Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Physiotherapists’ accounts of fibromyalgia: role-uncertainty and professional shortcomings

Abstract Purpose This article examines accounts of fibromyalgia provided by physiotherapists. This qualitative study asks how physiotherapists define and understand fibromyalgia, what professional resources are available to them for treating patients, and where physiotherapists can turn when facing the scarcity of professional resources. Method The data were collected by means of semi-structured, in-depth, face-to-face interviews, conducted with 20 practicing physiotherapists. The physiotherapists were recruited using a purposive-sampling strategy and had extensive experience treating fibromyalgia patients (mean value: 6.5 years). The authors analyzed the interviews in accordance with the methods of thematic analysis. Results The study findings expose two overarching themes: (a) fibromyalgia as an ambiguous and uncertain diagnosis: physiotherapists devalue the diagnosis, referring to it as a syndrome rooted on psychological factors; (b) role ambiguity and creativity in physiotherapy treatment: by questioning their role, physiotherapists end up focusing on illness management and developing creative treatments. Conclusions The study concludes that treating fibromyalgia patients challenges physiotherapists, mainly because of professional shortcomings. The findings highlight the necessity to train physiotherapists to respond to the needs of their patients with greater competence and less ambivalence. Implications for rehabilitation Health providers need to acknowledge the difficulty physiotherapists are facing when providing treatment to fibromyalgia patients. Physiotherapists treating fibromyalgia should undergo special training to reduce their uncertainty and role ambiguity. Health providers should improve communication between physiotherapists and the General Practitioners referring fibromyalgia patients, to enable them to set shared evidence-based treatment goals.
High Endogenous Testosterone Levels Are Associated With Diminished Neural Emotional Control in Aggressive Police Recruits

Although police officers are carefully selected for their high emotion-regulation abilities, excessive aggression in police officers has been reported, particularly in socially challenging situations known to elicit high state testosterone levels. Adequate regulation of emotional actions depends on the prefrontal cortex’s control over the amygdala. We investigated the effects of trait aggression and endogenous testosterone on this emotional-control neurocircuitry in 275 healthy, high-functioning police recruits using a functional MRI social-emotional task eliciting impulsive and controlled approach-and-avoidance actions. Higher levels of aggression were counteracted by increased anterior prefrontal cortex (aPFC) control over the amygdala when control over automatic emotional actions was required. Crucially, testosterone had a detrimental effect on this aggression-dependent aPFC recruitment: Police recruits with relatively high trait aggression and high state testosterone showed reduced aPFC control over the amygdala during emotion regulation. This provides a mechanistic explanation for inadequate behavioral control during socially challenging situations in otherwise well-functioning individuals.
Association between novel inflammatory markers derived from hemogram indices and metabolic parameters in type 2 diabetic men

Abstract Aim Hemogram indices were proposed as novel inflammatory markers in chronic conditions and inflammation has substantial role in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We aimed to observe hemogram parameters of type 2 diabetic male subjects with various age groups in well and poorly controlled subsets. Methods Data of type 2 diabetic men enrolled to the study were recorded from patient files of the institution. Study population were grouped into three according to the age. Group A was consisted of patients younger than 55 years, Group B was consisted of patients aged between 55 and 64 years, and Group C was consisted of patients aged 65 years or older. Data of the study groups were compared. Results Study population was consisted of 130 subjects; 44 in Group A and 43 in each of Groups B and C. Median red cell distribution width (RDW) (p = .04), mean RDW to platelet ratio (RPR) (p = .006), median mean platelet volume to platelet ratio (MPR) (p = .02) levels of the study groups were statistically different. HbA1c level was significantly and positively correlated with RDW (r = 0.45, p < .001), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) (r = 0.47, p < .001), mean platelet volume to lymphocyte ratio (MLR) (r = 0.35, p < .001), MPR (r = 0.26, p = .003), and RPR (r = 0.37, p < .001) levels. Conclusion Elevated RDW, NLR, MLR, MPR, and RPR levels in diabetic men should trigger the measurement of HbA1c since each were strongly correlated with HbA1c level. Moreover, elevated RDW, NLR, MLR, and RPR could be marker of worse diabetic control in men with T2DM.
Expertise Profiling in Evolving Knowledge- curation Platforms

Expertise modeling has been the subject of extensive research in two main disciplines: Information Retrieval (IR) and Social Network Analysis (SNA). Both IR and SNA approaches build the expertise model through a document-centric approach providing a macro-perspective on the knowledge emerging from large corpus of static documents. With the emergence of the Web of Data there has been a significant shift from static to evolving documents, through micro-contributions. Thus, the existing macro-perspective is no longer sufficient to track the evolution of both knowledge and expertise. In this paper we present a comprehensive, domain-agnostic model for expertise profiling in the context of dynamic, living documents and evolving knowledge bases. We showcase its application in the biomedical domain and analyze its performance using two manually created datasets.
New trends in glioma cancer therapy: Targeting Na+/H
+ exchangers

Glioma is the oneof the most prevalent primarybrain tumors. There is a variety of oxidative stresses, inflammatory pathways, apoptosis signaling, and Na+/H + exchangers (NHEs) involved in the pathophysiology of glioma. Previous studies have indicated a relationship between NHEs and some molecular pathways in glioma. NHEs, including NHE1, NHE5, and NHE9 affect apoptosis, tumor‐associated macrophage inflammatory pathways, matrix metalloproteinases, cancer‐cell growth, invasion, and migration of glioma. Also, inhibition of NHEs contributes to increased survival in animal models of glioma. Limited studies, however, have assessed the relationship between NHEs and molecular pathways in glioma. This review summarizes current knowledge and evidence regarding the relationship between NHEs and glioma, and the mechanisms involved.
Processing and inferential methods to improve shaft-voltage-based condition monitoring of synchronous generators

This thesis focuses on improving shaft-voltage-based condition monitoring of synchronous generators. The work presents theory for describing and modelling shaft voltages using fundamental electromagnetic principles. A modern framework is adopted in developing an online, automated and intelligent fault-diagnosis system. Novel processing and inferential methods are used by the system to provide accurate and reliable incipient-fault detection and diagnosis. The literature shows that shaft-voltage analysis is recognised as a technique with potential for use in condition monitoring. However, deficiencies in the fundamental theory and the inadequacy of methods for extracting useful information has limited its widespread application. This work extends the knowledge of shaft voltages, validates the merits of its use for fault diagnosis, and provides methods for practical application. Validation of the model is completed using an experimental synchronous generator, and results indicate that simulated shaft voltages compare well with the measurements i.e. total average error of the model combined with experimental uncertainty is below 16%. The fault detection and diagnosis components are tested separately and together as a complete shaft-voltage-based conditionmonitoring system in an experimental setting. Results indicate that the system can accurately diagnose faults and it represents a unique and valuable contribution to shaft-voltage-based condition monitoring. Additionally, techniques such as optimal measurement selection, multivariate model monitoring, and fault inference developed for the investigations and system presented in this thesis, will assist engineers and researchers working in the field of condition monitoring of electrical rotating machines.
A comparative study of computerized text analysis and peer tutoring as revision aids for esl writers

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of computerized text analysis and peer tutoring on the revising behavior of 48 students at the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong. During the ten-week term in which the study was conducted, 24 students in the text analysis group revised first and second drafts of five assignments after receiving feedback from two text analysis programs, while 24 students in the peer tutoring group revised assignments after receiving peer feedback. Effects of these two approaches were compared for significance on gains in writing performance on pre- and post-study essays; on the number of words, sentences, and paragraphs written on pre- and post-study essays and on three drafts of five assignments; and on the number and types of revisions students completed. A questionnaire and personal interviews examined student attitudes, while analysis of selected drafts illustrated differences in revising behavior. Analysis showed significant growth in writing performance across both groups, though neither group showed significantly greater gains. However, the number of words written on post-study essays by peer tutoring students was significantly greater than the number written by text analysis students. Across drafts of five assignments, peer tutoring students wrote significantly more words, sentences, and paragraphs and made significantly more content-level revisions. Responses to the questionnaire showed that peer tutoring was rated significantly higher than text analysis for its general level of helpfulness and its helpfulness in improving content, making the writer's purpose clearer, and considering the needs of the reader. Interviews revealed that students found text analysis only minimally helpful, while analysis of selected drafts illustrated the surface-level focus of most revisions completed by text analysis students. Results of the study indicate that text analysis limited the number of words written and revisions made across drafts compared to peer tutoring. Results also suggest that extended use of text analysis may have influenced the number of words written on post-study essays by text analysis students, who wrote significantly fewer words than peer tutoring students, although students were not given access to text analysis or peer tutoring during the test.
The cancer cell proteome and transcriptome predicts sensitivity to targeted and cytotoxic drugs

This study shows that the proteomic and transcriptomic states of cancer cells are more predictive of drug sensitivity than genomic markers for most drugs, both within and across tumor types. Tumors of different molecular subtypes can show strongly deviating responses to drug treatment, making stratification of patients based on molecular markers an important part of cancer therapy. Pharmacogenomic studies have led to the discovery of selected genomic markers (e.g., BRAFV600E), whereas transcriptomic and proteomic markers so far have been largely absent in clinical use, thus constituting a potentially valuable resource for further substratification of patients. To systematically assess the explanatory power of different -omics data types, we assembled a panel of 49 melanoma cell lines, including genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and pharmacological data, showing that drug sensitivity models trained on transcriptomic or proteomic data outperform genomic-based models for most drugs. These results were confirmed in eight additional tumor types using published datasets. Furthermore, we show that drug sensitivity models can be transferred between tumor types, although after correcting for training sample size, transferred models perform worse than within-tumor–type predictions. Our results suggest that transcriptomic/proteomic signals may be alternative biomarker candidates for the stratification of patients without known genomic markers.
From smartphone to bed‐side: exploring the use of social media to disseminate recommendations from the National Tracheostomy Safety Project to front‐line clinical staff

Traditional methods used to disseminate educational resources to front‐line healthcare staff have several limitations. Social media may increase the visibility of these resources among targeted groups and communities. Our project aimed to disseminate key clinical messages from the National Tracheostomy Safety Project to those caring for patients with tracheostomies or laryngectomies. We commissioned an external media company to design educational material and devise a marketing strategy. We developed videos to communicate recommendations from the safety project and used Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn to deliver these to our target users. We recorded 629,270 impressions over a paid 12‐week campaign. Our YouTube channel registered more than a five‐fold increase in views and watch time during the campaign as compared with the previous year. Around two‐thirds of views across all platforms were from peer‐to‐peer sharing. We spent £4140 on social media advertising, with each view and click costing £0.02 and £0.67, respectively. This intelligence‐led approach using social media is an effective and efficient method to disseminate knowledge on the principles of safe tracheostomy care to front‐line clinical staff. Similar strategies may be effective for other patient safety topics, especially when targeting groups that do not use medical journals or other traditional means of dissemination.
Computational Modelling of Galaxy Formation using FLAME GPU

As hardware has become increasingly powerful, the doors have been opened for a wide range of more computationally intensive simulation procedures. In particular, agentbased modelling has seen a recent surge of interest in the fields of Biology and Economics. For this project we propose using an agent-based model to create an implementation of the classic physics problem of cosmological N-body simulation, in order to investigate the process of galaxy formation. Our simulation should be displayed as an evolving 3D graphic, to allow for easy interpretation of the data. The GPU, with its massively-parallel architecture is well suited to the computation of N-body systems, and allows us to create high-fidelity simulations using mid-level consumer hardware. We therefore also investigate methods for performing our model’s calculations on the GPU. The primary aims of the project are to determine whether agent-based models are suitable for the investigation of physical phenomena, and to produce a realistic model of galaxy formation in doing so.
Risk of Cancer Death Among White, Black, and Hispanic Populations in South Florida

Background The cancer burden in South Florida, with a population of more than 6 million with a heavily Hispanic and large Afro-Caribbean population, has not been quantified. Methods We analyzed 2012–2016 cancer mortality data from South Florida for white, Hispanic, and black populations with disaggregation for Cuban, Puerto Rican, South American, African American, and Afro-Caribbean groups. We calculated cancer site-specific and all-sites combined age-adjusted mortality rates, and we used negative binomial regression to determine mortality rate ratios to compare South Florida’s cancer mortality rates with those of the rest of the nation. Results We analyzed 53,837 cancer deaths. Per 100,000 population, cancer mortality rates in South Florida were similar among white (173 per 100,000) and black (176 per 100,000) men and among white and black women (133 for both), and they were lowest among Hispanic men (151 per 100,000) and women (93 per 100,000). However, compared with their counterparts nationally, Hispanic residents in South Florida had higher cancer mortality rates, largely driven by Cuban residents, and mortality rates among white and black residents, especially male residents, were substantially lower. Liver cancer rates were high among white and Puerto Rican “baby boomers”; lung cancer mortality was low among all groups except Cuban men; cervical cancer was high among white, black, and Puerto Rican women. Conclusion Cancer patterns are not monochromatic in all US regions; South Florida is distinctive. Meeting the needs of an aging diverse population presents challenges for all major metropolitan areas. Expanding surveillance, increasing minority participation in clinical trials, and investing in culturally specific community-based health promotion must continue.
Bleeding detection in wireless capsule endoscopy videos — Color versus texture features

Abstract Wireless capsule endoscopy (WCE) is an effective technology that can be used to make a gastrointestinal (GI) tract diagnosis of various lesions and abnormalities. Due to a long time required to pass through the GI tract, the resulting WCE data stream contains a large number of frames which leads to a tedious job for clinical experts to perform a visual check of each and every frame of a complete patient’s video footage. In this paper, an automated technique for bleeding detection based on color and texture features is proposed. The approach combines the color information which is an essential feature for initial detection of frame with bleeding. Additionally, it uses the texture which plays an important role to extract more information from the lesion captured in the frames and allows the system to distinguish finely between borderline cases. The detection algorithm utilizes machine‐learning‐based classification methods, and it can efficiently distinguish between bleeding and nonbleeding frames and perform pixel‐level segmentation of bleeding areas in WCE frames. The performed experimental studies demonstrate the performance of the proposed bleeding detection method in terms of detection accuracy, where we are at least as good as the state‐of‐the‐art approaches. In this research, we have conducted a broad comparison of a number of different state‐of‐the‐art features and classification methods that allows building an efficient and flexible WCE video processing system.
Khellactone Derivatives and Other Phenolics of Phlojodicarpus sibiricus (Apiaceae): HPLC-DAD-ESI-QQQ-MS/MS and HPLC-UV Profile, and Antiobesity Potential of Dihydrosamidin

With obesity, the consumption of phenolic-enriched food additives as a part of traditional nutrition avoids the negative implications of eating high-calorie products. This study investigated the new herbal food additive, Phlojodicarpus sibiricus roots and herb, ubiquitously used in Siberia as a spice. Chromatographic techniques such as HPLC-DAD-ESI-QQQ-MS/MS and microcolumn HPLC-UV were the basic instruments for component profiling and quantification, and antiobesity potential was investigated using a differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes assay. We found that the roots and herb of P. sibiricus were high-coumarin-containing additives inhibiting triacylglycerol accumulation in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Forty-one phenolics were detected in P. sibiricus extracts, and 35 were coumarins, including 27 khellactone derivatives present as esters and glucosides. Total coumarin content varied from 36.16 mg/g of herb to 98.24 mg/g of roots, and from 0.32 mg/mL to 52.91 mg/mL in P. sibiricus preparations. Moreover, Siberian populations of P. sibiricus were characterised by a different HPLC-based coumarin profile. The most pronounced inhibiting effect on triacylglycerol accumulation in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes was shown for dihydrosamidin (khellactone 3′-O-isovaleroyl-4′-O-acetyl ester), which was more active than other khellactone esters and glucosides. The results demonstrated that if used as a food additive Phlojodicarpus sibiricus could be a source of bioactive coumarins of the khellactone group with high antiobesity potential.
The Extent to Which Performance-Based Financing Programs' Operations Manuals Reflect Rights-Based Principles: Implications for Family Planning Services

Rights principles should be prioritized and more clearly stated in performance-based financing (PBF) guidance and operational documents. Additional research, including development of validated measurement metrics, is needed to help PBF programs systematically align with rights-based approaches to health care including family planning. Rights principles should be prioritized and more clearly stated in performance-based financing (PBF) guidance and operational documents. Additional research, including development of validated measurement metrics, is needed to help PBF programs systematically align with rights-based approaches to health care including family planning. ABSTRACT Recognition is growing that development programs need to be guided by rights as well as to promote, protect, and fulfill them. Drawing from a content analysis of performance-based financing (PBF) implementation manuals, we quantify the extent to which these manuals use a rights perspective to frame family planning services. PBF is an adaptable service purchasing strategy that aims to improve equity and quality of health service provision. PBF can contribute toward achieving global family planning goals and has institutional support from multiple development partners including the Global Financing Facility in support of Every Woman Every Child. A review of 23 PBF implementation manuals finds that all documents are focused largely on the implementation of quality and accountability mechanisms, but few address issues of accessibility, availability, informed choice, acceptability, and/or nondiscrimination and equity. Notably, operational inclusion of agency, autonomy, empowerment, and/or voluntarism of health care clients is absent. Based on these findings, we argue that current PBF programs incorporate some mention of rights but are not systematically aligned with a rights-based approach. If PBF programs better reflected the importance of client-centered, rights-based programming, program performance could be improved and risk of infringing rights could be reduced. Given the mixed evidence for PBF benefits and the risk of perverse incentives in earlier PBF programs that were not aligned with rights-based approaches, we argue that greater attention to the rights principles of acceptability, accessibility, availability, and quality; accountability; agency and empowerment; equity and nondiscrimination; informed choice and decision making; participation; and privacy and confidentiality would improve health service delivery and health system performance for all stakeholders with clients at the center. Based on this review, we recommend making the rights-based approach explicit in PBF; progressively operationalizing rights, drawing from local experience; validating rights-based metrics to address measurement gaps; and recognizing the economic value of aligning PBF with rights principles. Such recommendations anchor an aspirational rights agenda with a practical PBF strategy on the need and opportunity for validated metrics.