Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Macroscopic lymph-node involvement and neck dissection predict lymph-node recurrence in papillary thyroid carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE Whether lymph-node dissection (LND) influences the lymph-node recurrence (LNR) risk in patients with papillary thyroid cancer remains controversial. The prognostic impact of macroscopic and microscopic lymph-node involvement at diagnosis is also an unresolved issue. A retrospective study was conducted to assess the influence of various LND procedures and to search for LNR risk factors. METHODS Overall 545 patients without distant metastases prior to surgery and main tumour > or =10 mm were included. A total thyroidectomy was performed in all patients with either no LND (Group 1, n=161), bilateral LND of the central and lateral compartments (Group 2, n=181) or all other dissection modalities (Group 3, n=203). Post-operative radioiodine was given to 496 (91%) patients. The 10-year cumulative probability of LNR was assessed and a prognostic study using multivariate analysis was performed. RESULTS Macroscopic lymph-node metastases were present in 118 patients, 57 diagnosed before surgery and 61 only at surgery (including 81% in the central compartment). Overall, the 10-year cumulative probability of LNR was 7%. Macroscopic lymph-node metastases (P=0.001), extra-thyroidal invasion (P=0.017) and male gender (P=0.05) were independent risk factors, while bilateral LND of the central and lateral compartments was protective (P=0.028). In patients with macroscopic lymph-node metastases, the 10-year probability was lower in Group 2 than in Group 3 (10% vs 30%, P<0.01). In patients without macroscopic lymph-node metastases (n=427), no significant differences were observed between the three LND groups. CONCLUSIONS Patients with macroscopic, but not microscopic, lymph-node involvement have a major LNR risk and need an optimal LND at primary surgery.
Intergroup reconciliation: Instrumental and socio-emotional processes and the needs-based model

We discuss the complexity of the concept of intergroup reconciliation, offer our definition of it, and identify instrumental and socio-emotional processes as distinct processes that facilitate reconciliation. We then present the needs-based model, according to which conflicts threaten victims’ sense of agency and perpetrators’ moral image, and social exchange interactions that restore victims’ and perpetrators’ impaired identities promote reconciliation. We review empirical evidence supporting the model and present extensions of it to (a) contexts of structural inequality, (b) “dual” conflicts, in which both parties transgress against each other, and (c) contexts in which the restoration of positive identities is external to the victim–perpetrator dyad (e.g., third-parties’ interventions). Theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.
Impact evaluation from quality assurance agencies’ perspectives: methodological approaches, experiences and expectations

Starting from the main objective of external quality assurance (EQA) procedures to assure and improve the quality of higher education institutions and its provisions, the paper examines expected impacts of EQA procedures on institutions from the perspectives of three European quality assurance agencies. First, the paper examines the expected impacts of different standard parts of a typical peer review procedure on higher education institutions and assesses when a procedure is most likely to have an effect on the institution. The second part presents the current practices of the three EQA agencies, AQU Catalunya (Spain), Evaluationsagentur Baden-Württemberg (evalag) (Germany) and the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (Finland) on assessing the impact of their EQA procedures.
Construction of Calibration Curve for Premature Chromosome Condensation Assay for Dose Assessment

Cytogenetic dosimetry plays an important role in the triage and medical management of affected people in radiological incidents/accidents. Cytogenetic biodosimetry uses different methods to estimate the absorbed dose in the exposed individuals, and each approach has its advantages and disadvantages. Premature chromosome condensation (PCC) assay presents several advantages that hopefully fulfill the gaps identified in the other cytogenetic methods. To introduce this technique into the panel of other cytogenetic methods, a calibration curve for PCC after γ-irradiation was generated for our laboratory.
NFS-CD: Write-Enabled Cooperative Caching in NFS

We present the network file system with cluster delegation (NFS-CD), an enhancement to the NFSv4 that reduces server load and increases the scalability of distributed file systems in computing clusters. The cluster delegation feature of NFS-CD allows data sharing among clients by extending the NFSv4 delegation model so that multiple clients manage a single file without interacting with the server. Based on cluster delegation, we implement a fast-commit primitive, cooperative caching, and the ability to recover the uncommitted updates of a failed computer. NFS-CD supports both read and write operations in the cooperative cache without degrading the consistency model of NFSv4. We have implemented NFS-CD by modifying the Linux NFSv4 client only. Because the server remains unchanged, NFS-CD preserves the simple administration model of NFSv4 and interoperates with standard NFS clients. NFS-CD offers improved performance when compared to NFSv4 at the expense of slightly weaker reliability guarantees. An experimental evaluation of our implementation, using industry standard benchmarks and application workloads, reveals that NFS-CD reduces server load by more than half. It also demonstrates that under most workloads, file systems must support writes to the cooperative cache to achieve scale.
El mastery learning a la luz de la investigación educativa

En este trabajo se persiguen tres objetivos.En primer termino, saber en que consiste el mastery learning (ml); en segundo lugar, conocer cual es su grado de bondad o eficacia cuando es comparado con otros sistemas y modelos de ensenanza; y en tercer lugar hacer balance sobre sus luces y sombras. El ml es deudor de Bloom (1968-1976) y, como afirman Anderson y Block (1985), contiene un conjunto de ideas teoricas y practicas sobre la ensenanza individualizada de tipo sistematico, que ayuda a los estudiantes en el momento en que se presentan dificultades de aprendizaje, que permite disponer de todo el tiempo necesario para adquirir dominio y que les proporciona un criterio claro de lo que constituye ese dominio. Siguiendo principalmente metodologias de sintesis (metaanalisis y metasintesis), se llega a la conclusion de que el ML, desde hace alrededor de tres decadas, no tiene un competidor mejor como modelo de ensenanza y aprendizaje. Finalmente, se presentan algunas limitaciones que derivan de su aplicacion y del mismo modelo
Severe damage to the placental fetal capillary network causes mid‐ to late fetal lethality and reduction in placental size in Peg11/Rtl1 KO mice

Paternally expressed 11/Retrotransposon‐like 1 (Peg11/Rtl1) knockout (KO) mice show mid‐ to late fetal lethality or late fetal growth retardation associated with frequent neonatal lethality. The lethal phenotype is largely dependent on genetic background and becomes more severe with each succeeding generation in the course of backcross experiments to C57BL/6 (B6). We previously suggested that these lethal and growth phenotypes in the fetal stages were due to severe defects in placental fetal capillaries in the labyrinth layer. In this study, we re‐examined KO fetuses and placentas and confirmed that the severe clogging of fetal capillaries was associated with KO fetuses showing mid‐fetal lethality with internal bleeding. Importantly, the basal region of the fetal capillary network was specifically damaged, also leading to poor expansion of the labyrinth layer and placental size reduction in the later stage. An apparent down‐regulation of transmembrane protein 100 (Tmem100), mesenchyme homeobox 2 (Meox2) and lymphatic vessel endothelial hyaluronan receptor 1 (Lyve1) expression were observed in earlier stage placentas even before apparent size reduction became, suggesting that these genes are involved in the maintenance of fetal capillaries associated with Peg11/Rtl1 during development.
Online Fragmentation in Wartime

Theorists have long predicted that like-minded individuals will tend to use social media to self-segregate into enclaves and that this tendency toward homophily will increase over time. Many studies have found moment-in-time evidence of network homophily, but very few have been able to directly measure longitudinal changes in the diversity of social media users’ habits. This is due in part to a lack of appropriate tools and methods for such investigations. This study takes a step toward developing those methods. Drawing on the complete historical record of public retweets posted between January 2011 and August 2013, we propose and justify a partial method of measuring increases or decreases in network homophily. We demonstrate that Twitter network communities that focused on Syria are in general highly fragmented and homophilous; however, only one of the nine detected network communities that persisted over time exhibited a clear increase in homophily.
On the Specificity of Interaction between the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Clamp Loader Replication Factor C and Primed DNA Templates during DNA Replication*

Replication factor C (RFC) catalyzes assembly of circular proliferating cell nuclear antigen clamps around primed DNA, enabling processive synthesis by DNA polymerase during DNA replication and repair. In order to perform this function efficiently, RFC must rapidly recognize primed DNA as the substrate for clamp assembly, particularly during lagging strand synthesis. Earlier reports as well as quantitative DNA binding experiments from this study indicate, however, that RFC interacts with primer-template as well as single- and double-stranded DNA (ssDNA and dsDNA, respectively) with similar high affinity (apparent K d ≈ 10 nm). How then can RFC distinguish primed DNA sites from excess ssDNA and dsDNA at the replication fork? Further analysis reveals that despite its high affinity for various DNA structures, RFC selects primer-template DNA even in the presence of a 50-fold excess of ssDNA and dsDNA. The interaction between ssDNA or dsDNA and RFC is far less stable than between primed DNA and RFC (k off > 0.2 s−1 versus 0.025 s−1, respectively). We propose that the ability to rapidly bind and release single- and double-stranded DNA coupled with selective, stable binding to primer-template DNA allows RFC to scan DNA efficiently for primed sites where it can pause to initiate clamp assembly.
The paclitaxel‐eluting Coroflex™ please stent pilot study (PECOPS I): Acute and 6‐month clinical and angiographic follow‐up

Background and Objectives: Various active stent coatings significantly reduce restenosis rates and target lesion revascularization compared to bare metal stents. Therefore, the procedural and 6‐month performance of the new paclitaxel‐eluting Coroflex™. Please stent was investigated. Methods: Ninety‐seven patients (66 ± 7.6 years, 34/97(35.1%) diabetics, 11/97(11.3%) unstable angina) were enrolled per protocol for elective single stent deployment into native coronary de‐novo or post‐PTCA restenotic lesions (stenosis: ≥ 70%, < 100%; reference diameter ≥ 2.25 mm and <3.3 mm; lesion length ≤ 16 mm) with 13/97(13.4%) lesion type A, 64/97(66%) type B1, 20/97(20.6%) type B2). The mean reference diameter was 2.88 ± 0.42 mm, the lesion length 10.03 ± 2.93 mm, and the minimal lumen diameter 0.64 ± 0.22 mm. Results: The success rates of procedure and study stent deployment were 100% and 94.8%, respectively. In 5/97(5.2%) two stents were implanted. Follow‐up was performed clinically in 86/87(98.9%) and angiographically in 77/87(88.5%) patients after 6.1 ± 0.7 months. Major adverse cardiac events occurred in 7/87(8%) 1/87(1.2%) subacute thrombosis 10.3hrs post procedure, 1/87(1.2%) myocardial infarction, 5/87(5.7%) target lesion revascularizations. The in‐segment stenosis declined from 78 ± 7.2% to 9.4 ± 6.2% after stenting increasing to 31.9 ± 18.6% at follow‐up. The in‐segment late loss and the late loss index were 0.47 ± 0.6 mm and 0.23 ± 0.29 resulting in 6/77(7.8%) in‐segment restenoses three each of which were located either within or beyond the stent structure. The outcome was neither influenced by the prevalence of diabetes ( p = 0.4), hypercholesterolemia ( p = 1), hypertension ( p = 1), overweight ( p = 1), nor by the family history of coronary artery disease ( p = 0.7). Conclusion: The data of the paclitaxel‐eluting Coroflex™. Please stent tested in PECOPS I are within the range other available paclitaxel‐eluting stent. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Surgical embolectomy for acute massive pulmonary embolism.

OBJECTIVE Acute massive pulmonary embolism (PE) is associated with significant mortality rate despite diagnostic and therapeutic advances. The aim of this study was to analyze our clinical outcomes of patients with acute massive PE who underwent emergency surgical pulmonary embolectomy. METHODS This retrospective study included 13 consecutive patients undergoing emergency surgical pulmonary embolectomy for acute massive PE at our institution from March 2000 to November 2013. The medical records of all patients were reviewed for demograhic and preoperative data and postoperative outcomes. All patients presented with cardiogenic shock with severe right ventricular dysfunction confirmed by echocardiography, where 4 (30.8%) of the patients experienced cardiac arrest requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation before surgery. RESULTS The mean age of patients was 61.8 ± 14 years (range, 38 to 82 years) with 8 (61.5%) males. The most common risk factors for PE was the history of prior deep venous thrombosis (n = 9, 69.2%). There were 3 (23.1%) in-hospital deaths including operative mortality of 7.7% (n = 1). Ten (76.9%) patients survived and were discharged from the hospital. The mean follow-up was 25 months; follow-up was 100% complete in surviving patients. There was one case (7.7%) of late death 12 months after surgery due to renal carcinoma. Postoperative echocardiographic pressure measurements demonstrated a significant reduction (P < 0.001). At final follow-up, all patients were in New York Heart Association class I and no readmission for a recurrent of PE was observed. CONCLUSION Surgical pulmonary embolectomy is a reasonable option and could be performed with acceptable results, if it is performed early in patients with acute massive PE who have not reached the profound cardiogenic shock or cardiac arrest.
The Influence of Sex and Violence on the Appeal of Rock Music Videos

Two experiments examined the effects of sex and violence in rock music videos on viewers' judgments of the appeal of the music and visuals and emotional responses to the videos. The effects of videos with high, moderate, or low visual sex content were compared in Experiment 1. Positive emotions and the appeal of both the music and visuals were found to be positively related to the level of sexual content. In Experiment 2, the effects of videos with high, moderate, and low levels of visual violence content indicated that negative emotional responses and reduced appeal of both the music and the visuals were related to the level of violence. Evidence was obtained from both experiments that the combination of sex and violence also decreased appeal. In addition, music arousal was found to have an effect on appeal. More arousing music was positively related to appeal and positive emotions in sexy videos, but its influence was found to be independent of visual sex. In violent videos, however, music arousal was associated with decreased appeal and negative emotions and appeared to result from the “transfer” of excitation from the arousing music to the violence of the visual content.
Attitudes to School Science held by Primary Children in Pakistan

Abstract Attitudes to science scales developed earlier in England have been used in and around a Pakistan city with children in Primary/Elementary Grades 4–8. The limitations of a ‘transferred scale’ in a culturally different context are apparent in a failure to reproduce the English factor patterns, but items are identified to serve as a base for future attitudinal research in Pakistan. An ‘individual science explorer’ scale has been constructed for Pakistani children aged 10–11 years, which shows a motivation to science despite limited resource provision in the schools. Interviews with a sample of children validate the role of practical science in the classroom, although in reality there is little on offer other than learning from the book. Gender differences in attitudes explored in urban and semi-urban locations show the potential of girls in the latter areas. There is no detectable effect of overt Islamic values and attitudes at work. Recommendations are made for teacher participation in science curriculum reform to initiate a wider adoption of learning through exposure to experiment and investigation.
An update on molecular research of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

INTRODUCTION This review provides an overview of the molecular mechanisms and pathways known to enhance development and progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). RESULTS Today, the concept that progression of epithelial precursor lesions leads to invasive PDAC as a result of accumulating mutation in K-ras, p16(INK4A), p53 and Smad4 is widely accepted. Multiple signaling pathways that PDAC utilizes to acquire its tumorigenic features have been identified. Recent data suggest that reactivated developmental signaling pathways play a role in oncogenesis of PDAC. Furthermore, it is now clear that the tumor microenvironment actively promotes invasion and tumor growth through a complex of interactions of different cellular components. CONCLUSION PDAC is still a challenging entity for physicians and scientists. Despite of recent advances in understanding its molecular biology, treatment options remain limited. Distinct tumor stroma interactions and apoptotic resistance lead to frequent failure of current chemotherapy. An early and aggressive tumor infiltration in combination with a late diagnosis prevents successful surgical therapy. Thus, our primary goal remains to translate the increasing knowledge of molecular pathogenesis of this disease into successful therapeutic strategies. Apart from tumor cell biology, the complex interactions of PDAC cells with their microenvironment have to be focus of future molecular research.
Mid‐mantle anisotropy in subduction zones and deep water transport

The Earth's transition zone has until recently been assumed to be seismically isotropic. Increasingly, however, evidence suggests that ordering of material over seismic wavelengths occurs there, but it is unclear what causes this. We use the method of source‐side shear wave splitting to examine the anisotropy surrounding earthquakes deeper than 200 km in slabs around the globe. We find significant amounts of splitting (≤2.4 s), confirming that the transition zone is anisotropic here. However, there is no decrease in the amount of splitting with depth, as would be the case for a metastable tongue of olivine which thins with depth, suggesting this is not the cause. The amount of splitting does not appear to be consistent with processes in the ambient mantle, such as lattice‐preferred orientation development in wadsleyite, ringwoodite, or MgSiO3‐perovskite. We invert for the orientation of several mechanisms—subject to uncertainties in mineralogy and deformation—and the best fit is given by updip flattening in a style of anisotropy common to hydrous phases and layered inclusions. We suggest that highly anisotropic hydrous phases or hydrated layering is a likely cause of anisotropy within the slab, implying significant water transport from the surface down to at least 660 km depth.
[Incidence, causes and prognostic factors of hyponatremia in intensive care].

PURPOSE The incidence of hyponatremia is unknown, their causes are multiple. The higher mortality, especially in intensive care units, is currently unexplained. The objective of this article is to evaluate the incidence of hyponatremia, to assess their causes and to identify predictors of prognosis in intensive care units. METHODS We included retrospectively all patients admitted at department of medical intensive care unit between January 1996 and February 2001, who presented at the admission, an hyponatremia (< 130 mmol/l). We excluded all patients who presented a hospital acquired hyponatremia, or hyponatremia associated with hyperglycemia > 13 mmol/l or with mannitol administration. Data were analysed by univariate methods, then by multivariate analysis. RESULTS During the study period, 300 patients were identified among 2188: the incidence was 13.7% with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) between 9.8 % and 16.7%. Hypovolemic hyponatremia was observed in 25.7%, hypervolemic in 23.7% and normovolemic in 50.6%. In-hospital mortality was 37.7% (95% CI: 31.8% - 42.3%). Nine data were significantly associated with higher mortality in univariate analysis, but only 5 were identified as independant predictors of hospital mortality in multivariate analysis: hyponatremia < 125 mmol/l with a significant relative risk (RR) (RR = 2.10; 95% CI: 1.43-3.08; p < 0.001), Glasgow score < 9 (RR = 2.66; 95% CI: 1.25-5.66; p = 0.01), Glasgow score between 9 and 14 (RR = 1.94; 95% CI: 1.31-2.88; p < 0.001), shock (RR = 1.80; 95% CI: 1.10-3.05; p = 0.02) and blood urea concentration > 10 mmol/l (RR = 1.59; 95% CI : 1.08-2.34; p = 0.02). CONCLUSION The frequency of hyponatremia is high; the normovolemic type represented 50%. Mortality is linked, in greater part, to organs dysfunction, but the severity of hyponatremia remained a significant predictor of mortality.
Cytocidal Actions of Parasporin-2, an Anti-tumor Crystal Toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis*

Parasporin-2, a new crystal protein derived from noninsecticidal and nonhemolytic Bacillus thuringiensis, recognizes and kills human liver and colon cancer cells as well as some classes of human cultured cells. Here we report that a potent proteinase K-resistant parasporin-2 toxin shows specific binding to and a variety of cytocidal effects against human hepatocyte cancer cells. Cleavage of the N-terminal region of parasporin-2 was essential for the toxin activity, whereas C-terminal digestion was required for rapid cell injury. Protease-activated parasporin-2 induced remarkable morphological alterations, cell blebbing, cytoskeletal alterations, and mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum fragmentation. The plasma membrane permeability was increased immediately after the toxin treatment and most of the cytoplasmic proteins leaked from the cells, whereas mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum proteins remained in the intoxicated cells. Parasporin-2 selectively bound to cancer cells in slices of liver tumor tissues and susceptible human cultured cells and became localized in the plasma membrane until the cells were damaged. Thus, parasporin-2 acts as a cytolysin that permeabilizes the plasma membrane with target cell specificity and subsequently induces cell decay.
langid.py: An Off-the-shelf Language Identification Tool

We present langid.py, an off-the-shelf language identification tool. We discuss the design and implementation of langid.py, and provide an empirical comparison on 5 long-document datasets, and 2 datasets from the microblog domain. We find that langid.py maintains consistently high accuracy across all domains, making it ideal for end-users that require language identification without wanting to invest in preparation of in-domain training data.