Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparing patient and endoscopist perceptions of the colonoscopy indication.

BACKGROUND determining whether a colonoscopy is performed for screening or nonscreening purposes can facilitate clinical practice and research. However, there is no simple method to determine the colonoscopy indication using patient medical files or health administrative databases. OBJECTIVE to determine patient-endoscopist agreement on the colonoscopy indication. METHODS a cross-sectional study was conducted among staff endoscopists and their patients at seven university-affiliated hospitals in Montreal, Quebec. The study participants were 50 to 75 years of age, they were able to understand English or French, and were about to undergo colonoscopy. Self- (endoscopist) and interviewer-administered (patient) questionnaires ascertained information that permitted classification of the colonoscopy indication. Patient colonoscopy indication was defined as the following: perceived screening (routine screening, family history, age); perceived nonscreening (follow-up); medical history that implied nonscreening; and a combination of the three preceding indications. Agreement between patient and endoscopist indications was measured using concordance and Kappa statistic. RESULTS in total, 702 patients and 38 endoscopists participated. The three most common reasons for undergoing colonoscopy were routine screening⁄regular check-up (33.8%), follow-up to a previous problem (30.2%) and other problem (24.6%). Concordance (range 0.79 to 0.85) and Kappa (range 0.58 to 0.70) were highest for perceived nonscreening colonoscopy. Recent large bowel symptoms accounted for 120 occurrences of disagreement in which the patient perceived a nonscreening colonoscopy while the endoscopist perceived a screening colonoscopy. CONCLUSIONS patient self-report may be an acceptable means for rapidly assessing whether a colonoscopy is performed for screening or nonscreening purposes. Delivery of patient-centred care may help patients and endoscopists reach a shared understanding of the reason for colonoscopy.
Fungal Endosymbionts of Macroalgae: Need for Enquiries into Diversity and Technological Potential

Recent studies reveal that ascomycete fungi establish an endosymbiotic association with marine algae [1-4]. Akin to the endophytes of terrestrial plants in causing disease-free infections in their hosts, these fungi need to be studied with the same zeal as endophytes as they are a promising source of novel bioactive metabolites. The Fungal Endosymbionts of Macroalage (FEM) elaborate molecules exhibiting antitumour, antioxidant, anticancer, antimicrobial, antifungal, cytotoxic and other bioactivities [5-7]. An Aspergillus sp. harboured by a marine alga elaborates antibiotics effective against methicillin resistant bacteria [8]; FEM isolated from macroalgae of North Atlantic produce antibacterial and larvicidal metabolites [7]. A Fusarium endosymbiont of a marine alga off the coast of southern India formed antimalarial metabolites showing activity against blood stage Plasmodium falciparum [9]. The synthetic ability of FEM is further substantiated by Flewelling et al. [10] who showed that a Penicillium endosymbiont of Fucus spiralis produced epiepoformin, phlyllostine, patulin and cladosporin-a metabolite that has not been previously reported as a product of this genus. Although these few studies identify FEM as a promising source of novel metabolites of pharmaceutical and agricultural importance, a number of challenges confront us before their potential could be fully realized. We identify some roadblocks which need to be addressed.
Developing Carbon Accounting

Carbon accounting is a relatively new research area. Whereas corporate carbon accounting is important for external stakeholders to receive a true and fair representation of an organization’s carbon footprint and efforts in emissions reduction, organizational management issues of carbon accounting are highly relevant with regard to decision making, performance improvement and what is reported. In contrast to the reporting, stakeholder and regulatory focus, company-internal issues of carbon accounting have so far rarely been investigated in depth. By analysing an in depth case study of an organization’s “convergence project” between two corporate accounting approaches, we raise questions about what should be considered an effective environmental accounting framework.
Acute promyelocytic leukemia: what are the treatment options?

Importance of the field: Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) represents a paradigm of therapeutic success in clinical hematology. Since the introduction of all-trans-retinoic-acid in the early 1980s, complete remission rates exceed 90% and the cure rate is > 70%. Notwithstanding, various questions concerning the management of APL remain unanswered. Areas covered in this review: The aim of this article is to focus on still controversial issues in the management of APL, such as the role of arsenic trioxide as front-line therapy, the management of older unfit patients, the potential utility of gemtuzumab–ozogamycin and the effectiveness (if any) of maintenance therapy for patients in molecular remission. In addition, the possibility of reducing the intensity of post-remission therapy, which is associated with substantial morbidity in potentially cured patients, is discussed. What the reader will gain: Current and future therapeutic options for the treatment of newly diagnosed and relapsed APL. Take home message: To date, the therapy of APL is the most successful example of differentiation therapy and its scientific history can serve as a model for subsequent development of similar treatments in other leukemias and cancers. However, treatment strategies continue to evolve rapidly, with particular focus on minimizing the early and late effects of cytotoxic chemotherapy.
Multiple Beam Selection for Combing M2M Communication Networks and Cellular Networks with Limited Feedback

We study the scenario in which a large number of machine-type communication devices (MTCDs) communicate with each other by utilizing the help of the base station (BS) through some MTCD gateways. We consider an overlay mode of an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) based cellular system using orthogonal beamforming to provide broadband wireless access for the MTCD gateways. In order to avoid the interference with mobile users, the beamforming vectors to the MTCD gateways have to be orthogonal to the channel vectors of mobile users, which become a beamforming constraint for the MTCD gateways. However, with limited feedback of channel state information (CSI) at a BS, the orthogonal beamforming constraints may not be achieved. In such a practical case, conventional feedback schemes are feasible but not efficient due to the orthogonality constraints. In this paper, we propose a novel multiple beam selection (MBS) approach with limited feedback for MTCD gateways by taking into account the previous orthogonality constraints. Simulation results show that the performance improvement of the proposed approach over the conventional ones is generally about 10% when a BS is equipped with an array of 6 elements.
Governmental Trust, Active Citizenship, and E-Government Acceptance in Lebanon

This research investigates important issues related to e-government services utilization and adoption in a developing country. The purpose was to investigate the primary antecedents related to intention to use e-government services within the context of an emerging market. Lebanon is a small developing market that is making significant investments in e-government technology. The expectation is that it will help to improve quality of life and decrease corruption, which is often connected to governmental services that lack automated processes or transparency in payments. A population of 454 Lebanese citizens were field surveyed, with a final useable sample of 296 respondents. The strong predictive power of the model is an important contribution to understanding consumer consumption of e-government services in a developing country with a pervasive perception of corruption by citizens.
Minimizing congestion and improved QoS of AODV using clustering in mobile ad hoc network

With the increase in traffic in the network congestion increases, congestion unawareness in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) may lead to long delay, high overhead and packet loss which decreases the performance of ad hoc network. Many routing protocols are not congestion aware and this becomes the main design requirement of the routing protocol, which will tackle the problem of congestion and energy usage. This paper proposes an enhancement to the AODV routing protocol that consists of a cluster-based mechanism for supporting congestion control in MANET which provides a QoS aware path. The main feature of this approach is clustering and the selection of the cluster - head is on the basis of the congestion status of the nodes. This protocol is highly efficient in dealing congestion by achieving QoS constraints (good packet delivery ratio, low delay and reduces packet drop) with energy efficiency.
H-infinity optimal distributed control in discrete time

We give closed-form expressions for H-infinity optimal state feedback laws applicable to linear time-invariant discrete time systems with symmetric and Schur state matrix. This class includes networked systems with local dynamics in each node and control action along each edge. Furthermore, the structure of the controllers mimics that of the system, which makes them suitable for distributed control purposes.
Analysis of Hydroxycinnamic Acid Degradation in Agrobacterium fabrum Reveals a Coenzyme A-Dependent, Beta-Oxidative Deacetylation Pathway

ABSTRACT The soil- and rhizosphere-inhabiting bacterium Agrobacterium fabrum (genomospecies G8 of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens species complex) is known to have species-specific genes involved in ferulic acid degradation. Here, we characterized, by genetic and analytical means, intermediates of degradation as feruloyl coenzyme A (feruloyl-CoA), 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl-β-hydroxypropionyl–CoA, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl-β-ketopropionyl–CoA, vanillic acid, and protocatechuic acid. The genes atu1416, atu1417, and atu1420 have been experimentally shown to be necessary for the degradation of ferulic acid. Moreover, the genes atu1415 and atu1421 have been experimentally demonstrated to be essential for this degradation and are proposed to encode a phenylhydroxypropionyl-CoA dehydrogenase and a 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl-β-ketopropionic acid (HMPKP)–CoA β-keto-thiolase, respectively. We thus demonstrated that the A. fabrum hydroxycinnamic degradation pathway is an original coenzyme A-dependent β-oxidative deacetylation that could also transform p-coumaric and caffeic acids. Finally, we showed that this pathway enables the metabolism of toxic compounds from plants and their use for growth, likely providing the species an ecological advantage in hydroxycinnamic-rich environments, such as plant roots or decaying plant materials.
Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Morphological Processing in Visual Word Recognition

The spatiotemporal dynamics of morphological, orthographic, and semantic processing were investigated in a primed lexical decision task in French using magnetoencephalography (MEG). The goal was to investigate orthographic and semantic contributions to morphological priming and compare these effects with pure orthographic and semantic priming. The time course of these effects was analyzed in anatomically defined ROIs that were selected according to previous MEG and fMRI findings. The results showed that morphological processing was not localized in one specific area but distributed over a vast network that involved left inferior temporal gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, left inferior frontal gyrus, and left orbitofrontal gyrus. Second, all morphological effects were specific, that is, in none of the ROIs could morphology effects be explained by pure orthographic or pure semantic overlap. Third, the ventral route was sensitive to both the orthographic and semantic “part” of the morphological priming effect in the M350 time window. Fourth, the earliest effects of morphology occurred in left superior temporal gyrus around 250 msec and reflected the semantic contribution to morphological facilitation. Together then, the present results show that morphological processing is not just an emergent property of processing form or meaning and that semantic contributions to morphological facilitation can occur as early as 250 msec in the left superior temporal gyrus.
Shape-aware multi-atlas segmentation

Despite of having no explicit shape model, multi-atlas approaches to image segmentation have proved to be a top-performer for several diverse datasets and imaging modalities. In this paper, we show how one can directly incorporate shape regularization into the multi-atlas framework. Unlike traditional methods, our proposed approach does not rely on label fusion on the voxel level. Instead, each registered atlas is viewed as an estimate of the position of a shape model. We evaluate and compare our method on two public benchmarks: (i) the VISCERAL Grand Challenge on multi-organ segmentation of whole-body CT images and (ii) the Hammers brain atlas of MR images for segmenting the hippocampus and the amygdala. For this wide spectrum of both easy and hard segmentation tasks, our experimental quantitative results are on par or better than state-of-the-art. More importantly, we obtain qualitatively better segmentation boundaries, for instance, preserving fine structures.
Analysis and evaluation of outlier detection algorithms in data streams

Data mining is one of the most exciting fields of research for the researcher. As data is getting digitized, systems are getting connected and integrated, scope of data generation and analytics has increased exponentially. Today, most of the systems generate non-stationary data of huge, size, volume, occurrence speed, fast changing etc. these kinds of data are called data streams. One of the most recent trend i.e. IOT (Internet Of Things) is also promising lots of expectation of people which will ease the use of day to day activities and it could also connect systems and people together. This situation will also lead to generation of data streams, thus present and future scope of data stream mining is highly promising. Characteristics of data stream possess many challenges for the researcher; this makes analytics of such data difficult and also acts as source of inspiration for researcher. Outlier detection plays important role in any application. In this paper we reviewed different techniques of outlier detection for stream data and their issues in detail and presented results of the same.
Niche and neutral models predict asymptotically equivalent species abundance distributions in high-diversity ecological communities

A fundamental challenge in ecology is to understand the mechanisms that govern patterns of relative species abundance. Previous numerical simulations have suggested that complex niche-structured models produce species abundance distributions (SADs) that are qualitatively similar to those of very simple neutral models that ignore differences between species. However, in the absence of an analytical treatment of niche models, one cannot tell whether the two classes of model produce the same patterns via similar or different mechanisms. We present an analytical proof that, in the limit as diversity becomes large, a strong niche model give rises to exactly the same asymptotic form of SAD as the neutral model, and we verify the analytical predictions for a Panamanian tropical forest data set. Our results strongly suggest that neutral processes drive patterns of relative species abundance in high-diversity ecological communities, even when strong niche structure exists. However, neutral theory cannot explain what generates high diversity in the first place, and it may not be valid in low-diversity communities. Our results also confirm that neutral theory cannot be used to infer an absence of niche structure or to explain ecosystem function.
Genome Evolution in the Eremothecium Clade of the Saccharomyces Complex Revealed by Comparative Genomics

We used comparative genomics to elucidate the genome evolution within the pre–whole-genome duplication genus Eremothecium. To this end, we sequenced and assembled the complete genome of Eremothecium cymbalariae, a filamentous ascomycete representing the Eremothecium type strain. Genome annotation indicated 4712 gene models and 143 tRNAs. We compared the E. cymbalariae genome with that of its relative, the riboflavin overproducer Ashbya (Eremothecium) gossypii, and the reconstructed yeast ancestor. Decisive changes in the Eremothecium lineage leading to the evolution of the A. gossypii genome include the reduction from eight to seven chromosomes, the downsizing of the genome by removal of 10% or 900 kb of DNA, mostly in intergenic regions, the loss of a TY3-Gypsy–type transposable element, the re-arrangement of mating-type loci, and a massive increase of its GC content. Key species-specific events are the loss of MNN1-family of mannosyltransferases required to add the terminal fourth and fifth α-1,3-linked mannose residue to O-linked glycans and genes of the Ehrlich pathway in E. cymbalariae and the loss of ZMM-family of meiosis-specific proteins and acquisition of riboflavin overproduction in A. gossypii. This reveals that within the Saccharomyces complex genome, evolution is not only based on genome duplication with subsequent gene deletions and chromosomal rearrangements but also on fungi associated with specific environments (e.g. involving fungal-insect interactions as in Eremothecium), which have encountered challenges that may be reflected both in genome streamlining and their biosynthetic potential.
Franchising Networks Survival: An Approach through Population Ecology and Survival Analysis

The survival of franchising networks is explored in this article through the lens of population ecology, using survival analysis. Based on a study of 912 franchising networks operating in France at any time during the period 1992–2002, and involving 4,337 observations, it concludes that only one third of the networks survived over ten years. Survival chances were increased for networks having both company-owned and franchised units, having a large number of units, originating from the country under study, and existing in foreign countries.
Seeker Optimization Algorithm for Digital IIR Filter Design

Since the error surface of digital infinite-impulse-response (IIR) filters is generally nonlinear and multimodal, global optimization techniques are required in order to avoid local minima. In this paper, a seeker-optimization-algorithm (SOA)-based evolutionary method is proposed for digital IIR filter design. SOA is based on the concept of simulating the act of human searching in which the search direction is based on the empirical gradient by evaluating the response to the position changes and the step length is based on uncertainty reasoning by using a simple fuzzy rule. The algorithm's performance is studied with comparison of three versions of differential evolution algorithms, four versions of particle swarm optimization algorithms, and genetic algorithm. The simulation results show that SOA is superior or comparable to the other algorithms for the employed examples and can be efficiently used for IIR filter design.
Impairment and Abuse of Elderly by Staff in Long-Term Care in Michigan: Evidence From Structural Equation Modeling

Elder abuse in long-term care has become a very important public health concern. Recent estimates of elder abuse prevalence are in the range of 2% to 10% (Lachs & Pillemer, 2004), and current changes in population structure indicate a potential for an upward trend in prevalence (Malley-Morrison, Nolido, & Chawla, 2006; Post et al., 2006). More than 20 years ago, Karl Pillemer called for sociological research on patient maltreatment in nursing homes and provided an overview model for the conduct of such research (Pillemer, 1988). The research literature since then has not provided the definitive model to account for patient maltreatment that Pillemer hoped for. Instead, it has produced a laundry list of risk factors that includes the patient’s functional disability, cognitive impairment, social isolation, age, race, income, family background, life events, dementia, and depression (Dyer, Pavlik, Murphy, & Hyman, 2000; Lachs & Pillemer, 2004; Lachs,Williams, Obrien, Hurst, & Horwitz, 1997; Pavlik, Hyman, Festa, & Dyer, 2001; Schofield & Mishra, 2003). However, no theory exists to place these factors in a causal structure that relates the factors to each other and to whether abuse occurs. This study is a first step in that direction. Nine hypotheses were generated focusing on the effects of two dimensions of impairment—(a) physical and cognitive and (b) age and behavior problems—on susceptibility to abuse among elderly in long-term care.The relationships between factors and from factors to susceptibility to abuse are specified in a structural equation model where “susceptibility to abuse,” “physical impairment,” and “cognitive impairment” are latent variables, and behavior problems and age are directly measured.
Naphthalene Degradation and Incorporation of Naphthalene-Derived Carbon into Biomass by the ThermophileBacillus thermoleovorans

ABSTRACT The thermophilic aerobic bacterium Bacillus thermoleovorans Hamburg 2 grows at 60°C on naphthalene as the sole source of carbon and energy. In batch cultures, an effective substrate degradation was observed. The carbon balance, including naphthalene, metabolites, biomass, and CO2, was determined by the application of [1-13C]naphthalene. The incorporation of naphthalene-derived carbon into the bulk biomass as well as into specified biomass fractions such as fatty acids and amino acids was confirmed by coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and isotope analyses. Metabolites were characterized by GC-MS; the established structures allow tracing the degradation pathway under thermophilic conditions. Apart from typical metabolites of naphthalene degradation known from mesophiles, intermediates such as 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene, 2-carboxycinnamic acid, and phthalic and benzoic acid were identified for the pathway of this bacterium. These compounds indicate that naphthalene degradation by the thermophilicB. thermoleovorans differs from the known pathways found for mesophilic bacteria.