Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Initial Experience on Hyperpolarized [1-13C]Pyruvate MRI Multicenter Reproducibility—Are Multicenter Trials Feasible?

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate allows real-time and pathway specific clinical detection of otherwise unimageable in vivo metabolism. However, the comparability between sites and protocols is unknown. Here, we provide initial experiences on the agreement of hyperpolarized MRI between sites and protocols by repeated imaging of same healthy volunteers in Europe and the US. Methods: Three healthy volunteers traveled for repeated multicenter brain MRI exams with hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate within one year. First, multisite agreement was assessed with the same echo-planar imaging protocol at both sites. Then, this was compared to a variable resolution echo-planar imaging protocol. In total, 12 examinations were performed. Common metrics of 13C-pyruvate to 13C-lactate conversion were calculated, including the kPL, a model-based kinetic rate constant, and its model-free equivalents. Repeatability was evaluated with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for absolute agreement computed using two-way random effects models. Results: The mean kPL across all examinations in the multisite comparison was 0.024 ± 0.0016 s−1. The ICC of the kPL was 0.83 (p = 0.14) between sites and 0.7 (p = 0.09) between examinations of the same volunteer at any of the two sites. For the model-free metrics, the lactate Z-score had similar site-to-site ICC, while it was considerably lower for the lactate-to-pyruvate ratio. Conclusions: Estimation of metabolic conversion from hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate to lactate using model-based metrics such as kPL suggests close agreement between sites and examinations in volunteers. Our initial results support harmonization of protocols, support multicenter studies, and inform their design.
Studying the Effectiveness of a Proposed Methodology for Teaching Programming Labs Online and Students' Perspectives toward it during COVID-19: A Case Study of Hashemite University

The global Covid-19 lockdown had shifted traditional learning in universities toward the full implementation of eLearning. This new way of learning had overcome many challenges and showed many potentials as well. During Covid-19; Information Technology students in Hashemite University had experienced learning programming languages labs using different platforms. Six labs are available: Introduction to C++, Object oriented programming 1, Object oriented programming 2, Visual basic programming, Web programming and introduction to Database. In this paper, the transition of learning programming labs is highlighted based upon students’ perception. New teaching methodology is proposed and applied for teaching programming labs courses completely remotely, the proposed methodology has been assessed out of web structured survey and direct assessment of students. The results showed that the suggested teaching model for teaching online programming labs successes preliminary in creating online practical programming environment similar to that available during face-to-face teaching at university, however the methodology must be revised to modify the adopted online programming evaluation system to become more reliable and fair.
Factors Affecting Financial Literacy Rate of Millennial in Malaysia

Without being informed of financial management skills, many people are struggling financially as they are unaware of how to plan and manage money to make wise decisions regarding their finances. They are usually careless with spending money and do not plan effectively for their future. Most times, they would rely on cash in hand rather than doing effective planning to save or invest. Improper and inadequate planning can be a result of lacking financial knowledge and low literacy. This study investigates several factors of education, income, marital status, upbringing and influence, as well as its impacts toward financial literacy rate among millennials in Malaysia. This study employs quantitative research with primary data gathered using questionnaire from millennials residing in Malaysia. Results and findings of this study indicates that there is positive and significant relationship between education level and level of income with financial literacy rate of millennials in Malaysia.
Effect of the neuropathic pain receptor P2X3 on bladder function induced by intraperitoneal injection of cyclophosphamide (CYP) in interstitial cystitis rats

Background The role of purinergic receptor P2X3 in pathological bladder dysfunction and chronic pelvic pain remains unclear. We aim to investigate the effect of P2X3 on bladder function in interstitial cystitis (IC) through the IC rat model induced by cyclophosphamide (CYP). Methods A total of 120 female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into 6 groups: control, CYP-4h, CYP-48h, CYP-10d, CYP-30d, and CYP-45d groups. The control group was injected with normal saline. The rats in the CYP-4h and CYP-48h groups were given a single high dose. The rats in the CYP-10d, CYP-30d, and CYP-45d groups were given a low dose of CYP repeatedly every three days. Bladder voiding function was measured using urodynamic techniques to observe the effect of the P2X3 receptor on bladder function in CYP-induced IC. Results The rats in the CYP-4h group showed significant overactivity of the bladder compared with the control group, the bladder voiding interval was shortened (P<0.01), and the maximal voiding pressure was increased (P<0.01). At the same time, the degree of overactive bladder in the CYP-48h, CYP-10d, CYP-30d, and CYP-45d groups became increasingly serious, the interval of bladder micturition was shortened stepwise (P<0.01), and the maximal micturition pressure was increased stepwise (P<0.01). Compared with the control group, the CYP-48h group mainly showed a shorter bladder voiding interval (P<0.01), lower voiding volume, and higher activation of mast cells and inflammatory factors in the bladder. In the CYP-10d group, bladder mast cell activation and inflammatory factors increased significantly. Intrathecal injection (IT) of A-317491 significantly prolonged the bladder voiding intervals in CYP-4h, CYP-48h, CYP-10d, CYP-30d, and CYP-45d rats (P<0.01), and the maximal voiding pressure of the CYP-4h, CYP-48h, CYP-10d, CYP-30d, and CYP-45d groups was significantly decreased (P<0.05), while the maximal voiding pressure of the CYP-10d group was not significantly affected. Conclusions P2X3 receptors in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) play an important role in bladder function induced by intraperitoneal injection of CYP in rats. IT of P2X3 inhibitors can significantly improve the grade of bladder voiding dysfunction and chronic pelvic pain.
Prediction of saturated hydraulic conductivity of sandy soil using Sauter mean diameter of soil particles

Saturated hydraulic conductivity of soil, Ksat, is a critical parameter for mathematical modelling of groundwater and soil water flow. Current empirical Ksat models, such as Kozeny–Carman model, Hazen models, or empirical approaches based on soil pedotranfer functions (PTFs) rely on the specific surface area, certain characteristic particle size(s), for example, d5, d10, d15, d50, etc., or the fractionation of sand, silt and clay. In this study, we proposed an alternative modelling framework to estimate Ksat from void ratio and arithmetic mean diameter of soil particles. We suggested to describe the particle size distribution (PSD) using a continuous mathematical distribution function, for example, the lognormal distribution function, and to obtain the Sauter mean diameter (dS) by calculating the moments of the PSD function. The proposed empirical equations were tested against the measured Ksat values for 54 sand samples with available measured PSD and void ratio as reported in Toumpanou et al. and validated using 49 sandy soil samples obtained from the Unsaturated Soil Database (UNSODA). We found that the dS was more relevant to Ksat than the number mean diameter (dN) and mass mean diameter (dM) (the RMSE was 0.486 for Ksat ‐ dN; 0.187 for Ksat ‐ dS; and 0.212 for Ksat ‐ dM, respectively). We also found that the proposed equation with dS had superior performance over the Hazen equation and PTF‐based models. Our results indicated that the Ksat calculated using dS, which was either estimated from discrete experimental data or calculated from a continuous lognormal PSD function, best matched with the measured values for coarse‐textured soils. Future studies should focus on developing empirical relationships for soil water retention curves and other soil properties based on continuous PSD functions.
Downregulation and Hypermethylation of GABPB1 Is Associated with Aggressive Thyroid Cancer Features

Simple Summary Promoter mutations of the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene have been suggested as an oncogenic event in various cancers, including thyroid cancer (TC). GABPB1 is reported to activate TERT gene expression and has been proposed as a cancer therapeutic target. The aim of this study is to explore the fate of TC cells after disruption of GABPB1 and its role in TC. We found that besides the reported oncogenic role of GABPB1 in activating TERT, it also has tumor-suppressive functions in TC. Therefore, targeting GABPB1 for cancer therapy should be cautious since it may counteract its tumor-suppressive functions. Abstract Promoter mutations of the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene occur frequently in thyroid carcinoma (TC), including papillary (PTC) and anaplastic subtypes (ATC). Given that the ETS family transcription factors GABPA and GABPB1 activate the mutant TERT promoter and induce TERT expression for telomerase activation, GABPB1 has been proposed as a cancer therapeutic target to inhibit telomerase. Here, we sought to determine the role of GABPB1 in TC pathogenesis. In TC-derived cells carrying the mutated TERT promoter, GABPB1 knockdown led to diminished TERT expression but significantly increased invasive potentials in vitro and metastatic potential in a xenograft zebrafish model and altered expression of markers for epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. GABPB1 expression was downregulated in aggressive TCs. Low GABPB1 expression correlated with its promoter hypermethylation, which in turn was also associated with shorter disease-free survival. Consistently, DNA methylation inhibitors enhanced GABPB1 expression, as observed upon reduced promoter methylation. Our results suggest that GABPB1 is required for TERT expression and telomerase activation, but itself serves as a tumor suppressor to inhibit TC progression. Furthermore, aberrant DNA methylation leads to GABPB1 silencing, thereby promoting TC aggressiveness. Thus, caution is needed if targeting GABPB1 for cancer therapy is considered.
Effects of Repeated Low-Dose Caffeine Ingestion During a Night of Total Sleep Deprivation on Endurance Performance and Psychological State in Young Recreational Runners

Background: Caffeine is frequently consumed by athletes to maintain alertness in conditions of sleep loss. However, the effect of caffeine ingestion during total sleep deprivation during aerobic exercise remains questionable. Objectives: The present study aimed to assess the effects of repeated intake of low-dose caffeine during a night of total sleep deprivation on endurance performance and psychological states. Methods: Twelve recreational runners performed four test sessions in a double-blind randomized order after a placebo or 6 mg/kg of caffeine ingestion after a baseline night (BN) or three doses of 2 mg/kg of caffeine during a night of total sleep deprivation (TSD). At each session, they completed an exhaustive run around a 400 m athletics track and performed the Feeling Scale test. ANOVA with repeated measures followed by paired t-tests was used to analyze the data. Results: In comparison with BN, the TSD condition significantly impaired running performance (P < 0.001). On the contrary, caffeine administration improved endurance running performance (P < 0.001) and increased feeling of well-being (P < 0.05) after TSD night as compared to placebo. Conclusions: Repeated ingestion of low-dose caffeine is an effective way to mitigate the negative effects of total sleep deprivation on endurance performance and mood states.
Telehealth-Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia in Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis: A Pilot Study

Background Over 50% of individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) have moderate or severe sleep disturbances, insomnia being the most common. In-person cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (F2F-CBTi) is currently the first-line treatment for insomnia. However, given potential limitations to access including mobility difficulty, fatigue, or living in a rural area, telehealth-delivered CBT-I (tele-CBTi) has been considered as an alternative treatment. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility and treatment effect of tele-CBTi in people with MS and compare it to outcomes from a F2F-CBTi study in individuals with MS. Methods 11 individuals with MS and symptoms of insomnia participated in 6 weekly CBT-I sessions with a trained CBT-I provider via live video. Insomnia severity (ISI), sleep quality (PSQI), and fatigue severity (FSS and MFIS) were assessed pre- and posttreatment as primary outcomes. Sleep onset latency (SOL), sleep efficiency (SE) and total sleep time (TST) from the PSQI, depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), sleep self-efficacy (SSES), and quality of life (MSIS-29) were also assessed pre- and posttreatment as secondary outcomes. Results Participants resided in 9 different states. Retention and adherence rates were 100%. There were significant improvements in ISI, PSQI, MFIS, FSS, SOL, SSES, PHQ-9, and MSIS-29, but not SE, TST, or GAD-7. There were no significant differences between the F2F-CBTi group and tele-CBTi group for magnitude of change in the primary outcomes (ISI, PSQI, MFIS, and FSS) or the secondary outcomes (SOL, SE, TST, SSES, PHQ-9, GAD-7, and MSIS-29). Conclusions Tele-CBTi is feasible and has outcome measures that are similar to that of in-person CBT-I treatment. Tele-CBTi may increase access to insomnia treatment in individuals with MS.
Analysis of compressive strength of occlusal splints manufactured with three liquid resins at three angles of orientation on 3D printer

The aim of this study is to analyze the compressive strength of occlusal splints manufactured with three different liquid resins in a 3D printer and in three angles of orientation. The resins used here are (n=12): Resilab Clear (Wilcos do Brasil, Petrópolis, RJ, Brazil), Prizma Smart Print Bio (Makertech Labs, Tatuí, SP, Brazil), and Cosmos Splint (Yller Biomateriais, Pelotas, RS, Brazil); each resin group are divided into three subgroups according to orientation of manufacture: 0, 45 and 90 degrees. A dental manikin was scanned and the file was used to manufacture a steel hemiarch model. This model was used to design the occlusal splints and as a basis for the tests. The splints were designed with flat occlusal surface and minimum thickness of 2 mm. The compressive test was performed with constant force of 200N, velocity of 0.5 mm/min, along the entire occlusal surface until fracture. Results show no difference between the resins, regardless of orientation of manufacture. The orientation showed no intragroup effect for resins Prizma Smart Print Bio and Resilab Clear; the resin Cosmos showed larger compressive strength for the samples manufactured at 45 degrees than at 0 degree. The 90-degree samples were intermediary and showed no difference from other angles. This study shows that the three resins had similar behavior in terms of compressive strength, except for the intragroup effect of orientation of Cosmos Splint resin, where plates manufactured at 0 degree performed worse than those at 45 degrees.
A Non-Coupled CFD-FE Procedure to Evaluate Windage and Heat Transfer in Rotor-Stator Cavities

A combined CFD and FE method, which could be applied to a wide range of internal air system rotor-stator cavities and which overcomes the disadvantages of many non-coupled approaches, is presented. It is used to predict windage and heat transfer in the HP compressor rear cone outer cavity of a service aeroengine. From the CFD it is shown that rotor wall torque, and hence windage, decreases as cavity throughflow increases, and that the data from several engine cavities can be reduced to a single characteristic of windage versus mass flow. Stator wall torque is also presented. A comparison with engine thermocouple data shows that further development of the modelling is required before engine testing could be replaced.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome & Breast Cancer – short review

Breast cancer is the leading cause of death among women and the second largest cause of mortality in the entire population worldwide. This review investigated how breast cancer is patho-physiologically associated with obesity which is defined by body mass index ≥30 kg/ and metabolic syndrome which leads to type 2 diabetes in pre and postmenopausal women. It also addressed the controversy relating the definition of BMI. The biological markers in breast cancer currently in use are ER, PR, HER2, uPA, and PAI-1. This study looked into future of predictive and prognostic biomarkers, such as exosome by altering interaction of distant cancer cells in the tumor microenvironment and the breast cancer progress.
Farmers’ Perception of Soil Erosion and Degradation and Their Effects on Rural Livelihoods in KwaMaye Community, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

KwaMaye community in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, has, for decades, suffered from severe environmental degradation partly due to soil erosion. Yet, no study has analysed farmers’ perception of environmental challenges confronting them and their effects on local livelihoods. Focus group discussions were conducted with KwaMaye farmers selected through purposive and snowball sampling techniques. KwaMaye farmers argued that soil erosion is triggered by climate fluctuations, overgrazing, termites and moles infestation. Also, the farmers suggested that environmental degradation has worsened in recent years due to increasing livestock population and shrinking grazing fields, among others. Also, farmers revealed that while provincial authorities during apartheid installed large-scale terracing to combat soil erosion, KwaMaye residents have not received any assistance from the provincial government. The aggressive nature of environmental degradation in KwaMaye has caused some farmers to quit food production despite a series of Indigenous interventions employed to combat soil erosion-related land degradation.
Membrane-based therapeutic plasma exchange in tertiary care ICU: demographic characteristics and predictors of complications

Introduction: Membrane-based therapeutic plasma exchange (mTPE) has been used to treat various diseases in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting. However, there is a lack of clinical data regarding the practice of mTPE from Australian ICUs. Objectives: To determine factors contributing to complications in patients undergoing mTPE in the ICU. Methods: Prospectively collected data for mTPE procedures performed at the ICU of Flinders Medical Centre between April 2014 and December 2020 were analysed. Results: During the study period, 674 mTPE treatments were performed in 140 patients (71 females, 50.7%). Haematological disease (30.4%) was the most common indication for mTPE treatment. Citrate was the most common anticoagulation for mTPE (86.1%), while albumin (42.3%) was the most common replacement fluid. Circuit complications occurred in 18.6% of the total mTPE treatments. On logistical regression analysis, treatment ionised calcium level (odds ratio [OR], 42.2; 95% CI, 1.8-975.0; P = 0.02), male sex (OR, 2.04; 95% CI, 1.04-4; P = 0.04), duration of mTPE treatment (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.02; P < 0.001) and diagnostic categories (P = 0.03) were predictors of circuit complications. During mTPE treatment, 87.2% of patients did not experience any complications. On logistical regression analysis, replacement fluid type (P = 0.03), lower initial blood flow (OR, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.9-1.0; P = 0.04) and higher exchange volume (OR, 8.9; 95% CI, 1.6-48.7; P = 0.01) were predictors of patient complications. Conclusion: During mTPE, pre-treatment ionised calcium level, male sex, duration of mTPE and diagnostic categories were predictors of circuit complications, while replacement fluid type, initial blood flow and higher exchange volume were predictors of patient complications.
Altruism and the Dark Triad

BACKGROUND The Dark Triad literature examining pro-social behaviours is minimal, with mixed results. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE This study investigates the relationships between the Dark Triad and altruistic behaviours based on self-report data from 286 adults. Altruism was assessed using two scales: a general measure as well as a more recent scale measuring compassionate altruism towards family, friends, and strangers. RESULTS Machiavellianism negatively correlated with general altruism; however, when controlling for the other dark variables plus age and gender in a regression, narcissism was the only Dark Triad trait that significantly predicted altruism. None of the Dark Triad traits were significantly related to or predictive of compassionate altruism. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that the Dark Triad and altruism relationships are not straightforward, and that, surprisingly, strong negative relationships between the traits and altruism are not found. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.
Image recognition of limited and imbalanced samples based on transfer learning methods for defects in welds

Welding quality inspection is critical to the quality control of the welding structure. Traditional manual detection requires experienced workers and the method is time-consuming. Currently, deep learning has made great progress in the field of image recognition. However, in terms of industrial defect detection, the contradiction between huge computational parameters and limited imbalanced samples still exists, which makes the deep learning method unable to play its role to the maximum extent. In this case, a combination of deep learning methods and transfer learning methods is considered to improve the performance of the model on limited and imbalanced data sets. The VGG16 model, which is pre-trained on a large number of source data sets, is fine-tuned on our target data sets. In this paper, a new DTN-VGG16 structure is proposed, in which a Global Average Pooling (GAP) layer, Batch Normalization (BN) layer, and Soft-max classifier are added on top of the frozen pre-training model, which can effectively reduce the number of parameters and accelerate the convergence speed of the model. In addition, focal loss function is used to replace the commonly used multi-class cross entropy loss function. By adjusting the parameters of the loss function, the training process has better convergence. Experimental results show that DTN-VGG16 has better performance than other traditional machine learning methods and deep learning models. And the proposed model has good robustness and generalization performance when valid on the real data of aerospace welding seams which is difficult to learn.