Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Use of shear waves for diagnosis and ablation monitoring of prostate cancer: a feasibility study

Prostate cancer remains as a major healthcare issue. Limitations in current diagnosis and treatment monitoring techniques imply that there is still a need for improvements. The efficacy of prostate cancer diagnosis is still low, generating under and over diagnoses. High intensity focused ultrasound ablation is an emerging treatment modality, which enables the noninvasive ablation of pathogenic tissue. Clinical trials are being carried out to evaluate its longterm efficacy as a focal treatment for prostate cancer. Successful treatment of prostate cancer using non-invasive modalities is critically dependent on accurate diagnostic means and is greatly benefited by a real-time monitoring system. While magnetic resonance imaging remains the gold standard for prostate imaging, its wider implementation for prostate cancer diagnosis remains prohibitively expensive. Conventional ultrasound is currently limited to guiding biopsy. Elastography techniques are emerging as a promising real-time imaging method, as cancer nodules are usually stiffer than adjacent healthy prostatic tissue. In this paper, a new transurethral approach is proposed, using shear waves for diagnosis and ablation monitoring of prostate cancer. A finite-difference time domain model is developed for studying the feasibility of the method, and an inverse problem technique based on genetic algorithms is proposed for reconstructing the location, size and stiffness parameters of the tumour. Preliminary results indicate that the use of shear waves for diagnosis and monitoring ablation of prostate cancer is feasible.
Teachers’ Preparedness for Lesson and Secondary School Student Academic Performance in Ekiti State, Nigeria

The study examined the relationship between teachers’ preparedness for lesson and secondary school student academic performance in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The purpose of the research is to find out the relationship between teachers’ preparedness for lesson and secondary school student academic performance. The descriptive research of the survey type was employed for the study. The study revealed that the level of secondary school student academic performance was relatively moderate; there was significant relationship between teachers’ preparedness for lesson and secondary school student academic performance. The study had shown that teachers’ preparedness for lesson had influence on secondary school student academic performance. Keywords: Teachers, Preparedness, Academic Performance, Lesson, Teachers’ Preparedness DOI : 10.7176/RHSS/10-2-06 Publication date: January 31 st 2020
Graphene-based Materials in Gas Sensor Applications: A Review

Graphene and chemically modified graphene can be fabricated via numerous routes each with its own merits concerning ease of processability, cost-effectiveness for large-scale production, and also health and safety. One of the promising applications of graphene-based composites is gas sensing, which is mainly useful for environmental monitoring. We review some of the significant findings on graphene-based sensing materials for the detection of organic vapors, toxic gases, and chemical warfare agent simulants using an electrochemical method. Electrochemical sensing can be performed by inducing interactions between gas molecules and a graphene layer, such as charge transfer that gives a change in an electrical signal. The intrinsic properties of graphene and its role in some gas sensing applications will be discussed. Graphene and graphene oxide (GO) work as continuous conductive networks with a large number of surface adsorption sites for many gas molecules. Hybrid graphene devices incorporate semiconductors, metals, and molecular binders to enhance the capabilities of solidstate gas sensors. This article also addresses current approaches to the commercialization of graphene-based gas sensors.
A compact monopolar patch antenna with bandwidth‐enhancement under dual‐mode resonance

A compact monopolar microstrip patch antenna (MPA) with enhanced‐bandwidth is proposed. In order to achieve the miniaturized patch, the zeroth‐order mode of the MPA instead of its higher‐order modes is employed at first by loading the shorting pin around the center of the patch. After that, a L‐shaped microstrip line with a shorting pin is introduced at the periphery of the patch radiator to excite an additional non‐radiative mode for bandwidth enhancement. In final, the proposed MPA is fabricated and measured. The results illustrate that the antenna generates an enhanced‐bandwidth of about 4.1% ranging from 2.39 to 2.49 GHz, which is significantly larger than that of the traditional MPA around 1%. Meanwhile, the dimensions of the radiating patch are obviously decreased down due to the employment of zeroth‐order mode, which are kept as small as about 0.17 λ0 × 0.22 λ0 × 0.026 λ0 (λ0 is the free‐space wavelength).
“Ventilator associated pneumonia: Incidence and microbiology in a tertiary care hospital in Maharashtra”

Background: Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) is common complication in patients receiving mechanical ventilation. The causative organisms of VAP are diverse and many times multidrug resistant. An early, appropriate antibiotic therapy depending on the likely pathogens is a key to VAP management. The present study aims at finding the incidence of VAP and identifying prevalent microbial pathogens associated with VAP in a tertiary care hospital. Methods: Endotracheal aspirates from clinically suspected VAP patients were subjected to microbiological analysis. Isolated pathogens were identified by standard microbiological techniques. Results: A total of 330 patients received mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours with a total of 1490 ventilator days. 78 (23.63%) patients were clinically suspected to have VAP. The rate of VAP was 52.34 cases per 1000 ventilator days. With microbiological analysis, significant pathogens were isolated from 74 patients, with predominance of Gram negative bacteria. The most prevalent organism isolated was Klebsiella species from 29 patients (39.18%), followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter species, Citrobacter species, Proteus species, E. coli and S. aureus in that order. Conclusion: Knowledge of prevalent organisms causing VAP (e.g. Gram negative organisms in our study) is useful to formulate an effective empirical antibiotic policy, to reduce the morbidity, hospital stay and cost of the treatment of these patients.
Protective Actions of Oxytocin on Aortic Wistar and SHR VSMCs

An Abstract of a Dissertation Submitted to Nova Southeastern University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy PROTECTIVE ACTIONS OF OXYTOCIN ON AORTIC WISTAR AND SHR VSMCS By VARUN KUMAR SOTI AUGUST 2019 Background. Oxytocin, known as a female reproductive hormone, has emerged as a cardiovascular hormone showing cardioprotective effects, for instance, negative chronotropic and inotropic effects and ANP release in cardiomyocytes and endothelium. However, oxytocin’s effect in VSMCs remains to be explored. Objectives. This study had three goals: characterizing oxytocin’s effect on proliferation, inflammation, oxidative stress, and vasocontraction pathway in Wistar VSMCs; determining oxytocin’s effect on Ang II; describing oxytocin’s effect and its interaction with Ang II in SHR VSMCs. Methods: Aortic VSMCs were isolated from Wistar rats and SHRs. Hemocytometer, MTT and 3H-Thymidine incorporation assays, and flow cytometry were employed for cell proliferation studies. Two key proliferation pathways — ERK1/2 and PI3K/Akt pathways, and vasocontraction (ROCK) pathway were investigated for mechanistic studies utilizing Western blotting. IL-6 and ROS were measured to assess inflammation and oxidative stress, respectively. Results. Cell proliferation studies and Western blotting outcomes in Wistar and SHR VSMCs, demonstrated that oxytocin (100 nM) significantly decreased cell proliferation and reduced phosphorylation of ERK1/2, PI3Kp110α, Akt, ROCK-1, and ROCK-2, respectively. OXTA antagonized these effects of oxytocin. Flow cytometric measurements indicated that oxytocin-induced apoptosis and necrosis. IL-6 assay and ROS assay results displayed that oxytocin increased IL-6 and ROS, respectively. Oxytocin’s pre-treatment with Ang II in Wistar and SHR VSMCs caused: decreased cell proliferation; reduced phospho-ERK1/2, phospho-PI3Kp110α, phospho-Akt, ROCK-1, and ROCK-2; decreased IL-6; increased ROS. Comparison between Wistar and SHR VSMCs illustrated that oxytocin greatly reduced PI3Kp110α phosphorylation in Wistar VSMCs than SHR VSMCs (P < 0.01). Oxytocin caused higher IL-6 secretion in SHR VSMCs (P < 0.01) and higher ROS production in Wistar VSMCs (P < 0.001). Oxytocin’s pre-treatment with Ang II showed: higher reduction in ERK1/2 phosphorylation in SHR VSMCs (P < 0.001); higher reduction in PI3Kp110α phosphorylation (P < 0.05) and higher increase in ROS in Wistar VSMCs (P < 0.001). Conclusion. Oxytocin showed an anti-proliferative effect on aortic VSMCs, likely through inhibition of ERK1/2 and PI3K/Akt phosphorylation. Oxytocin-mediated decreased phosphorylation of ROCK-1 and ROCK-2 suggest oxytocin’s anti-vasoconstrictive action in VSMCs. Oxytocin’s antagonistic actions against Ang II indicate that oxytocin may exert beneficial vascular effects in conditions associated with high levels of Ang II.
Disparities in Youth Access to Substance Abuse Treatment and Recovery Services: How One Recovery School Initiative is Helping Students “Change Tracks”

ABSTRACT Recovery high schools are one aftercare support for adolescents in the United States following intervention for substance use disorders. Admission requirements for most recovery schools include completion of a formal treatment program; yet, there is a documented disparity in access to treatment and completion by race. This article presents a descriptive case study of recovery schools in Massachusetts to consider the relationships among treatment and recovery resources, disparities in accessing these resources, and steps schools can take to address these inequities, specifically through the example of the Changing Tracks program.
Potential of land classification by CubeSat in Monsoon Asia

Frequent and severe flood by climate change is a big problem in the world. But there are many areas where water use and flood control facilities are not fully installed especially in developing countries. In these areas, a flood caused by heavy rainfall is getting frequent and now more serious. Few previous researches have analyzed the range and season of inundation due to lack of high resolution and frequency satellite imagery. Today, Planet Labs provides high resolution (+3.0m∼) and high frequency (1 day∼) CubeSat imagery. The primary goal of this research is to develop a model to analyze the range and season of springing in rainy season for Laos with clear rainy and dry season. We analyzed some land use areas from satelite imagery during rainy season with two indexes. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) are the indexes where is identify vegetation and water covers. We analyzed seasonal change of two individual values and the relationship of two values and we distincted from the degree of two indexes for each land use (City area, Water area, Wetland, Paddy Field). It suggests that each land use has its own value depending on the season.
Clinical judgement of critical care nurses in the context of the ventilated patient in pain in the immediate phase post cardiac surgery : a case study.

The critical care environment is a complex arena in which clinical judgements of the ventilated patients pain state are made over the course of their surgical trajectory. The presence of the critical care nurse at the bedside is the key to informed judgement in this unpredictable and fragile situation. This study sought to capture the judgement process of thirty critical care nurses in the context of the ventilated patient in pain in the immediate phase after cardiac surgery i.e. six-hours. Evidence of the judgement process was sought using the Lens Model as a framework, utilising the cognitive side of the model. Moreover, in order to capture this phenomenon of interest, the researcher observed the pain behaviours of thirty ventilated patients in the immediate phase post cardiac surgery. Within-methods triangulation was employed as an approach for justifying and underpinning knowledge by acquiring additional knowledge, which was seen as pertinent to this naturalistic case study.The data collection approach included think-aloud by thirty critical care nurses and simultaneous researcher observation over a six-hour period in the natural habitat of the ventilated patient post cardiac surgery. The findings give tentative support for the hypothesis that critical care nurses use a pattern of cues to make a judgement of ventilated patients' pain state in the immediate phase post cardiac surgery. Conversely, there was tentative support for the hypothesis that ventilated patients convey a pattern of cues to the critical care nurse in the immediate phase post cardiac surgery. Moreover, tentative conclusions are afforded which are as follows: a judgement structure is employed by critical care nurses which is comprised of two stages. The initial stage involves a pattern of physiological, behavioural general, covert behaviour, physical, overt motor pain behaviour, mechanical, technical, paraclinical, knowledge and pain descriptor cues. These aforesaid cues are utilised and integrated into a small number of intermediate judgements which operate as second order cues. Consequently the second order cues are combined in order to make a final judgement of the ventilated patient's pain state in the immediate phase post cardiac surgery: '(s)he is in acute pain' or '(s)he is not in acute pain'. In addition, critically ill ventilated patients convey a pattern of pain cues to the critical care nurses which comprises of physiological, behavioural general, overt motor pain behaviour cues, patient ventilator dysynchrony cues and verbal subjective pain behaviour cues. The pattern of cues conveyed by the ventilated patient may be influenced by many factors in an unpredictable and delicate surgical trajectory and chief among these factors is haemodynamic instability. The critical care nurse must make sense of all of this to gain access to the pattern of cues.
Flexible Piezoelectric 0–3 PZT-PDMS Thin Film for Tactile Sensing

In this paper, Lead Zirconate-Titanate (PZT)/Poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) based composite is fabricated and characterized for its potential application as a flexible piezoelectric material. Thin films of the composite are prepared by dispersing different volume percentage of PZT particles in cross-linked PDMS matrix. Corona poling of the films is performed to increase the piezoelectric charge constant. X-ray diffraction results indicate that poling aligns the randomly oriented ferroelectric domains in the PZT particles along the poling axis. Piezoelectric voltage response and piezoelectric charge constant values before and after the poling show the improvement in piezoelectricity due to poling. The piezoelectric charge constant, d33 and magnitude of relative permittivity of the films increase and flexibility of the films decrease with the increase of PZT particle volume percentage in the composite. Results show that for 28 v% PZT composite poled film a d33 of 78.33 pC/N was achieved with a Young’s modulus of around 10 MPa and magnitude of relative permittivity of 10. The film demonstrates effectiveness for tactile sensing by generating charges across the film proportional to the finger pressure applied on them. The easy fabrication process makes the composite a promising candidate to build flexible low cost tactile sensing devices.
Pleomorphic Adenoma of the Parapharyngeal Space: A Common Tumour at an Uncommon Site

Tumours arising in parapharyngeal space accounts for less than 1% of all head and neck tumours. Though pleomorphic adenoma (PA) is the most common benign minor salivary gland tumour but it is a rare occurrence in parapharyngeal space. Here we present a case of pleomorphic adenoma arising in parapharyngeal space in a 70 year old man who presented with a painless slow growing intra-oral swelling and dysphagia since 6 months.Computed tomography (CT) examination revealed an ill defined soft tissue density mass of size 46 mm at right infra temporal fossa. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) was suggestive of PA. The entire tumor mass was excised along with overlying mucosa. Histopathological examination confirmed diagnosis of PA of minor salivary gland. There has been no recurrence of the lesion since 6 months.
Determinación de la edad biológica mediante variables métricas mandibulares y su relación con la edad dentaria

La edad es una de las caracteristicas biologicas primarias empleadas para la identificacion de individuos, en aquellos casos en los que no se dispongan de documentos. Tambien en el diagnostico en odontologia o medicina. La edad biologica se define como la estimacion del estado de desarrollo, mientras que la cronologica se refiere al tiempo pasado desde el nacimiento hasta el momento en el que esta es requerida, siendo una referencia legal de cada persona, aunque no siempre va a coincidir con su grado de desarrollo.Numerosos metodos ayudan a la determinacion de la edad, variando en funcion de su empleo sobre individuos vivos o cadaveres. Los mas fidedignos son aquellos que evaluan la edad dentaria y la osea, en muneca, vertebras o clavicula.La mandibula es el hueso del macizo craneofacial que mayor remodelacion presenta a lo largo del crecimiento. Ademas, tiene una elevada densidad y resistencia,por lo que es un hueso que ha sido ampliamente empleado en ciencias forenses para determinar el sexo y la edad en cadaveres.
A simple model for glioma grading based on texture analysis applied to conventional brain MRI

Accuracy of glioma grading is fundamental for the diagnosis, treatment planning and prognosis of patients. The purpose of this work was to develop a low cost and easy to implement classification model which distinguishes low grade gliomas (LGGs) from high grade gliomas (HGGs), through texture analysis applied to conventional brain MRI. Different combinations between MRI contrasts (T1Gd and T2) and one segmented glioma region (necrotic and non-enhancing tumor core (NCR/NET)) were studied. Texture features obtained from the Gray Level Size Zone Matrix (GLSZM) were calculated. An under-samplig method was proposed to divide the data into different training subsets and subsequently extract complementary information for the creation of distinct classification models. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the models were calculated. The best model was explicitly reported. The best model included only three texture features and reached a sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 94.12%, 88.24% and 91.18% respectively. According to the features of the model, when the NCR/NET region was studied, HGGs had a more heterogeneous texture than LGGs in the T1Gd images and LGGs had a more heterogeneous texture than HGGs in the T2 images. These novel results partially contrast with results from literature. The best model proved to be useful for the classification of gliomas. Complementary results showed that heterogeneity of gliomas depended on the studied MRI contrast. The model presented stands out as a simple, low cost, easy to implement, reproducible and highly accurate glioma classifier. What is more important, it should be accessible to populations with reduced economic and scientific resources.
El momento óptimo para invertir en una empresa de la agroindustria del café\\ (Una Aplicación de la Teoría de las Opciones Reales)

(The Optimal Time to Invest in A Coffee Agribusiness Company: an Application of the Real Options Theory) The high volatility of the real price of coffee in the international market makes traditional valuation insufficient to value investment projects in the coffee agribusiness. This work illustrates how to quantify and incorporate uncertainty in the valuation to determine the optimal timing when a coffee company would invest to market its coffee, as roasted coffee and green coffee, in the national market. Using the optimal time to invest model, the real options theory helps decide whether or not to invest through a critical value. For the case of the social enterprise under study, it was found that the investment must be carried out since the project value ( ) is greater than the critical value ( ). If the company only sells green coffee ( ), its decision would be not to invest ( ). When volatility is high, the investment must be deferred. With its volatility in mind, the “true value” of the investment could be estimated to help management in the decision-making process.
Customizing unmanned aircraft systems to reduce forest inventory costs: can oblique images substantially improve the 3D reconstruction of the canopy?

ABSTRACT Photogrammetry makes it possible to estimate forest canopy surface at lower costs than light detection and ranging (LiDAR), which is considered the best data source to evaluate forest structure. Recent studies even suggest that points of forest understories can be obtained by means of unmanned aerial photogrammetry. However, little is known about how the characteristics of image sets, processing workflows, and forest openness affect understory point surveying. For forest inventories, unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) of fixed-wing type are preferred because they can survey large areas. It has been shown that the accuracy of UAS photogrammetry tends to increase by adding oblique images but acquiring them with fixed-wing UASs is challenging. To address this challenge, we proposed a multi-camera array for acquiring oblique images with fixed-wing UASs. To test our idea, we built two customized UAS and surveyed an open pine plantation and a tall deciduous forest with variable overstory density. The open plantation was selected for optimizing the measurement of reference canopy surface points using a terrestrial laser scanner. In the deciduous forest, we obtained reference understory points from a leaf-off photogrammetry survey. We confirm that including oblique images in the image set is a good practice for forestry applications. Using the UASs to test whether a multi-camera system is better than a single-camera system for acquiring nadir-oblique image sets, we conclude that the advantages are (1) more efficient acquisition of oblique images and (2) better understory modelling in open canopies. The multi-camera acquisition of oblique images increases the understory point density, making the estimation of crown cover percentage and maximum canopy height more accurate, by 33% and 50%, respectively.