Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The World at 7:00: Comparing the Experience of Situations Across 20 Countries.

The purpose of this research is to quantitatively compare everyday situational experience around the world. Local collaborators recruited 5,447 members of college communities in 20 countries, who provided data via a Web site in 14 languages. Using the 89 items of the Riverside Situational Q-sort (RSQ), participants described the situation they experienced the previous evening at 7:00 p.m. Correlations among the average situational profiles of each country ranged from r = . 73 to r = . 95; the typical situation was described as largely pleasant. Most similar were the United States/Canada; least similar were South Korea/Denmark. Japan had the most homogenous situational experience; South Korea, the least. The 15 RSQ items varying the most across countries described relatively negative aspects of situational experience; the 15 least varying items were more positive. Further analyses correlated RSQ items with national scores on six value dimensions, the Big Five traits, economic output, and population. Individualism, Neuroticism, Openness, and Gross Domestic Product yielded more significant correlations than expected by chance. Psychological research traditionally has paid more attention to the assessment of persons than of situations, a discrepancy that extends to cross-cultural psychology. The present study demonstrates how cultures vary in situational experience in psychologically meaningful ways.
Prognostic role of Gli1 expression in breast cancer: a meta-analysis

Glioma-associated oncogene 1 (Gli1) is a critical transcriptional factor of Sonic hedgehog pathway which has been proved to participate in the initiation and progression of tumor in mammalians. However, its clinical value in breast cancer remains unknown. Thus, a meta-analysis was performed to clarify the association of Gli1 over-expression, clinic-pathological characteristics, molecular subtypes and prognosis in breast cancer. According to included criteria, 13 eligible studies containing 2816 patients all around the world were selected in this study. Our results indicated no significant association of Gli1 expression and histological grade (RR = 1.20, 95% CI: [0.98, 1.47]), T stage (RR = 1.05, 95% CI: [0.87, 1.27]), clinical stage (RR = 1.04, 95% CI: [0.93, 1.18]) and lymph node metastasis (RR = 1.12, 95% CI: [0.92, 1.37]). In addition, pooled RR showed no correlation of Gli1 expression and progesterone receptor (PR) (RR = 0.92, 95% CI: [0.70, 1.21]), estrogen receptor (ER) (RR = 1.03, 95% CI: [0.74, 1.42]), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) (RR = 1.12, 95% CI: [0.90, 1.39]). Nonetheless, up-regulated Gli1 expression predicts shorter disease-free survival (DFS) (HR = 1.38, 95% CI: [1.05, 1.81]), 3-year survival (HR = 1.74, 95% CI: [1.28, 2.36]), 5-year survival (HR = 2.04, 95% CI: [1.62, 2.57]) and overall survival (OS) (HR = 2.05, 95% CI: [1.60, 2.64]). In conclusion, over-expression of Gli1 tends to progressive stages and is related to unfavorable prognosis of breast cancer, which may become a potential prognosis indicator and therapy target in breast cancer.
Quasi-invariants of complex reflection groups

Abstract We introduce quasi-invariant polynomials for an arbitrary finite complex reflection group W. Unlike in the Coxeter case, the space of quasi-invariants of a given multiplicity is not, in general, an algebra but a module Qk over the coordinate ring of a (singular) affine variety Xk. We extend the main results of Berest et al. [Cherednik algebras and differential operators on quasi-invariants, Duke Math. J. 118 (2003), 279–337] to this setting: in particular, we show that the variety Xk and the module Qk are Cohen–Macaulay, and the rings of differential operators on Xk and Qk are simple rings, Morita equivalent to the Weyl algebra An(ℂ) , where n=dim Xk. Our approach relies on representation theory of complex Cherednik algebras introduced by Dunkl and Opdam [Dunkl operators for complex reflection groups, Proc. London Math. Soc. (3) 86 (2003), 70–108] and is parallel to that of Berest et al. As an application, we prove the existence of shift operators for an arbitrary complex reflection group, confirming a conjecture of Dunkl and Opdam. Another result is a proof of a conjecture of Opdam, concerning certain operations (KZ twists) on the set of irreducible representations of W.
Standardized skin surface biopsy: method to estimate the Demodex folliculorum density, not to study the Demodex folliculorum prevalence

© 2007 The Authors 1301 JEADV 2007, 21, 1253–1302 Journal compilation © 2007 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology the c-Kit axis. There are few articles about the onset of melanocytic neoplasia in oncohaematological patients. In particular, widespread eruptive dermal and atypical melanocytic naevi in a patient affected by CML has been described. In the article, none of the atypical naevi are clearly described as melanoma. In conclusion, we report the rare case of a primary dermal melanoma occurred in contiguity with an intradermal naevus, in a patient affected by CML, Ph+, and associated with a prolonged survival.
Reproducibility of and file format effect on digital subtraction radiography of simulated external root resorptions.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate, in simulated external root resorptions (ERR), two factors that may affect results of digital subtraction radiography (DSR): (1) intraobserver and interobserver reproducibility and (2) effects of digital file formats (TIFF, BMP and JPEG) on the estimation of mineral loss. METHODS Eleven incisors were radiographed three times (NR, no resorption; SR, small--#1/4 round bur; and LR, large--#2 round bur) on standardized projections. The resulting images were reproduced and saved as TIFF, JPEG and BMP file formats. The pairs of TIFF images (NR x SR and NR x LR) were subtracted three times at 1 week intervals by three observers. One observer subtracted pairs of images (NR x SR and NR x LR) for all file formats. For each subtraction the resorption area was selected and mean pixel density values were calculated. RESULTS Analysis of variance (ANOVA) (P = 0.05) showed no statistical differences for intraobserver and interobserver values. Mean pixel density values were: observer A, 121.60 +/- 2.56 (NR x SR) and 111.84 +/- 4.04 (NR x LR); observer B, 121.86 +/- 2.50 (NR x SR) and 110.92 +/- 3.36 (NR x LR); and observer C, 121.70 +/- 2.39 (NR x SR) and 111.10 +/- 2.67 (NR x LR). Also, no statistical differences were found between file formats for LR (TIFF, 110.88 +/- 2.79; JPEG, 111.35 +/- 3.35; BMP, 111.00 +/- 2.70) and for SR between TIFF (121.30 +/- 2.34) and JPEG (120.46 +/- 1.51) or BMP (121.67 +/- 2.18) file formats. Differences were found between the JPEG and BMP groups. CONCLUSIONS DSR is reproducible in simulated ERR, and JPEG or BMP file formats do not affect results.
Reduced Dietary Sodium Intake Increases Heart Rate. A Meta-Analysis of 63 Randomized Controlled Trials Including 72 Study Populations

Reduced dietary sodium intake (sodium reduction) increases heart rate in some studies of animals and humans. As heart rate is independently associated with the development of heart failure and increased risk of premature death a potential increase in heart rate could be a harmful side-effect of sodium reduction. The purpose of the present meta-analysis was to investigate the effect of sodium reduction on heart rate. Relevant studies were retrieved from an updated pool of 176 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in the period 1973–2014. Sixty-three of the RCTs including 72 study populations reported data on heart rate. In a meta-analysis of these data sodium reduction increased heart rate with 1.65 beats per minute [95% CI: 1.19, 2.11], p < 0.00001, corresponding to 2.4% of the baseline heart rate. This effect was independent of baseline blood pressure. In conclusion sodium reduction increases heart rate by as much (2.4%) as it decreases blood pressure (2.5%). This side-effect, which may cause harmful health effects, contributes to the need for a revision of the present dietary guidelines.
An Adaptive Wavelet Collocation Method for Fluid-Structure Interaction at High Reynolds Numbers

Two mathematical approaches are combined to calculate high Rey\-nolds number incompressible fluid-structure interaction: a wavelet method to dynamically adapt the computational grid to flow intermittency and obstacle motion, and Brinkman penalization to enforce solid boundaries of arbitrary complexity. We also implement a wavelet-based multilevel solver for the Poisson problem for the pressure at each time step. The method is applied to two-dimensional flow around fixed and moving cylinders for Reynolds numbers in the range $3\times 10^1 \le Re \le 10^5$. The compression ratios of up to 1000 are achieved. For the first time it is demonstrated in actual dynamic simulations that the compression scales like $Re^{1/2}$ over five orders of magnitude, while computational complexity scales like $Re$. This represents a significant improvement over the classical complexity estimate of $Re^{9/4}$ for two-dimensional turbulence.
Probiotics for the Prevention of Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea

Several communities have started using probiotic-rich fermented foods as therapeutic options with presumed medicinal powers. We now know the importance of microbiome balance and how probiotics can restore imbalances in the microbiome. Probiotics have been tested for a number of clinical uses such as the prevention of antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD), the treatment of various diseases such as H. pylori infection, irritable bowel disease, vaginitis, the prevention of allergies, and necrotizing enterocolitis in newborns. AAD has been the most indicated therapeutic use for probiotics. AAD is a common side effect of antibiotic usage, which affects up to 30% of patients. The hypothesis behind using probiotics for AAD is that they help normalize an unbalanced flora. There are many potential mechanisms by which probiotics support intestinal health such as (i) boosting immunity, (ii) increasing gut barrier integrity, (iii) producing antimicrobial substances, (iv) modulating the gut microbiome, (v) increasing water absorption, and (vi) decreasing opportunistic pathogens. Many randomized-controlled trials including the strain-specific trials that use Lactobacillus and Saccharomyces and meta-analyses have shown the benefits of probiotics in addressing AAD. Although adverse events have been reported for probiotics, these are broadly considered to be a safe and inexpensive preventative treatment option for AAD and other gastrointestinal disorders.
Retinal sphingolipids and their very-long-chain fatty acid-containing species.

PURPOSE Recent evidence suggests that ceramide metabolism plays an important role in retinal photoreceptor cell survival and apoptosis. The purpose of this study was to characterize sphingolipids in the retina with special emphasis on the very-long-chain-containing saturated (VLC-FA) and polyunsaturated (VLC-PUFA) fatty acid-containing species. The VLC-FAs and VLC-PUFAs are synthesized by the ELOVL4 protein, which is involved in human Stargardt's macular dystrophy type 3 (STGD3). METHODS Total lipids were extracted from retina and other tissues, and different sphingolipid classes were isolated and purified using various combinations of liquid- and solid-phase separation. Purified sphingolipids were analyzed by high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC), gas chromatography (GC), and GC-MS (GC-mass spectrometry). RESULTS Nonsialylated sphingolipids (NSLs) comprised approximately 3.5% of total retinal lipids of which 70% was sphingomyelin. Ceramide and glycosylceramides (GCs) constituted<or=1% of total retinal lipids. Gangliosides (GGs), on the other hand, comprised approximately 3.0% of total retinal lipids. Fatty acid analysis of retinal NSLs indicated an abundance of saturated fatty acids, with the presence of VLC-FAs but not of VLC-PUFAs beyond 24 carbons. However, GG had significant levels of unsaturated, polyunsaturated, and VLC-PUFAs. Retinal rod outer segments (ROS) contained approximately 1% each of NSL and GG, and their fatty acid profile was not very different from whole retinal NSL and GG, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Retina has a total of 6% to 7% fatty acids that are N-linked to a sphingosine, which would be 11 to 13 mole % in comparison to phospholipids. The presence of VLC-FAs and VLC-PUFAs in retinal sphingolipids indicates that they may play role in ELOVL4-mediated Stargardt 3.
Coxeter groups, quiver mutations and geometric manifolds

We construct finite volume hyperbolic manifolds with large symmetry groups. The construction makes use of the presentations of finite Coxeter groups provided by Barot and Marsh, and involves mutations of quivers and diagrams defined in the theory of cluster algebras. We generalize our construction by assigning to every quiver or diagram of finite or affine type a CW‐complex with a proper action of a finite (or affine) Coxeter group. These CW‐complexes undergo mutations agreeing with mutations of quivers and diagrams. We also generalize the construction to quivers and diagrams originating from unpunctured surfaces and orbifolds.
Adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy in patients with gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND The role of adjuvant therapy in gastric cancer has been controversial. AIM In this study, we report our experience with adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy in patients with non-metastatic gastric cancer. SETTINGS AND DESIGN Fifty patients were reviewed and assigned to three therapeutic groups. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty patients received radiotherapy with concomitant administration of 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin on the first and last three days of radiotherapy; 20 patients received a five-day cycle 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin followed four to five weeks later by radiotherapy concomitant with the administration of fluorouracil on the first and the last three days of radiotherapy. Four weeks after radiotherapy two more five-day cycles of chemotherapy were administered; 10 patients received three cycles of cisplatin/docetaxel followed by radiotherapy and three additional cycles of chemotherapy after the completion of radiotherapy. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS Patients were evaluated for treatment-related toxicity, local recurrences, distant metastases and deaths. We also aimed to make any possible comparisons between different chemo-radiation protocols. RESULTS Within a median follow-up of 21.5 months seven patients developed local recurrence and 17 patients developed distant metastases. The overall death proportion was 42% (95% CI 28.2-56.8%). Despite the limited number of patients, no statistically significant differences in local recurrences, distant metastases and deaths were observed between the three protocols. Acute and long-term treatment-related toxicity was low and no treatment-related deaths were observed. CONCLUSION Despite variations of chemotherapy, our study demonstrated that combined chemo-radiotherapy for patients with resected gastric cancer can be administered safely, with acceptable toxicity.
What can we get from ‘barrels’: the rodent barrel cortex as a model for studying the establishment of neural circuits

Sensory inputs triggered by external stimuli are projected into discrete arrays of neuronal modules in the primary sensory cortex. This whisker‐to‐barrel pathway has gained in popularity as a model system for studying the development of cortical circuits and sensory processing because its clear patterns facilitate the identification of genetically modified mice with whisker map deficits and make possible coordinated in vitro and in vivo electrophysiological studies. Numerous whisker map determinants have been identified in the past two decades. In this review, we summarize what have we learned from the detailed studies conducted in various mutant mice with cortical whisker map deficits. We will specifically focus on the anatomical and functional establishment of the somatosensory thalamocortical circuits.
Incremental CAD

Comprehensive study of incremental algorithms and solutions in the context of CAD tool development is an open area of research with a great deal of potential. Incremental algorithms for synthesis and layout are needed when design undergoes local or incremental change. Often these local changes are made to react to local change in the design, correct local errors or to make local improvements in one or more of the design quality metrics. In this paper we outline fundamental problems in incremental logic synthesis and physical design. Preliminary solutions to a subset of these problems are outlined.
RUNX1 mutations in cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia are associated with a poor prognosis and up-regulation of lymphoid genes

Background The RUNX1 (AML1) gene is a frequent mutational target in myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia. Previous studies suggested that RUNX1 mutations may have pathological and prognostic implications. Design and Methods We screened 93 patients with cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia for RUNX1 mutations by capillary sequencing of genomic DNA. Mutation status was then correlated with clinical data and gene expression profiles. Results We found that 15 out of 93 (16.1%) patients with cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia had RUNX1 mutations. Seventy-three patients were enrolled in the AMLCG-99 trial and carried ten RUNX1 mutations (13.7%). Among these 73 patients RUNX1 mutations were significantly associated with older age, male sex, absence of NPM1 mutations and presence of MLL-partial tandem duplications. Moreover, RUNX1-mutated patients had a lower complete remission rate (30% versus 73% P=0.01), lower relapse-free survival rate (3-year relapse-free survival 0% versus 30.4%; P=0.002) and lower overall survival rate (3-year overall survival 0% versus 34.4%; P<0.001) than patients with wild-type RUNX1. RUNX1 mutations remained associated with shorter overall survival in a multivariate model including age and the European LeukemiaNet acute myeloid leukemia genetic classification as covariates. Patients with RUNX1 mutations showed a unique gene expression pattern with differential expression of 85 genes. The most prominently up-regulated genes in patients with RUNX1-mutated cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia include lymphoid regulators such as HOP homeobox (HOPX), deoxynucleotidyltransferase (DNTT, terminal) and B-cell linker (BLNK), indicating lineage infidelity. Conclusions Our findings firmly establish that RUNX1 mutations are a marker of poor prognosis and provide insights into the pathogenesis of RUNX1 mutation-positive acute myeloid leukemia.
Differential plant damage due to litterfall in palm-dominated forest stands in a Central Pacific atoll

Abstract: High densities of palms are common in many tropical forests. In some cases, the dominance of palms has been associated with a depauperate understorey and high rates of native seedling mortality. A variety of different potential mechanisms has been suggested to explain the sustained palm dominance in the understorey and canopy of these forests. Working in a Cocos nucifera-dominated wet tropical forest at Palmyra Atoll in the central Pacific, we examine how litterfall from this pantropical, and economically important palm, impacts seedling survival. We compare rates of litterfall, and rates of litterfall-associated damage, between forest stands dominated by C. nucifera (coconut palm) and forest stands with low abundance of C. nucifera. To assess litterfall damage we survey damage to both artificial seedlings (n = 711), outplanted real seedlings of two species (with and without protection via caging; n = 204), and standing rates of litterfall damage. We find that rates of large-litterfall damage were an average of five times higher in sites with high densities of C. nucifera. Associated with these increases we observe that levels of physical damage to artificial model seedlings caused by litterfall over a 4-mo period increased from 4.9% in sites with low abundance of C. nucifera to 16.1% in sites with high abundance of C. nucifera. Extrapolated to annual rates, litterfall damage of this magnitude exceeds the average levels observed in other published studies. Living native seedlings also showed more than 300% higher levels of mortality in forest stands with high densities of C. nucifera, a difference that was greatly reduced when protected by caging from litterfall. In contrast, uncaged C. nucifera seedlings actually had slightly higher survivorship in habitats dominated by conspecifics. We suggest that litterfall damage may be an important mechanism by which this tropical palm reaches and maintains near monodominance in many coastal and insular habitats.
Frame-free dynamic digital vision

Conventional image sensors produce massive amounts of redundant data and are limited in temporal resolution by the frame rate. This paper reviews our recent breakthrough in the development of a high- performance spike-event based dynamic vision sensor (DVS) that discards the frame concept entirely, and then describes novel digital methods for efficient low-level filtering and feature extraction and high-level object tracking that are based on the DVS spike events. These methods filter events, label them, or use them for object tracking. Filtering reduces the number of events but improves the ratio of informative events. Labeling attaches additional interpretation to the events, e.g. orientation or local optical flow. Tracking uses the events to track moving objects. Processing occurs on an event-by-event basis and uses the event time and identity as the basis for computation. A common memory object for filtering and labeling is a spatial map of most recent past event times. Processing methods typically use these past event times together with the present event in integer branching logic to filter, label, or synthesize new events. These methods are straightforwardly computed on serial digital hardware, resulting in a new event- and timing-based approach for visual computation that efficiently integrates a neural style of computation with digital hardware. All code is open- sourced in the jAER project (jaer.wiki.sourceforge.net).
Automatic detection of oil spills in ERS SAR images

The authors present algorithms for the automatic detection of oil spills in SAR images. The developed framework consists of first detecting dark spots in the image, then computing a set of features for each dark spot, before the spot is classified as either an oil slick or a "lookalike" (other oceanographic phenomena which resemble oil slicks). The classification rule is constructed by combining statistical modeling with a rule-based approach. Prior knowledge about the higher probability for the presence of oil slicks around ships and oil platforms is incorporated into the model. In addition, knowledge about the external conditions like wind level and slick surroundings are taken into account. The presented algorithms are tested on 84 SAR images. The algorithm can discriminate between oil slicks and lookalikes with high accuracy, 94% of the oil slicks and 99% of the lookalikes were correctly classified.