LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Metabolic and Lipidomic Reprogramming in Renal Cell Carcinoma Subtypes Reflects Regions of Tumor Origin.

BACKGROUND
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) consists of prognostic distinct subtypes derived from different cells of origin (eg, clear cell RCC [ccRCC], papillary RCC [papRCC], and chromophobe RCC [chRCC]). ccRCC is characterized by lipid accumulation and metabolic alterations, whereas data on metabolic alterations in non-ccRCC are limited.


OBJECTIVE
We assessed metabolic alterations and the lipid composition of RCC subtypes and ccRCC-derived metastases. Moreover, we elucidated the potential of metabolites/lipids for subtype classification and identification of therapeutic targets.


DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
Metabolomic/lipidomic profiles were quantified in ccRCC (n=58), chRCC (n=19), papRCC (n=14), corresponding nontumor tissues, and metastases (n=9) through a targeted metabolomic approach. Transcriptome profiling was performed in corresponding samples and compared with expression data of The Cancer Genome Atlas cohorts (patients with ccRCC, n=452; patients with papRCC, n=260; and patients with chRCC, n=59).


OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
In addition to cluster analyses, metabolomic/transcriptomic data were analyzed to evaluate metabolic differences of ccRCC and chRCC using Welch's t test or paired t test as appropriate. Where indicated, p values were adjusted for multiple testing using Bonferroni or Benjamini-Hochberg correction.


RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS
Based on their metabolic profiles, RCC subtypes clustered into two groups separating ccRCC and papRCC from chRCC, which mainly reflected the different cells of origin. ccRCC-derived metastases clustered with primary ccRCCs. In addition to differences in certain lipids (lysophosphatidylcholines and sphingomyelins), the coregulation network of lipids differed between ccRCC and chRCC. Consideration of metabolic gene expression indicated, for example, alterations of the polyamine pathway at metabolite and transcript levels. In vitro treatment of RCC cells with the ornithine-decarboxylase inhibitor difluoromethylornithine resulted in reduced cell viability and mitochondrial activity. Further evaluation of clinical utility was limited by the retrospective study design and cohort size.


CONCLUSIONS
In summary, we provide novel insight into the metabolic profiles of ccRCC and non-ccRCC, thereby confirming the different ontogeny of RCC subtypes. Quantification of differentially regulated metabolites/lipids improves classification of RCC with an impact on the identification of novel therapeutic targets.


PATIENT SUMMARY
Several subtypes of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with different metastatic potentials and prognoses exist. In the present study, we provide novel insight into the metabolism of these different subtypes, which improves classification of subtypes and helps identify novel targets for RCC therapy.
Community based integrated intervention for prevention and management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Guangdong, China: cluster randomised controlled trial

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effects of a community based integrated intervention for early prevention and management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in China.


DESIGN
Cluster randomised controlled trial.


SETTING
Eight healthcare units in two communities.


PARTICIPANTS
Of 1062 people aged 40-89, 872 (101 with COPD and 771 without COPD) who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were allocated to the intervention or the usual care programmes.


INTERVENTION
Participants randomly assigned to integrated intervention (systematic health education, intensive and individualised intervention, treatment, and rehabilitation) or usual care.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Annual rate of decline in forced expiratory rate in one second (FEV(1)) before use of bronchodilator.


RESULTS
Annual rate of decline in FEV(1) was significantly lower in the intervention community than the control community, with an adjusted difference of 19 ml/year (95% confidence interval 3 to 36) and 0.9% (0.1% to 1.8%) of predicted values (all P<0.05), as well as a lower annual rate of decline in FEV(1)/FVC (forced vital capacity) ratio (adjusted difference 0.6% (0.1% to 1.2%) P=0.029). There were also higher rates of smoking cessation (21% v 8%, P<0.004) and lower cumulative death rates from all causes (1% v 3%, P<0.009) in the intervention community than in the control community during the four year follow-up. Improvements in knowledge of COPD and smoking hazards, outdoor air quality, environmental tobacco smoke, and working conditions were also achieved (all P<0.05). The difference in cumulative incidence rate of COPD (both around 4%) and cumulative death rate from COPD (2% v 11%) did not reach significance between the two communities.


CONCLUSIONS
A community based integrated intervention can have a significant impact on the prevention and management of COPD, mainly reflected in the annual rate of decline in FEV(1).


TRIAL REGISTRATION
Chinese Clinical Trials Registration (ChiCTR-TRC-00000532).
Colorectal cancer screening among ethnically diverse, low-income patients: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND
Patient navigators may increase colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates among adults in underserved communities, but prior randomized trials have been small or conducted at single sites and have not included substantial numbers of Haitian Creole-speaking or Portuguese-speaking patients.


METHODS
We identified 465 primary care patients from 4 community health centers and 2 public hospital-based clinics who were not up-to-date with CRC screening and spoke English, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, or Spanish as their primary language. We enrolled participants from September 1, 2008, through March 31, 2009, and followed them up for 1 year after enrollment. We randomly allocated patients to receive a patient navigation-based intervention or usual care. Intervention patients received an introductory letter from their primary care provider with educational material, followed by telephone calls from a language-concordant navigator. The navigators offered patients the option of being screened by fecal occult blood testing or colonoscopy. The primary outcome was completion of any CRC screening within 1 year. Secondary outcomes included the proportions of patients screened by colonoscopy who had adenomas or cancer detected.


RESULTS
During a 1-year period, intervention patients were more likely to undergo CRC screening than control patients (33.6% vs 20.0%; P < .001), to be screened by colonoscopy (26.4% vs 13.0%; P < .001), and to have adenomas detected (8.1% vs 3.9%; P = .06). In prespecified subgroup analyses, the navigator intervention was particularly beneficial for patients whose primary language was other than English (39.8% vs 18.6%; P < .001) and black patients (39.7% vs 16.7%; P = .004).


CONCLUSIONS
Patient navigation increased completion of CRC screening among ethnically diverse patients. Targeting patient navigation to black and non-English-speaking patients may be a useful approach to reducing disparities in CRC screening.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01141114.
Physico-chemical characterisation of Cu(In,Al)Se2 thin film for solar cells obtained by a selenisation process

Abstract Cu(In,Al)Se 2 thin films are investigated for their application as absorber layer material for solar cells. Films are elaborated by selenisation of multilayer metallic precursors deposited by thermal evaporation. In order to minimize the oxidation of the aluminium during the precursor deposition, an alternative deposition method using a Cu–Al eutectic is used. Films are characterized by X-ray diffraction, electron probe microanalysis, scanning electron microscopy, and optical measurements. These measurements show that most of the films are crystallized in the chalcopyrite structure and have the expected optical properties and composition. In some cases, the aluminium segregates and the films behave like CuInSe 2 . In all cases, the films are not oxidized (less than 1 at.% of O 2 ).
LibGuides: Mechanical Engineering: Government Information

This guide is designed as a starting point for doing engineering research using Preston Library's resources.
Reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Resilience Scale and its short version

The clinical relevance of resilience has received considerable attention in recent years. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Resilience Scale (RS) and short version of the RS (RS-14). The original English version of RS was translated to Japanese and the Japanese version was confirmed by back-translation. Participants were 430 nursing and university psychology students. The RS, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS) were administered. Internal consistency, convergent validity and factor loadings were assessed at initial assessment. Test-retest reliability was assessed using data collected from 107 students at 3 months after baseline. Mean score on the RS was 111.19. Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the RS and RS-14 were 0.90 and 0.88, respectively. The test-retest correlation coefficients for the RS and RS-14 were 0.83 and 0.84, respectively. Both the RS and RS-14 were negatively correlated with the CES-D and SDS, and positively correlated with the RSES, SSQ and PSS (all p < 0.05), although the correlation between the RS and CES-D was somewhat lower than that in previous studies. Factor analyses indicated a one-factor solution for RS-14, but as for RS, the result was not consistent with previous studies. This study demonstrates that the Japanese version of RS has psychometric properties with high degrees of internal consistency, high test-retest reliability, and relatively low concurrent validity. RS-14 was equivalent to the RS in internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity. Low scores on the RS, a positive correlation between the RS and perceived stress, and a relatively low correlation between the RS and depressive symptoms in this study suggest that validity of the Japanese version of the RS might be relatively low compared with the original English version.
Using Simulation, Data Mining, and Knowledge Discovery Techniques for Optimized Aircraft Engine Fleet Management

This paper presents an innovative methodology that combines simulation, data mining, and knowledge-based techniques to determine the near- and long-term impacts of candidate aircraft engine maintenance decisions, particularly in terms of life-cycle cost (LCC) and operational availability. Simulation output is subjected to data mining analysis to understand system behavior in terms of subsystem interactions and the factors influencing life-cycle metrics. The insights obtained through this exercise are then encapsulated as policies and guidelines supporting better life-cycle asset ownership decision-making.
Critical Features of Special Education Teacher Preparation A Comparison With General Teacher Education

Chronic teacher shortages in special education, as well as concerns about a dwindling teacher workforce in general, have led to a variety of alternative routes to the classroom. The nature of these alternative routes is largely unknown, as is their capacity for ensuring that qualified special education teachers are available to serve students with disabilities (Rosenberg & Sindelar, 2001). Moreover, the development of alternative routes comes at a time when teacher education is under fire for its perceived inability to prepare quality teachers. Critics argue that teacher education programs make no contribution to K–12 student achievement, are not intellectually challenging, and act as deterrents to bright, young people interested in entering the classroom (Finn & Kanstroom, 2000; Walsh, 2001). The federal government recently lent considerable credence to this position. Specifically, the U.S. Secretary of Education, in a highly controversial report (U.S. Department of Education, 2002), claimed that a teacher’s verbal ability and subject matter knowledge are key factors in improving student achievement, whereas the role of teacher education is questionable. Teacher education advocates counter that positive correlations exist between teacher certification status and student achievement (Darling-Hammond, 1999, 2000; Felter, 1999; Laczko-Kerr & Berliner, 2002). For example, DarlingHammond (1999) reported that states with the highest proportions of certified teachers tended to have the highest National Assessment of Educational Progress scores. Additionally, in Critical Features of Special Education Teacher Preparation:
Thinking Philosophically: An Introduction to Critical Reflection and Rational Dialogue

A Preface to Teachers. Acknowledgments. Philosophers in Thinking Philosophically. Part I: Metaphilosophy: 1. Introduction. 2. What is Philosophy? 3. Why We Do Philosophy. 4. The Two Most Basic Causes of Philosophy. 5. Reason, Philosophy, and Other Disciplines. 6. Methods for Doing Philosophy. 7. Things Philosophers Do. 8. A Healthy Philosophical Attitude. 9. Alternatives to Philosophy. Part II: Epistemology: Chapter 10: What is Truth? 11. What is Knowledge? 12. Logic - Understanding and Evaluating Arguments. Part III: THEORY OF VALUE: 13. Axiology and Happiness. 14. Ethics and Morality. Part IV: Metaphysics: 15. Freedom & Determinism. 16. The Mind/Body Problem. 17. Philosophical Theism. 18. Philosophical Materialism. 19. Metaphysical Idealism. Part V: Parting Remarks: Index.
Physical education, school physical activity, school sports and academic performance

BACKGROUND
The purpose of this paper is to review relationships of academic performance and some of its determinants to participation in school-based physical activities, including physical education (PE), free school physical activity (PA) and school sports.


METHODS
Linkages between academic achievement and involvement in PE, school PA and sport programmes have been examined, based on a systematic review of currently available literature, including a comprehensive search of MEDLINE (1966 to 2007), PSYCHINFO (1974 to 2007), SCHOLAR.GOOGLE.COM, and ERIC databases.


RESULTS
Quasi-experimental data indicate that allocating up to an additional hour per day of curricular time to PA programmes does not affect the academic performance of primary school students negatively, even though the time allocated to other subjects usually shows a corresponding reduction. An additional curricular emphasis on PE may result in small absolute gains in grade point average (GPA), and such findings strongly suggest a relative increase in performance per unit of academic teaching time. Further, the overwhelmingly majority of such programmes have demonstrated an improvement in some measures of physical fitness (PF). Cross-sectional observations show a positive association between academic performance and PA, but PF does not seem to show such an association. PA has positive influences on concentration, memory and classroom behaviour. Data from quasi-experimental studies find support in mechanistic experiments on cognitive function, pointing to a positive relationship between PA and intellectual performance.


CONCLUSION
Given competent providers, PA can be added to the school curriculum by taking time from other subjects without risk of hindering student academic achievement. On the other hand, adding time to "academic" or "curricular" subjects by taking time from physical education programmes does not enhance grades in these subjects and may be detrimental to health.
Occupational exposures as risk factors for gastric cancer in Italy

Occupational associations with gastric cancer were investigated in a multicenter case-control study in Italy involving interviews with 640 histologically confirmed male cases and 959 controls, randomly selected from the resident populations of the study areas. From information on the three jobs each person held the longest, risks were evaluated according to employment in 35 occupations (ever or 21+ years) and to estimated exposure (ever or 21+ years) to six chemicals using a job-exposure matrix. All risk estimates were adjusted by personal, demographic, and dietary variables identified as gastric-cancer risk factors in previous analyses. The only significantly increased risk was observed for sailors, seamen, and allied groups (ever employed: odds ratio [OR]=2.9; 95 percent confidence interval [CI]=1.1–8.0; 21+ years: OR=3.1, CI=0.8–13). Nonsignificant increases after 21+ years of employment were observed for forestry workers, miners, and janitors and cleaners. Crude ORs were elevated significantly among farmers, but adjusting for demographic and lifestyle factors largely eliminated the association: a nonsignificant 30 percent excess risk remained for farm laborers, but there was no rise in risk among long-term farm laborers and no excess among farm owners. Application of the job-exposure matrix revealed excess risks of borderline significance associated with potential exposure to mineral dusts and nitrogen oxides. For subjects with 21+ years of potential exposure, nonsignificantly increased risks were related to mineral dusts, asbestos, fertilizers, and nitrosamines. Although possibly incomplete occupational histories and use of broad occupational codes likely resulted in some exposure misclassification, the results of this study indicate that occupation in general is not a strong risk factor for gastric cancer. The findings, however, are consistent with previous reports suggesting that certain occupational exposures may influence gastric cancer risk.
Pharmacoeconomics--an aid to better decision-making.

OBJECTIVES
The first aim of this workshop was to define pharmacoeconomic concepts and terminology. Pharmacoeconomics can be defined as the branch of economics that uses cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness, cost-minimization, cost-of-illness and cost-utility analyses to compare pharmaceutical products and treatment strategies. Economic evaluations provide healthcare decision-makers with valuable information, allowing optimal allocation of limited resources. However, pharmacoeconomics is based on long-term benefits, whereas physicians are typically forced to seek immediate savings. The second aim was to review pharmacoeconomic studies in the field of onychomycosis and finally to discuss future perspectives.


RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
We discussed current pharmacoeconomic issues on the management of onychomycosis. Consensus was reached on the following issues: * Published pharmacoeconomic studies concerning onychomycosis are flawed. Future studies should be based on internationally validated principles and appropriate models. The fact that costs of different drugs, laboratory examinations and physician visits vary worldwide should be considered. Cost-benefit studies are required. * The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommendations are often considered in countries other than the UK, even when not adapted to the country in question. * Generic drugs might reduce costs, but this depends on their effectiveness (bioavailability). * Sampling requests affect the economic cost (dependent on methodology, which depends on country) and physicians often trust their instincts even when tests are repeatedly negative. * The cost of adverse event management is usually considered to be 10%; this may be too high for onychomycosis, as treatments are relatively safe without severe side-effects. * Probability of recurrence for each drug should be determined. * Need for disease severity standardization, definition of diagnostic criteria and successful treatment (mycological and clinical cure).
Power limits fulfilment and MUI reduction based on pulse shaping in UWB networks

Pulse shaping in ultra-wide band (UWB) networks based on impulse radio (IR) is a viable way for adapting the power spectral density (PSD) of transmitted signals to spectral requirements. The proposed pulse shaping method is based on linear combination of a set of base waveforms obtained by differentiation of the Gaussian pulse. Strategies for selecting linear combination coefficients are proposed and approximation of emission masks for UWB indoor systems based on linear combination of the above base functions is analyzed. It is shown that linear combination of base waveforms fulfils spectral requirements with higher efficiency than that achieved by a single waveform. The adoption of pulse shaping in the reduction of multiuser interference (MUI) between different UWB networks is finally proposed and evaluated by means of simulations.
Economic evaluation of lifestyle interventions to treat overweight or obesity in children

Objective:To estimate lifetime cost effectiveness of lifestyle interventions to treat overweight and obese children, from the UK National Health Service perspective.Design:An adaptation of the National Heart Forum economic model to predict lifetime health service costs and outcomes of lifestyle interventions on obesity-related diseases.Setting:Hospital or community-based weight-management programmes.Population:Hypothetical cohorts of overweight or obese children based on body mass data from the National Child Measurement Programme.Interventions:Lifestyle interventions that have been compared with no or minimal intervention in randomized controlled trials (RCTs).Main Outcome Measures:Reduction in body mass index (BMI) standard deviation score (SDS), intervention resources/costs, lifetime treatment costs, obesity-related diseases and cost per life year gained.Results:Ten RCTs were identified by our search strategy. The median effect of interventions versus control from these 10 RCTs was a difference in BMI SDS of −0.13 at 12 months, but the range in effects among interventions was broad (0.04 to −0.60). Indicative costs per child of these interventions ranged from £108 to £662. For obese children aged 10–11 years, an intervention that resulted in a median reduction in BMI SDS at 12 months at a moderate cost of £400 increased life expectancy by 0.19 years and intervention costs were offset by subsequent undiscounted savings in treatment costs (net saving of £110 per child), though this saving did not emerge until the sixth or seventh decade of life. The discounted cost per life year gained was £13 589. Results were broadly similar for interventions aimed at children aged 4–5 years and which targeted both obese and overweight children. For more costly interventions, savings were less likely.Conclusion:Interventions to treat childhood obesity are potentially cost effective although cost savings and health benefits may not appear until the sixth or seventh decade of life.
Influence of a variable reluctance resolver on an E-motor-system

In this paper the fundamental knowledge of a variable reluctance resolver is presented and an analytical model is demonstrated. With the simulation results are calculated and validated by measurements on a sensor test bench. Based on the introduced model, mechanical and electrical failures of any variable reluctance sensor can be analyzed. The model based simulation is compared to the measurement results and future prospects are given.
Recent Developments in the Skyrme Model

In this talk, we describe recent developments in the Skyrme model. Our main focus is on discussing various effects which need to be taken into account, when calculating the properties of light atomic nuclei in the Skyrme model. We argue that an important step is to understand “spinning Skyrmions” and discuss the theory of relative equilibria in this context.