Worse Characteristics Research Articles

The clinical and imaging data fusion model for single-period cerebral CTA collateral circulation assessment.

The Chinese population ranks among the highest globally in terms of stroke prevalence. In the clinical diagnostic process, radiologists utilize computed tomography angiography (CTA) images for diagnosis, enabling a precise assessment of collateral circulation in the brains of stroke patients. Recent studies frequently combine imaging and machine learning methods to develop computer-aided diagnostic algorithms. However, in studies concerning collateral circulation assessment, the extracted imaging features are primarily composed of manually designed statistical features, which exhibit significant limitations in their representational capacity. Accurately assessing collateral circulation using image features in brain CTA images still presents challenges. To tackle this issue, considering the scarcity of publicly accessible medical datasets, we combined clinical data with imaging data to establish a dataset named RadiomicsClinicCTA. Moreover, we devised two collateral circulation assessment models to exploit the synergistic potential of patients' clinical information and imaging data for a more accurate assessment of collateral circulation: data-level fusion and feature-level fusion. To remove redundant features from the dataset, we employed Levene's test and T-test methods for feature pre-screening. Subsequently, we performed feature dimensionality reduction using the LASSO and random forest algorithms and trained classification models with various machine learning algorithms on the data-level fusion dataset after feature engineering. Experimental results on the RadiomicsClinicCTA dataset demonstrate that the optimized data-level fusion model achieves an accuracy and AUC value exceeding 86% . Subsequently, we trained and assessed the performance of the feature-level fusion classification model. The results indicate the feature-level fusion classification model outperforms the optimized data-level fusion model. Comparative experiments show that the fused dataset better differentiates between good and bad side branch features relative to the pure radiomics dataset. Our study underscores the efficacy of integrating clinical and imaging data through fusion models, significantly enhancing the accuracy of collateral circulation assessment in stroke patients.

Reproduction characteristics of local female buffalo in Suka Makmue and Seunagan Districts, Nagan Raya Regency, Aceh Province

This study aims to analyze the reproductive performance of local buffalo in Suka Makmue and Seunagan District, Nagan Raya Regency. The number of samples taken in this study included two districts, namely Suka Makmue and Seunagan. The data needed (1) age at first puberty, (2) first mating, (3) length of gestastion, (4) age at first calving, (5) service period and (6) calving interval. The data obtained from this study are Suka Makmue District, the average age of first puberty is 36.76±0.80 months, first mating occurs at 37.53±0.84 months, length of gestastion is 10.65± 0.20 months, age at first calving 49.48±7.17 months, and calving interval 5.73±0.38 months. Meanwhile, in Seunagan District, the first puberty was 37.46±0.72 months, first mating occurred at 37.67±0.54 months, length of gestastion was 10.73±0.15 months, age at first calving was 48.39±0.53 months, and calving interval 5.86±0.26 months. The data obtained showed that female local buffalo in the Suka Makmue and Seunagan District, Nagan Raya Regency, had bad characteristics.

THE ROLE OF MEDIA AND GAME OF TRP

The media, which is the fourth pillar of democracy, is crucial in influencing public opinion. People rely heavily on the media to raise their awareness and engage with the government. However, a few negative concepts also exist that cast doubt on the veracity of media reports. One of these is the TRP race. The race of TRP and the bad features of media trials have risen as a result of media organizations becoming more private. In most of these countries, privatization began spontaneously and was only later subject to government regulation. Eventually, the state or other public funds either took ownership of the media or sold them off. In other words, in countries where the media was socially owned, state-controlled media turned became state-owned media. For the media to adequately carry out its responsibilities, TRP should be regulated by appropriate regulation.

Implementation of Team-Based Learning for a Clinical Module of the Ethiopian Undergraduate Anesthesia Curriculum and Students' Perspectives: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Study.

Team-based learning (TBL) is an active learning strategy that gives students the opportunity to apply conceptual information through a series of tasks that incorporate individual effort, team collaboration, and immediate feedback. This study aimed to report baseline TBL implementation in a clinical module of a fourth-year competency-based undergraduate anesthesia curriculum and explore the perspectives of students. In April 2023, 18 students participated in two TBL sessions over two weeks, and readiness assurance test results and post-TBL evaluations were analyzed. Week one TBL implementation scores were compared with week two, establishing a longitudinal analysis over two points in time. Students also participated in an online survey to assess their views on the advantages and design of TBL, their perceptions of its best and worst features, and their suggestions for its implementation. Of 18 students, 16 (89%) responded to the survey. Most students believed that TBL was an effective educational strategy but expressed concern about the amount of time required for TBL preparation and the need for student readiness. The individual readiness assurance test scores did not differ significantly between weeks 1 and 2 (mean difference [MD] = 0.39, P= 0.519, 95% CI: -0.824 to 1.60). However, the students' median [IQR] team readiness assurance test scores increased significantly from week one to week two, from 8 [2] to 10 [1] (p = 0.004). Peer evaluation scores also showed a significant increase in week 2 (MD = 2.4, P = 0.001, 95% CI: -3.760 to -0.996). TBL was successfully implemented for a clinical module at Dilla University-Ethiopia for the first time. Students perceived it positively, but some criticized its preparation time, workload, and minimal facilitator engagement. We suggest convenient and flexible scheduling personalized for each student's needs when TBL is applied for clinical modules.

Correlation between MRI findings and bad prognostics features among Sudanese patients with multiple sclerosis from August 2020 to April 2022

Correlation between MRI findings and bad prognostics features among Sudanese patients with multiple sclerosis from August 2020 to April 2022

A smoothing Group Lasso based interval type-2 fuzzy neural network for simultaneous feature selection and system identification

Inspired by the life philosophy, an ingenious gate (membership) function, which can mimic the open and close of the gate in the real world, is proposed to realize feature selection (FS) for interval type-2 fuzzy neural network. Based on the widths of gate functions, a smoothing integrated learning strategy is designed, and in the regularized FS error function the gate widths corresponding to one feature are grouped as one Group Lasso (GL) regularization term. During the training procedure of feature selection, all the group terms with respect to bad features will be punished, but for the good features the corresponding group terms converge to different nonzero values. When feature selection is finished, using the selected features, the interpretable clustering algorithm based initial interval type-2 rule generation method is detailedly introduced firstly, then a simple and efficient memory-based gradient method is presented for the tuning of rule structure parameters. Lastly, employing the simulation results of four regression problems and four classification problems, the effectiveness on simultaneous feature selection and system identification of our proposed model, i.e., the smoothing Group Lasso based interval type-2 fuzzy neural network (SGLIT2FNN), is proved, which illustrates that SGLIT2FNN not only simplifies the model structure by deleting the bad features, but also maintains the performance.

How Taiwanese Buddhism Responds to the Feminist Movement in Modern Taiwan

Gender is a very important issue in religious studies. Although the issue of female identity was always ignored in a Buddhist society, we can find Buddhist attitudes towards women according to historical Buddhist texts. We find that Buddhists have a very ambivalent attitude towards female identity, acknowledging the equal spiritual potential of women while emphasizing their bad characteristics because of bad karma in the past. Because of the spread of Buddhist texts, this contradictory concept of gender has been extended to modern Buddhist society, leading to the obstacles of modern Buddhists responding to the female movement. This paper tries to analyze how Taiwanese Buddhism responds to the feminist movement in modern Taiwan. Through observing the efforts of two powerful Taiwanese local Buddhist organizations, we can see the efforts of Buddhist society in Taiwan to raise the status and level of learning of nuns, although based on accepting some discriminatory concepts of traditional Buddhist texts. The women's movement raised the social status and influence of nuns, allowing them to challenge the patriarchal Buddhist narrative and the traditional monastic system, and in turn instilled gender equality in the Buddhist community that monks and nuns are equalized.

Perineural invasion in nearby tissue adjacent to colorectal carcinoma with CD166 stem cell marker expression

Abstract Pathological evaluation of colorectal cancer resection samples play a vital role in management and prognosis of postoperative cancer patients. Difficulties exist in the assessment and outcomes of these specimens for therapy protocol. PNI is a perineural invasion associated with increased mortality in many malignancies including colon cancer. In colorectal cancer (CRC) and nearby tissue, PNI evaluation as a potential prognostic indicator with the use of CD 166 stem cell marker remains to be clearly defined for providing a convenient information for future management and prognosis. The incidence and significance of histological neural invasion in nearby tissue was conducted in 52 patients with colorectal carcinoma operated on for the period from June 2017 to June 2020 retrospectively. Tumors were subjected to histopathological and immunohistochemical study (IHC) with CD166 stem cell marker for PNI in tissue adjacent to CRC. Data collected and analyzed, histopathological pictures was obtained and studied. Outcomes showed that neural invasion was expressed by Cd166 stem cell marker as strong and severe in patients with stage B and C in tissues nearby tumor which reveals bad prognostic features. Conclusions: Neurogenesis appeared to have a critical role in colorectal cancer progression. furthermore, current results indicated that neurogenesis functions as an independent predictor of outcomes for therapy protocol.

Milton's Legal Duel: Nature and Norm in Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes

Abstract: Scholars have often linked John Milton with natural law; this article argues instead for the strong interest of Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes in legal positivism. By the mid-seventeenth century, thinkers like Hugo Grotius and Thomas Hobbes were in their different ways proposing a natural law based on self-preservation rather than theology, and as a result natural law became increasingly indistinguishable from political defactoism and reason of state. Milton struggled more than is generally recognized with the threat this naturalism posed to free will and moral value, and he responded by anticipating the work of nineteenth- and twentieth-century thinkers like John Austin, Hans Kelsen, and H. L. A. Hart, who made positivism central to liberal jurisprudence. Positivism asserts legal norms to be based on their authoritative source rather than their conformity with fact or reason, and thus positivist legal theory offers an escape from ethically minimal natural law. Positivism, though, also relies on preexisting, potentially arbitrary authority and makes penal sanctions constitutive of legal order, and these qualities paradoxically bind positivism to the worst features of naturalism: determinism and coercive violence. Milton grapples with precisely these issues in his 1671 poems, and his conflicted embrace of positivism illuminates a number of puzzles long noted in these works.

Socio-Economic conditions of Pourakarmikas – A Sociological Study in Mysore City Corporation

Untouchability is one of the worst features of the Hindu Society. In the process of evolution of caste on the principles of graded chathurvarna (four Varnas) such as Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Shudra the vast body of people known as Panchama, exterior, Antyajas or scheduled castes fell outside the purview of chaturvarna. They were denied the rights enjoyed by Brahmin's, Kshatriya's. Vaishya's and Upanayana even they were prohibited to perorm upanayana to wear sacred thread, learning Vedas, doing trade and other clean occupations. They were forced to live on the outskirts of village, thus restricting their movement. In this way, they were segregated and become the Anthyajas or Untouchables. The untouchables (Panchamas or Avarnas) had no share in social, political and judiciary power.

Enfortumab Vedotin in Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma: Survival and Safety in a European Multicenter Real-world Patient Cohort

BackgroundTreatment options for patients with urothelial cancer (UC) refractory to platinum and immunotherapy are limited and survival is short. Enfortumab vedotin (EV) is a monoclonal anti-NECTIN4 antibody conjugated to monomethyl auristatin. It was recently approved because of superior survival in comparison to standard-of-care (SOC) chemotherapy. Real-world patients, however, often have worse characteristics than patients included in clinical trials. ObjectiveTo analyze the efficacy and safety of EV in a cohort of real-world patients. Design, setting, and participantsRetrospective data were collected from 23 hospitals and private practices for patients with metastatic and previously treated UC who received EV either when reimbursed by their insurance company before European Medicines Agency (EMA) approval, within a compassionate use program, or as SOC treatment after EMA approval. Imaging and therapy management were in accordance with local standards. Outcome measurements and statistical analysisAdverse events (AEs) were reported according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 5.0 criteria. Objective responses were evaluated according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results and limitationsThe median age for the 125 eligible patients was 66 yr (range 31–89). The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) was 0–1 for 76.0%, 2–4 for 13.6%, and unknown for 10.4% of patients. EV was administered in the fourth or later line for 44.8% of patients. The overall response rate was 41.6% (partial response 39.2%, complete response 2.4%). Median OS was 10.0 months (mo) (95% confidence interval 7.20–12.80) and median PFS was 5.0 mo (95% confidence interval 4.34–5.67). For patients with ECOG PS of 0–1, median OS was 14 mo. Any-grade AEs were observed in 67.2% and CTCAE grade ≥3 AEs in 30.4%. The most common AEs were peripheral sensory neuropathy and skin toxicity. Three fatal events (pneumonia, pneumonitis) occurred. Limitations include the retrospective design and short follow-up. ConclusionsAdministration of EV for real-world patients was feasible with an acceptable toxicity profile. No new safety signals were reported. Antitumor activity in our cohort was comparable to data previously reported for trials. In summary, our results support the use of EV in patients with metastatic UC. Patient summaryEnfortumab vedotin is a medication that improved the survival of patients with bladder cancer in comparison to standard chemotherapy in clinical trials. However, patients included in clinical trials are highly selected and results for toxicities and improvements in survival do not always transfer to the real-world setting. We analyzed data for 125 patients who were treated with enfortumab vedotin. Our results are comparable to the outcomes from clinical trials regarding the safety and efficacy of this treatment.

Improving EEG major depression disorder classification using FBSE coupled with domain adaptation method based machine learning algorithms

Major depression disorder (MDD) has become the leading mental disorder worldwide. Medical reports have shown that people with depression exhibit abnormal wave patterns in EEG signals compared with the healthy subjects when they are exposed to positive and negative stimuli. In this paper, we proposed an intelligent MDD detection model based on Fourier-Bessel series expansion (FBSE) coupled with domain adaptation (DA). First, EEG signals are segmented into intervals and each segment is passed through FBSE. Two types of features, including statistical and nonlinear features are investigated and extracted from each FBSE coefficient to detect MDD. Student t-test and Wilcoxon test are employed to remove noisy and bad features that can compromise the performance of data-driven learners. Then, DA method named Independence Domain Adaptation was applied to reduce the difference of feature distributions among subjects. The selected features are sent to a least square support vector machine (LS-SVM), and other classifiers named SVM, k-nearest (KNN), ransom forest, Bagged ensemble, boosted ensemble, decision tree, gradient boosting and stacked ensemble for the comparison purpose. Our experiments are simulated by using publicly available dataset. The performance of the proposed model is evaluated in both subject dependence experiment by 10-fold cross validation, subject independence experiment by leave-one-subject-out cross-validation, and Confidence interval respectively. Results showed that the features reduction method can significantly improve the mean accuracy by 4.20. The proposed model is compared with previous studies and the results show that the proposed model outperforms the other methods.

DECONSTRUCTING THE CHARACTERS IN SOPHOCLES’ OEDIPUS REX

This study aimed at finding the characteristics of the characters in Sophocles' Drama Oedipus Rex, as well as to deconstruct the characterization of the characters that have been found and brought out the other side of the characteristics of each character. Descriptive qualitative method was used to analyze the data in this study. The data were analyzed by reading and selecting data from the utterances in the drama dialogue. Then the data were analyzed using deconstruction theory on the characterization of the characters in the drama. The theory used was the deconstruction theory discovered by Jacques Derrida. The result of the analysis shows that firstly, the characters are Oedipus, Jocasta, Creon, and Tiresias. Each character has characteristics. Oedipus has the characteristics of being wise, brave, and is also a helpful figure. Jocasta is a kind character, Creon is a fair figure, and Tiresias is a wise figure. However, after being deconstructed, each characteristic has opposite characteristics so that the other side can be revealed. Oedipus is characterized as a silly, a coward, and a betrayer figure. Jocasta has bad characteristics. Meanwhile, Creon has unfair characteristics, and Tiresias has a selfish characteristic.

A parametrization of sheets of conjugacy classes in bad characteristic

AbstractLet G be a simple algebraic group of adjoint type over an algebraically closed field k of bad characteristic. We show that its sheets of conjugacy classes are parametrized by G-conjugacy classes of pairs $(M,{\mathcal O})$ where M is the identity component of the centralizer of a semisimple element in G and ${\mathcal O}$ is a rigid unipotent conjugacy class in M, in analogy with the good characteristic case.

Rejecting Racism, Restoring Intuition

John Muir continues to influence Americans to see the natural world as replete with sacred value. Yet Muir’s work is not without its shadow side: Muir’s racism against Indigenous peoples permeates his writing. I locate both the valuable and vile views inherent in Muir’s moral vision in his uncritical reliance on Romantic epistemology, and particularly the recourse Muir continually made to the power of his intuition. Applying insights from G. W. F. Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, I offer an account of the various roles Muir’s intuitions played in his thinking so as to better contextualize the best and worst features of his moral thought.

Anthropological, ethnopsychological and characterological studies on corruption in Serbia

The paper examines the views and approaches of anthropologists, ethnopsychologists and characterologists Jovan Cvijic and Vladimir Dvornikovic from the beginning of the 20th century, as well as Bojan Jovanovic and Zarko Trebjesanin from the end of the 20th century. Their views and research of the causes, reasons and motives why the inhabitants of Serbia have accepted and participated in corruptive activities are significant and valuable for contemporary research of corruption. In their opinion, the causes are related to the dark side of human nature, particularly, greed, due to which bad features in the characters have become pronounced. These features are: subjugation, furtiveness, distrust, treachery and dishonesty. The reasons have derived from unfavourable living circumstances such as slavery and poverty. The motive is related to the fulfilment of needs and interests without choosing means for survival and/or persistence. By accepting corruption as a way of surviving, with the passage of time, a pattern of corruptive behaviour has been created. The pattern is of profound nature and long-lasting. Even today it still pressurizes people in modern Serbia. The pattern particularly emerges at the moments of thorough changes in the political order and social crises. The paper is aimed at analyzing the research by the above-listed authors to use the results as a basis for getting more comprehensive insights into the origin, structure, forms and development of corruption in modern Serbia.

Red Blood Cell supports prolong the Survival in Sickle Cell Diseases

Background: Hardened red blood cells (RBCs)-induced capillary endothelial damage initiates at birth in sickle cell diseases. Methods: Patients with red blood cells (RBCs) transfusions of less than 50 units in their lives were put into the first and 50 units or higher were put into the second groups. Results: There were 224 cases in the first and 92 cases in the second groups. Mean ages were similar in them (28.9 vs 30.0 years, respectively, p>0.05). Although the lower prevalence of autosplenectomy (56.2% vs 45.6%, p<0.05), male ratio (45.5% vs 64.1%, p<0.001), white blood cells (WBCs) (14.931 vs 15.346/µL, p<0.05) and platelets (PLTs) (435.670 vs 498.310/µL, p= 0.005) counts, painful crises per year (3.8 vs 8.4, p= 0.000), smoking (12.0% vs 17.3%, p<0.05), clubbing (7.1% vs 15.2%, p<0.01), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (6.6% vs 20.6%, p<0.001), leg ulcers (11.6% vs 21.7%, p<0.01), stroke (5.8% vs 11.9%, p<0.05), chronic renal disease (CRD) (4.9% vs 14.1%, p<0.001), coronary heart disease (CHD) (4.0% vs 8.6%, p<0.05), and mean age of mortality (29.5 vs 34.6 years, p<0.05) were all higher in the second group. Conclusion: Although the lower prevalence of autosplenectomy, male ratio, WBCs and PLTs counts, painful crises per year, smoking, clubbing, COPD, leg ulcers, stroke, CRD, CHD, and mean age of mortality were higher in the second group. So autosplenectomy may be a good, and male gender alone may be a bad prognostic feature that can not be explained by smoking alone at the younger age, and RBCs supports prolong the survival. Key words: Sickle cell diseases, hardened red blood cells, capillary endothelial damage, capillary endothelial edema, myocardial infarction, stroke, red blood cell supports

Upgraded Very Fast Decision Tree: Energy Conservative Algorithm for Data Stream Classification

Traditional machine learning (ML) techniques model knowledge using static datasets. With the increased use of the Internet in today's digital world, a massive amount of data is generated at an accelerated rate that must be handled. This data must be handled as soon as it arrives because it is continuous, and cannot be kept for a long period of time. Various methods exist for mining data from streams. When developing methods like these, the machine learning community put accuracy and execution time first. Numerous sorts of studies take energy consumption into consideration while evaluating data mining methods. However, this work concentrates on Very Fast Decision Tree, which is the most often used technique in data flow classification, despite the fact that it wastes a huge amount of energy on trivial calculations. The research presents a proposed mechanism for upgrading the algorithm's energy usage and restricts computational resources, without compromising the algorithm's efficiency. The mechanism has two stages: the first is to eliminate a set of bad features that increase computational complexity and waste energy, and the second is to group the good features into a candidate group that will be used instead of using all of the attributes in the next iteration. Experiments were conducted on real-world benchmark and synthetic datasets to compare the proposed method to state-of-the-art algorithms in previous works. The proposed algorithm works considerably better and faster with less energy while maintaining accuracy.

Feedback practices in journal peer-review: a systematic literature review

Feedback provided by peer reviewers plays a pivotal role in any journal peer-review model. Peer-review feedback helps authors reconsider their manuscripts in a new light and improve their work before it is published. While there is a wealth of knowledge and empirical evidence focusing on effective feedback practices in educational settings, there is a dearth of research on journal peer-review feedback, especially in some academic disciplines including the social sciences and education. To better understand ‘good’ and ‘bad’ peer-review feedback practices across academic disciplines, we conducted a systematic literature review, informed by grounded theory, that aimed to identify the feedback features and factors that exert an impact on quality of peer-review feedback. Findings from 20 publications indicate a list of good and bad features of peer-review feedback pertaining to content, language, tone, structure and timeliness. We also identified a number of internal and external factors that influence how peer reviewers provide feedback such as academics’ expertise, language skills, motivation and seniority, as well as external influences such as anonymity in peer-review, and interactions between editors and peer reviewers. Implications for researching and practising peer-review are discussed.

Crowdsourcing the (Un)Textbook: Rethinking and Future Thinking the Role of the Textbook in Open Pedagogy

In this paper, we adopt a critical lens to investigate educators' understanding of both traditional and alternative textbooks and examine how open pedagogy may call for a rethinking of textbooks and how they are used in a pedagogical setting. Within the context of open pedagogy, including open textbooks, we conducted workshops that involved faculty, instructional designers, educational developers, and academic administrators during three conferences in 2019: OER19 Conference held in Galway, Ireland; the Cascadia Open Education Summit held in Vancouver, British Columbia; and the Educational Technology Users Group held in Kamloops, British Columbia. Based on data collected during these three interactive workshops, combined with personal reflections from the project instigators, we discuss emerging issues and tensions in the use of textbooks as pedagogical agents/artefacts in teaching and learning, and their relation to open pedagogy. Specifically, we consider what aspects of the use and design of textbook may be rethought in the context of open pedagogy as increasingly ubiquitous access to knowledge and open licensing of content and data become more widely available. This is achieved by prompting educators to describe the best and worst features of the traditional textbook format and reflect on what they might imagine as a potential future for the textbook as a resource to support open pedagogy.