Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The polymorphisms of HLA class Ⅰ and Ⅱalleles were not associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome among recovered patients in Beijing: a case-control study

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS - CoV), which emerged as a pandemic in 2003. The mechanism of the immune reaction initiated by SARS - CoV still remains unclear. Here we aimed to describe the genetic patterns of high - resolution HLA - A, - B, - C, - DRB1, and - DQB1, loci in recovered SARS patients from Beijing and examine the association between HLA genes and susceptibility or resistance to SARS. A total of 70 recovered Chinese Han SARS patients were recruited to donate convalescent plasma in 2003. HLA high - resolution typing was carried out using sequence based typing (SBT). Allele frequencies were calculated by direct counting, and were compared with the frequencies of HLA alleles of donors recruited by the China Marrow Donor Program between 2002 and 2015 using Fisher's exact test. Significance of association was defined according to the Bonferroni method for multiple comparisons. We observed 20, 35, 21, 25, and 17 alleles respectively at HLA - A, - B, - C, - DRB1, and - DQB1 loci among the 70 recovered patients. We identified 12 alleles (HLA - A*02:10, - A*02:93, - A*03:02, - B*08:01, - B*15:152, - B*37:01, - DRB1*10:01, - DRB1*11:03, - DRB1*14:10, - DRB1*14:12, - DRB1*15:02, and - DQB1*05:10) showing a nominal association with SARS ( P <0.05), but none remained significant after Bonferroni correction. The study suggests that high - resolution HLA alleles are unlikely to contribute significantly to the susceptibility or resistance to SARS - CoV infection in the northern Chinese population.
Regional Planning Model for Cancer Screening with Imperfect Patient Adherence

The effectiveness of cancer screening and adherence to cancer screening guidelines can be inhibited by long wait times for screening appointments. In this article, the authors develop a queueing network model of screening for a disease within a population of patients with imperfect adherence to screening guidelines to characterize the relationship between the screening request frequency rate and the wait time for screens. They first use their model to derive the capacity needed by a given system or the population size a given system can serve to guarantee a certain service level, and then analyze routine screening for average-risk patients as well as the additional capacity required for diagnostic screening and surveillance of high-risk patients. Finally, the authors perform a numerical study using national public health data for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in the United States and provide insights for public health officials, providers, and policy makers, showing how queueing models can be applied to regional planning decisions for determining CRC screening capacity requirements.
Papillary Cystadenocarcinoma of Submandibular Gland- A Case Report

Introduction: Papillary cystadenocarcinoma is an extremely rare malignant neoplasm of major salivary glands. The most common major salivary gland involved is parotid. It is characterised by cysts and papillary endophytic projections. Case Report: We report a case of papillary cystadenocarcinoma arising from the left submandibular gland in a 55-year-old female patient, and discussed the clinical, histopathological and treatment features of this rare entity. Conclusion: Papillary Cystadenocarcinoma is a very rare malignant tumor of the salivary gland. It is to be differentiated from other papillary tumors of salivary gland especially papillary cystadenoma.
Age estimation based on the third molar development in a Turkish population: A radiographic study

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the maturation levels of the third molar teeth of individuals aged between 7 and 25 years, to evaluate the relationship between dental maturation, chronological age and gender, and to test the reliability of this formula by developing regression formulas based on dental maturation data of the third molars for age estimation in a Turkish population. Material and Methods: In this retrospective study, digital panoramic radiographs of a total of 630 patients including 380 females and 250 males, ages 7-25 years were used. The dental maturation of the third molars on the panoramic radiographs was evaluated with the modified Demirjian’s classification system. The descriptive statistics, Cohen’s Kappa, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Kruskal Wallis, Chi- Square, Mann-Whitney U, Wilcoxon, Spearman Correlation and Linear regression tests were used for statistical analysis. Results: The mean chronological age (CA) was 14.38±2.51 years, with a median age of 14.00 years. Mann-Whitney U test showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the mean CA for females and males (p=0.968). The mean age difference between the estimated dental age (DA) and CA for females and males was 0.002 and -0.004 years, respectively. This was found not to be statistically significant according to Wilcoxon-signed ranks test (p=0.541). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the use of third molars as a developmental marker is appropriate. There were no significant differences in third molar development between genders.
Facilitating evaluation support for serious games

This paper describes the evaluation asset, which is a tool that supports the evaluation of applied games. The overall goal is to provide a modular approach to game evaluation that can easily be applied and integrated by game developers in their game projects. The idea of this asset is to utilise game-based user data and translate it into meaningful information about the quality of a game. This asset has added value for various stakeholders – developers, who get an instrument to easily evaluate their software, training providers, who get information about the pedagogical value of games, and the players, who are enabled to provide quick feedback without distraction. Relevant related work from the field of learning and game analytics is summarised. The technical implementation of the asset consists in a client-side and a server-side component for collecting and pre-processing interaction data from games. This data is then analysed in terms of meaningful evaluation variables on which automatic reports and visualisations can be retrieved. The evaluation asset comes with configurable evaluation metrics for translating the data into meaningful information about aspects on usability and game experience. In addition, the evaluation asset may be linked to other assets, to make use of their data for additional information on the quality of a game. The technical implementation of the asset is described, as well as its integration and application in the context of a game. The evaluation asset, as an evaluation instrument complementing more traditional techniques (e.g. questionnaires), will be incorporated in the applied games developed in RAGE and applied in the context of the pilot studies.
Dynamics of dry tropical forest after three decades of vegetation suppression

The aim of this study was to analyze the dynamics of the community and shrub-woody individuals in a dry forest in the Brazilian semiarid region after 29 years of vegetation suppression. Individuals with a circumference at 1.30 m above the ground (CBH) ≥ 6 cm were counted and their heights and CBH were measured in 40 permanent plots on three monitoring occasions (2011, 2013 and 2015). In the period between 2011 and 2015 the area presented a below average precipitation for the last 30 years. Phytosociological parameters and diversity were estimated. The density of individuals decreased from 2011 to 2015 (p < 0.01) and the basal area was similar. During the monitoring period, Poincianella bracteosa stood out in density, frequency and dominance. Phytosociological changes were more evident for an interval of four years. After 29 years of vegetation suppression, the community diversity is within the values for preserved semiarid (caatinga) vegetation. A long period of drought was the main disturbance factor affecting vegetation dynamics.
Detection and Recognition the Signals of Vehicle Taillight

In this paper,a new algorithm of taillight signals detection and recognition based on image is proposed.Firstly,the algorithm detects and tracks vehicle taillights using color and symmetry features of the images.Secondly,we employ parameters-optimized Least Squares Support Vector Machines(LS-SVM) to classify the current states of detected taiUights.Finally,we set up state chains from past frames to recognize the signals of taiUights.Through the experiments on the real road,we can see that the recognized signals can correctly indicate the behaviors of brake and turn of preceding cars,which shows that our algorithm is valid.
Levels of the macrophage migration inhibitory factor and polymorphisms in systemic lupus erythematosus: a meta-analysis

Introduction Several published results have established variations in respect to plasma/serum macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) levels and gene polymorphisms with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This study gave a more concise estimation on the MIF levels for SLE patients and established the association between MIF polymorphisms and SLE. Material and methods All articles were searched from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Wan-Fang, Chinese Biological Medical Literature, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure up to 6th October 2017, with no language restriction. Pooled standard mean difference with 95% confidence interval was evaluated using random effect model. Thirteen articles were used for this meta-analysis, with 620 SLE patients and 779 healthy controls assessed for MIF levels, and 2,159 SLE patients and 2,574 healthy controls considered for MIF-173 C/G and MIF-794 CATT polymorphisms. Results There was a significant higher MIF levels in SLE patients than in healthy controls (p = 0.004). The subgroup analysis showed Asians and ages < 30 had higher MIF levels in SLE patients than in healthy controls. It was evident that patients with systemic lupus erythematosus diseases activity index scores < 8 and ≥ 8, and disease duration for both year < 5 and ≥ 5 of SLE had higher MIF levels when compared to healthy controls. We found a significant association between SLE and MIF-173 C/G, but not MIF-794 CATT. Conclusions This study provided evidence of significant higher MIF levels in SLE patients and supported the association of MIF-173 C/G and SLE. However, we were not able to establish an association between MIF-794 CATT and SLE.
Bleeding Severity in Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) and Its Impact on Short-Term Clinical Outcomes

Bleeding severity in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), defined by the Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC), portends adverse prognosis. We analysed data from 37,866 Australian patients undergoing PCI enrolled in the Victorian Cardiac Outcomes Registry (VCOR), and investigated the association between increasing BARC severity and in-hospital and 30-day major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) (a composite of mortality, myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis, target vessel revascularisation, or stroke). Independent predictors associated with major bleeding (BARC groups 3&5), and MACCE were also assessed. There was a stepwise increase in in-hospital and 30-day MACCE with greater severity of bleeding. Independent predictors of bleeding included female sex (Odds Ratio (OR) 1.34), age (OR 1.02), fibrinolytic therapy (OR 1.77), femoral access (OR 1.51), and ticagrelor (OR 1.42), all significant at the p < 0.001 level. Following adjustment of clinically important variables, BARC 3&5 bleeds (OR 4.37) were still predictive of cumulative in-hospital and 30-day MACCE. In conclusion, major bleeding is an uncommon but potentially fatal PCI complication and was independently associated with greater MACCE rates. Efforts to mitigate the occurrence of bleeding, including radial access and judicious use of potent antiplatelet therapies, may ameliorate the risk of short-term adverse clinical outcomes.
A Survey on Using Baum-Welch Algorithm For Sharing Fine Grained Knowledge in Mutual Environments

Knowledge Sharing is an activity through which knowledge is exchanged among people, friends, families, communities or organizations. Mutual Environments which enable company-wide global teams to identify the source of the antidote to a lack of preparedness. This paper investigates Fine grained knowledge sharing in collaborative environments. Two step framework is used. 1) Web surfing data are clustered into tasks by LEGDP (Laplacian Eigenmap Gaussian Drichlet Process) Model. 2) From Each Task Micro Aspects are extracted by d-iHMM (Discriminative-infinite Hidden Markov Model) model. And to find proper members for knowledge sharing, the classic expert search method is applied to the mined results. Existing Hidden Markov Models takes larger memory and execution time. To overcome this we propose Baum-Welch algorithm. This provides more accuracy than HMM and also takes less execution time to find the best advisor for our related query.
The Effect Of Combination Of Lactulose Therapy In Liver Cirrhosis Handling With Complications In Dr. Sardjito Yogyakarta

Liver cirrhosis is a liver structure that results in the liver not being able to work with the 14th death rank in the world. Treatment of liver cirrhosis is intended for the treatment of complications, comorbidities and limited therapeutic efficacy data after treatment is given. The purpose of this study was to determine the patients, and the efficacy of lactulose combination therapy in liver cirrhosis complications in the inpatient installation of Dr. Sardjito Yogyakarta. Method: the study was conducted observationally with a case-series design. Observation and truth of prospective data were obtained from inpatient status during JuneSeptember 2016, the number of 28 patients in the study, 4 other patients were excluded. The results of most liver cirrhosis patients during the study were men (71.43%), 46-55 (28.57%), risk factors for hepatitis B (50%), complications of hepatic encephalopathy (33.33%), disease gastrointestinal group (25.23%), child-pugh C criteria (32.14%), decreased albumin (16.87%). Efficacy of lactulose therapy in hepatic complications improved encephalopathy 71.43%; propranolol and lactulose in esophageal varices improved 100% bleeding defects; spironolactone, furosemide, and albumin in ascites improve 66.67%; propranolol in portal hypertension is 100% cured; lactulose, LOLA, and vitamin K in hepatic encephalopathy repair 100% esophageal varices; propranolol and lactulose in esophageal varices and portal hypertension improve 100%. Conclusion: The combination of Lactulose with propranolol provides 100% efficacy in variations in esophageal vaccine and portal esophageal portal hypertension. The combination of lactulose, LOLA, vitamin K has 100% efficacy in repairing esophageal varices. The combination of Lactulose and propanolol has a 100% efficacy on the portal of esophageal varices and hypertension.
Effect of preoperative chemoradiotherapy on perioperative outcomes in patients undergoing laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery

Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) on perioperative outcomes in patients who underwent laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery due to rectal adenocarcinoma between January 2017 and March 2019. Patients who underwent open surgery, transanal excision, or additional resection due to metastasis were excluded from the study. Demographic, clinical, and pathological characteristics of the patients were recorded. Perioperative complications were categorized according to the extended Clavien-Dindo classification. Results: The 61 patients enrolled in the study comprised 35 (57.4%) patients who received nCRT (nCRT group) and 26 (42.6%) patients who did not receive nCRT (non-nCRT group). The mean age was 54.6±12.9 years in the nCRT group and 62±14.8 years in the non-nCRT group, which represented a significant difference between the 2 groups (p=0.048). The groups were similar with regard to comorbidities, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologists score, pathological staging, and length of hospital stay. The mean operative time was 298±36.8 minutes in the nCRT group and 243±50.2 minutes in the non-nCRT group, which amounted to a significant difference (p<0.001). The classification of complications indicated Grade I, II, III, and IV complications in 16 (45.7%), 15 (42.8%), 3 (8.6%), and 1 (2.9%) patients, respectively, in the nCRT group as opposed to 16 (61.6%), 8 (30.8%), 1 (3.8%), and 1 (3.8%), respectively, in the non-nCRT group, and no significant difference was found between the 2 groups (p=0.606). Conclusion: The results indicated that nCRT had no effect on perioperative complications and resulted in longer operative times in laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery.
VoiceThread and iPad Apps Supporting Biological Change Concept

Kentucky science achievement data (KCCT, 2008-2011) for Biological Change indicated that middle grades students had little achievement compared to other concepts. The prior grade level for teaching this concept was fourth grade. A case study was designed to address the needs of three Fourth Grade classrooms. As part of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), language arts scores were supplemented with science and social studies. Objectives for the study were production of science and social studies curriculum using 3D instructional technologies for fourth grade in the following Kentucky Core Academic Standards (KCAS) Language Arts: Reading Standards for Informational Text K-5, Writing Standards K-5, Language Standards K-5, Range-Quality-and-Complexity of Student Reading; Core Content 4.1 Science Standard Biological Change; Core Content 4.1 Social Studies Standard Geography. Important findings for heterogeneous populations were made regarding the use of instructional technologies apps VoiceThread and Pangea Safari. Emily Bodenlos Morehead State University, USA
Monitoring the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer using ultrasound scattering coefficient: A preliminary report

Abstract Objective: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was initially used in locally advanced breast cancer, and currently it is recommended for patients with Stage 3 and with early-stage disease with human epidermal growth factor receptors positive or triple-negative breast cancer. Ultrasound imaging in combination with a quantitative ultrasound method is a novel diagnostic approach. Aim of study: The aim of this study was to analyze the variability of the integrated backscatter coefficient, and to evaluate their use to predict the effectiveness of treatment and compare to ultrasound examination results. Material and method: Ten patients (mean age 52.9) with 13 breast tumors (mean dimension 41 mm) were selected for neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Ultrasound was performed before the treatment and one week after each course of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The dimensions were assessed adopting the RECIST criteria. Tissue responses were classified as pathological response into the following categories: not responded to the treatment (G1, cell reduction by ≤9%) and responded to the treatment partially: G2, G3, G4, cell reduction by 10–29% (G2), 30–90% (G3), >90% (G4), respectively, and completely. Results: In B-mode examination partial response was observed in 9/13 cases (completely, G1, G3, G4), and stable disease was demonstrated in 3/13 cases (completely, G1, G4). Complete response was found in 1/13 cases. As for backscatter coefficient, 10/13 tumors (completely, and G2, G3, and G4) were characterized by an increased mean value of 153%. Three tumors 3/13 (G1) displayed a decreased mean value of 31%. Conclusion: The variability of backscatter coefficient, could be associated with alterations in the structure of the tumor tissue during neoadjuvant chemotherapy. There were unequivocal differences between responded and non-responded patients. The backscatter coefficient analysis correlated better with the results of histopathological verification than with the B-mode RECIST criteria.
Artificial Grammar Learning Ability Predicts L2 Processing of English Number Agreement

This study investigates why L2 learners differ in their success in learning their second language, by examining the correlation between learning ability in artificial grammar involving an adjacent dependency and ability in processing English number agreement. Thirty-four Korean L2 learners of English completed two tasks: an artificial grammar learning task and a self-paced reading task. The results showed that (a) the L2 learners are able to track a frequent pattern (e.g., adjacent dependency) occurring in the artificial language; (b) the advanced L2 learners were not sensitive to violations of English number agreement in determiner phrases; and (c) the ability to learn a rule in the artificial grammar learning task was positively correlated with the L2 learners’ insensitivity to disagreement in the self-paced reading task. These findings shed light on the effect of the ability to track a rule in an artificial language on L2 sentence processing. The results thus suggest one explanation for why L2 learners’ variations appear in language learning, at least in the case of the comprehension of English adjacent number agreement.
Motor imagery as a potential tool for improvement of musculoskeletal function in physiotherapy practice

Purpose: Recent imagery intervention studies have shown variable outcomes regarding muscle strength improvements. One possible reason for this might be the variability of used imagery modalities and perspectives. Therefore, this research investigated the efficacy of imagery training on maximal force production in a larger muscle group (hip abductors), comparing the effect of the kinaesthetic imagery modality versus that of the kinaesthetic-plus-visual imagery modality (KIN vs. KIN+VI). Methods: The study was conducted as a randomised control trial with three groups: a kinaesthetic imagery practice (KIN) group (n=16), a kinaesthetic-plus-visual imagery practice (KIN+VI) group (n=16), and a control group (CTRL) with no practice (n=15). The two intervention groups of the study performed the imagery practice, which involved mental simulating of the task that was used to assess muscle strength (imagined performing maximal isometric hip abductor contractions). One intervention script instructed participants to adopt only the KIN modality, and the other instructed participants to adopt a combination of the KIN and visual imagery (VI) modalities during imagery training. Imagery groups attended 10 individual imagery practice sessions (~30 min/day, 5 days/week for 2 weeks.). The control group did not receive any intervention. Maximal hip abduction isometric torque was measured on the right limb before and after the training period. The Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire-2 (VMIQ-2; Roberts et al., 2008) was used to assess participants’ imagery capability. Results: Mixed-model ANOVA analysis showed a significant interaction between intervention groups and time (muscle strength) (F (2, 43) =6.85, p=0.003, η =0.242). Further analysis (t-test) revealed that, while both imagery groups tended towards muscle strength improvement compared with baseline levels, the only group which achieved a significant increase was the KIN+VI group (t (15) = -2.63, p=0.019; approximately 8% increase). In addition, a significant interaction between group and time (imagery ability) was found (F (2, 43) =5.12, p =0.010, η =0.192). Further analysis (t-test) revealed that only the KIN+VI group showed a significant improvement in imagery ability compared with the baseline level (t (15) = 2.22, p =0.003).