LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Preliminary Phytochemical Analysis and In Vitro Investigation of Antibacterial Activity Of Acacia Nilotica Against Clinical Isolates.

Acacia nilotica commonly has been used in folk medicine to treat different diseases. In the present study, preliminary phytochemical analysis of ethanol and petroleum ether extract of stem bark of Acacia nilotica was carried out by using simple chemical tests. It revealed the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, saponins, tannins, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides and anthraquinone in both ethanol and petroleum ether extracts while fixed oils and fats, proteins and amino acids were absent. Antimicrobial activity of the extracts against clinical isolates was performed by agar diffusion method. It exhibited potent activity against all clinical isolates. The minimum inhibitory concentration for ethanol extract was 5 mg/ml while 10 mg/ml for petroleum ether extract. These results may be helpful for rationale use of this plant in the modern system of health care Keyword: Phytochemical Analysis, Acacia nilotica, Agar Diffusion, Clinical Isolates, Health Care.
Exploring the Potential Use of Seismic Waves as a Communication Channel by Elephants and Other Large Mammals

SYNOPSIS. Bioseismic studies have previously documented the use of seismic stimuli as a method of communication in arthropods and small mammals. Seismic signals are used to communicate intraspecifically in many capacities such as mate finding, spacing, warning, resource assessing, and in group cohesion. Seismic signals are also used in interspecific mutualism and as a deterrent to predators. Although bioseismics is a significant mode of communication that is well documented for relatively small vertebrates, the potential for seismic communication has been all but ignored in large mammals. In this paper, we describe two modes of producing seismic waves with the potential for long distance transmission: 1) locomotion by animals causing percussion on the ground and 2) acoustic, seismicevoking sounds that couple with the ground. We present recordings of several mammals, including lions, rhinoceroses, and elephants, showing that they generate similar acoustic and seismic vibrations. These large animals that produce high amplitude vocalizations are the most likely to produce seismic vibrations that propagate long distances. The elephant seems to be the most likely candidate to engage in long distance seismic communication due to its size and its high amplitude, low frequency, relatively monotonic vocalizations that propagate in the ground and have the potential to travel long distances. We review particular anatomical features of the elephant that would facilitate the detection of seismic waves. We also assess low frequency sounds in the environment such as thunder and the likelihood of seismic transmission. In addition, we present the potential role of seismic stimuli in human communication as well as the impact of modern anthropogenic effects on the seismic environment.
Spectra and Growth Rates of Fluctuating Magnetic Fields in the Kinematic Dynamo Theory with Large Magnetic Prandtl Numbers

The existence of a weak galactic magnetic field has been repeatedly confirmed by observational data. The origin of this field has not been explained as yet in a fully satisfactory way and represents one of the main challenges of the astrophysical dynamo theory. In both the galactic dynamo theory and the primordial-origin theory, a major influence is exerted by the small-scale magnetic fluctuations. This article is devoted to constructing a systematic second-order statistical theory of such small-scale fields. The statistics of these fields are studied in the kinematic approximation and for the case of large Prandtl numbers, which is relevant for the galactic and protogalactic plasma. The advecting velocity field is assumed to be Gaussian and short-time correlated. Theoretical understanding of this kinematic dynamo model is a necessary prerequisite for any prospective nonlinear dynamo theory. The theory is developed for an arbitrary degree of compressibility and formally in d dimensions, which generalizes the previously known results, elicits the structure of the solutions, and uncovers a number of new effects. The magnetic energy spectra are studied as they grow and spread over scales during the initial stage of the field amplification. Exact Green's function solutions are obtained. The spectral theory is supplemented by the study of magnetic field correlation functions in the configuration space, where the dynamo problem can be mapped onto a particular one-dimensional quantum-mechanical problem. The latter approach is most suitable for the description of the kinematic dynamo in the long-time limit, i.e., when the magnetic excitation has spread over all scales present in the system. A simple way of calculating the growth rates of the magnetic fields in this long-time limit is proposed.
Discordance in neonatal risk factors and early childhood outcomes of very low birth weight (<1.5 kg) twins

Objective:To examine the rates of discordance in neonatal risk factors and neurodevelopmental outcomes within very low birth weight twin pairs and the factors associated with discordant outcomes.Study Design:Rates of neonatal risk factors and neurodevelopmental outcomes, and discordance in outcomes were examined for 88 very low birth weight twin pairs born between 1990 and 2005 and followed through 20 months’ corrected age.Result:Discordance rates ranged from 17 to 42% for neonatal risk factors and from 18 to 31% for neurodevelopmental outcomes. In regression analysis, affected co-twins were significantly more likely to have had an abnormal cerebral ultrasound than their unaffected co-twins in pairs discordant for cerebral palsy (odds ratio (OR): 13.00, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.22 to 76.03)) and in pairs discordant for neurodevelopmental impairment (OR: 4.00, 95% CI: 1.13 to 14.18). Outcomes and discordance in outcomes were similar for monochorionic and dichorionic pairs.Conclusion:Despite shared genetics and risk factors, twins may have discordant outcomes. Information on discordant neonatal and neurodevelopmental outcomes is important for counseling families of twins.
Beating the bugs: roles of microbial biofilms in corrosion

Microbiologically influenced corrosion is a complex type of environmentally assisted corrosion. Though poorly understood and challenging to ameliorate, it is increasingly appreciated that MIC accelerates failure of metal alloys, including steel pipeline. Historically, this type of material degradation process has been treated from either an electrochemical materials perspective or a microbiological perspective. Here, we review the current understanding of MIC mechanisms for steel – particularly those in sour environments relevant to fossil fuel recovery and processing – and outline the role of the bacterial biofilm in both corrosion processes and mitigation responses.
7nm FinFET standard cell layout characterization and power density prediction in near- and super-threshold voltage regimes

In this paper, we present a power density analysis for 7nm FinFET technology node, including both near-threshold and super-threshold operations. We first build a Liberty-formatted standard cell library by selecting the appropriate number of fins for the pull-up and pull-down networks of each logic cell. The layout of each cell then is characterized based on the lambda-based layout design rules for FinFET devices. Finally, the power density of the 7nm FinFET technology node is analyzed and compared with the state-of-the-art 45nm CMOS technology node for different circuits. Hspice results show that the power density of each 7nm FinFET circuit is at least 10 to 20 times larger than that of the same 45nm CMOS circuit in near- and super-threshold voltage regimes. Also the power densities of FinFET circuits are shown to be much higher than the limit of air cooling, which necessitates careful thermal management for the FinFET technology.
The Hidden Pitfalls of Kanban in Software Development

Objectives of the Study The objective of this thesis is to explore the hidden pitfalls of Kanban in software development. The aim is to discover the reasons behind the pitfalls and actions that nourish Kanban’s failure. Academic background and methodology Software development industry has been shifting towards more iterative, responsive and people-oriented development methods, which present the values of lean and agile thinking. Being characterized as the antidote for bureaucracy, the shift towards agile development methodologies has been one of the most significant factors affecting the software industry. Kanban as an agile change management framework has been perceived as the fairy godmother of software development making the reasons behind struggling Kanban projects particularly interesting. Thesis interviews five agile experts in software development and studies their experiences of unsuccessful Kanban implementations. Emphasis is given to similar experiences and perceptions on how Kanban fails to redeem its value proposition. Findings The primary finding of the study is that an organization that is unable to change its mindset to support Kanban is a pitfall affecting the whole project, inevitably causing Kanban to fail. This is a challenge that all agile methods have in common. Agile can flourish only when agile values are being appreciated. The secondary finding is that many software teams claiming to be using Kanban have implemented only a shallow imitation of the real method thus creating a superficial implementation, which prevents achieving Kanban induced benefits. Furthermore, the erroneous human interpretation of what Kanban really is and how to apply it correctly is a key factor contributing to the emerge of the pitfalls.
Haploidentical, unmanipulated, G-CSF-primed bone marrow transplantation for patients with high-risk hematologic malignancies.

UNLABELLED
Eighty patients with high-risk hematologic malignancies underwent unmanipulated, G-CSF–primed BM transplantation from an haploidentical family donor. Patients were transplanted in first or second complete remission (CR, standard-risk: n =45) or in > second CR or active disease (high-risk: n =35). The same regimen for GVHD prophylaxis was used in all cases. The cumulative incidence (CI) of neutrophil engraftment was 93% 0.1%. The 100-day CIs for II-IV and III-IV grade of acute GVHD were 24% 0.2% and 5% 0.6%, respectively. The 2-year CI of extensive chronic GVHD was 6% 0.1%. The 1-year CI of treatment-related mortality was 36% 0.3%. After a median follow-up of 18 months, 36 of 80 (45%) patients are alive in CR. The 3-year probability of overall and disease-free survival for standard-risk and high-risk patients was 54% 8% and 33% 9% and 44% 8% and 30% 9%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, disease-free survival was significantly better for patients who had standard-risk disease and received transplantations after 2007. We conclude that unmanipulated, G-CSF–primed BM transplantation from haploidentical family donor provides very encouraging results in terms of engraftment rate, incidence of GVHD and survival and represents a feasible, valid alternative for patients with high-risk malignant hematologic diseases, lacking an HLA identical sibling and in need to be urgently transplanted.


KEY POINTS
Haploidentical, unmanipulated, G-CSF-primed bone marrow transplantation. Haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for hematologic malignancies.
Cs246: Mining Massive Data Sets Problem Set 2 General Instructions Questions 1 Recommendation Systems (35 Points)

Submission instructions: These questions require thought but do not require long answers. Please be as concise as possible. You should submit your answers as a writeup in PDF format via GradeScope and code via the Snap submission site. Submitting writeup: Prepare answers to the homework questions into a single PDF file and submit it via http://gradescope.com. Make sure that the answer to each question is on a separate page. On top of each page write the number of the question you are answering. Please find the cover sheet and the recommended templates located here: Not including the cover sheet in your submission will result in a 2-point penalty. It is also important to tag your answers correctly on Gradescope. We will deduct 5/N points for each incorrectly tagged subproblem (where N is the number of subproblems). This means you can lose up to 5 points for incorrect tagging. Put all the code for a single question into a single file and upload it. Consider a user-item bipartite graph where each edge in the graph between user U to item I, indicates that user U likes item I. We also represent the ratings matrix for this set of users and items as R, where each row in R corresponds to a user and each column corresponds to an item. If user i likes item j, then R i,j = 1, otherwise R i,j = 0. Also assume we have m users and n items, so matrix R is m × n.
Altered postural responses persist following physical therapy of general versus specific trunk exercises in people with low back pain.

UNLABELLED
Interventions that target trunk muscle impairments in people with LBP have been promoted; however, the treatment effects on muscle activation impairments during postural tasks remain unclear. Thus, our objective was to evaluate the effects trunk stabilization vs. general strength and conditioning exercises on the automatic postural response in persons with chronic low back pain (LBP). Fifty-eight subjects with chronic, recurrent LBP (n = 58) (i.e., longer than six months) were recruited and randomly assigned to one of two, 10-week physical therapy programs: stabilization (n = 29) or strength and conditioning (n = 29). Pain and function were measured at 11 weeks and 6 months post-treatment initiation. To quantify postural following support surface perturbations, surface electrodes recorded electromyography (EMG) of trunk and leg muscles and force plates recorded forces under the feet, to calculate the center of pressure. Both groups demonstrated significant improvements in pain and function out to 6 months. There were also changes in muscle activation patterns immediately post-treatment, but not at 6 months. However, changes in center of pressure (COP) responses were treatment specific. Following treatment, the stabilization group demonstrated later onset of COP displacement, while the onset of COP displacement in the strengthening group was significantly earlier following treatment. Despite two different treatments, clinical improvements and muscle activation patterns were similar for both groups, indicating that the stabilization treatment protocol does not preferentially improve treatment outcomes or inter-muscle postural coordination patterns for persons with LBP.


CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
NCT01611792.
A general model of hybrid data dissemination

Hybrid data dissemination, which combines the push-based (i.e., broadcast) and pull-based (i.e., on-demand) data delivery, is the most common technique to deliver information in a mobile computing system. Most of the prior works in hibrid dissemination are based on the assumption that each delivered data item is of the same size. However, in the modern communication environment in which various information is delivered, the conventional dissemination schemes suffer from the efficiency issues. In this paper, we consider a general model of hybrid data dissemination, in which each data item is allowed to have an arbitrary size. The analytical model MGBC (Model of General Broadcast Channels) and MGOD (Model of General On-demand Channels) are first proposed to describe the broadcast and on-demand channels, respectively. In addition, the scheme GDS (General Dissemination Scheme) is adopted to perform the channel allocation and the data classification. Experimental results show that the proposed approach gives a near-optimal solution in achieving the minimun access time in the general dissemination environment.
Impact of genetic and non-genetic factors on clinical responses to prochlorperazine in oxycodone-treated cancer patients.

BACKGROUND
The contributions of DRD2 and OPRM1 genetic variants to clinical responses to prochlorperazine remain to be clarified in opioid-treated patients. We evaluated the clinical responses to prochlorperazine based on non-genetic and genetic factors in oxycodone-treated patients.


METHODS
Seventy Japanese cancer patients starting oral prochlorperazine together with oxycodone were enrolled. Predose plasma prochlorperazine concentrations and serum prolactin concentrations were determined. The incidences of oxycodone-induced nausea and vomiting were monitored for 2weeks.


RESULTS
Plasma prochlorperazine concentration and oxycodone daily dose were not associated with the incidences of nausea and vomiting. The incidence of nausea was significantly higher in the DRD2 TaqIA A1A2+A1A1 group than in the A2A2 group. The incidence of vomiting was significantly higher in females than in males. Before and after the prochlorperazine administration, the serum prolactin concentration was significantly higher in female patients than in male patients. The serum prolactin concentration was weakly correlated with prochlorperazine concentration and was significantly higher in the OPRM1 118AA group than in the AG+GG group.


CONCLUSIONS
DRD2 TaqIA and female gender altered the prophylactic antiemetic efficacy of prochlorperazine. OPRM1 A118G together with plasma exposure of prochlorperazine and gender affected prolactin secretion in oxycodone-treated patients.
On the peculiarities and analogies of positronium chemical reactions and its radiation yield compared with hydrogen

Abstract Application of positronium chemistry to various chemical problems is essentially dependent on our knowledge of analogies and differences in the formation and chemical conversions of positronium and atomic hydrogen. The problem is whether the “similarity” of positronium with atomic hydrogen is completely superficial or some common features in their behaviour can be found. The author's experimental results and other publications are analysed in this review in this respect.
What is integrability of discrete variational systems?

We propose a notion of a pluri-Lagrangian problem, which should be understood as an analogue of multi-dimensional consistency for variational systems. This is a development along the line of research of discrete integrable Lagrangian systems initiated in 2009 by Lobb and Nijhoff, however, having its more remote roots in the theory of pluriharmonic functions, in the Z-invariant models of statistical mechanics and their quasiclassical limit, as well as in the theory of variational symmetries going back to Noether. A d-dimensional pluri-Lagrangian problem can be described as follows: given a d-form [Formula: see text] on an m-dimensional space (called multi-time, m>d), whose coefficients depend on a sought-after function x of m independent variables (called field), find those fields x which deliver critical points to the action functionals [Formula: see text] for anyd-dimensional manifold Σ in the multi-time. We derive the main building blocks of the multi-time Euler-Lagrange equations for a discrete pluri-Lagrangian problem with d=2, the so-called corner equations, and discuss the notion of consistency of the system of corner equations. We analyse the system of corner equations for a special class of three-point two-forms, corresponding to integrable quad-equations of the ABS list. This allows us to close a conceptual gap of the work by Lobb and Nijhoff by showing that the corresponding two-forms are closed not only on solutions of (non-variational) quad-equations, but also on general solutions of the corresponding corner equations. We also find an example of a pluri-Lagrangian system not coming from a multi-dimensionally consistent system of quad-equations.
A Head and Neck Cancer Tumor Response-Specific Gene Signature for Cisplatin, 5-Fluorouracil Induction Chemotherapy Fails with Added Taxanes

BACKGROUND
It is a major clinical challenge to predict which patients, with advanced stage head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, will not exhibit a reduction in tumor size following induction chemotherapy in order to avoid toxic effects of ineffective chemotherapy and delays for instituting other therapeutic options. Further, it is of interest to know to what extent a gene signature, which identifies patients with tumors that will not respond to a particular induction chemotherapy, is applicable when additional chemotherapeutic agents are added to the regimen.


METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
To identify genes that predict tumor resistance to induction with cisplatin/5-fluorouracil (PF) or PF and a taxane, we analyzed patient tumor biopsies with whole genome microarrays and quantitative reverse transcriptase-PCR (TLDA) cards. A leave one out cross-validation procedure allowed evaluation of the prediction tool. A ten-gene microarray signature correctly classified 12/13 responders and 7/10 non-responders to PF (92% specificity, 82.6% accuracy). TLDA analysis (using the same classifier) of the patients correctly classified 12/12 responders and 8/10 non-responders (100% specificity, 90.9% accuracy). Further, TLDA analysis correctly predicted the response of 5 new patients and, overall, 12/12 responders and 13/15 non-responders (100% specificity, 92.6% accuracy). The protein products of the genes constituting the signature physically associate with 27 other proteins, involved in regulating gene expression, constituting an interaction network. In contrast, TLDA-based prediction (with the same gene signature) of responses to induction with PF and either of two taxanes was poor (0% specificity, 25% accuracy and 33.3% specificity, 25% accuracy).


CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE
Successful transfer of the microarray-based gene signature to an independent, PCR-based technology suggests that TLDA-based signatures could be a useful hospital-based technology for determining therapeutic options. Although highly specific for tumor responses to PF induction, the gene signature is unsuccessful when taxanes are added. The results illustrate the subtlety in developing "personalized medicine".
A Progressive Batching L-BFGS Method for Machine Learning

The standard L-BFGS method relies on gradient approximations that are not dominated by noise, so that search directions are descent directions, the line search is reliable, and quasi-Newton updating yields useful quadratic models of the objective function. All of this appears to call for a full batch approach, but since small batch sizes give rise to faster algorithms with better generalization properties, L-BFGS is currently not considered an algorithm of choice for large-scale machine learning applications. One need not, however, choose between the two extremes represented by the full batch or highly stochastic regimes, and may instead follow a progressive batching approach in which the sample size increases during the course of the optimization. In this paper, we present a new version of the L-BFGS algorithm that combines three basic components — progressive batching, a stochastic line search, and stable quasi-Newton updating — and that performs well on training logistic regression and deep neural networks. We provide supporting convergence theory for the method.