Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Temozolomide in combination with celecoxib in patients with advanced melanoma. A phase II study of the Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group.

BACKGROUND There is now increasing evidence that a constitutive expression of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 plays a role in the development and progression of malignant epithelial tumors. Expression of COX-2 is seen in 93% of melanomas, as determined by immunohistochemistry. Temozolomide (TMZ) has demonstrated activity against melanoma and has been investigated as single agent or in combination. We designed a phase II study to assess the efficacy and toxicity of the combination of TMZ and celecoxib (a COX-2 inhibitor) in patients with advanced melanoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS From January 2003 to July 2004, 52 patients were enrolled in the study. Nineteen patients were M1a, six M1b and 27 M1c. Patients received TMZ 200 mg/m(2) per day p.o. for 5 consecutive days every 4 weeks and celecoxib 400 mg b.i. d. p.o. for a maximum of six cycles. Celecoxib was continued until progression. RESULTS The median age was 63 years. There were 29 males and 23 females. Among 50 assessable patients, there were 11 (21.5%) objective responses including five complete responses and six partial responses. Twenty patients (38.5%) had stabilization of their disease, and 19 (36.5%) progressed. The median time to progression was 4.6 months and the median survival 9.5 months. Twenty-two patients (41.5%) completed all cycles of treatment. Median relative dose intensity of TMZ was 0.99 (range 0.6-1.2). Most commonly seen toxic effects included anemia (27.5%), neutropenia (17.5%), thrombocytopenia (33%), nausea/vomiting (75%), gastrointestinal (52%) and fatigue (46.5%). One patient discontinued due to severe toxicity. COX-2 was determined by immunohistochemistry and was expressed in all cases. CONCLUSION The combination of TMZ and celecoxib is safe and potentially effective in the treatment of metastatic melanoma. Randomized studies are needed to explore the role of celecoxib in combination with chemotherapy or as maintenance treatment in these patients.
The Role of Caucusing in Community Mediation

A theory is presented about the functions of caucusing (private meetings between the mediator and disputant) in mediation. Empirical results that confirm and extend a number of propositions from the theory are also presented. Two coders, content analyzing both mediator and disputant behavior, observed 51 hearings at the Dispute Settlement Center of Western New York. Results indicated that disputants in caucus sessions employed less direct hostility, provided more information, and proposed more new alternatives than in joint sessions. Mediators, in parallel fashion, were more likely to request information and to challenge the disputants to come up with new alternatives. Mediators also exhibited more freedom to violate the neutrality norms during caucus sessions, giving greater support to the side that originally filed the complaint. These results support the use of caucusing as a route to issue identification and problem solving. However, other results showed that disputants were especially likely to boost their own position and put the other party down during caucus sessions, suggesting that mediators must be wary of what they learn from one party when the other is out of the room.
Visual argument: Graphic organizers are superior to outlines in improving learning from text.

Most research on graphic organizers (i.e., figural organizations of text information) has failed to simulate actual classroom learning. Typically, studies have used short, poorly organized text, single graphic organizers, and immediate tests measuring only factual knowledge. Also, there is no convincing evidence that graphic organizers are better than outlines. Two experiments were conducted that represented attempts to address these problems in answering the question, What types of text information do graphic organizers and outlines help college students learn ? Results revealed that when given enough time, students studying graphic organizers learned more hierarchical and coordinate relations, and as a result, they were more successful in applying that knowledge and in writing integrated essays than students studying outlines or text alone. These findings are discussed in terms of efficient indexing through visual argument.
Benefits of Music Training for Perception of Emotional Speech Prosody in Deaf Children With Cochlear Implants

Objectives: Children who use cochlear implants (CIs) have characteristic pitch processing deficits leading to impairments in music perception and in understanding emotional intention in spoken language. Music training for normal-hearing children has previously been shown to benefit perception of emotional prosody. The purpose of the present study was to assess whether deaf children who use CIs obtain similar benefits from music training. We hypothesized that music training would lead to gains in auditory processing and that these gains would transfer to emotional speech prosody perception. Design: Study participants were 18 child CI users (ages 6 to 15). Participants received either 6 months of music training (i.e., individualized piano lessons) or 6 months of visual art training (i.e., individualized painting lessons). Measures of music perception and emotional speech prosody perception were obtained pre-, mid-, and post-training. The Montreal Battery for Evaluation of Musical Abilities was used to measure five different aspects of music perception (scale, contour, interval, rhythm, and incidental memory). The emotional speech prosody task required participants to identify the emotional intention of a semantically neutral sentence under audio-only and audiovisual conditions. Results: Music training led to improved performance on tasks requiring the discrimination of melodic contour and rhythm, as well as incidental memory for melodies. These improvements were predominantly found from mid- to post-training. Critically, music training also improved emotional speech prosody perception. Music training was most advantageous in audio-only conditions. Art training did not lead to the same improvements. Conclusions: Music training can lead to improvements in perception of music and emotional speech prosody, and thus may be an effective supplementary technique for supporting auditory rehabilitation following cochlear implantation.
Liver stiff ness is not associated with short short short and long-term plasma HIV RNA replication in immunocompetent patients with HIV infection and with HIV / HCV coinfection

Background Human immunodefi ciency virus (HIV) may be directly responsible for liver damage but there are contrasting data regarding the infl uence of detectable plasma viremia. We analyzed the infl uence of plasma HIV RNA (pHIV) detectability and of other clinical and viro-immunological variables on liver stiff ness (LS) measurement in adult immunocompetent HIV-monoinfected patients and in patients coinfected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Methods Logistic regression analysis was performed using the value of LS>7.1 kPa as the dependent variable. A linear regression model was applied using LS measurement aft er log10 transformation (lkpa) as the dependent variable and we analyzed the predicted values versus the observed lkpa values; pHIV was classifi ed as detectable or undetectable in the 12and 36-month study periods before LS measurement. Results We studied 251 patients (178 with HIV monoinfection), most of whom were on antiviral treatment; 36-month study time was available for 154 subjects. Th e mean CD4+ cell count was 634 cells/mm3 in HIV-monoinfected patients and 606 cells/mm3 in coinfected patients. No diff erence in LS was found between patients with detectable or undetectable pHIV in either the 12 or the 36-month study period before transient elastography. Th e mean LS was higher in HIV/HCV coinfected patients (P<0.0001) than in the HIV-monoinfected subjects; lkpa was positively correlated with HCV coinfection (P<0.0001) and aspartate aminotransferase levels (P<0.0001). Detectable pHIV failed to reach signifi cance. Eight HIV-monoinfected patients had a predicted LS measurement lower than the observed one, while eight patients had the opposite result. Conclusion LS was not correlated with ongoing HIV replication during the 12and 36-month study periods in immunocompetent HIV-monoinfected and HIV/HCV-coinfected patients.
Extraordinary politics of ordinary people: Explaining the microdynamics of popular committees in revolutionary Cairo

On 28 January 2011 – as police abandoned the streets and reports of theft spread – Egyptians went down to the streets to protect their families and property, closing down intersections and setting up checkpoints. These neighborhood groups – known as popular committees (PCs) – filled the security vacuum and were one of the deciding factors of Mubarak’s downfall. This article explores how ordinary Egyptians collectively acted in order to restore stability during the regime’s moment of crisis. The author briefly introduces Egyptian PCs by discussing other instances of community organizing that occurred under extraordinary circumstances. Next, the author focuses on the microdynamics of PCs during the 2011 revolution by describing their mobilization, social networks, practices, communication methods, and dissolution. The PC narrative reminds us that, even during a revolution, the actions of ordinary individuals are often ignored by scholars and observers. Only after moving our attention away from the main squares do we begin to understand the full complexity of such exceptional moments.
Cell-type and state-dependent synchronization among rodent areas S1BF, V1, perirhinal cortex and hippocampus CA1

Beta and gamma rhythms have been hypothesized to be involved in global and local coordination of neuronal activity, respectively. Here, we investigated how cells in rodent area S1BF are entrained by rhythmic fluctuations at various frequencies within the local area and in connected areas, and how this depends on behavioral state and cell type. We performed simultaneous extracellular field and unit recordings in four connected areas of the freely moving rat (S1BF, V1M, perirhinal cortex, CA1). S1BF spiking activity was strongly entrained by both beta and gamma S1BF oscillations, which were associated with deactivations and activations, respectively. We identified multiple classes of fast spiking and excitatory cells in S1BF, which showed prominent differences in rhythmic entrainment and in the extent to which phase locking was modulated by behavioral state. Using an additional dataset acquired by whole-cell recordings in head-fixed mice, these cell classes could be compared with identified phenotypes showing gamma rhythmicity in their membrane potential. We next examined how S1BF cells were entrained by rhythmic fluctuations in connected brain areas. Gamma-synchronization was detected in all four areas, however we did not detect significant gamma coherence among these areas. Instead, we only found long-range coherence in the theta-beta range among these areas. In contrast to local S1BF synchronization, we found long-range S1BF-spike to CA1-LFP synchronization to be homogeneous across inhibitory and excitatory cell types. These findings suggest distinct, cell-type contributions of low and high-frequency synchronization to intra- and inter-areal neuronal interactions.
Sea ice switch mechanism and glacial‐interglacial CO2 variations

A physical mechanism is proposed for the glacial‐interglacial variations in the rate of vertical mixing and in sea ice cover in the Southern Ocean. Such variations were postulated without an explanation by Toggweiler [1999] and Stephens and Keeling [2000] , who used them to explain the glacial‐interglacial CO2 variations. In the physical mechanism explored here, initially given by Gildor and Tziperman [2001b] , changes in the stratification of the Southern Ocean due to the cooling of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) during glacial maxima reduce the rate of vertical mixing of the surface water with the deep water. The changed temperature of the NADW arriving to the Southern Ocean and the reduced vertical mixing there also increase the Southern Ocean sea ice cover during glacial maxima. These vertical mixing and sea ice cover changes are shown to be a natural result of the sea ice switch mechanism of the glacial cycles. A box model of the climate system is used to demonstrate the above physical mechanism and its effect on the atmospheric CO2. Because of the uncertainties in the exact dependence of the vertical mixing on vertical stratification, it is impossible to quantify the exact separate contribution of reduced vertical mixing and larger sea ice cover to the glacial CO2 variations. The CO2 variations are not essential to the existence of the glacial cycles in the sea ice switch mechanism, yet they are shown to amplify the glacial‐interglacial variability, consistent with the view of the role of CO2 deduced from proxy observations.
Transformational, transactional among physician and laissez-faire leadership among physician executives.

PURPOSE The purpose of this paper is to examine the empirical validity of transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership and their sub-scales among physician managers. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH A nation-wide, anonymous mail survey was carried out in the United States, requesting community health center executive directors to provide ratings of their medical director's leadership behaviors (34 items) and effectiveness (nine items), using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire 5X-Short, on a five-point Likert scale. The survey response rate was 40.9 percent, for a total 269 responses. Exploratory factor analysis was done, using principal factor extraction, followed by promax rotation). FINDINGS The data yielded a three-factor structure, generally aligned with Bass and Avolio's constructs of transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership. Data do not support the factorial independence of their subscales (idealized influence, inspirational motivation, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation under transformational leadership; contingent reward, management-by-exception active, and management-by-exception passive under transactional leadership). Two contingent reward items loaded on transformational leadership, and all items of management-by-exception passive loaded on laissez-faire. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS A key limitation is that supervisors were surveyed for ratings of the medical directors' leadership style. Although past research in other fields has shown that supervisor ratings are strongly correlated with subordinate ratings, further research is needed to validate the findings by surveying physician and other clinical subordinates. Such research will also help to develop appropriate content of leadership training for clinical leaders. ORIGINALITY/VALUE This study represents an important step towards establishing the empirical evidence for the full range of leadership constructs among physician leaders.
The Relationship Between Critical Ethnic Awareness and Racial Discrimination: Multiple Indirect Effects of Coping Strategies Among Asian Americans

Asian Americans face discrimination based on their culture and ethnicity, despite being perceived as successful immigrants with few problems. Little information is available regarding what factors might facilitate Asian Americans’ recognition of racial discrimination experiences (RDEs) to enhance their ability to cope. This study draws concepts from empowerment and stress-coping theories and examines relationships between critical ethnic awareness and RDEs and between RDEs and the effects of coping strategies specific to discrimination on the outcome of depressive symptoms. A convenience sample of Asian American adults (N = 405) was used to test 2 main hypotheses using path analysis: first, that critical ethnic awareness is indirectly associated with coping strategies through RDEs, and second, 4 coping strategies differentially and indirectly affect the RDE-depression relationship. The findings show critical ethnic awareness indirectly affects 2 types of emotional coping through RDEs. In addition, RDEs have an indirect effect on depressive symptoms through 2 coping strategies involving emotional reactions. The proposed path model strengthens theoretical arguments of the empowerment theory that hold that critical ethnic awareness contributes to better recognition of RDEs and facilitates emotion-based coping strategies to deal with psychological stresses in response to RDEs. The study also found support for the significant indirect effects for emotional engagement coping in RDE-depressive symptoms relationships.
Proteomic analysis of the serum in patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension

Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) is a rare disease of unknown etiology. The exact pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension is still not well known. In the past decades, many protein molecules have been found to be involved in the development of IPAH. With proteomic techniques, profiling of human plasma proteome becomes more feasible in searching for disease-related markers. In present study, we showed the protein expression profiles of the serum of IPAH and healthy controls after depleting a few high-abundant proteins in serum. Thirteen spots had changed significantly in IPAH compared with healthy controls and were identified by LC-MS/MS. Alpha-1-antitrypsin and vitronectin were down-regulated in IPAH and may be valuable candidates for further explorations of their roles in the development of IPAH.
Response to Grace’s reflections on Allen and West’s paper

We are pleased to be offered the opportunity to respond to the Comment by Gerald Grace on our paper ‘Religious schools in London: school admissions, religious composition and selectivity’. The Comment is a useful contribution to the academic and policy debates about religious schools and the role that empirical research can play. We are encouraged by the positive comments about our data and methods of inquiry and the generally positive views about the research. Gerald Grace makes a number of points which are designed ‘to be helpful for future researchers into the different types of faith schools’. Below we respond to each of these points.
Prevalence of Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodidae) in Southern Germany

Abstract Host-seeking Ixodes ricinus (L.) (Acari: Ixodidae) ticks were collected systematically, from May to September 2006, at selected sites in southern Germany, including a large city park in Munich. Polymerase chain reactions for amplification of genes of the rickettsial citrate synthase (gltA), the outer membrane proteins A and B (ompA and ompB), and the 16S rDNA were used to investigate 2,861 specimens (adults and nymphs). GltA sequences of spotted fever group rickettsiae were detected in 151 of all samples (5.3%; 95% CI = 4.3–6.2%). Sequencing revealed Rickettsia helvetica in 91.4% of the samples and R. monacensis in 8.6%. Amplification of ompA was not possible for R. helvetica, but in all except one of the R. monacensis. The results were analyzed statistically to test the effects of season, location, developmental stage, and gender of the tick on prevalence of Rickettsia spp. Although rickettsial DNA was detected in all investigated sites, sites in natural forest areas had significantly higher prevalences than sites in landscaped city parks. Adult female and male ticks had a similar prevalence and were significantly more often infected than nymphs. Monthly differences were not statistically significant. These results clearly show that R. helvetica is widespread throughout the study region and could result in a threat to public health in areas of high prevalence.
A steady-state analysis of the ε-normalized sign-error least mean square (NSLMS) adaptive algorithm

In this work, expressions are derived for the steady-state excess-mean-square error (EMSE) of the ε-normalized sign-error least mean square (NSLMS) adaptive algorithm for both cases of real- and complex-valued data. Moreover, a comparison between the computational load of the ε-NSLMS algorithm and the ε-normalized least mean square (NLMS) algorithm is also presented. Finally, simulation results to substantiate the theoretical findings are presented.
A Framework for Stakeholder Management in Construction Projects 1 2

A Framework for Stakeholder Management in Construction Projects 1 2 Rebecca J. Yang 3 Geoffrey Q.P. Shen 4 5 Abstract: This paper presents a systematic and generic framework reference for the 6 practice of stakeholder management in the construction industry. It contains findings 7 from empirical studies, comprising six interviews, a pilot study, a questionnaire 8 survey in Hong Kong and fifteen interviews in Australia. Six activity groups (i.e. 9 precondition, project data identification, stakeholder estimation, decision making, 10 action and evaluation, and sustainable support) and a total of 18 activities within these 11 groups and their interrelations formulate the main body of the framework. The 12 proposed framework was validated by five real-life projects, the results of which 13 confirm the applicability of the proposed framework. This study serves as a reference 14 for project management teams to systematically manage stakeholders in construction 15 projects. 16 17
SCREENING FOR SUSTAINED SOCIAL WITHDRAWAL BEHAVIORS IN SIX-MONTH-OLD INFANTS DURING PEDIATRIC PRIMARY CARE VISITS: RESULTS FROM AN AT-RISK LATINO IMMIGRANT SAMPLE WITH HIGH RATES OF MATERNAL MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER

To examine relations between infant social withdrawal behavior and maternal major depression (MDD), 155 mother-infant dyads were evaluated at the 6-month primary care visit. Maternal depression was determined based on a psychiatric interview. Infant social withdrawal behavior was assessed with the Alarm Distress Baby Scale (ADBB; A. Guedeney & J. Fermanian, 2001) based on videotaped mother-infant interactions. Of the sample, 18.7% of mothers were diagnosed with MDD, and 39.4% of infants scored above the clinical ADBB cutoff. Infants of depressed mothers were more likely to score positive on the ADBB (75.8 vs. 31.0%, p < .001) and showed distinct patterns of withdrawal behavior. Within the group of withdrawn infants, however, no differential patterns of behavior could be identified for infants of depressed mothers as compared to infants of mothers with no depression. These findings confirm the validity of the ADBB for detection of infant social withdrawal in the context of MDD. At the same time, they support evidence that the ADBB identifies nonspecific infant distress behaviors. Future studies will need to determine if and how positive ADBB screening results in the absence of maternal MDD might be associated with other maternal psychiatric disorders such as anxiety or borderline personality disorder. These results have important implications for screening guidelines in primary care. Abstracts translated in Spanish, French, German, and Japanese can be found on the abstract page of each article on Wiley Online Library at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/imhj.
Dealing with Deceptions that are Difficult to Detect: Encoding and Judgment as a Function of Preparing to Receive Invalid Information

Abstract This paper explores how receivers cope in situations ofunfocusedsuspicion, situations in which (i) they are about to receive information from several sources, (ii) they suspect some of it is invalid, but (iii) during encoding they cannot reliably distinguish the invalid from the valid. Results from four experiments suggest that suspicious individuals elaborate on the messages they receive more than unsuspicious individuals. We propose that suspicious individuals prepare to cope with potentially invalid information by entertaining multiple interpretations of the informations. In contrast, unsuspicious individuals analyze messages within a single interpretive frame. The costs and benefits associated with such preparatory strategy and its limiting conditions are discussed.