Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Twelve tips for assessing surgical performance and use of technical assessment scales

Abstract Using validated assessment scales for technical competence can help structure and standardize assessment and feedback for both the trainee and the supervisor and thereby avoid bias and drive learning. Correct assessment of operative skills can establish learning curves and allow adequate monitoring. However, the assessment of surgical performance is not an easy task, since it includes many proxy parameters, which are hard to measure. Although numerous technical assessment scales exist, both within laparoscopic and open surgery, the validity evidence is often sparse, and this can raise doubts about reliability and educational outcome. Furthermore, the implementation of technical assessment scales varies due to several obstacles and doubts about accurate use. In this 12-tips article, we aim to give the readers a critical and useful appraisal of some of the common questions and misunderstandings regarding the use of surgical assessment scales and provide tips to ease and overcome potential pitfalls.
Learning to Rank with Attentive Media Attributes

In the context of media search engines where assets have small textual data available, we explore several models that improve the learning to rank use cases. In particular, we propose a model with an attention mechanism that leverages phrase-based attributes to guide the importance of other keyword-based attributes. We train these models with clickthrough data from Adobe Stock search queries and we evaluate them using various ranking metrics. Preliminary results show that our proposed methods have the potential of significantly improve ranking results.
Simple waveguide-to-suspended microstrip transition with low-pass filter

In this paper a waveguide-to-suspended microstrip transition with a low-pass filter is presented. The transition is very simple and low-loss. It is based on a probe extending through the waveguide. The transmission per single transition is below 0.45 dB at the centre frequency of 183 GHz of the operation band of 165–200 GHz. This transition is designed to be used in a Schottky diode mixer test platform.
Early Oral Administration of Vitamin D and its Metabolites in Premature Neonates. Effect on Mineral Homeostasis

Summary: For five days, three groups of six premature infants each were fed human milk and given a daily dosage of one of the following: vitamin D3 (30 μg), 25-OH D3 (10 μg) and 1,25-OH D3 (0.5 μg). The infants in the groups were matched for gestational age and birthweight. Administration of 25-OH D3 or 1,25-(OH)2 D3 did not significantly modify the course of early neonatal hypocalcemia as compared with infants receiving vitamin D3. Mean plasma Ca ± S.D. (mg/100 ml) decreased to nadir values at 48 hr (D3: 5.7 ± 1.2; 25 OH D3: 6.8 ± 0.9; 1,25-(OH)2 D3: 6.7 ± 1.1). A progressive increase toward normal values was seen at 120 and 168 hr in the three groups. Mean plasma immunoreactive parathyroid hormone ± S.D. (μ Eq/ml) followed an opposite pattern with peak values at 48 hr (D3: 231 ± 137; 25-OH D3: 281 ± 138; 1,25-(OH)2 D3:211 ± 149). Mean plasma ± S.D. 25-OH D values (ng/ ml) were low at 1.2 hr (8.7 ± 4.8) n: 16) and increased significantly after 7 days of D3 (18.2 ± 4.2 P < 0.001) and 25-OH D3 administration (46 ± 10.3 P < 0.001)/ Mean plasma iCT ± S.D. (pg/ml) reached peak values at 24 hr (D3: 457 ± 186; 25-OH D3: 415 ± 121; 1,25-(OH)2 D3: 443 ± 183). These data suggest that the various forms of vitamin D are well absorbed in preterm infants and that administration of vitamin D metabolites during the first days of life is not warranted for the prophylaxis of early neonatal hypocalcemia.Speculation: A defect in vitamin D metabolism is considered to be a possible pathogenetic factor in early hypocalcemia in premature infants. Since our data indicate adequate intestinal absorption and liver hydroxylation of vitamin D3 with no obvious effect on the D metabolites, it is speculated that the biotransformation pathway of vitamin D3 is operative in preterm infants after 32 wk of gestation.
Application of Chimeric Mice with Humanized Liver for Predictive ADME

Much effort to extrapolate the in vivo pharmacokinetics of drugs in human from experimental animals or in vitro studies has been made by many researchers. A urokinase-type plasminogen activator+/+/severe combined immunodeficient transgenic mouse line, in which the liver could be replaced by more than 80% with human hepatocytes, was established recently in Japan. This chimeric mouse line is remarkable because the replacement is higher than any other chimeric mouse reported previously. Since the liver is the critical organ involved in the pharmacokinetics of drugs, human liver is essential for the development of new drugs. To predict the human drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, human hepatocytes and liver microsomes are recognized as better tools and are frequently used. Thus, chimeric mice with humanized liver would have great advantages in studies on drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics. We have evaluated chimeric mice for studies on absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME). In the liver of the chimeric mice, human phase I and phase II enzymes were clarified to be expressed and to have a similar drug metabolizing capacity as the donor. Human specific metabolites could be detected in the serum, suggesting that the chimeric mice might be used as a human ADME model for both in vitro and in vivo studies. For predicting human drug interactions, enzyme induction and inhibition are serious problems. By the treatment with typical inducers, human CYP1A2 and CYP3A4 expressed in the liver of the chimeric mice had induction potencies. After the treatment with quinidine, a specific inhibitor of human CYP2D6, the area under the curve (AUC) of a CYP2D6 metabolite, 4′-hydroxydebrisoquin, was significantly decreased in the chimeric mice but not in the control mice. Therefore, it was indicated that the chimeric mice could be used for assessing the drug interactions via enzyme induction and inhibition. As well as drug metabolism, the drug excretion was demonstrated to be humanized because cefmetazole was mainly excreted in urine both in the chimeric mice and human but in feces in control uPA−/−/SCID mice. In this review, basic researches on ADME in the chimeric mice with humanized liver are summarized and the application of the chimeric mice for predictive ADME is proposed.
Simple media and conditions for inter-laboratory transport of Campylobacter jejuni isolates

Background: Campylobacter jejuni is one of the most important agents of zoonotic disease. Production as well as companion animals can be the infectious source for Campylobacteriosis in humans. Hence, epidemiological research on animal colonization, survival in food of animal origin, and human Campylobacteriosis is of high priority. As such studies involve worldwide co-operations and should include further typing of isolates in reference centers, using a reliable method for transportation is essential. In the case of C. jejuni, a pathogenic and microaerophilic bacterium, special safety precautions as well as particular transport conditions that guarantee survival of isolates are required. Objective: The purpose of this study was to test various media and temperatures for the transportation of C. jejuni under aerobic conditions and to identify a cheap, effective and easy method that is appropriate for long distance transportation and can be applied by most veterinary/medical laboratories with a basic infrastructure. Materials and methods: We examined Mueller–Hinton (MH) agar with and w/o 2% horse blood and m-CCDA at room temperature and 2 ± 2 (SD)°C under atmospheric conditions for survival of Campylobacter strains. Results: MH agar with 2% horse blood, suitable transport vials, and an optimum temperature of 2 ± 2°C provided survival of three Campylobacter type strains for at least one month under atmospheric conditions. This was validated by a transport test in which 101 isolates were shipped from Turkey to Austria. All isolates could be recultured and 97% survived more than one month in the transport medium. Conclusion: These findings indicate that the described approach is suitable for inter-laboratory transport of C. jejuni isolates.
Tourism security and sustainability: a case study of north Caucasus region

Our paper analyses the role of security and sustainability in tourism. In particular, we focus on the area of tourism regional development on the example of the North Caucasus region, specifically on the region of Kabardino-Balkaria. Our analysis of the security problems of tourism in North Caucasus region showed that there was a plethora of unused and unattained sustainable resources which called for the new ways of extraction and exploitation. The proper use of these resources will allow for the new levels of problem-solving. We show that the new approaches to the tourism governance in the North Caucasus require further modernization of the regional legislation which is still in its formative stages. Moreover, we emphasize that nowadays the tourist activities in the given region should adapt the new norms and principles of international law and international standards of legal security in order to be sustainable and competitive, as well as to attract more visitors and increase the well-being of the region.
A CROSS-LAYER DESIGN FRAMEWORK FOR RESOURCE ALLOCATION IN WIRELESS DATA NETWORKS

This thesis explores cross-layer design for resource allocation in wireless data networks, such as cellular networks and ad hoc networks. It consists of three major thrusts. The first thrust is on data communications in code division multiple access (CDMA) cellular networks. It is shown that in the downlink of CDMA networks, the multi-access interference (MAI) is self-similar, under standard assumptions on ON/OFF traffic flows and fading channels. Building on this, the corresponding predictive temporal structure of the MAI process is exploited for adaptive resource allocation, such as rate control and admission control. In the second thrust, smooth admission control (SAC) and traffic aided opportunistic scheduling (TAOS) are proposed for channel-access control in opportunistic communication systems. The SAC scheme carries out admission control effectively while meeting quality of service (QoS) requirements. By making use of file size information and channel variation in a unified manner, the TAOS algorithms can reduce the completion time significantly. In the third thrust, the utility of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques in ad hoc networks is studied. Specifically, medium access control (MAC) protocols using spatial diversity or directional antennas are devised. Then, the corresponding saturation throughput is evaluated via analytical methods and GloMoSim simulations. Furthermore, joint design of MIMO MAC and routing is investigated. The impacts of the hop lengths, rate adaptation and contention levels on the end-to-end delay in MIMO ad hoc networks are examined; and the optimal hop length is characterized accordingly. In summary, this thesis research has made some promising steps towards a cross-layer design framework for resource allocation in wireless data networks.
Do IPO Firms Manage Earnings

IPO literature documents that IPO firms experience a decline in returns after listing. This paper investigates that phenomena and tries to find reasons for it. Earning management studies report that if companies have a high level of discretionary accruals, then those companies engage in earnings management. This paper connects these two literature branches together by using a third part of literature, which is market timing and market efficiency. I built a dummy variable DTIMERS that takes the value of one if the companies time the market and zero if they do not. I ran multiple regression models where Absolute Discretionary Accrual is the dependent variable, with DTIMERS as an independent variable along with other control variables. The evidence shows the IPO companies that time the market engage in earnings management, and that may explain why those companies in the post-listing period achieve significant negative abnormal returns while other IPOs who do not manage earnings achieve significant positive abnormal return in the post-listing period.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE PRACTICES IN BANGLADESH AN OVERVIEW OF ITS PRESENT SCENARIO IN BANKING INDUSTRY

The world has experienced an economic calamity and corporate breakdowns in the past couple of years, exposing the extent of problems in corporate governance. It was noticed that governing corporations was not an easy task in any way. This lack of management capability has raised quite a few eyebrows in the field of corporate governance that needs to be rectified in order to allow smooth operation in any business across the globe. There seems to be difficulties for firms to organize their business since most of them are busy laying numerous strategies, planning and budgeting, information systems, performance management, accounts, etc. This paper attempts to seek out the corporate governance practices in Bangladesh banking industry and it has been tried to know about whether the boards of directors understand their responsibilities, the different committees in the organization, the audit procedures or systems, auditors and role of independent directors. On the basis of these responses, it has been evaluated that the quality of the regulation in Bangladesh banking system stands at an unsatisfactory level. Lack of accountability, lack of fairness and transparency in practices and faulty, incomplete and ineffective audit and disclosure have led to widespread corruption in the industry. It is also evaluated that the necessity of ensuring accountability, fairness and transparency to build sound corporate governance in the Bangladesh banking industry.
The cancer genetics and pathology of male breast cancer

Male breast cancer (MBC) is an uncommon and poorly understood disease. Recent molecular studies have shown important differences from female breast cancer which are likely to influence treatment strategies from the current female‐based management towards a more tailored approach. Significantly more MBCs than female breast cancers arise with an underlying germline cancer predisposition, and display a vastly different penetrance compared with females. Furthermore, the genophenotypical association of basal‐like cancer with BRCA1 present in female breast cancer is not observed in male breast cancer. Differences in somatic changes between male and female breast cancer have also been reported, with particular enrichment of PIK3CA mutations and a paucity of TP53 mutations. In general, chromosomal‐based changes, in particular regions of gains, are seen more frequently in male than female breast cancer and methylation is seen less frequently. Clinically, several molecular subtypes with prognostic relevance have been described, including chromosomal complex high and methylation high groups, and subgroups with profiling signatures pertaining to epithelial mesenchymal transition and hormonal therapy insensitivity. As with female breast cancer, attention to male specific multicentre trials based on the individual characteristics are needed, together with establishment of reliable preclinical models to understand more clearly the pathogenesis of male breast cancer and improve the general poor outcome of this disease.
Meta-analysis of observational studies on cholecystectomy and the risk of colorectal adenoma

Aim Cholecystectomy has been suggested as a risk factor for colorectal cancer. However, the association of cholecystectomy and the risk of colorectal adenoma (CRA) remains unclear. We conducted a meta-analysis of observational studies to explore this relationship. Methods We identified studies by a literature search of MEDLINE and EMBASE through 30 September 2011, and by searching the reference lists of pertinent articles. Summary relative risks (SRRs) with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated with a random-effects model. Between-study heterogeneity was assessed using Cochran’s Q statistic and the I2. Results A total of 10 studies (including 4061 CRA cases) were included in this meta-analysis. Analysis of these 10 studies found that no effect of cholecystectomy on the risk of CRAs was shown (SRR, 1.17; 95% CI: 0.93–1.48), with no significant heterogeneity among these studies (Pheterogeneity=0.106, I2=37.9%). This null association was seen in both men and women (men: SRR=1.00, 95% CI: 0.58–1.73; women: SRR=1.39, 95% CI: 0.95–2.04). Conclusion The results of this meta-analysis suggest that there is no positive association between previous cholecystectomy and the risk of CRA development in both men and women.
The prevalence and risk factors of post‐inflammatory hyperpigmentation after fractional resurfacing in Asians

Ablative laser resurfacing is considered to be the main therapeutic option for the treatment of wrinkles and acne scarring. However, in Asians, post‐inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH) is a common adverse effect of laser resurfacing. Fractional resurfacing is a new concept of skin rejuvenation whereby zones of micro thermal injury are generated in the skin with the use of a 1,540‐nm laser. The risk and prevalence of hyperpigmentation in dark‐skinned patients using this approach have not been studied.
Oxytocin in Women’s Health and Disease

Oxytocin (OT) is a nonapeptide mainly produced in the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei. OT in the brain and blood has extensive functions in both mental and physical activities. These functions are mediated by OT receptors (OTRs) that are distributed in a broad spectrum of tissues with dramatic sexual dimorphism. In both sexes, OT generally facilitates social cognition and behaviors, facilitates parental behavior and sexual activity and inhibits feeding and pain perception. However, there are significant differences in OT levels and distribution of OTRs in men from women. Thus, many OT functions in men are different from women, particularly in the reproduction. In men, the reproductive functions are relatively simple. In women, the reproductive functions involve menstrual cycle, pregnancy, parturition, lactation, and menopause. These functions make OT regulation of women’s health and disease a unique topic of physiological and pathological studies. In menstruation, pre-ovulatory increase in OT secretion in the hypothalamus and the ovary can promote the secretion of gonadotropin-releasing hormone and facilitate ovulation. During pregnancy, increased OT synthesis and preterm release endow OT system the ability to promote maternal behavior and lactation. In parturition, cervix expansion-elicited pulse OT secretion and uterine OT release accelerate the expelling of fetus and reduce postpartum hemorrhage. During lactation, intermittent pulsatile OT secretion is necessary for the milk-ejection reflex and maternal behavior. Disorders in OT secretion can account for maternal depression and hypogalactia. In menopause, the reduction of OT secretion accounts for many menopausal symptoms and diseases. These issues are reviewed in this work.
Integratively Genomic Analysis Reveals the Prognostic and Immunological Characteristics of Pyroptosis and Ferroptosis in Pancreatic Cancer for Precision Immunotherapy

The non-apoptotic cell death processes including pyroptosis and ferroptosis have been implicated in the progression and therapeutic responses of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD). However, the extent to which pyroptosis and ferroptosis influence tumor biology remains ambiguous, especially in PAAD, which is characterized with “cold” immunity. Considering the heterogeneity among different patients, it was more practical to quantify distinct cell death profiles in an individual tumor sample. Herein, we developed a pyroptosis-ferroptosis (P-F) score for PAAD patients in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. A high P-F score was associated with active immune phenotype, decreased genomic alterations, and significantly longer survival. Good accuracy of the P-F score in predicting overall survival (OS) was further confirmed in the TCGA-PAAD, ICGC-PACA-CA, and E-MTAB-6134 cohorts. Besides, one immunotherapy cohort (IMvigor210 dataset) has verified that patients with high P-F scores exhibited significant advantages in therapeutic responses and clinical benefits. The sensitivity to chemotherapeutics was analyzed through the Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer (GDSC), and patients with low P-F score might be more sensitive to paclitaxel and 5-fluorouracil. Collectively, the P-F score based on the systematic evaluation of cell death profiles could serve as an effective biomarker in predicting the outcomes and responses of PAAD patients to treatments with chemotherapeutic agents or immunotherapies.
MAP kinase and cAMP filamentation signaling pathways converge on the unusually large promoter of the yeast FLO11 gene

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, two major signal transduction pathways, the Kss1 MAPK pathway and the cAMP‐regulated pathway, are critical for the differentiation of round yeast form cells to multicellular, invasive pseudohyphae. Here we report that these parallel pathways converge on the promoter of a gene, FLO11, which encodes a cell surface protein required for pseudohyphal formation. The FLO11 promoter is unusually large, containing at least four upstream activation sequences (UASs) and nine repression elements which together span at least 2.8 kb. Several lines of evidence indicate that the MAPK and cAMP signals are received by distinct transcription factors and promoter elements. First, regulation via the MAPK pathway requires the transcription factors Ste12p/Tec1p, whereas cAMP‐mediated activation requires a distinct factor, Flo8p. Secondly, mutations in either pathway block FLO11 transcription. Overexpression of STE12 can suppress the loss of FLO8, and overexpression of FLO8 can suppress the loss of STE12. Finally, multiple distinct promoter regions of the FLO11 promoter are required for its activation by either Flo8p or Ste12p/Tec1p. Thus, like the promoters of the key developmental genes, HO and IME1, the FLO11 promoter is large and complex, endowing it with the ability to integrate multiple inputs.
Influence of Experimental Parameters on the Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering via Gold Nanoparticle Arrays

Gold nanoparticle arrays are fabricated for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and the effect of experimental parameters such as annealing temperature and array thickness of nanoparticles on the SERS signals are investigated. The particle distribution and particle size are dense and uniform on the glass substrate when the 10nm gold film was annealed at 270°C and strong SERS signals for Rhodamine 6G were achieved via the 532 nm excitation. The SERS signal at 1650 cm-1 is enhanced more than 6 times as compared to that of the gold film without annealing. The strong SERS behavior of gold nanoparticle arrays may broaden the SERS applications in biomedical and analytical chemistry.
Secret sharing database system for preventing frequency analysis

Recently, as the advances of ICT, many people use a cloud service. Furthermore, searchable encryption schemes begin to be used in the cloud from the security perspective. However, most of these have the risk of frequency analysis. We propose a new method that keep a search keyword secret against frequency analysis by using false positive which is one of the features of Bloom filter. This method makes mapping of the keyword difficult by false positive rate which is higher than usual. Furthermore, it is able to search data correctly more than 99.9%.