Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comorbidities and mortality of hidradenitis suppurativa in Finland

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of hair follicles, characterized by subcutaneous inflammatory nodules and abscesses, typically on the axillary, genitofemoral, and perianal skin. Symptoms of HS, such as foul-smelling discharge from the inflamed lesions, pain, and disease location in sensitive areas, markedly diminish patients’ quality of life. Smoking and obesity are associated with HS, which also has several common comorbidities. While there is a growing body of evidence of somatic comorbidities in HS, psychiatric comorbidities have received less attention. Furthermore, literature on comorbidities in young patients with HS is scarce, and no systematic evaluation of mortality in HS has yet been undertaken. This study aimed to clarify the associations between HS and mental disorders, to explore both somatic and psychiatric comorbidities of HS in children and adolescents, and to determine the life expectancy and cause-specific risks of death in patients with HS. The study population comprised over 4300 cases with HS diagnosed in Finnish hospitals between 1987 and 2014. Ageand sex-matched patients with psoriasis and melanocytic nevi served as controls. Patient data were obtained from the statutory Finnish Care Register for Health Care. Information on dates and causes of death of the cases and controls were acquired from Statistics Finland. This study showed a heavy psychiatric disease burden in patients with HS. The prevalence rates and risks of all studied psychiatric comorbidities were higher in the HS than in the control groups. This was also evident in children and adolescents with HS, not only in adults. Furthermore, younger patients also had elevated risks for many somatic disorders including inflammatory bowel and joint diseases. Remarkably, the mean age at death in the HS group was only 60.5 years. The most common causes for death in the order of likelihood were: cardiovascular diseases, neoplasms, ‘accidents, suicides or violence’ and alcohol-related diseases. Suicide risk was elevated in women with HS. HS patients should be cautiously monitored for possible somatic and psychiatric comorbidities. It is clear that these patients require effective, comprehensive and multidisciplinary care to improve their quality of life and prevent premature death.
Commercial graphene nanoplatelets‐based tunable attenuator

A commercial graphene nanoplatelets-based tunable attenuator is proposed. The attenuator comprises of a couple of microstrip lines connected through a gap where the commercial graphene nanoplatelets are drop casted. The transmitted signal through the microstrip line can be varied by an applied DC bias voltage that alters the graphene resistance. The DC resistance of commercially acquired graphene is higher than lab-grown graphene and so is the resulting minimum attenuation of the transmitted signal. The proposed structure is designed to reduce both the minimum graphene resistance and the transmission. The resultant dynamic range of attenuation is more than twice as compared to other series attenuators designed with lab grown graphene nanoplatelets. The operating frequency of the attenuator is from 1 to 5 GHz with maximum dynamic range of attenuation almost 10 dB.
Implications of rbcL and rpoC1 DNA Barcoding in Phylogenetic Relationships of some Egyptian Medicago sativa L. Cultivars

Lucerne, alfalfa (Medicago sativa L). is a major forage crop of family Fabaceae. The present study was concerned with the genetic discrimination and identification of some M. sativa cultivars. Nine M. sativa cultivars, representing three different countries (Egypt, Australia and USA), were presented in this study. The genetic relatedness was studied using DNA barcoding of rbcL and rpoC1 marker genes; Phylogenetic analysis of samples of nine M. sativa cultivars was performed and a cluster analysis was derived. Sequence analysis was in complement and efficient in assessing the characterization of genetic relatedness between the studied M. sativa cultivars and has revealed that the Egyptian cultivars are more phylogenetically related to the American cultivars (USA 9: Perfect and USA4: Cuf101) and the Australian one (AUS 2: Sirinafa). In conclusion, the results have indicated that DNA barcoding was suitable and crucial for characterization of M. sativa at species and cultivar level, which provides an important tool for future analyses of other major important forage crops. Moreover, it might be suggested that breeding lines from M. sativa cultivars may develop novel insights and give better understanding of the possibilities of domestication of M. sativa. On the same context, some cultivars could be used as important genetic resources for genetic improvement of M. sativa in future breeding programs.
Aquatic and riparian ecosystem recovery from debris flows in two western Washington streams, USA

Abstract An exceptionally powerful storm struck southwestern Washington in December 2007 causing large debris flows in two adjacent streams. The two affected streams had been studied prior to the storm, providing a rare opportunity to examine ecosystem recovery. We monitored the streams and their riparian zones for six years after the disturbances to determine whether recovery rates of biota, physical habitat, and water temperature differed, and if so, what factors affected resilience. Along both streams, the debris flows removed wide swaths of soil, rock, and coniferous riparian forests, widening the active channel and increasing solar exposure and summer water temperatures. Initially depauperate of vegetation, after four years red alder trees dominated the riparian plant communities. The warmer water, greater solar radiation, and unstable substrates likely contributed to variable benthic insect and tailed frog tadpole densities over time, although benthic insect communities became more similar after three years. The debris flows also decreased channel slopes and removed channel step barriers such that cutthroat trout were able to rapidly occupy habitats far upstream, but sculpins were slower to recolonize and both fish species exhibited some differences in recovery between the two streams. Crayfish were severely impacted by the debris flows; this may be due to attributes of their life history and the timing of the flows. Overall, we found that recolonizing aquatic species exhibited varying levels of resilience and recovery after the disturbances being related to the influence of physical habitat conditions, species dispersal ability, and the presence of nearby source populations.
Co-Design for Learner Help-Giving Across Physical and Digital Contexts

: With the growing integration of technology in the classrooms, learners can now develop collaboration skills by applying them across diverse contexts. While this represents a great opportunity, it also brings challenges due to an increased need to support individual learners across multiple learning activities. We propose a technology-enhanced learning ecosystem called UbiCoS that supports learner help-giving during face-to-face collaboration and across three different digital learning environments: an interactive digital textbook, an online Q&A forum, and a teachable agent. In this paper, we present a first step in the development of UbiCoS: five co-design sessions with 16 learners that give insight into learners’ perceptions of help-giving. The findings provided us with technology-related and curriculum-related design opportunities for facilitating learner interaction across multiple platforms.
Marketing Approach on Competitive Advantage of Online-Based Public Transportation

the aim of this research is to determine the competitive advantage using marketing approach of onlinebased public transportation. Marketing approach used in this research is a service marketing mix that includes product, price, promotion, place, people, process, and physical evidence. The method used in this research was comparative analysis using parametric analysis, independent sample t-test. Sampling method used in this research was random sampling through the distribution of a series of questionnaires to 200 online-based public transportation customers as a case study. This research investigated means the difference of competitive advantage between online-based public transports using marketing approach strategy. The result shows that there is a significant difference on four competitive advantage factors on onlinebased public transportation. Nevertheless, competitive advantage could be a factor that can determine the long-term success of online-based service company, especially onlinebased public transportation sector. The finding of this research contributes to encourage online-based service company to develop their competitive advantage to compete with others. By applying the appropriate marketing strategy, it is expected that the company can added value for the products/services offered to the public so they can achieve competitive advantage and win competition in the market. Keywords—Competitive Advantage, Online-Based Public Transportation
Antibiotic Resistance Pattern among Uropathogens in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Silchar

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are amongst the most common infections encountered in clinical practice with an estimated 150 million UTIs per annum worldwide. The introduction of antimicrobial therapy has contributed significantly to the management of UTIs. However the main problem with current antibiotic therapies is the rapid emergence of antimicrobial resistance in hospitals and the community. Aims: To determine the frequency and pattern of antibiotic resistance among uropathogens in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Silchar. Settings and Design: Outdoor and indoor wards of Silchar Medical College & Hospital, Silchar/ Retrospective study Methods and Material: An analysis was done on all the urine samples (1799) sent for culture and sensitivity to the department of Microbiology, SMCH, Silchar from 1 st January 2011 to 31 st December 2013. A total of 659 positive urinary isolates were detected from the 1799 samples. Antibiotic susceptibility was done on Mueller Hinton Agar plate by Bauer-Kirby method. Extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL) production was determined by the double disk approximation test and the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (formerly NCCLS) confirmatory method and Methicilin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) production was determined by the oxacillin disc inhibition test and the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (formerly NCCLS) confirmatory method. Statistical analysis used: Microsoft excel sheet was used to plot the data and prepare the graphs. Results: During the study period, 1799 consecutive urine samples were processed from OPD and indoor patients, 659 (36.63%) of these urine samples [OPD- 106 (16.08%) and Indoor- 553 (83.92%)] yielded significant growth of pathogens. Escherichia coli was the most frequently isolated uropathogen accounting for 38.54% of the total isolates. ESBL production was observed in 28.74% of E. coli strains and 40.74% of Klebsiella strains. MRSA producing organisms was found to be 28.40% of S. aureus strains. With the exception of nitrofurantoin and amoxycillin/clavulinic acid for gram negative bacteria and linezolid for gram positive cocci, resistance to agents commonly used as oral treatments for UTI was quite high. Conclusions: The study revealed E. coli as the predominant bacterial pathogen, followed by S. aureus for UTIs in Silchar Medical College & Hospital, Silchar, Assam. An increasing trend in the production ESBLs and MRSAs among UTI pathogens were noted.
POTENTIAL OF GLYCOWITHANOLIDES FROM WITHANIA SOMNIFERA (ASHWAGANDHA) AS THERAPEUTIC AGENTS FOR THE TREATMENT OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia. As of 2014, there were an estimated nearly 36 million people have Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia worldwide. This number will increase to an estimated 75.6 million in 2030, and 135.5 million in 2050. Today, someone develops AD every 67 seconds. By 2050, one new case of AD is expected to develop every 33 seconds in United States. Already 62% of people with dementia live in developing countries, but by 2050 this will rise to 71%. Currently FDA approved drugs such as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEI): Donepezil, Rivastigmine and Galantamine and N-methyl-daspartate (NMDA) antagonist: Memantine are prescribed for the treatment of AD. Meanwhile less than 20% of AD patients are responding moderately to these drugs with an average benefit for six to twelve months, often with serious side effects. Therefore there is an urgent need to develop and evaluate more effective pharmacological interventions with fewer side effects. Plant Withania somnifera which is used as herb in Ayurvedic medicine contain steroidal lactones glycowithanolides (Withaferin A, Withasomniferin-A) which has potential as therapeutic agent for AD. In this review, we compare that immunomodulatory, antioxidative, anticholinesterase and antiinflammatory properties of glycowithanolides with the market available drugs.
Multi-pose Face Recognition Based on Convolutional Neural Network

The difficulty of multi-pose face recognition is the changes of posture. Compared with the traditional face recognition, multi-pose face recognition increases the difficulty of feature extraction due to the change of posture. The feature of face recognition requires distinguishing and recognizability. In this paper, the convolutional neural network is used to first train the face pose, and then perform a single pose face recognition on the classified image. Compared with the traditional face recognition method, it can be seen from the experimental results that the classification of face poses can increase the accuracy of multi-pose face recognition.
Chronic non-bacterial osteomyelitis masquerading as fibrous dysplasia

Abstract Chronic non-bacterial osteomyelitis is a rare auto-inflammatory bone disease seen predominantly in the paediatric population. We describe a unique case of a 30-year-old female who presented with right-sided jaw pain and intermittent swelling over the course of 6 years. She was initially treated with antibiotics for possible osteomyelitis, then temporarily diagnosed with fibrous dysplasia. She underwent extensive investigations consisting of an infectious workup, numerous imaging modalities, and three separate biopsies of her right jaw. She was ultimately diagnosed with chronic non-bacterial osteomyelitis based upon her history of recurrent episodes of painful swelling, response to non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, previously raised acute phase reactants, and magnetic resonance imaging findings. Unfortunately, she became refractory to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory therapy. Consequently, she was successfully treated with pamidronate, achieving clinical remission with improvement in her imaging findings. This case highlights the difficulty of diagnosis of chronic non-bacterial osteomyelitis and the need for increased awareness of the disease in the adult population. Additionally, the effective treatment with pamidronate supports the use of a bisphosphonate as an early intervention for adult-onset chronic non-bacterial osteomyelitis in patients who have failed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory therapy.
Knowledge and attitudes of nurses regarding pain in the intensive care unit patients in Rwanda

Background: Pain is a significant burden experienced by patients admitted to the adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Acute conditions associated with severe pain include surgical incision, traumatic wounds, effect of prolonged immobility, and sometimes hidden infections in the body’s cavities and treatment by invasive procedures. Pain in ICU is difficult to assess due to the nature of patients admitted to that unit. Pain assessement requires health care providers to have a good knowledge of it, and involves a number of care providers including the nurses among others. However little is known about the nurses’ knowledge and attitudes related to pain management in ICU. The purpose of this study is to assess nurses knowledge and attitudes toward pain management of ICU patients in three university teaching hospitals in Rwanda. Methods: The tool and attitudes Survey Regarding Pain “developed by Ferrell and McCaffery was adapted to local context. The tool was used in the three referral hospitals in Rwanda to assess knowledge and attitudes from 69 nurses practicing in ICU. We compared the pain management performance in regard to the age, level of education, experience and history of training in pain management between nurses. The researcher used one way ANOVA to compare nurses’ scores among hospitals with a significance level α=0.05. A multiple linear regression analysis was used to highlight independent factors associated with best performance. A p value ≤0,05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: The results from this study showed that nurses lack adequate knowledge and have poor attitudes toward pain management. The level of nursing education (p<0.008) and the hospital where nurses worked (P<0.0001) had a strong influence on attitudes toward pain management. In addition, knowledge gap and inappropriate attitude towards pain management noticed among some ICU nurses could lead to their underestimation of pain, and under medication. Conclusion: Poor performance in pain management in ICU is multifactorial. Continuous Professional Training and improved working environment towards standard practice are key to pick up that performance. Keywords: Intensive care unit, pain management, nurses, knowledge attitude, medication
An Enlightened Environment? Workplace Bullying and Incivility in Irish Higher Education

This study explores the experiences of workplace ill-treatment of academic staff in the Irish Higher Education sector, with a focus on organizational response to experienced or witnessed workplace bullying and/or incivility. Workplace bullying is a significant problem, affecting approximately 15% of the workforce, with considerable variation by sector. Educational workplaces typically display prevalence rates that exceed average workplace bullying rates. The negative impacts on health and well-being are well documented and evidence is also emerging to show that organizational responses are less than optimal. The data collected comprise 11 qualitative in-depth interviews with academic staff in three of Ireland’s seven Universities. Applying a phenomenological analysis approach, data revealed that participants’ experiences were overwhelmingly negative in respect of organizational response, despite the fact that each University had an anti-bullying policy. This is explored and discussed in the context of failure to address the complex power relations, which are particularly relevant in professional organizations, intensified by current changes in the higher educational sector. Study limitations include the small number of Universities and small sample size, thus limiting generalizability.
A note on stochastic volatility model estimation

The paper assesses the method proposed by Shumway and Stoffer (2006, Chapter 6, Section 10) to estimate the parameters and volatility of stochastic volatility models. First, the paper presents a Monte Carlo evaluation of the parameter estimates considering several distributions for the perturbations in the observation equation. Second, the method is assessed empirically, through backtesting evaluation of VaR forecasts of the S&P 500 time series returns. In both analyses, the paper also evaluates the convenience of using the Fuller transformation.
Lateral Eye Movements Do Not Increase False-Memory Rates: A Failed Direct-Replication Study

In this direct replication of Houben, Otgaar, Roelofs, and Merckelbach (Clinical Psychological Science, 6, 610–616, 2018), we tested whether making eye movements during memory recall increases susceptibility to creating false memories. Undergraduates (N = 206) watched a video of a car crash, after which they recalled the video with or without simultaneously making eye movements. Next, participants received misinformation about the video. Finally, during the critical test, they were questioned about video details. The results showed that making eye movements did not increase endorsement of misinformation (i.e., false memory), nor did it reduce (correct) memory details or memory vividness and emotionality. Random variation in sampling or measurement, low reliability of the test instrument, and observer-expectancy effects may explain discrepancies between study effects. Only multiple direct replications by different (independent) laboratories with standardized instruments will allow for assessing whether the effect is robust and largely independent of random variation and moderators.
Optimization of supercritical fluid extraction of Mariposa Christia Vespertilionis leaves towards antioxidant using response surface methodology

Mariposa Christia Vespertilionis (MCV) or also known as butterfly wing leaves, is popular in the traditional medicine practice. The objective of this study is to optimize the antioxidant components (based on antioxidant activity analysis) from the MCV leaves extract using Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) based on different temperature, pressure, and particle size via Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Besides that, it is also to evaluate the optimal condition of different extracting antioxidant activity from MCV leaves using Design Expert 10 software. The condition range for both pressure and temperature were between 150-350 bar and 30-70 °C with constant extraction time. The size of particle samples were between 63 μm-1000 μm. The antioxidant was analyzed using UV–vis Spectrophotometer (UV-vis). The lowest antioxidant activity was 8.20 % and higher antioxidant activity was obtained at 49.76 %. Lower absorbance indicated highest free radical scavenging activities. Maximum percentage (%) indicated high scavenging activities, thus higher 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) is a good indication for antioxidant. The predicted RSM optimal condition of antioxidant activity was at temperature 50 °C, pressure 282 bar, and particle size 500 μm, which the predicted antioxidant was 50.62 %. Upon verification through experiment, it was found out that the antioxidant activity value was close to the predicted value with an average error of less than 1%.