Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pathological complete response in a patient with locally advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma treated with neoadjuvant gemcitabine and S-1: a case report and literature review.

Background Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal cancers worldwide. Radical resection is currently the only potential curative treatment. However, over 80% of patients present with unresectable tumor at the time of diagnosis. It is recommended that patients with unresectable pancreatic cancers be offered neoadjuvant treatment. A combination of gemcitabine and S-1 (GS-1) has been reported to be an effective regimen for unresectable pancreatic cancers, however, there have been no reports of pathological complete response up until now. Case Description Herein, we present a 67-year-old male who presented with a 4-month history of upper abdominal and back pain, as well as unintentional weight loss. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) confirmed a hypovascular mass in the pancreas neck consistent with unresectable pancreatic cancer. Positron emission tomography (PET)/CT also revealed a high fludeoxyglucose (FDG)-avid lesion in the pancreas neck without evidence of distant metastasis. Pancreatic adenocarcinoma was confirmed with ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology. The patient was recommended to undergo treatment with gemcitabine and S-1. After 5 cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, CT and PET/CT both revealed the disappearance of the lesion and a pancreaticoduodenectomy was offered as a potentially curative treatment. Histological assessment revealed no evidence of residual adenocarcinoma [ypT0N0 (0/38)]. The tumor marker cancer antigen (CA)125 increased one month after the surgery, resulting in two additional cycles of GS-1. This patient remained disease-free for 21 months after surgery. Conclusions This report is the first to present a case of a pathological complete response in a patient with locally advanced pancreatic cancer following GS-1 treatment, suggesting radical resection after GS-1 chemotherapy might be a potential curative treatment strategy for unresectable PDAC.
Association between Dietary Inflammatory Index and Sarcopenia in Crohn’s Disease Patients

Background: Chronic inflammation is a pathophysiological cause of sarcopenia in Crohn’s disease (CD) patients. However, the potential impact of diet-related inflammation on sarcopenia has not yet been adequately investigated. We examined the associations between Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) and sarcopenia in CD patients. Methods: A total of 140 CD patients from Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai were included in this cross-sectional study. DII scores were calculated from the dietary data collected using a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Sarcopenia was determined according to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the association between DII and sarcopenia. Results: The mean DII score was 0.81 ± 2.13, ranging from −3.24 to 4.89. The overall prevalence of sarcopenia was 26.4%. The higher DII score significantly increased the risk of sarcopenia in CD patients (ORQuartile4vs1: 9.59, 95% CI: 1.69, 54.42, ptrend = 0.031) in the multivariable model after adjusting for more potential confounders. Moreover, CD patients with a lower DII had a significantly higher appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (ASMI, ORQuartile4vs1: 5.48, 95% CI: 1.51, 19.87, ptrend = 0.018) after adjusting for age, gender, BMI, smoking status and drinking status model. Yet, there were no significant differences between DII and ASMI after adjusting for more potential confounders. Additionally, no significant association was observed between DII and handgrip strength in the multivariable-adjusted models. Conclusions: Pro-inflammatory diet was associated with increased risk of sarcopenia in CD patients. CD patients should have a proper intake of energy and protein. These patients could also benefit from supplementation with enteral nutrition due to its anti-inflammatory potential.
Effect of Fake News Awareness as an Intervention Strategy for Motivating News Verification Behaviour Among Social Media Users in Nigeria: A Quasi-Experimental Research

This study tests the effect of fake news awareness as an intervention strategy for motivating news verification behaviour among social media users in Nigeria. A quasi-experiment was utilized with 470 participants divided into two groups, comprising the control group, n = 235, and the treatment group, n = 235. Fake news awareness was found to be an effective intervention strategy used to intensify the urgency and need to verify news before sharing. Individuals exposed to fake news awareness campaigns reported a more positive attitude towards news verification, better self-efficacy towards verification and were more concerned about their reputation on social media.
Osilodrostat oral tablets for adults with Cushing’s disease

ABSTRACT Introduction Endogenous Cushing’s syndrome (CS) is a rare, multi-systemic condition resulting from chronic glucocorticoid excess sustained by a pituitary adenoma (Cushing’s disease, CD), an adrenal adenoma or, less frequently, a neuroendocrine tumor. The optimal first-line option is surgery, but when it is contraindicated/refused, or in case of severe, life-threatening disease, medical treatment is a first-line choice. Osilodrostat (LCI699, Isturisa®) is a new, orally active adrenal steroidogenesis inhibitor currently approved by the FDA and EMA for the treatment of endogenous CS Areas covered We illustrate the pharmacologic profile of osilodrostat and summarize the efficacy and safety of osilodrostat from the first phase I studies to the most recent evidence. Expert opinion Osilodrostat acts as a potent, reversible inhibitor of 11β-hydroxylase (CYP11B1) and 18-hydroxylase (or aldosterone synthase, CYP11B2), counteracting both gluco- and mineralocorticoid production. According to the results of the LINC1, LINC2, and LINC3 studies and the preliminary findings of LINC4, osilodrostat offers an excellent efficacy in controlling hypercortisolism with a good tolerability. The non-negligible risk of adrenal insufficiency/steroid withdrawal symptoms, hypokalemia, and hyperandrogenism disorders, and the possibility, albeit rare, of pituitary tumor enlargement, require further confirmation and careful monitoring.
Task-based Language Teaching to Develop Malay Language Speaking Skills of Primary 5 Singaporean Students

The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of task-based language teaching approach for improving speaking skills, focusing on fluency, use of appropriate language structure and vocabulary for primary schools in Singapore. This study is also to find out whether the task-based language teaching model can increase students' motivation level, confidence, and ability to speak Malay. This quasi-experimental non-equivalent groups pre-post-tests design study was conducted in Singapore, involving primary 5 pupils from two different schools. The treatment group comprised of 30 students while 22 students were included in the control group. The treatment group used the task-based language teaching model and the control group used conventional approaches. The treatment and control groups underwent oral pre-test before task-based language teaching approach and conventional approaches, respectively. Five task-based language teaching lessons were carried out for five weeks before post-test was administered using pictures for the treatment group. The control group took the same post-test after the conventional approach. The treatment group also completed survey questions before and after task-based language teaching approach. Findings show that there were significant differences between the pre- and post-tests scores for fluency, vocabulary, and language among students in the treatment group. For the control group, there were no significant differences between pre- and post-test scores for fluency, vocabulary, and use of language. However, when the post-test scores of both groups were compared, the results show only significant differences for fluency but not for vocabulary and language. The descriptive results show improvement in motivation and confidence after using task-based language teaching approach. Based on the findings, the researchers recommend that task-based approach be given more attention in Malay Language classes though they also suggest that further research is needed to explore more in the effectiveness of task-based programs for other levels.
Comprehensive Genomic Survey, Evolution, and Expression Analysis of GIF Gene Family during the Development and Metal Ion Stress Responses in Soybean

The GIF gene family is one of the plant transcription factors specific to seed plants. The family members are expressed in all lateral organs produced by apical and floral meristems and contribute to the development of leaves, shoots, flowers, and seeds. This study identified eight GIF genes in the soybean genome and clustered them into three groups. Analyses of Ka/Ks ratios and divergence times indicated that they had undergone purifying selection during species evolution. RNA-sequence and relative expression patterns of these GmGIF genes tended to be conserved, while different expression patterns were also observed between the duplicated GIF members in soybean. Numerous cis-regulatory elements related to plant hormones, light, and stresses were found in the promoter regions of these GmGIF genes. Moreover, the expression patterns of GmGIF members were confirmed in soybean roots under cadmium (Cd) and copper (Cu) stress, indicating their potential functions in the heavy metal response in soybean. Our research provides valuable information for the functional characterization of each GmGIF gene in different legumes in the future.
Revisiting the nuclear energy‐income nexus in Europe: An application of the JKS panel causality test with cross‐sectional dependence and heterogeneity

The EU countries are facing a burning debate with regard to the nature and amount of decarbonized energy used within the supply mix. This study highlights the role of nuclear power and renewable energy use in achieving economic growth in Europe. Capital, labour, exports, and trade openness series are included within a multivariate framework spanning the 1986 to 2019 period and a two‐step methodology is implemented. First, a panel causality analysis over the top 10 nuclear energy‐consuming EU countries is conducted using the panel non‐causality test from Juodis, Karavias and Sarafidis (2021), robust under large cross‐sectional and time‐series dimensions, as well as heterogeneous coefficients. Second, a sub‐set of three states (Germany, Spain, and France) that are different in terms of long‐run nuclear energy policies is selected and a single‐country time‐series assessment is performed using the vector error correction model, causality tests, as well as impulse response functions. Panel EU results support the “conservation hypothesis” for both nuclear and renewable resources, without feedback effect. The country‐level estimates fail to provide homogeneous results since no causal link is found between economic growth and renewable energy use for Spain and France (confirmation of “neutral hypothesis”). A weak causality from renewable energy use to output growth is observed for Germany, while economic growth enhances the nuclear energy consumption in Spain.
Macroeconomic factors and emerging equity market: A contextual analysis using quantile regression

This article examines the role of macroeconomic factors in influencing Indian stock market movements across different market conditions. The study is important for market participants and policymakers as macroeconomic factors may be the source of systematic risk that influences the stock market. We employ factor analysis as a solution to the multicollinearity issues associated with multiple macroeconomic factors. Using three statistical factors built from macroeconomic factors, we show how they impact the stock market, particularly during up and down market conditions. While the influence of foreign exchange rate, broad money supply, economic growth, wholesale inflation, global equity markets, and export is positive and stable across market conditions, an inverse relationship between contemporaneous bond yield and equity market movements is evidenced. Gold and foreign institutional investment inflows seem to exert an increasingly negative influence on market movements at extreme up-market conditions. These findings call for active intervention by policymakers to stabilise the market during extreme market conditions
Mapping Indonesian EFL Teachers’ Perception and Practice of Technology Integration

The growing number of 2.0 studies indicated the increasing tendency to integrate technology into EFL teaching. Reports on teachers' perception of and practice of technology integration can easily be found in research databases. Nevertheless, quite a few laid attempts to map and build a tentative connection between perception and practice. This study examined teachers' current practice and their perception of technology integration. The respondents of this study were 40 English teachers from 20 senior high schools in a district in Indonesia. To collect the data, a technology integration questionnaire (TIQ) was developed based on pre-existing instruments. The responses were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative strategies. The study found that, first, the teachers commonly held positive views on the use of technology although they also indicated their alert on the challenges and requirements for the success of the implementation. Second, the responses suggested that there was a connection between teachers' perception and their technology integration practice. Third, viewed from the SAMR model, the teachers' technology integration practice mainly fell into substitution and augmentation. Categorization of the technology integration purpose, practice, and process is discussed further. The study concludes teachers’ practice tended to focus more on the technology but less on the teaching and learning.
Land Subsidence Susceptibility Projection for Palembang Slum Area by Complex MCDM-AHP Technique

Land subsidence is a geomorphological event that affects Earth’s structure and physiognomy. This phenomenon occurs when the groundwater volume changes and results in the movement and sinking of sediment. Several studies have been conducted to identify major causes or factors that may lead to land subsidence. It was found that land subsidence intensity is influenced by several factors, i.e. terrain slope and aspect, land use, soil moisture content, and distance to a river. Population density contributes to continuous changes in land use. Deep investigation of factors that contribute to land subsidence such as population density is important. This study investigated the relationship between land subsidence and population density contributing to continuous land-use changes. The study area was a highly populated slum area along the Musi River in Palembang, Indonesia. Factors that have high contribution to land subsidence were considered in developing a land subsidence susceptibility map. Susceptibility analysis was done using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. Land subsidence features were associated with slum features and the result revealed a significantly high correlation (r = 0.844) between actual land subsidence areas and the developed susceptibility map.
The relationship between craving and insular morphometry in regular cocaine users: Does sex matter?

While it has been suggested that cocaine use and relapse in women is more strongly related to stress‐relief craving, whereas cocaine use in men is more strongly related to reward craving, the neural mechanisms that underlie these differences are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate sex‐dependent differences in insular morphometry and associations with craving, in a sample of regular cocaine users (CUs) and non‐drug using controls (non‐CUs). It was hypothesized that insular volume, thickness and surface area would be lower in CU women, compared with CU men and non‐CUs. It was furthermore hypothesized that insular morphometry, particularly insular thickness, would be negatively associated to reward craving in CU men, while being negatively associated with stress‐relief craving in CU women. In contrast to the hypothesis, we did not find evidence of sex‐specific differences in insular morphometry in CUs. However, sex‐specific association between stress‐relief craving and insular morphometry were found: Right insular volume was negatively associated with stress‐relief craving in CU women, whereas this association was positive in CU men. Additionally, right insular surface area was negatively associated with stress‐relief craving in cocaine‐using men, whereas this association was positive in cocaine‐using women. In conclusion, the current study provides first evidence of sex‐specific differences in the association between craving and insular morphometry in a sample of regular cocaine users. Although speculative, these sex‐specific alterations in insular morphometry may underlie higher stress‐induced craving and relapse in CU women compared with CU men.
Clinical trust, perceived value and behavioral intention of medical tourists: moderating effect of optimism and pessimism

This study investigates the relationships among trust, perceived value and behaviour intention of medical tourist with the moderating effect of optimist-pessimist variables. Data were collected from tourists who got medical treatment or surgery in hospitals. Findings reveal that perceived value plays a partial mediating role between clinical trust and behavioural intent. Besides, the effect of perception of trust of optimist persons on behavioural intent was significant and positive whereas such relationship is insignificant for pessimists. The effects of clinical trust and perceived values on behavioural intentions were found to be higher for pessimist medical tourists than that of optimists.
The bias of Twitter as an agenda-setter on COVID-19: An empirical research using log data and survey data in Japan

This study investigates the bias of Twitter as an agenda-setter during COVID-19. Specifically, we analyze the agenda-setting function of Twitter (Study 1) and characteristics of information disseminators on Twitter, agenda-builders (Study 2), related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Study 1, we examined rank correlations between the media agendas on COVID-19 and public agendas. The results indicated that Twitter agendas resonate with those who have liberal tendencies. In Study 2, we used data from the Internet survey to identify the political attitudes of agenda-builders who tweet or retweet on COVID-19. The results of the model analyses indicated that people with liberal tendencies, motivated by their political attitude, created original tweets, and some of those tweets were then retweeted by flaming-oriented people driven by a sense of justice. This seems to be how information about COVID-19 spreads on Twitter in Japan.
Comparative Evaluation of Cartridge-Based Abbott ID NOW Test With Probe-Based Real-Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay for Detection of SARS-CoV-2

Background: The gold standard test for detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) recommended by WHO is real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), which has a turnaround time of five to six hours. Abbott ID NOW (Abbott Diagnostics Scarborough, Inc., Scarborough, ME, USA), the cartridge-based loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay, was approved by FDA for Emergency Use Authorization as rapid point of care testing. The present study was planned to evaluate the performance of the cartridge-based Abbott ID NOW test by comparing it to the currently used standard probe-based real-time RT-PCR method for detection of SARS-CoV-2. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in the eastern part of India after getting institutional ethics committee (IEC) approval. Two hundred fifty-nine cases of various age groups of both sexes who were advised for testing for SARS-CoV-2 were included in the study. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected according to protocol advisory by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India. Dry swabs were sent for Abbott ID NOW testing and swabs in viral transport medium were sent for probe-based RT-PCR assay using the CoviPath kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bangalore, India). The data were collected and statistical analysis was performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for ID NOW were calculated taking RT-PCR as the gold standard. Results: Out of 259 patients enrolled in the study, 49% were symptomatic for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The prevalence rate of SARS-CoV-2 was 20.84% among the study population. Sensitivity and specificity, positive and negative predictive values of ID NOW test in comparison to RT-PCR assay was found to be 87%, 98%, 92.1% and 96.8% respectively. ID NOW detected seven out of 54 (12.9%) cases as false negative who were found to be positive with RT-PCR, with mean Ct value of the target genes >34. Conclusions: In this study the overall sensitivity for ID NOW assay was found to be lower, but specificity, positive and negative predictive values were found to be higher. It had the highest correlation to RT-PCR among symptomatic patients and at higher viral loads. Due to the ease of use and shortest result time for detecting COVID-19, ID NOW test could be used as a point-of-care test. But for all tests, the results should be interpreted according to the clinical and epidemiological context.
A mechanosensitive vascular niche for Drosophila hematopoiesis

Significance In adult mammals, blood cell production is sustained throughout life by hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) that reside in the bone marrow in a specific microenvironment called the “niche. ” Understanding how niche cells control HSPC homeostasis is a major challenge, since misregulation leads to severe pathologies such as leukemia. Many studies have highlighted the striking parallels that exist between Drosophila and mammalian hematopoiesis. In this study, we discover that the mechanosensing of blood flow by vascular niche cells regulates hematopoietic progenitor maintenance in the Drosophila hematopoietic organ. Furthermore, we identify molecular processes involved from mechanosensing to mechanotransduction.
Strand Transfer Lengths in Full Scale AASHTO Prestressed Concrete Girders

84 Professor of Civil Engineering Queen 's University Kingston , Ontario Canada The results of an experimental and analytical investigation of the transfer length of 0.5 and 0.6 in. (13 and 15 mm) diameter prestressing strands in full scale AASHTO girders are presented. Based on the results, it is concluded that the current provisions of the ACt Code and AASHTO Specifications for transfer length appear to be inadequate. Recommendations for changes to the code provisions and specifications are presented.