this technology has towards improving students” learning motivation and engagement. However, despite the massive efforts and monetary investments made in the academia and industry, the acceptance of DEG among students are still low. While there have been studies that review and investigate the factors that influence students to use this learning tool, most of them cover the common technology acceptance factors without comprehensively considering other key features of DEG such as user experience (UX) elements. The objective of this study is to review the acceptance and UX models and factors normally used by researchers when evaluating DEG. From the review, usefulness, ease of use, and enjoyment are frequently observed to determine students' acceptance of DEG while immersion, aesthetics, concentration, clear goals, and social interaction are among the common UX elements of DEG. There are elements between acceptance and UX that are interchangeable. Hence, an inclusive DEG acceptance model that integrates various UX elements can be developed.
The finite gap method and the analytic description of the exact rogue wave recurrence in the periodic NLS Cauchy problem. 1

The focusing nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation is the simplest universal model describing the modulation instability (MI) of quasi monochromatic waves in weakly nonlinear media; MI is considered the main physical mechanism for the appearance of rogue (anomalous) waves (RWs) in nature. In this paper we study, using the finite gap method, the NLS Cauchy problem for periodic initial perturbations of the unstable background solution of NLS exciting just one of the unstable modes. We distinguish two cases. In the case in which only the corresponding unstable gap is theoretically open, the solution describes an exact deterministic alternate recurrence of linear and nonlinear stages of MI, and the nonlinear RW stages are described by the 1-breather Akhmediev solution, whose parameters, different at each RW appearence, are always given in terms of the initial data through elementary functions. If the number of unstable modes is >1, this uniform in t dynamics is sensibly affected by perturbations due to numerics and/or real experiments, provoking corrections to the result. In the second case in which more than one unstable gap is open, a detailed investigation of all these gaps is necessary to get a uniform in t dynamics, and this study is postponed to a subsequent paper. It is however possible to obtain the elementary description of the first nonlinear stage of MI, given again by the Akhmediev 1-breather solution, and how perturbations due to numerics and/or real experiments can affect this result. Since the solution of the Cauchy problem is given in terms of different elementary functions in different time intervals, obviously matching in the corresponding overlapping regions, an alternative approach, based on matched asymptotic expansions, is suggested and presented in a separate paper.
Wernicke’s Encephalopathy: A Precipitation of Glycogen Storage Disease

A 16-year-old Saudi female who is a known case of glycogen storage disease type 1A (GSD1A), presented to the emergency department at King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 15th January 2021 due to a complaint of persistent vomiting. Two weeks after admission, she began developing double vision and progressive leg weakness with intact sensation. She received the primary management to maintain good hydration and was admitted to the ICU for further workup. Over her hospital course, multiple investigations were conducted, the most significant of which was the MRI after sudden ocular deterioration. The result depicted findings classic for Wernicke’s encephalopathy (WE) on MRI. The patient was then started on Thiamine supplementation and MRI performed three weeks later showed significant interval improvement of the parenchymal signal abnormality with complete resolution features of Wernicke's encephalopathy. This complex case emphasizes the need for early recognition and immediate treatment with IV thiamine in such a potential condition that can lead to permanent neurological deficits that present in a non-typical fashion.
Local large deviations and the strong renewal theorem

We establish two different, but related results for random walks in the domain of attraction of a stable law of index $\alpha$. The first result is a local large deviation upper bound, valid for $\alpha \in (0,1) \cup (1,2)$, which improves on the classical Gnedenko and Stone local limit theorems. The second result, valid for $\alpha \in (0,1)$, is the derivation of necessary and sufficient conditions for the random walk to satisfy the strong renewal theorem (SRT). This solves a long standing problem, which dates back to the 1963 paper of Garsia and Lamperti \cite{cf:GL} for renewal processes (i.e. random walks with non-negative increments), and to the 1968 paper of Williamson \cite{cf:Wil} for general random walks. This paper supersedes the individual preprints arXiv:1507.07502 and arXiv:1507.06790
Examination of the prevalence of conduct disorder among young Offenders: A case study of Shikusa Borstal Institution, Kenya

Conduct disorder among juvenile offenders is a very critical phenomenon not only in Kenya but also globally. The global prevalence of conduct disorder among children and adolescents is estimated to range from 2 - 10%, indicating the biggest health and social challenge that nations of the world have to confront. The study aimed to examine the prevalence of conduct disorder and its influence among young offenders in Shikusa Borstal Institution. The study employed Psychoanalytic Theory by Sigmund Freud and Social Learning Theory by Albert Bandura. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population was 250, simple random and census sampling methods were applied to select 101 respondents as the sample size. Primary data was gathered through closed-ended questionnaires, interview schedule and focus group discussions. Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were utilized to analyze quantitative data while verbatim accounts were used for qualitative data. The results were presented using tables and figures. The study concluded that the prevalence of conduct disorder had a negative and significant relationship with conduct disorder. The study recommended that policy makes should come up with policies that would improve positive thinking among young people. This would reduce negative attitude of young people that leads to law breaking.
Visualising the arithmetic of imaginary quadratic fields

We study the orbit of $\mathbb{R}$ under the Bianchi group $\operatorname{PSL}_2(\mathcal{O}_K)$, where $K$ is an imaginary quadratic field. The orbit, called a Schmidt arrangement $\mathcal{S}_K$, is a geometric realisation, as an intricate circle packing, of the arithmetic of $K$. This paper presents several examples of this phenomenon. First, we show that the curvatures of the circles are integer multiples of $\sqrt{-\Delta}$ and describe the curvatures of tangent circles in terms of the norm form of $\mathcal{O}_K$. Second, we show that the circles themselves are in bijection with certain ideal classes in orders of $\mathcal{O}_K$, the conductor being a certain multiple of the curvature. This allows us to count circles with class numbers. Third, we show that the arrangement of circles is connected if and only if $\mathcal{O}_K$ is Euclidean. These results are meant as foundational for a study of a new class of thin groups generalising Apollonian groups, in a companion paper.
Quantum Groupoids and their Hopf Cyclic Cohomology

A new quantization of groupoids under the name of \times-Hopf coalgebras is introduced. We develop a Hopf cyclic theory with coefficients in stable-anti-Yetter-Drinfeld modules for \times-Hopf coalgebras. We use \times-Hopf coalgebras to study coextensions of coalgebras. Finally, equivariant \times-Hopf coalgebra Galois coextensions are defined and applied as functors between categories of stable anti-Yetter-Drinfeld modules over \times-Hopf coalgebras involved in the coextension.
Iwasawa theory for Rankin-Selberg products of
p-nonordinary eigenforms

Let f and g be two modular forms which are non-ordinary at p. The theory of Beilinson-Flach elements gives rise to four rank-one non-integral Euler systems for the Rankin-Selberg convolution f⊗g, one for each choice of p-stabilisations of f and g. We prove (modulo a hypothesis on non-vanishing of p-adic L-fuctions) that the p-parts of these four objects arise as the images under appropriate projection maps of a single class in the wedge square of Iwasawa cohomology, confirming a conjecture of Lei-Loeffler-Zerbes. Furthermore, we define an explicit logarithmic matrix using the theory of Wach modules, and show that this describes the growth of the Euler systems and p-adic L-functions associated to f⊗g in the cyclotomic tower. This allows us to formulate "signed" Iwasawa main conjectures for f⊗g in the spirit of Kobayashi's ±-Iwasawa theory for supersingular elliptic curves; and we prove one inclusion in these conjectures under our running hypotheses.
The monodromy of $F$-isocrystals with log-decay

Let U be a smooth geometrically connected affine curve over $\mathbb{F}_p$ with compactification X. Following Dwork and Katz, a $p$-adic representation $\rho$ of $\pi_1(U)$ corresponds to an \'etale $F$-isocrystal. By work of Tsuzuki and Crew an $F$-isocrystal is overconvergent precisely when $\rho$ has finite monodromy at each $x \in X-U$. However, in practice most F-isocrystals arising geometrically are not overconvergent and have logarithmic growth at singularities (e.g. characters of the Igusa tower over a modular curve). We give a Galois-theoretic interpretation of these log growth $F$-isocrystals in terms of asymptotic properties of higher ramification groups.
Custom-Made Implants in Ankle Bone Loss: A Retrospective Assessment of Reconstruction/Arthrodesis in Sequelae of Septic Non-Union of the Tibial Pilon

Background and Objectives: Treating segmental tibial and ankle bone loss after radical surgery for chronic osteomyelitis is one of the most challenging problems encountered by orthopaedic surgeons. Open tibia and ankle fractures occur with an incidence of 3.4 per 100,000 and 1.6 per 100,000, respectively, and there is a high propensity of developing fracture-related infection with associated chronic osteomyelitis in patients. Segmental tibial and ankle bone loss have recently received new and improved treatments. Materials and Methods: Above all, 3D printing allows for the customization of implants based on the anatomy of each patient, using a personalized process through the layer-by-layer deposition of materials. Results: This article presents different cases from the authors’ experience. Specifically, four patients suffered tibia and ankle fractures and after radical surgery for chronic osteomyelitis combined with high-performance antibiotic therapy underwent ankle reconstruction/arthrodesis with custom-made tibial spacers. Conclusions: Thanks to 3D-printed patient-specific devices, it is possible to perform surgical procedures that, for anatomical reasons, would have been impossible otherwise. Moreover, an improvement in overall functionality and an important reduction in pain were shown in the last follow-up in all patients.
Increased serum levels of tumour necrosis factor-like weak inducer of apoptosis in children with autism spectrum disorder

Introduction: A previous study has evaluated the association between serum tumour necrosis factor-like weak apoptosis inducer (TWEAK) levels and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In line with this investigation, the present study aimed to measure serum TWEAK levels to determine whether their eventual alteration might have etiopathogenetic significance in children with ASD. Methods: A total of 40 treatment-naive children with ASD and 40 healthy children as controls were included in the present study. The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Aged Children—Present and Lifetime Version, DSM-5 was used by a psychiatrist to screen the healthy controls for psychiatric disorders after a physical examination by a paediatrician. The clinical severity of the ASD symptoms was assessed by the Childhood Autism Rating Scale. Venous blood samples were collected, and serum TWEAK levels were measured. Results: This study included 80 children in total, with 40 (50.0%) in the patient group and 40 (50.0%) in the healthy control group. Thirty four (85.0%) of the participants in the patient group, and 31 (77.5%) in the healthy control group, were male, and the remainder were female. The distribution of the gender ratio was statistically similar between groups (p = 0.568). The volunteers were between 36 and 59 months old. The average age in the patient group was 46.0 ± 6.5, while that in the healthy control group was 45.2 ± 6.7. The ages were also statistically similar between groups (p = 0.615). The TWEAK values of the patient group were found to be statistically higher than those of the healthy control group (p < 0.001). Discussion: This study examined whether serum TWEAK levels were related to ASD in childhood. Our findings indicate that children with ASD have higher TWEAK levels when compared to other children. The findings further indicate that serum TWEAK levels could be related to ASD etiopathogenesis independent of ASD symptom severity.
Self-Leadership and Innovative Behavior: Mediation of Informal Learning and Moderation of Social Capital

As the business environment is rapidly changing, interest in the innovation of organizational members is accelerating. Therefore, this study investigated how individual-level resources, particularly self-leadership, affect workers’ innovative behavior. Many studies have emphasized that employee initiative can lead to job performance at the individual level and organizational performance improvement. Self-leadership is a spontaneous and an active behavior, or mindset, defined as the ability to lead an individual in challenging situations characterized by learned behaviors that can be augmented by training. It is of interest to many researchers and practitioners. Further, we tested the mediation of informal learning, another individual-level resource, in this relationship and the moderation of social capital, a social resource, in the mediation. We analyzed the responses of 551 employees of South Korean companies using Model 6 and 14 of PROCESS Macro. The results revealed that self-leadership positively influenced workers’ innovative behavior, and informal learning mediated this relationship. We also confirmed that social capital strengthened the positive mediating effect of informal learning. This study empirically verifies the role of self-leadership, informal learning, and social capital as the determinants of innovative behavior and expands the discussion on leadership by highlighting the significance of self-leadership as opposed to traditional leadership approaches.
On the geometry, flows and visualization of singular complex analytic vector fields on Riemann surfaces

Motivated by the wild behavior of isolated essential singularities in complex analysis, we study singular complex analytic vector fields $X$ on arbitrary Riemann surfaces $M$. By vector field singularities we understand zeros, poles, isolated essential singularities and accumulation points of the above kind. In this framework, a singular analytic vector field $X$ has canonically associated; a 1-form, a quadratic differential, a flat metric (with a geodesic foliation), a global distinguished parameter or $\mathbb{C}$-flow box $\Psi_X$, a Newton map $\Phi_X$, and a Riemann surface $\mathcal{R}_X$ arising from the maximal $\mathbb{C}$-flow of $X$. We show that every singular complex analytic vector field $X$ on a Riemann surface is in fact both a global pullback of the constant vector field under $\Psi_X$ and of the radial vector field on the sphere under $\Phi_X$. As a result of independent interest, we show that the maximal analytic continuation of the a local $\mathbb{C}$-flow of $X$ is univalued on the Riemann surface $\mathcal{R}_{X} \subset M \times \mathbb{C}_t$, where $\mathcal{R}_X$ is the graph of $\Psi_{X}$. Furthermore we explore the geometry of singular complex analytic vector fields and present a geometrical method that enables us to obtain the solution, without numerical integration, to the differential equation that provides the $\mathbb{C}$-flow of the vector field. We discuss the theory behind the method, its implementation, comparison with some integration-based techniques, as well as examples of the visualization of complex vector fields on the plane, sphere and torus. Applications to visualization of complex valued functions is discussed including some advantages between other methods.