Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prognostic and predictive factors in cancer patients with obstructive jaundice treated by percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage: A single-center experience

Background: Short-term survival rates are reported in the patients undergoing percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD). The purpose of this study was to determine the factors predicting survival following percutaneous biliary drainage. Materials and Methods: The data of 90 patients undergoing PTBD due to malignant biliary obstruction were analyzed retrospectively between January 2009 and November 2014. Results: The median age of the patients were 64 years. Fifty-one (57%) of the patients were male. Median survival following PTBD was 44 days. Survival rates at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months following PTBD were 58%, 33%, and 8.9%, respectively. Multivariate Cox's regression analysis showed that platelet (PLT) count is significantly associated with predictors of survival; the other factors affecting survival were receiving chemotherapy following PTBD, liver metastasis, and serum albumin levels. Conclusion: Lower serum PLT level following PTBD is associated with the short-term survival. Survival of patients who are not able to receive chemotherapy after PTBD, having a low level of serum albumin, and patients with liver metastasis were shorter.
Two Cheers for Rebooting AI: Building Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust

Kolassa reviews this new book by Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis, which aims at educating the public about ML and AI and giving a reality check on their usefulness. The authors agree with Kolassa's own conclusions on the topic, featured in this same issue of Foresight. However, the reviewer gives only two cheers for the book because its authors offer no way forward for adding understanding and meaning to the process. Read it for the reality check, he says, but don't expect a clear vision for the future.
Identifying Cortical Substrates Underlying the Phenomenology of Stereopsis and Realness: A Pilot fMRI Study

Viewing a real scene or a stereoscopic image (e.g., 3D movies) with both eyes yields a vivid subjective impression of object solidity, tangibility, immersive negative space and sense of realness; something that is not experienced when viewing single pictures of 3D scenes normally with both eyes. This phenomenology, sometimes referred to as stereopsis, is conventionally ascribed to the derivation of depth from the differences in the two eye’s images (binocular disparity). Here we report on a pilot study designed to explore if dissociable neural activity associated with the phenomenology of realness can be localised in the cortex. In order to dissociate subjective impression from disparity processing, we capitalised on the finding that the impression of realness associated with stereoscopic viewing can also be generated when viewing a single picture of a 3D scene with one eye through an aperture. Under a blocked fMRI design, subjects viewed intact and scrambled images of natural 3-D objects and scenes under three viewing conditions: (1) single pictures viewed normally with both eyes (binocular) (2) single pictures viewed with one eye through an aperture (monocular-aperture); (3) stereoscopic anaglyph images of the same scenes viewed with both eyes (binocular stereopsis). Fixed-effects GLM contrasts aimed at isolating the phenomenology of stereopsis demonstrated a selective recruitment of similar posterior parietal regions for both monocular and binocular stereopsis conditions. Our findings provide preliminary evidence that the cortical processing underlying the subjective impression of realness may be dissociable and distinct from the derivation of depth from disparity.
Chemical composition, antioxidative and antimicrobial activity of allspice (Pimenta dioica (L.) Merr.) essential oil and extract

Allspice (Pimenta dioica (L.) Merr. ) fruit was used for the essential oil and ethanolic extract isolation in the present study. The essential oil was obtained by Clevenger-type hydrodistillation from allspice fructus with hydromodule 1:10 m/v during 180 minutes, while the ethanolic extract was obtained by reflux extraction at the boiling temperature with solvomodule 1:10 m/v during 120 minutes. The qualitative and quantitative composition of the essential oil was determined by GC/MS and GC/FID methods, respectively. The total phenolic and total flavonoid content in the extract was determined according to the Folin-Ciocalteu and aluminium chloride methods, respectively the antioxidant activity of allspice fructus essential oil and the extract was determined spectrophotometrically by DPPH assay and the antimicrobial activity using the microdilution method on the following microorganisms: two types of bacteria (Bacillus cereus, Salmonella spp.) and one yeast (Candida albicans), pairs of reference strains and their isolates. The obtained results proved the presence of 20 components in the essential oil, mainly oxygenated monoterpenes. The extract and essential oil have shown the best antioxidant activities after 20 and 60 minutes of incubation with EC50 values of 0.011 mg/cm³ and 0.023 mg/cm³, respectively. Both the essential oil and the extract have shown an inhibitory effect on all investigated microorganisms. Allspice ethanolic extract showed a better inhibitory effect on B. cereus and S. enterica (isolate and ATCC strains) than the essential oil. On the other side, allspice essential oil showed a better inhibitory effect on C. albicans strains. The results obtained indicate that both the essential oil and the extract isolated from allspice fructus are a good source of natural antioxidants and antimicrobial agents with potential applications in food and pharmaceutical industries as a safer alternative to the synthetic additives.
Evaluation of the INTERGROWTH-21st Fetal Growth Standards in the United Arab Emirates: A Pilot Study.

Objectives: To evaluate the use of recently published INTERGROWTH-21st (IG-21) fetal growth standards in United Arab Emirates native population. Method: This prospective cohort study analyzed fetal ultrasound measurements of head circumference, abdominal circumference and femur length. Z-scores and percentiles of fetal and neonatal growth measurements were calculated using IG-21 and compared with a standard reference. Results: Measurements were performed in 120 pregnancies at a median gestational age of 25.8 weeks (range, 16 to 35). Thirteen out of 15 mean IG-21 Z-scores for all measurements remained between −0.5 and +0.5 at all gestational-ages. Actual standard deviations (SD) using IG-21 charts gave an acceptable SD (0.8 to 1.2) for 13 out of 15 measurements. The proportions of most antenatal measurements 90th and >97th percentiles were identical between standard and IG-21st charts. The median gestational age was 39 weeks (range, 29 to 41) and 14 (13%) were delivered by cesarean section. The mean z-scores of all biometric measurements were close to zero while the mean percentiles were close to the 50th percentile, thus, describing appropriately the neonatal growth parameters in our population. Conclusions: Fetal size in our population was comparable to the IG-21 standards. The IG-21 neonatal growth standards were more similar to that of the anticipated population distribution than to the standard charts. These preliminary results, if confirmed in a larger study in the UAE, would support use of IG-21 standards in UAE instead of the currently used standard charts.
Effect of Task and Attention on Neural Tracking of Speech

EEG-based measures of neural tracking of natural running speech are becoming increasingly popular to investigate neural processing of speech and have applications in audiology. When the stimulus is a single speaker, it is usually assumed that the listener actively attends to and understands the stimulus. However, as the level of attention of the listener is inherently variable, we investigated how it affected neural envelope tracking. Using a movie as a distractor, we varied the level of attention while we estimated neural envelope tracking. We varied the intelligibility level by adding stationary noise. We found a significant difference in neural envelope tracking between the condition with maximal attention and the movie condition. This difference was most pronounced in the right-frontal region of the brain. The degree of neural envelope tracking was highly correlated with the stimulus signal-to-noise ratio, even in the movie condition. This could be due to residual neural resources to passively attend to the stimulus. When envelope tracking is used to objectively measure speech understanding this means that the procedure can be made more enjoyable and feasible by letting participants watch a movie during stimulus presentation.
Learning inequalities during the Covid-19 pandemic: how families cope with home-schooling

Website: https://www.southampton. ac.uk/publicpolicy/covid19/learning-inequalities-covid-19.page The transition from face-to-face to distance (home and online) schooling is likely to generate educational loss. Using data from Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study, we estimate that loss to be more pronounced for children from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds than for other children. In April 2020, one month into the COVID-19 lockdown: - Children in primary schools spent on average 2.4 hours per day doing schoolwork (compromising on average 2.2 offline lessons - a mix of worksheets, assignments and watching videos – and 0.6 online lessons) plus 2 hours per day of support from adults. - Children in secondary schools spent on average 3 hours per day doing schoolwork (compromising on average 2.3 offline lessons and 1 online lesson) plus 0.9 hours per day of support from adults. - Focusing on combinations of circumstances which are both common and policy relevant (see graphs), we found that children in the most advantaged families, where both parents work regularly from home, the main parent[1] is in a ‘service class’ occupation (large employers, managers of professionals) and the children have their own computer spent on average 2.9 hours per day on school work for primary and 3.8 per day for secondary pupils. More disadvantaged children in families where the main parent is not in a service class occupation, where the child has to share a computer with other family members and either parent does not work regularly from home, the hours spent per day on school work are 2.3 for primary and 2.6 for secondary education. Socio-economic differences in the estimated education loss are marked. - For children in primary education, those from the most advantaged families will have lost on average 24% of a standard deviation across subjects by the time schools reopen in autumn, while children from the most disadvantaged families will have lost 31% of a standard deviation. - For children in secondary education, children from the most advantaged group will have lost on average 14% of a standard deviation across subjects, while children from the most disadvantaged group will have lost twice as much, 28% of a standard deviation.
Animal-assisted interventions for health and human service professionals

Animal-Assisted Interventions are goal-oriented and structured interactions that incorporate the human-animal bond. By including animals in health and human services, unique and significant therapeutic gains can be achieved. However, Animal-Assisted Interventions involve so much more than simply having a dog or horse present during therapy. For the sake of both the animals and humans involved, the health professional must be cognizant of a profusion of information in order to deliver ethical and effective services. Animal-Assisted Interventions for Health & Human Service Professionals provides physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language therapists, audiologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, and other health and rehabilitation specialists with the core knowledge required to effectively introduce dogs and horses into their practice. Wide-ranging and up-to-date content is provided by expert clinicians and researchers in the field of Animal-Assisted Interventions to produce the only comprehensive text to address topics relevant to all health professionals. Explicit direction is also provided separately for dog-human and horse-human therapy teams. Finally, discipline-specific attention is given to the latest in research and development, application, and best practice of including animals in healthcare and human services. This book is essential reading for any health and human service provider who is currently working with animals or who is considering expanding their practice to include the help of animal co-workers.
Chemical characterization of almond meal as a co-product of the mechanical extraction of almond oil

Almonds harvesting, along with precleaning, hulling, shelling, and sorting, generate recoverable co-products such as double, malformed, or damaged almonds. The common way that generates more benefit is the extraction of almond oil for food and cosmetic uses. The aim of this study is to compare composition and nutritional value of almond meals of the main varieties from eastern Morocco, Marcona (M), Fournat de Breznaud (FNB), FerragnesandFerraduel (FF) and Beldi a local ecotype (B), during three consecutive crop years (2016-2018). Significant differences were observed, which mainly concern the residual oil in almond cakes and especially their fibres, sugars, and proteins. Differences depend on the quality of the raw material and the effects of the crop year on the variety. Besides, from a nutritional point of view, analysed almond meals still contain significant amounts of residual oil and the major constituents of almond seeds (sugars, fibres, and proteins). The amino acid profile presents eight essential amino acids (Cysteine, Methionine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Phenylalanine, Tyrosine, and Lysine Valine) and the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS) ranges between 24.78% for (M) and 62.17% for (FF). We conclude the analysed almond meals present interesting nutritional values as a specific ingredient for gluten-free culinary preparations and light foodstuffs.
REVERSAL OF HYPERMETHYLATION AND REACTIVATION OF TUMOR SUPPRESSOR GENES DUE TO NATURAL COMPOUNDS IN BREAST CANCER CELLS

: Breast oncogenesis is a multistage process that involves epigenetic and genetic changes. Epigenetics is outlined as reversible changes in gene expression, with no alteration in gene sequence. DNA methylation, histone modification, and nucleosome transformation are the foremost epigenetic changes that may get dysregulated in breast cancer. Epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) is reversed by varied molecules as well as natural compounds like polyphenols which will act as a hypermethylation agent. Nowadays, much of the research is going in the direction of natural and dietary compounds and attempting to search out novel and extra effective medical aid for the breast cancer patients. In this literature, few vital natural chemical compounds effective against the breast oncogenesis with their mode of actions are discussed. Such chemicals act as an analytical and prognostic tool in breast cancer due to their role in epigenetic regulation.
Macroeconomic Policies and Stock Market Liquidity: Evidence from Nigeria

This study investigated the effect of macroeconomic policies on stock market liquidity in Nigeria using annual time series data that spanned from 1986 to 2018. Specifically, the paper analyzed how monetary and fiscal policies interactions affect stock market liquidity. Stock market liquidity was measured by stock turnover ratio. Unit root test confirmed that the variables were of mixed integration which necessitated the application of ARDL technique. The ARDL bounds testing revealed that a long-run relationship existed between fiscal and monetary policies instruments, and stock market turnover ratio. In the long-run, it was found that government debt had negative and significant effect on stock market turnover ratio while monetary policy variables such as monetary policy rate and cash reserve ratio had significant effect on stock market turnover, but only the policy rate was positive. In the short-run, all the explanatory variables were significant apart from monetary policy rate which was, though, significant after one period lag and liquidity ratio which was not significant at any level. The results of the ECM suggested that stock market liquidity was affected by the interactions of fiscal and monetary policies instruments in Nigeria. Consequently, the paper concluded that macroeconomic policies that would enforce sustainable and efficient financial market towards improving stock market liquidity be strictly implemented.
Clustering Koreans’ Environmental Awareness and Attitudes into Seven Groups: Environmentalists, Dissatisfieds, Inactivators, Bystanders, Honeybees, Optimists, and Moderates

We attempted to characterize different groups of environmental awareness and attitudes and to interpret the public’s diverse interests in the environment. Responses of a five-year public survey in South Korea were clustered by k-means algorithms into the following seven groups: environmentalists, dissatisfieds, inactivators, bystanders, honeybees, optimists, and moderates. The environmentalists, who were dissatisfied with the status of the environment, had a strong orientation toward pro-environmental attitudes and practices. The inactivators revealed a discrepancy between high orientation in pro-environmental perception and attitude and weak participation in pro-environmental practices. The optimists and dissatisfieds stood distinct against each other, while the former were satisfied with the status of the environment and the environmental protection efforts of government and enterprises, the latter were not. The honeybees, who were older than others, had little knowledge of the environment but engaged in more environmental protection practices; the younger bystanders were less interested in environmental issues and practices. The moderates gave average answers to the overall questions. Cluster analysis could help in understanding the complex landscape of the public’s environmental awareness and attitudes beyond a straightforward scale from anti- to pro-environment and support the establishment of environmental policy customized to the different groups.
Socio-Economic, Demand and Supply-Driven Determinants of Health Care Expenditures in Sub-Sahara Africa

This study examined the real determinants of health care expenditure in Sub-Sahara Africa. Considering the determining factors from socio-economic, demand and supply sides, data for the study were sourced from World Health Organization and World Development indicators published by World Bank. The study employed Westerlund Error-correction Based Panel Cointegration test to examine the relationship between the determining factors of health expenditure and the health expenditure itself. Findings from the study confirmed that there are long-term co-movements between the determining factors of health expenditure and health expenditure itself. Also, the study revealed that all variables from socio-economic, demand and supply sides have significant impacts on health expenditure in both short and long- run. In addition, most variables in the demand and supply sides have negative and significant impacts on health expenditure while all variables from socio-economic side have positive and significant impacts on health expenditure in both short and long-run in the selected Sub-Sahara African countries. Keywords : Health Expenditure, Socio-economic Side, Demand Side, Supply Side, Panel Unit Root test, Error Correction Based Panel Cointegration. DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/10-10-07 Publication date: May 31 st 2020
Introducing of the First DCD Kidney Transplantation Program in Poland

In many countries, including Poland, the main problem with transplantation is the insufficiency of organ donors in relation to the demand for organs. Hence, the common aim globally is to increase the pool of donors. The prolonged survival of patients after transplantation, with respect to the survival time of patients on dialysis, makes the search much more intense. After the recourse of expanded criteria donors (ECD), the next step was obtaining kidneys from donors after irreversible cardiac death (DCD). Therefore, based on Dutch, British, and Spanish experience, it can be hypothesized that the introduction of DCD procedures in countries that have not launched these programs and the improvement of DCD procedures may shorten the waiting time for organ transplantation globally. The legal basis for the procurement of organs after irreversible cardiac arrest came into existence in Poland in 2010. Previously, such organ procurements were not in practice. Since 1984, when Poland published irreversible cardiac arrest as a criterion of brain death, it became the only way to determine death prior to the procurement of organs. The aim of this report was to evaluate the results of the first 19 transplantation cases involving harvested kidneys from donors after cardiac arrest, which was irreversible and clinically confirmed, without any doubt as per the ethical protocol of DCD. Understanding, support, and public perception are essential for this program's initiation and maintenance.
Scheduling Protocol for Throughput Maximization in Borrowing-Aided Energy Harvesting System

In this letter, we present a novel energy scheduling protocol that involves power allocation and designing of energy borrowing and energy-returning schedules. To maximize the sum-throughput over the transmission deadline, we propose a water-filling based decoupling methodology to global optimally solve the underlying non-convex problem. This algorithm has shown to have low complexity and achieve the jointly global optimal solution. Numerical simulations have verified the analytical claims, and we have demonstrated an overall throughput gain of 10% over the benchmark scheme.
Rhodolith holobionts are not sources of fixed nitrogen in a northeastern Gulf of Mexico patch reef

Rhodoliths provide numerous benefits to coastal ecosystems and help support high biodiversity. No study, however, has explored rhodoliths that occupy northeastern Gulf of Mexico patch reefs, and their contributions to local ecosystem function remain uncharacterized. Here, we employed the acetylene reduction assay to assess nitrogen fixation capability in rhodolith holobionts (Lithothamnion spp.; Rhodophyta), sediment, and surrounding seawater from a subtropical patch reef ecosystem in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. We found no evidence for nitrogenase activity in rhodolith holobionts or seawater from our study site, while nitrogenase activity in sediment underlying rhodoliths was approximately equivalent to a nitrogen fixation rate of 0.521 (SD 0.087) nmol N2g dry mass–1 hr– 1. Our results suggest that rhodoliths in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico rely on sources of nitrogen from sediment nitrogen fixation or water column nutrient availability rather than the activity of symbiotic diazotrophic microorganisms. Functional analyses recognizing rhodoliths as holobionts warrant further investigation to better understand the ecology of rhodoliths.