Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Collecting Reliable and Valid Real-Time Patient Experience Data

The collection of real-time, real-world patient experience data that are reliable, valid, and sensitive to drug effects presents many challenges to clinical trial sponsors and investigators. Recent developments in electronic patient experience diary (PED) systems highlight the importance of building a robust, subject-friendly system that can enhance subjects’ protocol compliance and is regulatory compliant. To succeed in a clinical trial, an electronic PED system must simultaneously meet two related standards: clinical integrity and system integrity. Clinical integrity includes the elements of protocol compliance, measurement reliability, data validity, and auditable subject quality. An electronic PED system with clinical integrity produces compliance metadata that can be used to better understand and evaluate the efficacy data. System integrity includes the elements of management control, system reliability, data integrity, and auditable system quality for computerized data handling. An electronic PED system with system integrity collects data that have been authenticated by built-in logic and security checks and can be attributed to the subject. The challenges and promises of such a system are presented.
ACUTE PROMYELOCYTIC LEUKEMIA IN FOUR YEAR-OLD FEMALE CHILD. A CASE REPORT

of pediatric oncohematologic malignancy are acute leukemias and in this area the AML incidence is very low, much less than the acute promyelocytic leukemia. We report the case of a 4 year old girl with acute promyelocytic leukemia whose blasts showed the morphology characteristic of acute promyelocytic leukemia variant and the Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization confirmed the presence of t(15;17) translocation. The case is reported because in the pediatric population the acute promyelocytic leukemia is a rare occurrence; moreover, it represent a true oncohematologic emergency, in this case the laboratory has a significant role since the timing of diagnosis must be very short.
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis: Views of Hospital Staff in the UK

Objective To explore health care professionals' experiences and perceptions of Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), a team-based, prospective risk analysis technique. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 operational leads (20 pharmacists, one nurse) in medicines management teams of hospitals participating in a national quality improvement programme. Interviews were transcribed, coded and emergent themes identified using framework analysis. Results Themes identified included perceptions and experiences of participants with FMEA, validity and reliability issues, and FMEA's use in practice. FMEA was considered to be a structured but subjective process that helps health care professionals get together to identify high risk areas of care. Both positive and negative opinions were expressed, with the majority of interviewees expressing positive views towards FMEA in relation to its structured nature and the use of a multidisciplinary team. Other participants criticised FMEA for being subjective and lacking validity. Most likely to restrict its widespread use were its time consuming nature and its perceived lack of validity and reliability. Conclusion FMEA is a subjective but systematic tool that helps identify high risk areas, but its time consuming nature, difficulty with the scores and perceived lack of validity and reliability may limit its widespread use.
Exploring programming misconceptions: an analysis of student mistakes in visual program simulation exercises

Visual program simulation (VPS) is a form of interactive program visualization in which novice programmers practice tracing computer programs: using a graphical interface, they are expected to correctly indicate each consecutive stage in the execution of a given program. Naturally, students make mistakes during VPS; in this article, we report a study of such mistakes. Visual program simulation tries to get students to act on their conceptions; a VPS-supporting software system may be built so that it reacts to student behaviors and provides feedback tailored to address suspected misconceptions. To focus our efforts in developing the feedback given by our VPS system, UUhistle, we wished to identify the most common mistakes that students make and to explore the reasons behind them. We analyzed the mistakes in over 24,000 student-submitted solutions to VPS assignments collected over three years. 26 mistakes stood out as relatively common and therefore worthy of particular attention. Some of the mistakes appear to be related to usability issues and others to known misconceptions about programming concepts; others still suggest previously unreported conceptual difficulties. Beyond helping us develop our visualization tool, our study lends tentative support to the claim that many VPS mistakes are linked to programming misconceptions and VPS logs can be a useful data source for studying students' understandings of CS1 content.
In vitro enzyme inhibition activities of Myrtus communis L.

The crude methanolic extract and chloroform, ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions of Myrtus communis L. were examined as inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase and lipoxygenase. A significant enzyme inhib ition activity (81 to 91%) was shown by the crude methanolic extract and its fractions against acetylcholinesterase, while high to outstanding enzyme inhibitory activity (72.5 to 99%) was shown against butyrylcholinesterase. The crude methanolic extract and its various fractions also demonstrated significant activity (79 to 94.5%) against lipoxygenase. Key words: Myrtus communis L. , acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, lipoxygenase, inhibition.
Measuring the Benefit of Treatment

If there is a “79% reduction in the proportion of families with an affected contact,” how many families will you have to treat in order to prevent one case of flu? On first glance, it looks like 4 families out of 5 will benefit, but a closer look reveals that only one family in 7 will have a case of flu prevented. Why is this? This occurs because only 20% of families were going to be affected anyway, so even if the drug were 100% …
Redox proteomics: from residue modifications to putative biomarker identification by gel- and LC-MS-based approaches

Quantitative determination of reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species in body fluids, tissues or cells has always been problematic due to their high chemical reactivity and the resulting short half-life. This high reactivity may involve reversible and/or irreversible protein modifications, in particular the covalent oxidative modification of specific amino acid residues. Thus, the occurrence of reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species can be monitored indirectly from the identification of specific protein-chemical footprints. In combination with classical gel-based proteomics or liquid chromatography labeling or label-free techniques, mass spectrometry has emerged as a powerful tool to identify these protein modifications in biological samples. In this review, we present the main methodological approaches for gel-based proteomics and quantitative mass spectrometry applied to oxidative protein modifications, mainly Cys. Representative examples from their application in identifying respective biomarkers in diseases related to oxidative stress are also presented.
Parents' Conceptions of Participating in a Home Care Programme from NICU: A Qualitative Analysis

Research suggests early discharge from neonatal intensive care units (NICU) as advantageous for infants, their families and health care systems. This type of intervention has rarely been described from parents' perspective, therefore the aim of this study was to describe parents' conceptions of participating in a home care programme provided by the NICU. A qualitative descriptive design inspired by phenomenography was chosen for the study. Data was collected through interviews conducted with parents (N=23) enrolled in the unit's home care programme. The programme brought out two description categories: Becoming a family and Feeling security, comprising the conceptions: Being at home, Being reunited, Getting information, Having accessibility and Having support. To feel secure at home means for these parents to have accessibility to the neonatal staff's knowledge and experiences 24 hours per day. In the hospital the parents do not feel like a family, a feeling that gradually changes when they return home with their baby. This is one of the reasons why it is so important that the infant is discharged as early as possible from the hospital.
Typing over autocomplete: cognitive load in website use by older adults

This paper describes an exploration into factors influencing the interaction of cognitive processing with visual and motor skills during website use by older adults. Twenty-eight older adults and 18 younger adults completed an on-line air-ticketing search task. Quantitative and qualitative data was captured from multiple sources, and analysed from the perspective of cognitive load. Compared with the younger control group, older adults took significantly longer and made significantly more errors in reporting the results of the task. Although the mean duration of gaze down at the keyboard and notes was similar for both age groups, the mean duration of screen gaze was significantly longer for older than for younger participants. Older adults also logged a significantly higher number of gazes from keyboard to screen. Their longer task times were associated with actions that increase cognitive load by decreasing spatial and temporal contiguity of information. Unlike their younger counterparts, they did not glance rapidly between screen and keyboard, but focussed their gaze on the keyboard, checking their typing only when they had completed a form field. Accordingly, they typed into autocomplete combo boxes, ignoring preset options, with the unexpected consequence of more expensive fares and a smaller range of results. When participant background information was analysed, task time was correlated with less Internet experience as well as with age. Supported by observation and self-report which did not signal pronounced vision or motor problems, these results suggest that task times could be reduced through automation of repeatable user interface actions with practice, especially with training in screen glancing rather than gazing. Although the number of search reporting errors was correlated with age group and not experience, greater proficiency with the interface could possibly free cognitive resources for improved problem-solving.
The use of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs for the management of rheumatoid arthritis

Two different types of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) are used for the management of rheumatoid arthritis. These are referred to as conventional DMARDs and biologic DMARDs (bDMARDs). Since the introduction of bDMARDs in 2003, the government subsidy for DMARDs has increased markedly. This report examines the supply of, and increasing subsidy for, DMARDs through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) over a 5-year period, from 2003 to 2007. What was the financial cost of DMARD treatment through the PBS? DMARDs supplied through the PBS cost $472 million over the 2003 to 2007 period. The annual cost increased three fold to $134 million over this time. Almost 84% of the expense for conventional DMARDs was paid for by the Australian Government under the PBS during the 5-year period. However, the proportion of the cost met by the patient increased from 13% in 2003 to 20% in 2007. During the 5-year period, bDMARD treatment cost $243 million; more than one-half of the total cost for all DMARDs. bDMARDs accounted for only 4% of DMARD prescription volume. What DMARDs were supplied? More than 3.4 million DMARD prescriptions were subsidised by the PBS for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis from 2003 to 2007. Conventional DMARDs accounted for 96% of all DMARDs supplied through the PBS, with bDMARDs accounting for the remaining 4%. Who was supplied with DMARDs? Approximately 236,000 Australians were supplied with at least one conventional DMARD through the PBS during the 5-year period. Only 7,298 Australians received bDMARDs. Patients in the 55–64 years age group were the largest group of people receiving DMARDs. Almost two-thirds of those who received conventional DMARDs were females; a similar but slightly higher proportion of those who received bDMARDs were females. Who were the DMARD prescribers? Almost three quarters of conventional DMARD scripts were written by general practitioners (GPs) and other primary care medical practitioners (OMPs). Only rheumatologists and clinical immunologists are authorised to prescribe bDMARDs. Does starting treatment with bDMARDs change the supply of conventional DMARDs? Nine out of 10 people were supplied conventional DMARDs for the management of their rheumatoid arthritis in the 12 months prior to starting bDMARD treatment. The proportion reduced to three out of four people in the year following the start of bDMARDs. Supply of all conventional DMARDs, except methotrexate, decreased after the initiation of bDMARD treatment.
Protein degradation fragments as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of connective tissue diseases: understanding the extracellular matrix message and implication for current and future serological biomarkers

ABSTRACT The aim of this review is to discuss the potential usefulness of novel biochemical markers of connective tissues: neo-epitopes of extracellular matrix proteins generated by post-translational modifications by tissue proteinases. As each modification results from a specific local physiological or pathobiological process, the identification of specific proteinase-mediated cleavage products of tissue-specific proteins may produce a unique disease-specific biochemical marker. The authors present a novel interpretation of the process of tissue degradation described by neo-epitope fragments of the interstitial and basement membrane matrix in fibrotic disease, and the diagnostic and prognostic potential of such markers. Moreover, the authors highlight the importance of matrix protein fragments not only as markers of tissue remodeling, but also as players in tissue remodeling, due to their signaling properties.
Simulated influence of user interaction with mobile devices amongst pedestrians

Mobile device usage has reached a level of pervasiveness previously unheard of. The "pocketability" of such devices enables pedestrians to use them whilst moving, causing attention to be divided between the device and locomotion. We attempt to expose the implications of divided attention via a pedestrian simulation that accounts for mobile device use. Of particular interest is the awareness of users in the pedestrian environment, as this may affect the traffic scenario. Our simulation shows that even a small number of users interacting with a mobile device can destabilise pedestrian flow. The proportion of attention loss correlates to the degree of disruption. This has implications for the design of pedestrian-focused applications, as our results suggest pervasive mobile use is changing the nature of pedestrian crowd behaviour.
Frame-based tracing of multiple objects

In tracking feature points, aside from the matching problem, tracing many objects that are coming and going out of the scene is still another problem. A frame-based tracing algorithm to mark and follow the matched object is presented. Experimental results showed that the algorithm is able to successfully track multiple objects simultaneously, including entering, exiting, and continuing events. The algorithm was useful when there are many objects that enter and go out of the scene during the video taking.
Pan-proteomics, a concept for unifying quantitative proteome measurements when comparing closely-related bacterial strains

ABSTRACT The comparison of proteomes between genetically heterogeneous bacterial strains may offer valuable insights into physiological diversity and function, particularly where such variation aids in the survival and virulence of clinically-relevant strains. However, reports of such comparisons frequently fail to account for underlying genetic variance. As a consequence, the current knowledge regarding bacterial physiological diversity at the protein level may be incomplete or inaccurate. To address this, greater consideration must be given to the impact of genetic heterogeneity on proteome comparisons. This may be possible through the use of pan-proteomics, an analytical concept that permits the ability to qualitatively and quantitatively compare the proteomes of genetically heterogeneous organisms. Limited examples of this emerging technology highlight currently unmet analytical challenges. In this article we define pan-proteomics, where its value lies in microbiology, and discuss the technical considerations critical to its successful execution and potential future application.
Perceived barriers to flexible sigmoidoscopy screening for colorectal cancer among UK ethnic minority groups: a qualitative study

Objectives Evidence from existing UK screening programmes indicates disparities in uptake rates between UK ethnic minorities and the white majority population. The aim of this study was to explore barriers to the uptake of flexible sigmoidoscopy (FS) screening among UK ethnic minority populations. Specifically, beliefs about bowel cancer, perceived barriers to the test and ideas about ways to increase uptake were investigated. Methods Nine focus groups were conducted with a total of 53 participants from African-Caribbean, Gujarati Indian, Pakistani and white British communities. The topic guide was based on the Health Belief Model. Discussions were subject to framework analysis. Results Most participants expressed limited awareness of bowel cancer and cited this as a barrier to screening attendance. Anxiety regarding the invasiveness of the test, the bowel preparation and fear of a cancer diagnosis were common barriers across all ethnic groups. Language difficulties, failure to meet religious sensitivities and the expression of culturally influenced health beliefs were all discussed as specific barriers to uptake. Ethnically tailored health promotion and general practitioner involvement were recommended as ways of overcoming such barriers. Conclusions The study was the first attempt to qualitatively explore barriers to FS bowel cancer screening in UK ethnic minorities. Most barriers were shared by all ethnic groups but health educators should supplement approaches designed for the majority to incorporate the specific needs of individual minority groups to ensure equitable access.
A comparison of the core aspects of the ACM/IEEE Computer Science Curriculum 2013 Strawman report with the specified core of CC2001 and CS2008 review

With the changes in the structure of the proposed volume for Computer Science of the ACM/IEEE curricula series for 2013 it is difficult to conceptualise what the extent of these changes are when reading the Strawman report. This paper is an attempt to quantify these changes. It discusses the core curricula as defined in the ACM/IEEE curricula volumes for Computer Science of 2001, 2008 Review and the 2013 Strawman report and shows how a real-world curriculum can be compared to the volumes. Both a visual comparison for the curricula volumes and an algorithmic comparison are presented. The visual comparison provides a quick indication that there are differences, while the algorithmic comparison provides a mechanism to quantify the differences and as a side effect the similarities. These comparisons are restricted to the core aspects of the curricula being evaluated and further to this subsections of the core curricula will be used for illustrative purposes in order to contain the complexity of curricula specifications.
A Procedure for the Simplification and Assessment of Lab Parameters in Clinical Trials

The article introduces two concepts which simplify the display and interpretation of lab data monitoring. The two concepts are: (1) a normalization (or standardization) of each lab value so that it can be interpreted without reference to its normal range and (2) a multivariate scoring system that combines lab parameters into functionally related groups. The technique is demonstrated with real clinical data. Several functional group scores are evaluated and a Global Score produced for individual patients at each time point. The Global Score, viewed over the course of therapy, presents a concise review of drug safety (or toxicity) for each patient and for the study as a whole. Examples will illustrate that the global score can be used as “a safety measure. ”
Prediction of early stage opponents strategy for StarCraft AI using scouting and machine learning

StarCraft is one of the most famous Real-Time Strategy Games and there have been several competitions on AI bots. In order to win StarCraft, players have to predict their opponents strategy and respond properly. Human players used to scout their opponent territory using a unit and gathering information through direct observation to predict their opponents strategy. The accurate prediction of an opponents strategy gives players a big advantage in the early stage of a game. Usually, strategies of StarCraft can be divided into two parts: fast and slow attack strategies. Initial attack timing is an important factor of game strategies. In this paper, we apply a scouting algorithm and various machine learning algorithms to predict an opponents attack timing (strategy). Training data are collected from the games between our Xelnaga bot with the scouting algorithm and various online human players. Experimental results show that the machine learning approach based on realistic scouting data can be beneficial in predicting the opponents early-stage strategy.
Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome and Physical Activity in Indian Adults

Background: Metabolic syndrome is a major health problem worldwide, increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Modern lifestyles have decreased physical activity which is a leading cause of obesity, a major determinant of metabolic syndrome. The present study was done to assess the association of obesity, metabolic syndrome and physical activity in 1500 urban adults. Methods: Anthropometric measurements were taken and blood pressure was measured. Blood lipid profile and blood glucose levels were assessed. Physical activity assessment was done by a suitable structured questionnaire and Physical Activity Level (PAL) was calculated. Results: By NCEP (ATPIII) criteria, 750 subjects (44.9% males and 55.1% females) with metabolic syndrome (MS) and 750 non-metabolic syndrome (NMS) subjects were identified. The major components of MS were low HDL levels in 85% and elevated waist circumference in 80% of the MS subjects. Elevated blood glucose levels were found in 65%, elevated triglycerides in 50% and elevated blood pressure in 55% of the MS subjects. There was a significant difference (p<0.01) in the PAL value of MS and NMS subjects, indicative of MS subjects being less active as compared to NMS. The odds ratio indicated that physical inactivity can increase the risk of MS by 3.34 times. Conclusion: Regular physical activity would help curb the growing menace of obesity and co morbidities of metabolic syndrome.