Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Availability, Affordability, Access, and Pricing of Anti-cancer Medicines in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review of Literature

Background: Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally accounting for more than half of deaths in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Cancer treatment is expensive and the high prices of cancer medicines have a huge impact on access in LMICs. Scarcity of pricing or affordability data is one of the major barriers in the development of effective and transparent pricing policies in LMICs. This study aimed to conduct a systematic review of the literature regarding pricing, availability, affordability, and access to anti-cancer medicines in LMICs. Method: A systematic search was conducted across six electronic databases: PubMed, Medline/CINAHL (EBSCO), Web of Science, Springer Links, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The literature (from 2015 to 2020) was reviewed to identify original research articles published in English. Results: A total of 13 studies were included in the review with some having multiple outcomes: five studies on pricing, four studies addressed affordability, five studies reported on availability, and four studies on access to anti-cancer medicines. The studies showed that in LMICs, there are wide variations in cancer prices and availability amongst the medicine brands and across different countries, with less affordability by patients with low-income levels, sometimes leading to treatment abandonment. Conclusion: Given the importance of medicine availability and prices in patient access and medicine buying capacity of governments, multi-pronged policy and program approaches by multiple stakeholders are needed to ensure access to cancer medicines.
A Multimodal Imaging Approach Demonstrates Reduced Midbrain Functional Network Connectivity Is Associated With Freezing of Gait in Parkinson's Disease

Background: The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying freezing of gait (FOG) are poorly defined. MRI studies in FOG showed a distinct pattern of cortical atrophy and decreased functional connectivity (FC) within motor and cognitive networks. Furthermore, reduced rs-FC within midbrain, frontal, and temporal areas has been also described. This study investigated the patterns of whole-brain FC alterations within midbrain inter-connected regions in PD-FOG patients, and whether these patterns are linked to midbrain structural damage using a multi-modal imaging approach, combing structural and functional imaging techniques. Methods: Thirty three PD patients (16 PD-FOG, 17 PD noFOG), and 21 sex- and age-matched healthy controls (HCs) were prospectively enrolled. All subjects underwent MRI scan at 1.5T, whereas only PD patients underwent clinical and cognitive assessment. Grey matter (GM) integrity was measured using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). VBM findings served as basis to localize midbrain damage, and were further used as a seed region for investigating whole-brain FC alterations using rs-fMRI. Results: In rs-fMRI, patients with PD and FOG demonstrated significant decrease of midbrain-cortical FC levels in the R PCG, right postcentral, and supramarginal gyri compared to controls and the middle cingulate compared to noFOG group. Based on the regression analysis, MOCA, UPDRS-III total score, and FOG severity scores were associated with FC levels in several frontal, parietal and temporal regions. Discussion: The present results suggest that midbrain structural damage as well as decreased FC within the brainstem functional network might contribute to FOG occurrence in PD patients.
Nonlinear dynamics of forced baroclinic critical layers II

Abstract Baroclinic critical levels arise as singularities in the inviscid linear theory of waves propagating through a stratified, horizontally directed and sheared flow. For a steady wave forcing, disturbances grow secularly over the critical layers surrounding these levels, generating a jet-like defect in the mean flow. We use a matched asymptotic expansion to furnish a reduced model of the nonlinear dynamics of such defects. By solving the linear initial-value problem for small perturbations to the defect, we establish that secondary instabilities appear at later times. Because the defect is time dependent, conventional normal-mode analysis is quantitatively inaccurate, but does successfully predict the occurrence of the secondary instability. The instability has a singular character in that disturbances with the shortest horizontal wavelength grow most vigorously at late times, unless dissipation is included. The instability can be suppressed by weak viscosity; by itself, thermal dissipation delays, but does not arrest instability. Numerical computations with the dissipative reduced model demonstrate that the secondary instability saturates as the defect rolls up into a coherent vortical structure. This structure excites a new wave propagating at a different phase speed, thereby forcing a new set of baroclinic critical levels. The implications for self-replication are discussed.
Investigating prolonged social withdrawal behaviour as a risk factor for self-harm and suicidal behaviours

Background Self-harm and suicidal behaviour are recognised as public health concerns. Prolonged social withdrawal behaviour, or hikikomori, is reported as a risk factor for suicidal behaviour. Aims To examine the occurrence and additional risk of prolonged social withdrawal behaviour on self-harm and suicidal behaviour among Chinese university students. Method A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with three universities in southern China. A two-stage random sampling was adopted for recruitment, with students in different years of study, in different departments of each participating university. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted to investigate the sociodemographic and psychological correlates of self-harm and suicidal behaviours among male and female participants with hikikomori status. Results Of the students who completed the online survey, 1735 (72.23%) were included in the analysis; 11.5% (n = 200) reported self-harm behaviour and 11.8% (n = 204) reported suicidal behaviours in the past 12 months. Men showed a higher prevalence rate of self-harm than women (14.7% v. 10.8%, P = 0.048), but a similar rate of suicidal behaviours (11.9% v. 11.3%, P = 0.78). The overall prevalence rate of social withdrawal behaviour was 3.2% (7.0% for men and 2.3% for women, P < 0.001). Prolonged social withdrawal behaviour status was significantly associated with self-harm (odds ratio 2.00, 95% CI 1.22–3.29) and suicidal behaviour (odds ratio 2.35, 95% CI 1.45–3.81). However, the associations became statistically insignificant after adjustment for psychological factors in the final models in the logistic regression analyses. Conclusions Prolonged social withdrawal behaviour appears to be associated with self-harm and suicidal behaviour, but psychological factors have stronger links with suicidality.
Depressive Symptoms are Associated with low Serotonin Levels in Plasma but are not 5–HTTLPR Genotype Dependent in Older Adults

Abstract Depressive symptoms are diagnosed by physicians using scales but their pathophysiology is unclear. Low serotonin (5–HT) levels play an important role in depression, and the 5–HT transporter (5–HTT) is an important regulator of plasma serotonin levels and reuptake. Additionally, the 5–HTT gene-linked polymorphic region (5–HTTLPR) is associated with depression. The aim was to clarify the roles of plasma serotonin levels in plasma and the 5HTTPLR polymorphism in depressive symptoms in older adults. A total of 84 older adult participants were evaluated. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale of 20 items (CESD–20). The plasma serotonin levels were determined by ELISA, and the 5–HTTLPR genotype was analyzed by PCR. Depressive symptoms were present in 39.3% (N = 33) of the participants. The median plasma serotonin level was 204.34 ng/mL (SD = 93.88). A significant correlation was found between the CESD–20 scale and plasma serotonin levels (r = –.256; p = .019). Low serotonin levels were associated with the presence of depressive symptoms (p = .001). The 5–HTTLPR analysis showed that of the 84 older adults, 35.7% had the SS genotype, 10.7% had the LL genotype, and 53.6% were heterozygous. The 5–HTTLPR polymorphism was not associated with depressive symptoms (p = .587) and plasma serotonin levels (p = 0.391). Depressive symptoms correlate with low serotonin levels in plasma, but not with the 5–HTTLPR polymorphism in older Mexican adults.
Evaluation of oxidized charcoal and urease inhibitors for increasing the efficiency of urea-based fertilizers

Volatilization losses reduce the efficiency of surface-applied urea for crop N uptake, and can be controlled using urease inhibitors to retard hydrolysis or by the presence of other amendments that enhance retention of NH 4 + formed by urea hydrolysis. A greenhouse study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of oxidized charcoal (OCh; 150 g kg -1 fertilizer) applied with or without Cu and/or Zn (~0.5-2 g kg -1 fertilizer) for increasing uptake of urea N by a common tropical pasture grass, Capim-mombaça ( Panicum maximum), grown on a coarse-textured Oxisol. Cuttings were collected 5, 14, 28, 42, and 56 days after surface placement of amended or unamended urea pellets to estimate dry matter production, total N uptake, and N recovery. Soil sampling was carried out in conjunction with the first and fourth cuts to evaluate exchangeable NH 4 + and NO3 ‒ concentrations. At the concentrations studied, OCh was more effective than Cu and/or Zn for prolonging NH4 -N availability in urea-treated soil; however, dry matter production was unaffected. Owing to the antagonistic interaction of Zn with fertilizer P required for plant growth, the addition of Zn in conjunction with urea led to a significant increase in total N uptake and the efficiency of urea N fertilization. The use of Zn as a urea amendment has practical potential to improve forage quality in tropical regions.
Optimal sensing energy and sensing interval in cognitive radio networks with energy harvesting

Cognitive radio networks with energy harvesting aim to improve spectrum utilization and allow users to move freely. Cognitive radio technology enhances the utilization of the spectrum by permitting the unlicensed user (secondary user) to use the channel during the absence of the licensed user (primary user). A major issue in this approach is that the secondary user needs to sense the channel frequently, which leads to energy wasting. This problem can be dealt with using the notion of sensing interval where the channel is sensed every multiple of time slots. In this paper, we consider the problem of determining the optimal sensing energy and the optimal sensing interval that maximize the secondary user throughput and minimize both the consumed energy and the interference to the primary user. By formulating this optimization problem as a mixed observable Markov decision process, a dynamic policy for the secondary user is generated taking into account the total accumulated secondary user reward. Numerical results show that the proposed policy outperforms existing results, especially when the secondary user prefers the transmission mode to the energy‐saving mode. Additionally, the numerical results show that applying sensing interval concept for both idle and busy sensing results is better than applying it for the idle case only.
The chemical composition of raw goat milk during their lactation

Goat milk is one of the basic milk types manufactured worldwide; however, up to now it seems not to be sufficiently appreciated and its production, practically, of minor importance in Poland. The main objective of the present investigations was to determine the contents of the basic components in milk produced by goats during their full lactation period. Raw milk produced by the upgraded white Polish goats from 3 different farms situated in the Mapolska Province served as experimental material. The average chemical composition of the lactating goatsi milk is as follows: total protein: 3.21%; fat: 3.50%; lactose: 4.35%; fat-free dry matter: 8.56%; ash: 0.82%; density: 1.0276 g/cm 3 . The milk composition level is determined by a series of factors, the most significant of which are: the feeding method and the kidding period.
A simple model of liquidity

We introduce liquidity motives in an otherwise standard monetary model. The Central Bank’s policy rule is adapted to target the interest rate on liquid bonds. These deviations are sufficient to relax the requirement for active monetary policy and warrant determinacy in both passive and active policy regimes. We compare this model of liquidity with workhorse models and find that it can substantially replicate usual dynamics. By means of stochastic simulations, we also study how monetary policy stance affect inflation dynamics and find evidence of increased persistence for passive monetary policy.
NEURAL-BASED RECOGNITION OF MULTI-PARAMETER SENSOR SIGNAL DESCRIBED BY MATHEMATICAL MODEL

: The possibility of artificial neural network usage for recognition of a signal of a multi-parameter sensor is described in this paper. The general structure of data acquisition channel with usage of neural networks as well as mathematical model of output signal of a multi-parameter sensor is studied in this article. The model of neural network, training algorithm and achieved results of simulation modeling of a multi-parameter sensor signal recognition using MATLAB software are presented at the end of this paper.
The prognostic and predictive significance of cytokeratin 5/6 and epidermal growth factor receptor in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer treated with maintenance capecitabine

Background Capecitabine is the most widely used agent for maintenance chemotherapy in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (mTNBC). However, there are no biomarkers for identifying mTNBC patients who could benefit from capecitabine maintenance. Methods The prognostic roles of cytokeratin 5/6 (CK5/6), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and maintenance therapy were evaluated in mTNBC patients. Both CK5/6 and EGFR were detected using immunohistochemistry. Of 115 patients who achieved disease control, 56 received capecitabine maintenance therapy and 59 underwent observation. The progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of the patients were evaluated. Results The median PFS and OS were longer in the maintenance group than that in the observation group (7.3 versus 5.7 months, P=0.0016; 22.4 versus 17.9 months, P=0.0055). Patients with basal-like TNBC had a poorer survival times than in those with non-basal-like TNBC (P=0.0062). Capecitabine maintenance significantly prolonged the OS of non-basal-like TNBC patients (P=0.0257), while in the basal-like TNBC patients, the difference was not significant (P=0.0541). Multivariate analysis revealed that the prolonged OS was related to age >50 years (P=0.005), presence of visceral metastases (P=0.035), response to initial therapy (P=0.017), maintenance therapy (P=0.033), and CK5/6 and EGFR status (P=0.032). Compared with the observation group, toxicities of all grades were more frequently observed in the maintenance group, including neutropenia, 85.71% vs. 25.87%, P<0.001; thrombocytopenia, 55.36% vs. 11.86%, P<0.001; anemia, 82.14% vs. 52.54%, P= 0.001; nausea 83.47% vs. 11.86%, P<0.001; vomiting 69.64% vs. 8.47%, P<0.001; and hand-foot syndrome (HFS) 32.14% vs. 1.69%, P<0.001. Conclusions Our study revealed that patients with non-basal-like TNBC had a better clinical outcome than those with basal-like TNBC, and capecitabine maintenance treatment significantly prolonged PFS and OS in patients with TNBC. Patients with non-basal-like TNBC could benefit from maintenance therapy with capecitabine and CK5/6 and EGFR are biomarkers for TNBC prognosis.
Evaluation of Mei-yu Heavy-Rainfall Quantitative Precipitation Forecasts in Taiwan 
by A Cloud-Resolving Model for Three Seasons of 2012–2014

Abstract. In this study, the performance of quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPFs) by the Cloud-Resolving Storm Simulator (CReSS) in real-time in Taiwan, at a horizontal grid spacing of 2.5 km and a domain size of 1500 x 1200 km2, within a range of 72 h during three mei-yu seasons of 2012–2014 is evaluated using categorical statistics, with an emphasis on heavy events (≥ 100 mm per 24 h). The overall threat scores (TSs) of QPFs for all events on day 1 (0–24 h) are 0.18, 0.15, and 0.09 at the threshold of 100, 250, and 500 mm, respectively, and indicate considerable improvements compared to past results and 5-km models. Moreover, the TSs are shown to be higher and the model more skillful in predicting larger events, in agreement with earlier findings for typhoons. After classification based on observed rainfall, the TSs of day-1 QPFs for the largest 4 % of events by CReSS at 100, 250, and 500 mm (per 24 h) are 0.34, 0.24, and 0.16, respectively, and can reach 0.15 at 250 mm on day 2 (24–48 h) and 130 mm on day 3 (48–72 h). The larger events also exhibit higher probability of detection and lower false alarm ratio than weaker events almost without exception across all thresholds. The strength of the model lies mainly in the topographic rainfall in Taiwan rather than migratory events that are less predictable. Our results highlight the crucial importance of cloud-resolving capability and the size of fine mesh for heavy-rainfall QPFs in Taiwan.
The Hidden Imposed War: This Time the Invasion of Dezful by Alien Words

The exploration of the representation of the hidden curriculum in English language teaching (ELT) commercial coursebooks continues to be revealing for a better understanding of the ELT industry and its aims. To explore this issue, in the present case study, firstly, the content of two sets of ELT coursebooks taught in Dezful ten years following the Imposed War (19902000), i.e. Headway and New Headway series were analyzed inductively. Next, emerging categories from these series were compared and contrasted with their representation in the context of Dezful extracted from the interviews with Dezful EFL institute managers, teachers, and learners in the same era. The findings show that not only the representation of the emerged categories in Headway and New Headway series were in parallel with their authors and their dependent institutions' ethnocentrism and values, but also, at the same time, they were in disagreement with Dezful language learners as a group of Iranian language learners. In the long run, this issue 1 (DOI): 10.22051/JLR.2015. 1858 2 Associate Professor, Dept of English Language and Literature, Alzahra University, s.ghahremani@alzahra.ac.ir. 3 Doctoral Candidate of TEFL, Alzahra University, s.poursaduqi@ alzahra.ac.ir. Journal of Language Research (Zabanpazhuhi) VOL. 10, NO. 21, 2017 http://jlr.alzahra.ac.ir can lead to the settlement and hegemony of the modality, polarity and time of the clause, was found in this text. Though the polarity was positive in most of the clauses, in thirteen cases, mood elements like / lɅ/, / lǣm/, / mɅ/ and / lǣmmɅ/, have brought a negative polarity to the clause. Studying Modality as the principal aspect of Mood Structure, indicated that the message is mostly transferred from a knowledgeable source – Imam Ali-, to his addressee with certainty and the information is given through statements in which the speaker carries the responsibility of the message. Some cases of other mood structure as interrogation and command could be seen in this sermon. Some clauses received the specific mood of exclamation, warning, praying and damning, which played an important role in showing the meaning of the related clauses. The two possible kinds of appraisal were also clear in this text. For example, the totally positive appraisal for Jihad and the completely negative one for leaving Jihad, in the beginning section of this sermon.
EFFICIENT IMPLEMENTATION OF LATTICE-BASED SCHEMES A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF APPLIED MATHEMATICS OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY YUSUF ALPER BILGIN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN CRYPTOGRAPHY

EFFICIENT IMPLEMENTATION OF LATTICE-BASED SCHEMES Bilgin, Yusuf Alper Ph.D., Department of Cryptography Supervisor : Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Cenk September 2020, 72 pages Quantum computing and quantum computers have been discussed for almost three decades. However, they remain mainly in theory. Almost all big companies like Google, IBM, and Microsoft have put their effort to build the most scalable quantum computers in recent years. These computers can change the game in cryptography since the known hard problems such as integer factorization and discrete logarithms can be broken with a large-scale quantum computer. These computers would seriously jeopardize the confidentiality and integrity of all digital communications. The question of when large-scale quantum computers will be built is still an open question. There are some educated predictions that sufficiently large quantum computers will be built to break all public-key schemes currently in use within the next ten or so years. That is why the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced a standardization process in 2016 to prepare our information security systems to be able to resist in quantum computing. The first two rounds of this process have been completed, and there are seven on-going candidates and eight alternate candidates. Among these 15 schemes, seven of them are based on lattices. In this thesis, we study the efficient implementation of lattice-based schemes. We first propose an efficient and compact variant of NEWHOPE, one of the most efficient second-round candidates of the NIST post-quantum standardization project. The proposed algorithm NEWHOPE-COMPACT heavily uses recent advances on Number
Type of article: Epidemiologic investigation Title: The requirement to improve the human Brucellosis Surveillance system in Kurdistan province, Iran: Reduce the delay in diagnosis time Running title: Improvement the human Brucellosis surveillance

Title: The requirement to improve the human Brucellosis Surveillance system in Kurdistan province, Iran: Reduce the delay in diagnosis time Running title: Improvement the human Brucellosis surveillance Authors: Meysam Olfatifar 1,2 , Seyed Mehdi Hosseini 2 , Payam Shokri , Soheila Khodakarim , Naghmeh Khadembashi , Sajjad Rahimi Pordanjani 5 1 Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 2 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran. 3 Department of Epidemiology, School of Allied Medical Sciences, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 4 Instructor of Teaching English, School of Allied Medical Sciences, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 5 Student Research Committee, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.