Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Safety of Intravenous Methylprednisolone in Refractory and Severe Pediatric Uveitis

Purpose To evaluate the safety of intravenous high-dose pulse methylprednisolone succinate (IVHDM) in the management of severe or refractory non-infectious pediatric uveitis. Methods We reviewed all uveitis patients who were ≤16 years of age and who received IVHDM with a dose of ≥500 mg per day (1–3 days a month) for at least 3 months during their management at a tertiary care eye hospital. Results Twenty pediatric patients with severe or refractory uveitis who received IVHDM were identified. Six patients received IVHDM either once, as a preoperative medication, or at a lower dose than 500 mg, and were excluded. The remaining 14 patients received IVHDM for at least 4 months. Age (mean±SD) was 11.9±2.4 years and 50% were female. Duration of treatment was 14.2±7.5 months. Thirteen patients received IVHDM in combination with other immunomodulatory therapy (IMT). Except for two outliers, IVHDM was given at a dose of 8–25 mg/kg per infusion. Three major adverse events (AEs) occurred in two patients: a single episode of bradycardia, compression fracture following minor trauma and adrenal insufficiency. The number of AEs (major and minor) strongly correlated with duration of treatment (p=0.004) and moderately correlated with the cumulative dose/weight (p=0.051). Weight gain was associated with the use of concomitant oral steroids and not with duration of treatment or cumulative dose. Conclusion IVHDM may be a valid therapeutic option for aggressive/refractory pediatric uveitis. The reported AEs in this series can also be attributed to the concurrent IMT or the underlying disease itself.
Models of Self-Regulation Mechanisms in Peer-Rejected Students

Self-regulation is a process that may affect the degree of peer rejection but may also be determined by the degree of peer rejection, whereby the degree of acceptance/rejection can influence the processes that lead to the strengthening or weakening of self-regulation. In this study, we concentrate on self-regulatory mechanisms (self-regulated behavior and strategies for emotional regulation) in peer-rejected students compared to non-rejected students. With the aid of structural equation modeling, we identified models of self-regulation mechanisms in three groups of students according to their acceptance/rejection. These groups differ in the degree of peer rejection, the structure of the regulation of emotional relations, and the degree of self-regulation behavior. The results suggest that peer-rejected students do not form a monolithic group from the perspective of self-regulation mechanisms, as it is possible to identify diverse structures of relations between the self-regulation mechanisms that probably depend, inter alia, on the degree of peer rejection.
RETRIEVAL OF LEAF AREA INDEX AND LEAF CHLOROPHYLL CONTENT FROM HYPERSPECTRAL DATA USING DEEP LEARNING NETWORKS

Abstract. This study aimed to exploit the use of deep learning networks in the retrieval of the biophysical and biochemical parameters of vegetation canopies. Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), network with only fully connected layers, referred as dense network (DNN), and Autoencoder (AE) were investigated to retrieve leaf area index (LAI) and leaf chlorophyll content. Hyperspectral data simulated by the coupled PROSPECT and SAIL model were used for training and validation. The real CASI hyperspectral data in 50 spectral channels ranging from 522.4 nm to 894.2 nm collected over three agricultural crop fields during the growing season of 2001 were used, together with the in-situ measured LAI and leaf chlorophyll content, as independent test set. Occlusion analysis was also employed to determine the important spectral bands at which reflectance made more contributions to the retrieval with a CNN and interpret the latent variables of the AE. Satisfactory results from these deep learning networks were obtained, compared with ground truth. The DNN with the input of the vegetation indices sensitive to LAI and leaf chlorophyll content (MTVI2 and TCARI/OSAVI) generated the best results with R2 of 0.86 for LAI and 0.55 for leaf chlorophyll content.
A crowdsourcing engine for mechanized labor

Microtask crowdsourcing implies decomposing a difficult problem into smaller pieces. For that a special human-computer platform like CrowdFlower or Amazon Mechanical Turk is used to submit tasks for human workers motivated by either micropayments or altruism to solve. Examples of successful crowdsourcing applications are food nutrition estimation, natural language processing, criminal invasion detection, and other problems so-called “AI-hard”. However, these platforms are proprietary and requiring additional software for maintaining the output quality. This paper presents the design, architecture and implementation details of an open source engine for executing microtask-based crowdsourcing annotation stages. The engine controls the entire crowdsourcing process including such elements as task allocation, worker ranking, answer aggregation, agreement assessment, and other means for quality control. The present version of the software is implemented as a three-tier system, which is composed of the application level for the end-user worker interface, the engine level for the Web service controlling the annotation process, and the database level for the data persistence. The RESTful API is used for interacting with the engine. The methods for controlling the annotation are implemented as processors that are initialized using the dependency injection mechanism for achieving the loose coupling principle. The functionality of the engine has been evaluated by both using unit tests and replication of a semantic similarity assessment experiment.
Aprepitant for the Prevention of Post-Operative Nausea and Vomiting in Refractory or High-Risk Patients

No studies were found that evaluated the clinical effectiveness of aprepitant for the prevention of post-operative nausea and vomiting in patients with a history of post-operative nausea and vomiting refractory to conventional antiemetic prophylaxis that met the criteria for this review. In patients with the potential for life-threatening post-operative medical complications due to emesis, limited evidence of variable quality was identified for the clinical effectiveness of aprepitant. The studies varied by population, the combination of interventions and comparators and the outcomes measured, and the findings were mixed. No studies were found that evaluated the cost-effectiveness of aprepitant for the prevention of post-operative nausea and vomiting in patients with a history of post-operative nausea and vomiting refractory to conventional antiemetic prophylaxis that met the criteria for this review. No studies were found that evaluated the cost-effectiveness of aprepitant for the prevention of post-operative nausea and vomiting in patients with the potential for life-threatening post-operative medical complications due to emesis that met the criteria for this review. No evidence-based guidelines were found regarding the use of aprepitant for the prevention of post-operative nausea and vomiting in patients with a history of post-operative nausea and vomiting refractory to conventional antiemetic prophylaxis that met the criteria for this review. No evidence-based guidelines were found regarding the use of aprepitant for the prevention of post-operative nausea and vomiting in patients with the potential for life-threatening post-operative medical complications due to emesis that met the criteria for this review.
The Mother-Daughter Relationship and Daughter's Positive Body Image: A Systematic Review

The mother-daughter dyad is a powerful relationship known to impact health and wellbeing of daughters throughout their life. This article examined studies focused on factors associated with daughter's positive body image through the mother-daughter relationship. In this systematic review searches were performed for English-language, peer-reviewed articles and dissertations published between 1955 to 2020 in the following databases: Family Studies Abstracts, ERIC, PsycINFO, PubMED, Scopus, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global. Out of 444 potential records after removing duplicates, four were fully reviewed and synthesized. Study outcomes were analyzed through thematic analysis resulting in three major themes relating to the mother-daughter relationship as a facilitator for daughter's positive body image: (1) maternal role modeling of healthy behaviors; (2) positive body talk and communication; (3) relational connection.
Comparison of Frontline Healthcare Professionals and Other Healthcare Professionals in terms of Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms and Quality of Life in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objectives: In this study, we aimed to compare the healthcare workers (frontline) and other health care workers in terms of depression, anxiety, stress symptoms, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, sleep quality and quality of life. Methods: Among the doctors, nurses, assistant health personnel and medical secretaries working in Bilecik Training and Research Hospital and involved in the follow-up and treatment of COVID 19 patients. Those who accepted the study included Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Pitsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), DSM 5 Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Symptom Checklist (PCL-5), Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Symptom Inventory (MOCI) and World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale, Short Form (WHOQOL-BREF-TR) was given. Results: A total of 53 people were included in the study, 24 of which were in the frontline and 29 in the secondline.The number of days they worked with patients who were suspected or infected with COVID 19 and the number of those who needed mental support was significantly higher than the others. The BAI and MOCI scale scores of the frontline group were significantly higher, and the WHOQOL-BREF-TR scores were lower. Conclusion: The risk of developing psychopathology increases in all healthcare professionals, especially frontline healthcare professionals, during the pandemic period, so mental support should be provided. Abstract Article: Yagci ZG, Gol Ozcan G, Yagci T, Ceylan D. Comparison of Frontline Healthcare Professionals and Other Healthcare Professionals in terms of Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms and Quality of Life in the COVID-19 Pandemic. EJMI
Relativistic charged stellar model of the Pant interior solution via gravitational decoupling and Karmarkar conditions

This paper explores a new embedding anisotropic charged version of a solution to Einstein–Maxwell field equations in four-dimensional spacetime through the Karmarkar conditions and the gravitational decoupling via minimal geometric decoupling (MGD) technique by choosing Pant’s interior solution [Astrophys. Space Sci. 331, 633 (2011)] as a seed solution to coupled system. Later, we integrate the coupled system within the MGD and explore a family of solutions to represent the realistic structure of nonrotating compact objects. Through the matching of the interior solutions so obtained to the exterior Reissner–Nordström metric, we tune the arbitrary constants for feasible models. After that, we subject our model to a rigorous test for a chosen parameter space to verify the physical viability of the solution for the neutron stars in EXO 1785-248 for a range of values of the decoupling constant [Formula: see text]. Further, we prove that the constant [Formula: see text] is inherently connected to critical physical properties such as the gravitational and surface redshifts, compactification factor, mass/radius relation, etc., of the same compact star candidate EXO 1785-248. The solutions thus obtained exhibit physically viable features which are thoroughly demonstrated through graphical plots.
Zein Microparticles and Nanoparticles as Drug Delivery Systems

Zein is a natural, biocompatible, and biodegradable polymer widely used in the pharmaceutical, biomedical, and packaging fields because of its low water vapor permeability, antibacterial activity, and hydrophobicity. It is a vegetal protein extracted from renewable resources (it is the major storage protein from corn). There has been growing attention to producing zein-based drug delivery systems in the recent years. Being a hydrophobic biopolymer, it is used in the controlled and targeted delivery of active principles. This review examines the present-day landscape of zein-based microparticles and nanoparticles, focusing on the different techniques used to obtain particles, the optimization of process parameters, advantages, disadvantages, and final applications.
Effect Of Dietary Azolla And Spirulina On Performance Of Japanese Quails

The main objective of the present work was to study the effect of feeding Japanese quails on diets containing some aquatic plants, (Azolla and Spirulina) on Japanese quail performance, carcass traits and some blood parameters. The experimental treatments were T1 (control without additives), T2 (4% Azolla), T3 (8% Azolla), T4 (12% Azolla), T5 (16% Azolla), T6 (T1 + Spirulina 2.0 g/kg diet), T7 (T2 + Spirulina 2.0 g/kg diet), T8 (T3 + Spirulina 2.0 g/kg diet), T9 (T4 + Spirulina 2.0 g/kg diet) and T10 (T5 + Spirulina 2.0 g/kg diet). The obtained results showed that birds fed experimental diets in T5 and T10 achieved high significant values of final body weight, total weight gain and the best total feed conversion. Serum concentration of total protein, albumin, globulin. The experimental diets of T6 and T10 achieved the high significant values of carcass and total edible parts percentage. It is concluded that Japanese quails fed experimental diets containing Azolla and Spirulina improved bird’s performance and carcass traits and did not negatively effect on blood serum characteristics.
Experiences of the Twenty First Century (21st) Teachers in using digital tools in the classroom: A case of four selected Harare Region high schools in Zimbabwe

High quality teaching is critical for students’ success. The current generation of students demands the use of various emerging technologies such as smart phones, tablets, computers and others. The emerging technologies provide a flexible learning environment that engages students in and outside the classroom reflecting an open learning approach. In addition, mobile technologies provide opportunities for a variety of 21st century learning activities. Exposure to technology and digital tools is critical to the Twenty First Century teacher in order to produce the human capital that can fit globally in all spheres of development. It is against this background that the study aimed at establishing the experiences of the twenty first century teachers in using digital tools in the classroom from selected high schools in Harare Province in Zimbabwe. A qualitative approach and a case study design were adopted. A purposive sample comprising of 20 teaching staff was employed. Semi- structured interviews were used to elicit the needed data. The results assisted in identifying educational technology gaps in teacher education. The findings would also assist the educational planners to come up with strategies to bridge the cited technological gaps in the teachers. More so teachers would then be assisted to keep abreast of current trends in using digital tools in their teaching.
Nucleotide Variations of Gamma Ray-Irradiated Chili Pepper Mutant Genotypes Based on Gene-Specific Primers Related to Fruit Size Character

<p>Fruit size is a quantitative character controlled by several genes and mutations in those genes could lead to phenotypic changes in fruits. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is a molecular marker that could be used to detect mutation in genes at the nucleotide level that could not be done by conventional markers. The aim of this study was to analyze nucleotide variations, primarily SNP, in mutant chili pepper genotypes using gene-specific primers related to fruit size characters to measure the genetic changes occured, identify the SNPs that were associated with fruit size character, and analyze the phylogenetic among the mutant genotypes. Sanger sequencing was conducted on six mutant<a href="file:///E:/PUBLIKASI/PUBLIKASI%202021/Naskah%20Persiapan%20OJS%202021/Jurnal%20AgroBiogen/JA%2017-2/3. %2013984-Kristianto%20dkk-Variasi/CEK_3%20Kristianto%20Nugroho_14-01-2022_OK. doc#_msocom_1">[K21]</a> chili pepper genotypes from M<sub>2</sub> generation and Lingga as origin variety using five pairs of newly designed gene-specific primers corresponding to fruit size characters. A total of 41 base changes were identified in the gamma ray-irradiated chili pepper mutants, consisting of 22 insertions/deletions (indels) and 19 SNPs. As many as 17 nonsynonymous SNPs which caused amino acid changes, in contrast to the other 2 synonymous SNPs, were found in these mutant genotypes. Association analysis between identified SNPs to fruit length and diameter showed nonsignificant association, therefore the functional marker related to targeted gene could not be developed. The genotype L269 showed a separation from Lingga in dendrogram reflecting a large number of genetic changes, showed its potential as a new germplasm in development of improved variety in the future. </p>
Decentralized Anti-Windup Compensator Designs for Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

This thesis studies the design and implementation of anti windup compensators for UAVs with magnitude and rate saturated actuators. The focus is on two types of UAVs; a Quadrotor UAV and a Fixed wing UAV. Decentralized anti-windup compensators are designed to address the problem of magnitude saturation in Quadrotor UAVs. The developed anti-windup compensators are founded on an LMI-based approach previously used in literature to provide global stabilty guarantees with some level of performance guarantees. The work on the decentralized anti-windup compensators for Quadrotor UAVs are further improved on by replacing the use of LMIs in the determination of the anti windup compensator parameters with approximate linear based guidelines after a Lure-Postinikov Lyapunov function is used to provide global stability guarantees. This approach applies not only to Quadrotor UAVs but also to a wide class of systems that contain double integrators. The developed anti-windup compensators were designed and implemented for an experimental Quadrotor UAV where both simulation results and flight test results clearly show the ability of the anti-windup compensators to reduce the effect of magnitude saturation in Quadrotor UAVs. Finally, the thesis describes the design of decoupled multivariable anti-windup compensators to tackle the problem of rate saturation on a fixed wing UAVs. Simulation results obtained demonstrate that these anti-windup compensators are capable of managing the system responses during periods of rate saturation.
Mobile Robot Localization and Mapping Algorithm Based on the Fusion of Image and Laser Point Cloud

Given the lack of scale information of the image features detected by the visual SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) algorithm, the accumulation of many features lacking depth information will cause scale blur, which will lead to degradation and tracking failure. In this paper, we introduce the lidar point cloud to provide additional depth information for the image features in estimating ego-motion to assist visual SLAM. To enhance the stability of the pose estimation, the front-end of visual SLAM based on nonlinear optimization is improved. The pole error is introduced in the pose estimation between frames, and the residuals are calculated according to whether the feature points have depth information. The residuals of features reconstruct the objective function and iteratively solve the robot’s pose. A keyframe-based method is used to optimize the pose locally in reducing the complexity of the optimization problem. The experimental results show that the improved algorithm achieves better results in the KITTI dataset and outdoor scenes. Compared with the pure visual SLAM algorithm, the trajectory error of the mobile robot is reduced by 52.7%. The LV-SLAM algorithm proposed in this paper has good adaptability and robust stability in different environments.
Speech Act Analysis on Joe Biden’s Speech about Covid-19

This study is to identify the utterances of particularized speech acts and illocutionary functions on Joe Biden’s speech about Covid-19. The writer uses descriptive qualitative design to gain the research. The writer collects the data from the video content on YouTube named C-SPAN entitled President-elect Joe Biden COVID-19 Briefing and website named Rev formed as speech transcript. Joe Biden or Joseph Robinette Biden is the 46th president of the United States. From the analysis, the writer found three types of speech acts used by Joe Biden. The data used Searle’s theory. They are the locutionary act, illocutionary act, and perlocutionary act. Then, the writer also found that illocutionary act is divided into five categories. They are assertive (42%), directive (18%), commisive (29%), expressive (9%), and declaration (2%). The most dominant type of illocutionary act is assertive or representative. Meanwhile, the most dominant type of illocutionary function used by him is promising function. From this study, it can be found the kinds of facial expressions, posture, and gestures of body language which are expressed by Joe Biden.
Critical e-learning quality factors affecting student satisfaction in a Korean medical school

Purpose This research investigated the critical factors that affect the e-learning quality. The student satisfaction model with the five factors such as content, system, learner, instructor and interaction was proposed and empirically examined. It also investigated the relationship between the interaction and other constructs. Methods This study used a cross sectional survey design, and convenience sampling. To examine the critical factors and their relationship, a survey of 28 items was developed based on previous studies and sent out through a learning management system to all the students (n=250) enrolled in the pre-med 1 to the medicine 3 in one medical school in Korea. The medical school delivered all the courses online due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. The collected data (n=209, 83.6%) were analyzed through structural equation modeling by using IBM AMOS ver. 26.0 and IBM SPSS ver. 26.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, USA). Results The determinants of e-learning student satisfaction were system, learner, instructor, and interaction qualities, which together explained 72.6% of the variance of student satisfaction and the determinants of e-learning interaction quality were content and system qualities, which together explained 62.9% of the variance of interaction quality. Conclusion The results of this study presented practical guidelines to improve e-learning quality in terms of student satisfaction in medical education contexts. The results indicated that more efforts should be directed toward improving interaction features such as interactive teaching styles, collaborative activities, providing instructors and learners with proper training for e-learning prior to e-learning and a quality of contents, and upgrading e-learning system for better performance and service.