Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Gefitinib Plus Chemotherapy versus Gefitinib Alone for Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer with EGFR Mutations in China

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of gefitinib plus chemotherapy (GCP) versus gefitinib alone for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations in China. Methods: A decision-analytic Markov model was conducted to simulate the disease process of advanced NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations. Three distinct health states: progression-free survival (PFS), progressive disease (PD) and death were included. Clinical data were derived from the NEJ009 study. The cost was evaluated from the perspective of the Chinese society. Quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and incremental cost–effectiveness ratios (ICER) were calculated over a 10-year lifetime horizon. One-way sensitivity analysis and probabilistic sensitivity analysis were also performed to explore the uncertainty of parameters in the study. Results: The base case analysis demonstrated that gefitinib plus chemotherapy gained 2.44 QALYs at an average cost of $59,571.34, while the effectiveness and cost of gefitinib group were 1.82 QALYs and $52,492.75, respectively. The ICER for gefitinib plus chemotherapy was $11,499.98 per QALY gained. The ICER was lower than the accepted willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold, which was three times gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of China ($31,498.70 per QALY). Variation of parameters did not reverse the cost-effectiveness of gefitinib plus chemotherapy through univariable and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Conclusion: Our results showed that gefitinib plus chemotherapy is a cost-effective treatment option compared with gefitinib for advanced NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations in China. pemetrexed; PFS, progression-free survival; PD, progressive disease; QALY, quality-adjusted life years; ICER, incremental cost–effectiveness ratio.
International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies ISSN 2520-0968 (Online), ISSN 2409-1294 (Print), March 2022, Vol.9, No.1

In South Africa – as is also the case worldwide – schools are closed due to the current COVID-19 pandemic but learning is open. Hence, in a bid to avoid disruption to the academic calendar – which may result in postponing or cancelling teaching practicums – institutions of higher learning, particularly those running teacher education programmes (TEPs), have embraced the idea of conducting teaching practice (TP) online. Pre-service teachers – who usually visit schools for their TP in order to gain work experience – have, therefore, been forced to conduct their teaching practicums not only online but asynchronously. The following questions arose: Is there any link between the asynchronous pre-service teaching practicum, characterised by lack of engagement between the teacher and the learner, and the tenets of work-integrated learning (WIL)? And what is the implication for teacher education programme developers? The authors sought to investigate the impact of the asynchronous model of TP adopted in South African TEPs on adequately preparing preservice teachers for future teaching practice. The authors also investigated the contribution of this teaching model to the realisation of WIL objectives – particularly preparing pre-service teachers for authentic classroom teaching experiences. Underpinned by the interpretivist paradigm, a qualitative research approach, narrative inquiry as research design, was followed. Moreover, purposive sampling was employed. The data were collected by means of reflective narrative essays and documentary evidence. The main findings revealed that there is a mismatch between the asynchronous teaching model and WIL. The findings also showed that the asynchronous model of teaching practicum was beneficial to TEPs, as it helped to keep learning open; however, it did not provide the required experience and serious engagements for authentic classroom teaching and learning experiences.
Satellite Observations of Atmospheric Gravity Waves

Abstract Satellite Observations of Atmospheric Gravity Waves Xiuping YanSatellite Observations of Atmospheric Gravity Waves Xiuping Yan A new methodology of gravity wave observations has been developed for the HIgh Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder (HIRDLS). Individual vertical profiles of gravitywave temperature perturbations that were determined by subtraction of a dynamic 31day background field and a 1000 km along-track temperature filter were Fourier transformed to estimate the gravity-wave temperature amplitudes and vertical wavelengths (~2 – 16 km) in the stratosphere. Gravity wave activity is highly variable with season and can be highly orographically dependent, especially in the winter extratropics. Investigations of episodes of enhanced gravity waves over the southern Andes, the Cascade Range and the Rockies in the winter months of 2006 indicate that orographic gravity waves propagate downwind from the mountains. By way of contrast, observations of gravity waves around the Himalayas show a strong relationship with the cyclones in that region. HIRDLS observations over the southern Andes during July-September 2006 were compared to the orographic gravity-wave parameterization scheme in the UK Met Office Unified Model®. The results indicate that the observed waves are likely to be orographically excited. The observed wave activity extends large distances (a few thousand kilometres) downwind of the mountains and over the ocean. This downstream wave activity is not represented by the parameterization scheme similar to many schemes, which assume that the waves propagate vertically above the mountains only. Gravity waves over the tropics and tropical South America were compared with the AVHRR Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR), TRMM convective rainfall and ECMWF winds for convective sources. The comparisons show that the peak gravity wave temperature amplitudes correspond closely to the OLR ≤ 200 W/m, in good agreement with the mesoscale cyclones and are above the updrifts, which indicate deep convective generation of the gravity waves. These waves show vertical propagation with higher-frequency and ~ 7.5 km vertical wavelengths in the lower stratosphere.
The Photon Ring in M87*

We report measurements of the gravitationally lensed secondary image—the first in an infinite series of so-called “photon rings”—around the supermassive black hole M87* via simultaneous modeling and imaging of the 2017 Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations. The inferred ring size remains constant across the seven days of the 2017 EHT observing campaign and is consistent with theoretical expectations, providing clear evidence that such measurements probe spacetime and a striking confirmation of the models underlying the first set of EHT results. The residual diffuse emission evolves on timescales comparable to one week. We are able to detect with high significance a southwestern extension consistent with that expected from the base of a jet that is rapidly rotating in the clockwise direction. This result adds further support to the identification of the jet in M87* with a black hole spin-driven outflow, launched via the Blandford–Znajek process. We present three revised estimates for the mass of M87* based on identifying the modeled thin ring component with the bright ringlike features seen in simulated images, one of which is only weakly sensitive to the astrophysics of the emission region. All three estimates agree with each other and previously reported values. Our strongest mass constraint combines information from both the ring and the diffuse emission region, which together imply a mass-to-distance ratio of 4.20−0.06+0. 12μas and a corresponding black hole mass of (7.13 ± 0.39) × 109 M ⊙, where the error on the latter is now dominated by the systematic uncertainty arising from the uncertain distance to M87*.
De novo assembly and characterisation of chloroplast genomes De novo assembly and characterisation of chloroplast genomes of broccoli cvs. Marathon and Green sprout using next generation of broccoli cvs. Marathon and Green sprout using next generation sequencing sequencing

: The genus Brassica (family Brassicaceae ) includes nutritionally and economically important species such as Brassica napus , Brassica rapa and Brassica oleracea . Many varieties of B. oleracea are available in various morphological forms including nutritive vegetables such as cauliflower (var. botrytis ), Brussels sprouts (var. gemmifera ), kales and collards (var. acephala ), kohlrabi (var. gongylodes ), cabbage (var. capitata ), and broccoli (var. italica ). Objective of the present study was to sequence chloroplast genomes of two cultivars of broccoli: Marathon and Green sprout. The sequencing was done by next generation sequencing. The analysis was performed using Velvet, Geneious, GeSeq, tRNAscan-SE, ARAGORN, OrganellarGenomeDRAW, IRscope and REPuter. The genomes of both cultivars showed highly similar quadripartite structure of 153,365 bp. The LSC (83,136 bp) and SSC (17,835 bp) regions were separated by a pair of IR (26,197 bp) region. In total, 114 unique genes were present in both species, including 80 protein-coding, 30 tRNA and 4 rRNA genes, while 18 genes were duplicated in IRs. The highest amino acid encoding frequency was found for Leucine whereas cysteine was the least encoding amino acid. The codon usage analyses confirmed high encoding efficacy of codons that ended at 3 ′ -end with A/T. Repeat analyses of these genomes revealed 415 microsatellites and 36 oligonucleotide repeats. Microsatellites motifs were mostly comprised of A/T instead of C/G. The comparative analyses confirmed the presence of 17 substitutions between both cultivars. Overall, this study will increase knowledge about the chloroplast genomes of broccoli and will provide a resource for chloroplast genetic engineering of this important edible plant.
Preprint Title Endocytosis and transport of silica nanoparticles in BeWo b 30 cells

An understanding of the transport of silica nanoparticles (NPs) across the placental barrier is important in perinatal medicine. The cytotoxicity of silica NPs was investigated in this study. In uptake assays, we examined the size of NPs, as well as the effects of various inhibitors, on the internalization of silica NPs in BeWo b30 cells. The levels of PI3K, AKT, and GSK3β were assessed after the cells were treated with silica NPs and/or the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway inhibitor LY294002. The integrity of the cell monolayer was assessed by culturing cells on Transwell inserts and measuring the transepithelial electrical resistance, assessing fluorescein sodium transport, and staining the tight junction protein zonula occludens-1. Silica NPs were spherical in shape, and concentrations <300 μg/mL were not cytotoxic. The internalization of silica NPs with a diameter of 50 nm was greater than that of silica NPs with a diameter of 20 nm. CPZ showed the most pronounced inhibitory effects, with inhibition rates of 20-nm, 50-nm, and 100-nm silica NPs reaching 57.5%, 49.6%, and 46.9%, respectively, indicating that silica NPs were internalized through clathrinand caveolae-mediated endocytosis. Furthermore, LY294002 affected the uptake of 50-nm silica NPs dose-dependently. The treatment of cells with silica NPs
Breaking bad: Malfunctioning institutions erode good behavior

This paper studies whether malfunctioning (or unenforced) institutions erode good behavior. We use a large-scale online experiment, in which participants play a repeated observed cheating game. When we ask participants to report honestly and promise no control, we find low cheating rates. When control of truthful reporting is introduced, low cheating rates remain. In our main treatment with a malfunctioning institution, participants do not know whether they are in the treatment with or without control. In this treatment, participants who do not face control for some rounds start cheating significantly more often, reaching highest cheating rates. That is, a malfunctioning institution leads to more cheating than no institution at all, which indicates that the development of cheating behavior is endogenous to the institutions. Our findings suggest a novel negative effect of unenforced laws.
The Economics of Central Bank Digital Currency

This paper provides a structured overview of the burgeoning literature on the economics of CBDC. We document the economic forces that shape the rise of digital money and review motives for the issuance of CBDC. We then study the implications for the financial system and discuss of a number of policy issues and challenges. While the academic literature broadly echoes policy makers’ concerns about bank disintermediation and financial stability risks, it also provides conditions under which such adverse effects may not materialize. We also point to several knowledge gaps that merit further work, including data privacy and the study of end‐user preferences for attributes of digital payment methods. JEL Codes: E41, E42, E51, E52, E58, G21
EVALUATION OF NASAL POLYPOSIS AND ITS CORRELATION WITH ALLERGIC DISEASES

Objective: The objective of this retrospective cross-sectional study was to obtain epidemiological data from the charts of 133 patients with nasal polyposis who reviewed AlMouwasat University Hospital and to determine the frequency of the presenting symptoms of nasal polyps. Moreover, this research aimed to study the correlation between asthma with both allergic rhinitis and aspirin sensitivity. Materials and Methods: This study was a retrospective study of the files of the patients who reviewed AlMouwasat University Hospital and were diagnosed with nasal polyposis. This study included all cases from January 2016 to November 2019. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 25.0. Results: The most common age of presentation was 41–50 years old. Nasal polyposis was more common in females 57.1% compared to 42.9% males. Asthma was found in 33% of all patients with nasal polyposis. 40.6% of patients with nasal polyposis had allergic rhinitis. 20.3% had unilateral nasal polyposis. The most common complaint was nasal obstruction in 87% followed by anterior rhinorrhea in 79%. Conclusion: This study highlights the need for large-scale epidemiologic research showing the prevalence and incidence of nasal polyposis in Syria.
Combinatorics of Pisot Substitutions

Substitutions are mappings which replace each symbol of a given alphabet by a word over the same alphabet. They naturally act on infinite sequences of symbols, and produce highly ordered systems with many properties. This thesis concerns a particular class with algebraic restrictions, Pisot substitutions, and their related objects of dynamical, fractal or combinatorial nature. We begin with the study of some qualitative properties of the two-dimensional patterns generated by iterating a two-dimensional “dual” version of Pisot substitutions. We then use these combinatorial tools to study the infinite families of substitutions obtained by taking arbitrary products over a finite set of Pisot substitutions. We obtain several applications: dynamical properties of the associated symbolic systems, some language theoretical characterizations of some topological properties of the associated Rauzy fractals, some number-theoretical properties of the associated Pisot numbers, and some results in discrete geometry. Particular focus is set on the substitutions associated with the Arnoux-Rauzy, Brun and Jacobi-Perron multidimensional continued fraction algorithms. Next we give explicit constructions to describe all the possible fundamental groups of planar Rauzy fractals in the case where the group is free of finite rank (i.e., countable). In the last two chapters, we “step back” from the Pisot algebraic assumption to study some more general objects arising from the combinatorial tools used in the previous chapters, focusing on some computational (un)decidability questions.
Fluid Aggregations for Markovian Process Algebra

Quantitative analysis by means of discrete-state stochastic processes is hindered by the well-known phenomenon of state-space explosion, whereby the size of the state space may have an exponential growth with the number of objects in the model. When the stochastic process underlies a Markovian process algebra model, this problem may be alleviated by suitable notions of behavioural equivalence that induce lumping at the underlying continuous-time Markov chain, establishing an exact relation between a potentially much smaller aggregated chain and the original one. However, in the modelling of massively distributed computer systems, even aggregated chains may be still too large for efficient numerical analysis. Recently this problem has been addressed by fluid techniques, where the Markov chain is approximated by a system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) whose size does not depend on the number of the objects in the model. The technique has been primarily applied in the case of massively replicated sequential processes with small local state space sizes. This thesis devises two different approaches that broaden the scope of applicability of efficient fluid approximations. Fluid lumpability applies in the case where objects are composites of simple objects, and aggregates the potentially massive, naively constructed ODE system into one whose size is independent from the number of composites in the model. Similarly to quasi and near lumpability, we introduce approximate fluid lumpability that covers ODE systems which can be aggregated after a small perturbation in the parameters. The technique of spatial aggregation, instead, applies to models whose objects perform a random walk on a two-dimensional lattice. Specifically, it is shown that the underlying ODE system, whose size is proportional to the number of the regions, converges to a system of partial differential equations of constant size as the number of regions goes to infinity. This allows for an efficient analysis of large-scale mobile models in continuous space like ad hoc networks and multi-agent systems.
Invisible Geolocation Signature Extraction From a Single Invisible Geolocation Signature Extraction From a Single ImageImage

—Geotagging images of interest are increasingly important to law enforcement, national security, and journalism. Today, many images do not carry location tags that are trustworthy and resilient to tampering; and the landmark-based visual clues may not be readily present in every image, especially in those taken indoors. In this paper, we exploit an environmental signature from the power grid, the electric network frequency (ENF) signal, which can be inherently captured in a sensing stream at the time of recording and carries useful time–location information. Compared to the recent art of extracting ENF traces from audio and video recordings, it is very challenging to extract an ENF trace from a single image. We address this challenge by ﬁrst mathematically examining the impact of the ENF embedding steps such as electricity to light conversion, scene geometry dilution of radiation, and image sensing. We then incorporate the veriﬁed parametric models of the physical embedding process into our proposed entropy minimization method. The optimized results of the entropy minimization are used for creating a two-level ENF presence–classiﬁcation test. It identiﬁes whether a single image has an ENF trace; if yes, whether it is at 50 or 60 Hz. We quantitatively study the relationship between the ENF strength and its detectability from a single image. This paper is the ﬁrst comprehensive work to bring out a unique forensic capability of environmental traces that shed light on an image’s capturing location.
1 (cid:1) -Hydroxylase gene ablation and P i supplementation inhibit renal calciﬁcation in mice homozygous for the disrupted Npt2a gene

ablation P renal calciﬁcation in mice homozygous for the disrupted Na-P cotransporter gene of the major renal Na-phosphate (P i ) cotransporter gene Npt2a in mice leads to a substantial decrease in renal brush-border membrane Na-P i cotransport, hypophosphatemia, and appropriate adaptive increases in renal 25-hydroxyvi-tamin D 3 -1 (cid:1) -hydroxylase (1 (cid:1) OHase) activity and the serum concentration of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D 3 [1,25(OH) 2 D]. The latter is associated with increased intestinal Ca absorption, hypercalcemia, hypercalciuria, and renal calciﬁcation in Npt2 (cid:2) / (cid:2) mice. To determine the contribution of elevated serum 1,25(OH) 2 D levels to the devel- opment of hypercalciuria and nephrocalcinosis in Npt2 (cid:2) / (cid:2) mice, we examined the effects of 1 (cid:1) OHase gene ablation and long-term P i supplementation on urinary Ca excretion and renal calciﬁcation by microcomputed tomography. We show that the urinary Ca/creatinine ratio is signiﬁcantly decreased in Npt2 (cid:2) / (cid:2) /1 (cid:1) OHase (cid:2) / (cid:2) mice compared with Npt2 (cid:2) / (cid:2) mice. In addition, renal calciﬁcation, determined by estimating the calciﬁed volume to total renal volume (CV/TV), is reduced by (cid:3) 80% in Npt2 (cid:2) / (cid:2) /1 (cid:1) OHase (cid:2) / (cid:2) mice compared with that in Npt2 (cid:2) / (cid:2) mice. In Npt2 (cid:2) / (cid:2) mice derived from dams fed a 1% P i diet and maintained on the same diet, we observed a signiﬁcant decrease in urinary Ca/creatinine that was also associated with (cid:3) 80% reduction in CV/TV when compared with counterparts fed a 0.6% diet. Taken together, the present data demonstrate that both 1 (cid:1) OHase gene ablation and P i supplementation inhibit renal calciﬁcation in Npt2 (cid:2) / (cid:2) mice and that 1,25(OH) 2 D is essential for the development of hyper- calciuria and nephrocalcinosis in the mutant strain. Student’s t -test. Differences between more than two groups were evaluated by multivariate analysis of variance, and post hoc analyses of differences between individual groups were performed by Tukey’s test using SPSS software. A probability of P (cid:9) 0.05 was considered to be signiﬁcant.
EVALUATION OF PREBIOTIC AND PROBIOTIC AS FUNCTIONAL FEED ADDITIVES ON PHYSIOLOGICAL AND IMMUNOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF NILE TILAPIA, OREOCHROMIS NILOTICUS

Author: Saillant, Kenneth, E. MS Institution: Purdue University Degree Received: May 2019 Title: Evaluation of Prebiotic and Probiotic as Functional Feed Additives on Physiological and Immunological Parameters of Nile Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus Committee Chair: Ahmed Mustafa Experiments were conducted to evaluate the ability of prebiotic and probiotic supplementation of commercial fish feed to improve the physiological, immunological, and growth responses of stressed Nile tilapia. To investigate these objectives, tilapia were divided in two major groups: control fish (fed regular commercial feed) and stressed fish (induced by dietary cortisol supplemented to regular commercial feed). Stressed fish were further divided into three sub-groups: stressed fish fed regular feed, stressed fish fed probiotic-supplemented feed, and stressed fish fed a mixture of prebiotic and probiotic supplemented feed. Fish were maintained and tested over an eight-week long experimental period. A variety of physiological, immunological, and growth parameters were measured over the course of the experimental period. These parameters include: serum cortisol, blood glucose, plasma protein, packed cell volume, hepato-somatic index (HSI), spleen-somatic index (SSI), lysozyme activity, feed conversion ratio (FCR), specific growth rate (SGR), protein efficiency ratio (PER), length gain, weight gain, length gain, and condition factor (K). The results of this study does not support the use of these specific prebiotic and probiotic as functional feed additives in Nile tilapia at the levels tested in this study. Further research is needed to determine which probiotic species are best suited for use in Nile tilapia and which prebiotic, when used in combination, will allow these probiotics to have maximum effect.