Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of Spatial Ability in Learning with Virtual Reality: A Literature Review

N o research has systematically reviewed the role of spatial ability in virtual reality (VR) learning. This has resulted in inefficiencies in educators ’ ability to adopt personalized teaching strategies based on learners ’ spatial ability to maximize the effectiveness of VR. Therefore, this study conducted a literature review on spatial ability in VR learning to provide researchers and educators with a comprehensive understanding of how spatial ability affects VR learning. After searching Scopus with keywords and applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, the researchers identified 30 relevant research articles for the review. This literature review mainly analyzed research trends, contexts, theories, methodologies, and findings from the identified articles. The contradictory role of spatial ability in VR learning was also summarized. Based on the literature analysis, this study identified research gaps and indicated directions for future research.
Robot Dog Intervention with the Golden Pup: Activating Social and Empathy Experiences of Elderly People as Part of Intergenerational Interaction

This paper takes an interest in examining the potential of robotic pet toys as social companions, which activate social and empathy experiences of the elderly and by doing so, increase their wellbeing. In order to study the benefits of using Golden Pup, a commercial robot dog, we designed and performed a research intervention at a senior day activity center with 10 participants of ages 65-80+ years interested in the firsthand user experiences. This study suggests how robotic pets can be used to activate the social and empathy experiences of elderly, and illuminates the role of reciprocity in building a relationship with a robotic pet. We present novel results on how a robot dog with a natural interface may evoke social and empathy experiences as part of playful, intergenerational group activities.
Information Systems in the Era of the Internet of Things: A Domain-Specific Modelling Language

Based on the technological developments of the last few years and the associated digitalisation, the Internet of Things is now an essential part of practically every aspect of life. Smart products with their sensors and actuators are not only boundary objects between the physical and digital world, but also tie both worlds more and more together. The capabilities of the products range from simple monitoring tasks by drones in agriculture to autonomous use in mining. However, in order to exploit the full potential of these capabilities, it is not enough to use individual smart products or sensors, it is necessary to develop holistic IoT-based information systems from the ground up. To take such a systemic perspective, it is essential to have a sound conceptual understanding of the domain and a common language. Against this background, the publication presents a domain-specific modelling language for IoT-based information systems.
The Effects of Control Mechanisms on Complementors' Behavioral Intentions: An Empirical Study of Reward-Based Crowdfunding Platforms

Although Information Systems research has been increasingly exploring the role of control mechanisms on digital platforms, empirical research on the effects of control mechanisms on complementors’ behavioral intentions in platform ecosystems is sparse. Control mechanisms refer to measures employed by platform providers to influence desirable behaviors of complementors and thus to manage dynamics, growth, and evolution of their digital platforms. Drawing on IS control literature and goal attainment theory, we conducted an online survey with 116 complementors from two major reward-based crowdfunding platforms, Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Our findings reveal that input control (self control) decreases (increases) complementors’ intention to stay on their respective digital platform. Furthermore, we shed light on the role of complementors’ perceived effort, perceived usefulness and satisfaction in shaping these relationships. Thus, our findings contribute to the literature on digital platforms in general and control mechanisms in particular.
Data Census of a Geographically-Bounded Tweet Set to Enhance Common Operational Picture Tools

Location information is of particular importance to crisis informatics. The Twitter API provides several methods to assess a rough location and/or the speciﬁc latitude and longitude in which a post originated. This paper offers a comparison of location information provided by Twitter’s four geolocation methods. The study aggregates one month of data from the greater Cincinnati, Ohio metropolitan area and assesses the relative contribution that each method can make to common operational picture tools used by crisis informatics researchers. Results show that of 49,744 Tweets, 4% contained geotags, 85.2% contained a location in the users’ proﬁle, and 3.5% contained no apparent location data, but were gathered using the bounding box method and would not have been identiﬁed using traditional methods of gathering data using geotagged Tweets or user proﬁle information alone. We reﬂect on these results in light of design implications for common operational picture tools (COPs).
Modern Sport and Chemistry: What a Golf Fanatic Should Know

Advances in the chemical and material sciences have made a dramatic impact on sporting events over the past several decades. In this paper, we focus on the game of gold and provide some of the chemicals and materials involved in these advances with the intention of providing a mechanism to interest students in chemistry. Further we propose that modern materials have led to significant changes in the set of skills and abilities required to excel at the highest level of the game (PGA—Professional Golfers Association). Structures and properties of some materials that led to their adoption in sports are presented.
Towards a Task-based Guidance in Exploratory Visual Analytics

Exploring large datasets and identifying meaningful information is still an active topic in many application ﬁelds. Dealing with large datasets is currently not only a matter of simply collecting and structuring data for retrieval, but sometimes it also requires the provision of adequate means for guiding the user through the exploration process. Visualizations have shown to be an effective method in this context, the reason being that since they are grounded on visual cognition, people understand them and can naturally perform visual operations such as clustering, ﬁltering and comparing quanti-ties. However, systems which help us to create visualizations often require speciﬁc knowledge in data analysis, which ordinary users typically do not possess. To address this gap, we propose a system that guides the user in the data analysis process. To achieve this, the system observes current user behavior, tries to infer the task of the user and recommends the next analysis steps to help her to carry out the task.
What is a ‘gel’?

Some of the existing definitions of the term ‘gel’ are discussed and shortcomings are identified. A purely phenomenological definition is proposed: a gel is a soft, solid or solid-like material consisting of two or more components one of which is a liquid, present in substantial quantity. ‘Solid-like gels’ are further defined in terms of the dynamic mechanical properties.
Brusatol Derivative–34 Attenuates Allergic Airway Inflammation Via Inhibition of the Spleen Tyrosine Kinase Pathway

Brusatol derivative-34 (Bru-34), a derivative of brusatol, has been shown significantly anti-inflammatory activity in mice in our previously work. However, to our knowledge, there were very limited studies on how Bru-34 affected airway inflammation. Thus, in this present study, the effects and potential mechanisms of Bru-34 on allergic airway inflammation were examined both in vivo and in vitro. The results showed that Bru-34 attenuated the allergic airway inflammation in mice, with significant decreasing of the inflammatory cells and mediators in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids and attenuation of the histopathological alterations in the lung tissues. In addition, Bru-34 significantly inhibited the release of inflammatory cytokines in antigen induced rat basophilic leukemia -2H3 (RBL-2H3) cells. What’s more, Bru-34 significantly decreased the expression of spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk), p-Syk, cytoplasmic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2), p-cPLA2, nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and p-NF-κB both in allergic mice lung tissue and antigen induced RBL-2H3 cells. Furthermore, the collaborative effects of Bru-34 with inhibitors against Syk, cPLA2, and NF-κB, showed that Syk was an important target of Bru-34, and cPLA2 and NF-κB played important roles in the coordinated inflammatory response. In conclusion, Bru-34 could significantly modulate the allergic airway inflammation, and its potential mechanism was revealed at least partially via down-regulating of Syk-cPLA2 -NF-κB signaling.
Role of Hyperbaric Oxygenation Plus Hypofractionated Stereotactic Radiotherapy in Recurrent High-Grade Glioma

Background The presence of hypoxic cells in high-grade glioma (HGG) is one of major reasons for failure of local tumour control with radiotherapy (RT). The use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) could help to overcome the problem of oxygen deficiency in poorly oxygenated regions of the tumour. We propose an innovative approach to improve the efficacy of hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (HSRT) after HBO (HBO-RT) for the treatment of recurrent HGG (rHGG) and herein report the results of an ad interim analysis. Methods We enrolled a preliminary cohort of 9 adult patients (aged >18 years) with a diagnosis of rHGG. HSRT was administered in daily 5-Gy fractions for 3-5 consecutive days a week. Each fraction was delivered up to maximum of 60 minutes after HBO. Results Median follow-up from re-irradiation was 11.6 months (range: 3.2-11.6 months). The disease control rate (DCR) 3 months after HBO-RT was 55.5% (5 patients). Median progression-free survival (mPFS) for all patients was 5.2 months (95%CI: 1.34-NE), while 3-month and 6-month PFS was 55.5% (95%CI: 20.4-80.4) and 27.7% (95%CI: 4.4-59.1), respectively. Median overall survival (mOS) of HBO-RT was 10.7 months (95% CI: 7.7-NE). No acute or late neurologic toxicity >grade (G)2 was observed in 88.88% of patients. One patient developed G3 radionecrosis. Conclusions HSRT delivered after HBO appears to be effective for the treatment of rHGG, it could represent an alternative, with low toxicity, to systemic therapies for patients who cannot or refuse to undergo such treatments. Clinical Trial Registration www.ClinicalTrials. gov, identifier NCT 03411408.
Gut Microbiota-Mediated Transformation of Coptisine Into a Novel Metabolite 8-Oxocoptisine: Insight Into Its Superior Anti-Colitis Effect

Coptisine (COP) is a bioactive isoquinoline alkaloid derived from Coptis Chinemsis Franch, which is traditionally applied for the management of colitis. However, the blood concentration of COP was extremely low, and its gut microbiota-mediated metabolites were thought to contribute to its prominent bioactivities. To comparatively elucidate the protective effect and underlying mechanism of COP and its novel gut microbiota metabolite (8-oxocoptisine, OCOP) against colitis, we used dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) to induce colitis in mice. Clinical symptoms, microscopic alternation, immune-inflammatory parameters for colitis were estimated. The results indicated that OCOP dramatically ameliorated disease activity index (DAI), the shortening of colon length and colonic histopathological deteriorations. OCOP treatment also suppressed the mRNA expression and release of inflammatory mediators (TGF-β, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-18, IL-1β and IFN-γ) and elevated the transcriptional and translational levels of anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10) as well as the mRNA expression levels of adhesion molecules (ICAM-1 and VCAM-1). Besides, the activation of NF-κB pathway and NLRP3 inflammasome was markedly inhibited by OCOP. Furthermore, OCOP displayed superior anti-colitis effect to COP, and was similar to MSZ with much smaller dosage. Taken together, the protective effect of OCOP against DSS-induced colitis might be intimately related to inhibition of NF-κB pathway and NLRP3 inflammasome. And the findings indicated that OCOP might have greater potential than COP to be further exploited as a promising candidate in the treatment of colitis.
Impact of Tumor Side on Clinical Outcomes in Stage II and III Colon Cancer With Known Microsatellite Instability Status

Background Tumor sidedness as a prognostic factor in advanced stage colon cancer (CC) is well established. The impact of tumor sidedness on the clinical outcomes of stage II and III CC has not been well studied. Methods The National Cancer Database (NCDB) was utilized to identify patients with pathological stage II and III primary adenocarcinoma of the colon from 2010 to 2015 using ICD-O-3 morphology and topography codes: 8140-47, 8210-11, 8220-21, 8260-63, 8480-81, 8490 and C18.0, 18.2,18.3, 18.5,18.6, 18.7. Univariate (UVA) and multivariable (MVA) survival analyses and Kaplan–Meier Curves with Log-rank test were utilized to compare overall survival (OS) based on tumor location and treatment received. Results A total of 35,071 patients with stage II (n = 17,629) and III (n = 17,442) CC were identified. 51.3% female; 81.5% Caucasian; median age 66 (range, 18–90). Majority of stage II and III tumors were right sided, 61.2% (n = 10,794) and 56.0% (n = 9,763). Microsatellite instability high (MSI-H) was more common in stage II compared to III, 23.3% (n = 4,115) vs 18.2% (n = 3,171) (p < 0.0001). In stage II MSI-H CC right was more common than left, 78.3% (n = 3223) vs 21.7% (n = 892). There was no significant difference in survival between stage II MSI-H left vs right (5-year OS 76.2 vs 74.7%, p = 0.1578). Stage II MSS CC right was more common than left, 56.0% (n = 7571) vs 44.0% (n = 5943), and survival was better in the left vs right (5-year OS 73.2 vs 70.8%, p = 0.0029). Stage III MSI-H CC was more common in the right than in the left, 75.6% (n = 2,397) vs 24.4% (n = 774) and survival was better in the left (5-year OS 62.5 vs 56.5%, p = 0.0026). Stage III MSS CC was more common in the right than in the left, 51.6% (n = 7,366) vs 48.4% (n = 6,905), and survival was better in the left vs right (5-year OS 67.0 vs 54.4%, p < 0.001). Conclusion Survival was better in left sided tumors compared to right in stage II MSS, stage III MSS, and stage III MSI-H CC.
Reed: An Approach Towards Quickly Bootstrapping Multilingual Acoustic Models

Multilingual automatic speech recognition (ASR) system is a single entity capable of transcribing multiple languages sharing a common phone space. Performance of such a system is highly dependent on the compatibility of the languages. State of the art speech recognition systems are built using sequential architectures based on recurrent neural networks (RNN) limiting the computational parallelization in training. This poses a significant challenge in terms of time taken to bootstrap and validate the compatibility of multiple languages for building a robust multilingual system. Complex architectural choices based on self-attention networks are made to improve the parallelization thereby reducing the training time. In this work, we propose Reed, a simple system based on 1D convolutions which uses very short context to improve the training time. To improve the performance of our system, we use raw time-domain speech signals directly as input. This enables the convolutional layers to learn feature representations rather than relying on handcrafted features such as MFCC. We report improvement on training and inference times by atleast a factor of 4× and 7.4× respectively with comparable WERs against standard RNN based baseline systems on SpeechOcean’s multilingual low resource dataset.
Comparison Between Open and Closed Loop Battery Charging Technique for Lithium-ion Battery

The present work focus on the comparison between open and closed loop battery charging techniques for lithiumion (Li-ion) battery. Conventional types of open loop charging technologies like pulse charging, constant current-constant voltage (CC-CV) and multi stage charging etc. uses fixed battery parameters to decide the battery charging current. Effect of temperature variation during charging is generally not taken in to account in the case of open loop charging techniques. Temperature must be kept in certain range to enhance the effective battery life time. Charging current in closed loop technique depends on the temperature feedback. Present work compares between open loop CC-CV and close loop constant temperature-constant voltage (CT-CV) battery charging techniques in terms of charging voltage, charging current, battery state of charge (SOC) and battery temperature rise for different initial SOC level. Model is simulated in MATLAB/Simulink environment and study reveals that there is about 24% improvement in charging time as compared to the CC-CV charging technique.
A Stop Condition for Compressed Recovery of Random Modulated Signal

A stop condition without prior information, applied to compressed sensing recovery in millimeter-wave detection system considering the deceptive jamming signal, is proposed in this brief. The input observation signal is extended to the case consisting of the interference that is correlated to the recovery signal. By making the sufficient statistics of the input parameters and observation values generated from the iterative process, the recovery algorithm can be stopped more appropriately. The main contribution of this brief is to propose a stop criterion to improve the efficiency of the algorithm for random modulated signal recovery. Furthermore, different modulated parameters of the random modulated signal are investigated to verify the feasibility and adaptability of the proposed method. The comparable results show greater performance and the algorithm efficiency is improved by 53.2%.
Lessons From Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Trials in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The implementation of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) into the clinical management of different malignancies has largely changed our understanding of cancer treatment. After having proven efficacy in different tumor entities such as malignant melanoma and lung cancer, ICI were intensively tested in the setting of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here they could achieve higher and more durable response rates compared to tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (TKI), that were sole standard of care for the last decade. Most recently, ICI treatment was approved in a first line setting of HCC, for cases not suitable for curative strategies. However, only a subset of patients benefits from ICI therapy, while others experience rapid tumor progression, worsening of liver function and poor prognosis. Efforts are being made to find immune characteristics that predict tumor responsiveness to ICI, but no reliable biomarker could be identified so far. Nevertheless, data convincingly demonstrate that combination therapies (such as dual inhibition of PD-L1 and VEGF) are more effective than the application of single agents. In this review, we will briefly recapitulate the current algorithms for systemic treatment, discuss available results from checkpoint inhibitor trials and give an outlook on future directions of immunotherapy in HCC.
Persistent Cigarette Smoking Attenuates Plaque Stabilization in Response to Lipid-Lowering Therapy: A Serial Optical Coherence Tomography Study

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of smoking on morphological changes in non-culprit plaques in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients at 1 year after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Background: Cigarette smoking is an important risk factor for coronary artery disease. However, the reasons for the high risk of re-infarction and worsened health among patients who continue to smoke after PCI remain unclear. Methods: A total of 129 non-culprit plaques were identified from 97 ACS patients who underwent OCT imaging at the time of PCI and at 1-year follow-up. Patients were divided into the following three groups according to their smoking status at 1-year follow-up: persistent smoking group (n = 26), smoking cessation group (n = 29), and nonsmoking group (n = 42). Medical history, serum cholesterol level, coronary angiography data, and OCT-determined plaque morphology were analyzed among the three groups. Results: Relative to baseline levels, the total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels significantly decreased in all three groups at 1-year follow-up after statin therapy (p < 0.05). The persistent smoking group had a relatively smaller fibrous cap thickness (FCT) and a higher incidence of thin-cap fibroatheroma (TCFA) than the other two groups at 1-year follow-up (p < 0.05), although the FCT increased and the incidence of TCFA decreased in all three groups. Conclusions: Persistent smoking is associated with an attenuated effect of statin therapy on plaque stabilization in ACS patients.
PSMA Expression in Glioblastoma as a Basis for Theranostic Approaches: A Retrospective, Correlational Panel Study Including Immunohistochemistry, Clinical Parameters and PET Imaging

Aim The aim of the current study was to enlighten the evolution of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) expression in glioblastoma between initial diagnosis and recurrence in order to provide preliminary insight for further clinical investigations into innovative PSMA-directed treatment concepts in neuro-oncology. Methods Patients who underwent resection for de-novo glioblastoma (GBM) and had a re-resection in case of a recurrent tumor following radiochemotherapy and subsequent chemotherapy were included (n = 16). Histological and immunohistochemical stainings were performed at initial diagnosis and at recurrence (n = 96 tissue specimens). Levels of PSMA expression both in endothelial and non-endothelial cells as well as vascular density (CD34) were quantified via immunohistochemistry and changes between initial diagnosis and recurrence were determined. Immunohistochemical findings were correlated with survival and established clinical parameters. Results PSMA expression was found to be present in all GBM tissue samples at initial diagnosis as well as in all but one case of recurrent tumor samples. The level of PSMA expression in glioblastoma varied inter-individually both in endothelial and non-endothelial cells. Likewise, the temporal evolution of PSMA expression highly varied in between patients. The level of vascular PSMA expression at recurrence and its change between initial diagnosis and recurrence was associated with post recurrence survival time: Patients with high vascular PSMA expression at recurrence as well as patients with increasing PSMA expression throughout the disease course survived shorter than patients with low vascular PSMA expression or decreasing vascular PSMA expression. There was no significant correlation of PSMA expression with MGMT promoter methylation status or Ki-67 labelling index. Conclusion PSMA is expressed in glioblastoma both at initial diagnosis and at recurrence. High vascular PSMA expression at recurrence seems to be a negative prognostic marker. Thus, PSMA expression in GBM might present a promising target for theranostic approaches in recurrent glioblastoma. Especially PSMA PET imaging and PSMA-directed radioligand therapy warrant further studies in brain tumor patients.